Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 48

Great is the Lord - That is, he is high and exalted; he is a Being of great power and glory. He is not weak and feeble, like the idols worshipped by other nations. He is able to defend his people; he has shown his great power in overthrowing the mighty forces that were gathered together against the city where he dwells.

And greatly to be praised - Worthy to be praised. In his own nature, he is worthy of adoration; in interposing to save the city from its foes, he has shown that he is worthy of exalted praise.

In the city of our God - Jerusalem. In the city which he has chosen for his abode, and where his worship is celebrated. See the notes at Psalms 46:4. This praise was especially appropriate there:

• because it was a place set apart for his worship;
• because he had now interposed to save it from threatened ruin.

In the mountain of his holiness - His holy mountain; either Mount Zion, if the psalm was composed before the building of the temple, or more probably here Mount Moriah, on which the temple was built. The names Zion and Mount Zion, however, were sometimes given to the entire city. Compare the notes at Isaiah 2:2-3.

Beautiful for situation - The word rendered “situation” - נוף nôph - means properly “elevation, height,” (Ges. Lexicon); and the idea here is, that the mountain referred to is “beautiful for elevation;” that is, it rises gracefully. The allusion here is to Jerusalem as it would appear to one approaching it, and especially as it appeared to the “kings” (Psalms 48:4) who came to besiege it, and who were so impressed with its marvelous beauty and strength, that they were afraid to attack it, and turned away (Psalms 48:5).

The joy of the whole earth - Either the whole “land” of Palestine, or the whole world. Most probably the former is the meaning; and the idea is that, as a place of beauty and strength, and as a place where the worship of God was celebrated, and where the people of the land were accustomed to assemble, it was a source of national joy.

Is Mount Zion - The term used here would seem to denote the whole city, Jerusalem, as it often does. Mount Zion was the most conspicuous object in the city, the residence of the king, and for a long time, until the temple was built, the place where the ark rested, and where the worship of God was celebrated, and therefore, the term came to be used to denote the whole city.

On the sides of the north - That is, probably, the houses, the palaces, on the north sides of Mount Zion. These were eminently beautiful; they impressed an observer approaching the city from that direction as impressive and grand. The natural and usual approach to the city was from the north, or the northwest. On the west was the valley of Gihon, on the south the valley of Hinnom; and on the east the valley of Jehoshaphat and of the brook Kidron; and it was only as the city was approached from the north that there would be a complete view of it; or, that was the only direction from which it could be attacked.

The “kings,” therefore (Psalms 48:8), may be supposed to have approached it from that direction; and thus approaching it, they would have a clear and impressive view of its beauty, and of the sources of its strength – of the walls, towers, and bulwarks which defended it, and of the magnificence of the buildings on Mount Zion.

Dr. Thomson (Land and the Book, vol. ii., p. 476), says of the situation of Mount Zion, “What is there or was there about Zion to justify the high praise of David: Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King? The situation is indeed eminently adapted to be the platform of a magnificent citadel.

“Rising high above the deep valley of Gihon and Hinnom on the west and south, and the scarcely less deep valley of the Cheesemongers on the east, it could only be attacked from the northwest; and then on the sides of the north it was magnificently beautiful, and fortified by walls, towers, and bulwarks, the wonder and terror of the nations: For the kings were assembled; they passed by together. They saw it, and so they marveled; they were troubled, and hasted away.

“At the thought of it the royal psalmist again bursts forth in triumph: Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof; mark ye well her bulwarks; consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following. Alas! her towers have long since fallen to the ground, her bulwarks have been overthrown, her palaces have crumbled to dust, and we who now walk about Zion can tell no other story than this to the generation following.”

It was actually on the northern side of Mount Zion that most of the buildings of the city were erected (Reland, Pales., p. 847).

The city of the great King - That is, of God; the place where he has made his dwelling. .

God is known in her palaces - The word rendered “palaces” here means properly a fortress, castle, or palace, so called from its height, from a verb, ארם 'âram — meaning to elevate, to lift up. It may be applied to any fortified place, and would be particularly applicable to a royal residence, as a castle or stronghold. The word “known” here means that it was well understood, or that the point had been fully tested and determined that God had chosen those abodes as his special residence - as the place where he might be found.

For a refuge - See the notes at Psalms 46:1. That is, there was safety or security in the God who had chosen Jerusalem as his special abode.

For, look, the kings were assembled - There is evidently an allusion here to some fact that had occurred; some gathering of kings and their armies, intending to besiege or attack Jerusalem. The kings referred to, if the allusion here is, as is believed, to the time of Jehoshaphat, were the kings of Ammon and of Moab, and of Mount Seir, and perhaps others not specifically mentioned, who came up against Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:1), (2 Chronicles 20:10).

They passed by together - That is, they were struck with dismay; they were so impressed with the beauty, the majesty, the strength of the city, that they passed along without daring to attack it. Or, perhaps, the meaning may be that they were defeated and overthrown as suddenly as if the mere sight of the city had filled their minds with dread and had made them cease their intended assault. (Compare 2 Chronicles 20:22–25).

They saw it - That is, they looked on it; they contemplated it; they were struck with its beauty and strength, and fled.

And so they marveled - It surpassed their expectations of its strength, and they saw with wonder that any attempt to conquer it was hopeless.

They were troubled - They were filled with anxiety and confusion. They even began to have apprehensions about their own safety. They saw that their preparations had been made in vain, and that all hopes of success must be abandoned.

And hurried away - They fled in confusion. The idea in the whole verse is that of a “panic,” leading to a disorderly flight.

This “may” have occurred in the time of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:0), when the kings of Moab, Edom, and others, came up to attack Jerusalem, though the immediate cause of their overthrow was a conflict among themselves (2 Chronicles 20:22–25). It may have been, however, that they approached the city and were dismayed by its strength, so that they turned away before the internal conflict occurred which ended in their ruin.

But it is not “necessary” to adjust these accounts one to another, or even to suppose that this was the event referred to in the psalm, though the general ideas in it accord well with all which occurred on that occasion.