King James Version
Psalms 48
14 verses with commentary
Great Is the Lord in Zion
A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. for: or, of
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.</strong> This psalm opens with emphatic declaration of God's greatness. The Hebrew structure uses intensive forms: <em>gadol</em> (גָּדוֹל, "great") and <em>mehullal me'od</em> (מְהֻלָּל מְאֹד, "greatly to be praised"). The repetition emphasizes that God's magnitude demands proportionate w...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **To be praised.**—See Psalm 18:3, Note.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 48
The glories of the church of Christ.
**Verses 1-7**
Jerusalem is the city of our God: none on earth render him due honour except the citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem. Happy the kingdom, the city, the family, the heart, in which God is great, in which he is all. There God is known. The clearer discoveries are made to us of the Lord and his greatness, the more it is expected ...
Read full commentary →Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
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KJV Study Commentary
Mount Zion is 'beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth.' The Hebrew <em>yapheh</em> (beautiful) suggests perfect proportion and attractiveness. 'Sides of the north' may reference ancient mythological language for the divine mountain, applied here to Jerusalem. Zion is 'the city of the great King'--God's royal residence.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Situation.**—Heb., *nôph. *A word only found here, but explained from a cognate Arabic word to mean *elevation. *And this feature is quite distinctive enough of Jerusalem to lend confirmation to this explanation—“Its elevation is remarkable.” (See Stanley, *Sinai and Palestine, *p. 170.)
On the other hand, an adverbial use—*highly beautiful *or *supremely beautiful *(comp. Lamentations 2:15,...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 18 Psa 18:1-50. "The servant of the Lord," which in the Hebrew precedes "David," is a significant part of the title (and not a mere epithet of David), denoting the inspired character of the song, as the production of one entrusted with the execution of God's will. He was not favored by God because he served Him, but served Him because selected and appointed by God in His sovereign mercy. Aft...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 48
The glories of the church of Christ.
**Verses 1-7**
Jerusalem is the city of our God: none on earth render him due honour except the citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem. Happy the kingdom, the city, the family, the heart, in which God is great, in which he is all. There God is known. The clearer discoveries are made to us of the Lord and his greatness, the more it is expected ...
Read full commentary →God is known in her palaces for a refuge.
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KJV Study Commentary
God is known 'in her palaces for a refuge.' The palaces--royal and temple buildings--house the divine presence. God's being 'known' indicates experiential, relational knowledge, not merely theoretical. He is known specifically as 'refuge' (<em>misgab</em>)--high tower, place of safety.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Refuge.**—See Note, Psalm 46:1. Prominence should be given to the idea of security from *height. *We might render, “God among her castles is known as a high and secure tower.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
2-3. The various terms used describe God as an object of the most implicit and reliable trust.
**rock--**literally, "a cleft rock," for concealment.
**strength--**a firm, immovable rock.
**horn of my salvation--**The horn, as the means of attack or defense of some of the strongest animals, is a frequent emblem of power or strength efficiently exercised (compare De 33:17; Lu 1:69).
**tower-...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 48
The glories of the church of Christ.
**Verses 1-7**
Jerusalem is the city of our God: none on earth render him due honour except the citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem. Happy the kingdom, the city, the family, the heart, in which God is great, in which he is all. There God is known. The clearer discoveries are made to us of the Lord and his greatness, the more it is expected ...
Read full commentary →For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.
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KJV Study Commentary
The kings 'assembled' and 'passed by together.' The Hebrew suggests coordinated military advance against Jerusalem. Multiple kings united represent overwhelming opposition. Yet their unified assault will fail because of who dwells within the city they attack.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **The kings.**—With the striking picture of the advance and sudden collapse of a hostile expedition that follows, comp. Isaiah 10:28-34; possibly of the very same event.
**The kings.**—Evidently known to the writer, but, alas! matter of merest conjecture to us. Some suppose the kings of Ammon, Moab, and Edom, who attacked Jehoshaphat (2Chronicles 20:25); others, the tributary princes of Sennac...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
2-3. The various terms used describe God as an object of the most implicit and reliable trust.
**rock--**literally, "a cleft rock," for concealment.
**strength--**a firm, immovable rock.
**horn of my salvation--**The horn, as the means of attack or defense of some of the strongest animals, is a frequent emblem of power or strength efficiently exercised (compare De 33:17; Lu 1:69).
**tower-...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 48
The glories of the church of Christ.
**Verses 1-7**
Jerusalem is the city of our God: none on earth render him due honour except the citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem. Happy the kingdom, the city, the family, the heart, in which God is great, in which he is all. There God is known. The clearer discoveries are made to us of the Lord and his greatness, the more it is expected ...
Read full commentary →They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.
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KJV Study Commentary
When the kings saw Zion, 'they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.' Instead of conquering, they flee in panic. The sight of God's city--or more precisely, awareness of its divine defender--produces not triumph but terror. Their haste reveals the reversal of their confident advance.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **They saw.**—A verse like Psalm 46:6, vivid from the omission of the conjunctions, wrongly supplied by the Authorised Version. It has reminded commentators of Caesar’s *Veni, vidi, vici.*
**They ***looked, even so were terrified, bewildered, panic-struck.*
**Hasted away.**—Or, *sprung up in alarm.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. sorrows--**literally, "bands as of a net" (Psa 116:3).
**floods--**denotes "multitude."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 48
The glories of the church of Christ.
**Verses 1-7**
Jerusalem is the city of our God: none on earth render him due honour except the citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem. Happy the kingdom, the city, the family, the heart, in which God is great, in which he is all. There God is known. The clearer discoveries are made to us of the Lord and his greatness, the more it is expected ...
Read full commentary →Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
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KJV Study Commentary
Fear gripped the kings: 'trembling took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.' The comparison to labor pains emphasizes both the intensity and the involuntary nature of their terror. They cannot control their fear--it seizes them as irresistibly as childbirth seizes a mother.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. death--**and hell (compare Psa 16:10) are personified as man's great enemies (compare Re 20:13, 14).
**prevented--**encountered me, crossed my path, and endangered my safety. He does not mean he was in their power.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 48
The glories of the church of Christ.
**Verses 1-7**
Jerusalem is the city of our God: none on earth render him due honour except the citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem. Happy the kingdom, the city, the family, the heart, in which God is great, in which he is all. There God is known. The clearer discoveries are made to us of the Lord and his greatness, the more it is expected ...
Read full commentary →Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
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KJV Study Commentary
God breaks 'the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.' Tarshish ships represented the height of maritime technology and commercial power. The 'east wind' from the desert symbolizes divine judgment throughout Scripture. The mightiest human achievements are fragile before God's breath.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Breakest.**—It is natural at first sight to connect this verse immediately with the disaster which happened to the fleet of Jehoshaphat (1Kings 22:48-49; 2Chronicles 20:36). And that event may indeed have supplied the figure, but a figure for the dispersal of a *land army. *We may render:
With a blast from the east
Thou breakest (them as) Tarshish ships.
Or,
With a blast from the east
(Which...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6. He relates his methods to procure relief when distressed, and his success.
**temple--**(Compare Psa 11:4).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 48
The glories of the church of Christ.
**Verses 1-7**
Jerusalem is the city of our God: none on earth render him due honour except the citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem. Happy the kingdom, the city, the family, the heart, in which God is great, in which he is all. There God is known. The clearer discoveries are made to us of the Lord and his greatness, the more it is expected ...
Read full commentary →As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.
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KJV Study Commentary
The correlation of hearing and seeing: 'As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts.' Tradition (what was heard from fathers) is confirmed by experience (what is seen). Faith transmitted through testimony becomes faith verified by experience. God establishes His city 'for ever.'
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **As we have heard.**—The generations of a religious nation are “bound each to each by natural piety.” Probably here the ancient tale of the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host recurred to the poet’s mind.
**God will establish it.**—Better, *God will preserve her for ever, i.e., the holy city. *This forms the refrain of the song, and probably should be restored between the parts of Psalm 48:3.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-8. God's coming described in figures drawn from His appearance on Sinai (compare De 32:22).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
We have here the improvement which the people of God are to make of his glorious and gracious appearances for them. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. Let our hope of the stability of the church be encouraged. Let our minds be filled with good thoughts of God. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us, must be traced to the fountain of His loving-kindness...
Read full commentary →We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
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KJV Study Commentary
Corporate worship: 'We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.' The Hebrew <em>damah</em> (thought, meditated) suggests prolonged, intentional reflection. Meditation on <em>chesed</em> (covenant love) occurs 'in the midst of thy temple'--the gathered worshiping community reflecting on God's faithfulness.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Thy temple.**—This verse seems to indicate a liturgic origin for the psalm.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-8. God's coming described in figures drawn from His appearance on Sinai (compare De 32:22).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
We have here the improvement which the people of God are to make of his glorious and gracious appearances for them. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. Let our hope of the stability of the church be encouraged. Let our minds be filled with good thoughts of God. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us, must be traced to the fountain of His loving-kindness...
Read full commentary →According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.
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KJV Study Commentary
God's name and praise extend 'unto the ends of the earth.' Divine reputation is not local but universal. His 'right hand is full of righteousness'--the hand of power is also the hand of justice. God's strength serves His righteous purposes, never acting arbitrarily or unjustly.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **According to thy name . . .**—“Name” here has plainly the meaning we give it in the phrase, “name and fame.” God’s praise was up to the reputation His great deeds had won. (Comp. Psalm 138:2.)
**Thy right hand is full of righteousness.**—Not like Jove’s, as heathen say, full of thunderbolts, but of justice.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. darkness--**or, a dense cloud (Ex 19:16; De 5:22).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
We have here the improvement which the people of God are to make of his glorious and gracious appearances for them. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. Let our hope of the stability of the church be encouraged. Let our minds be filled with good thoughts of God. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us, must be traced to the fountain of His loving-kindness...
Read full commentary →Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.
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KJV Study Commentary
Mount Zion rejoices, and the 'daughters of Judah' (the towns of Judah) are glad 'because of thy judgments.' God's judgments--decisions, decrees, verdicts--produce joy, not fear, among His people. Those who trust Him welcome His justice because it vindicates the oppressed and condemns the wicked.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Daughters of Judah.**—Not the maidens of Jerusalem, but the towns and villages of Judah.
**Judgments.**—Perhaps here, as in Psalm 119:132, with prominent idea of God’s *customary *dealings with His people.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. cherub--**angelic agents (compare Ge 3:24), the figures of which were placed over the ark (1Sa 4:4), representing God's dwelling; used here to enhance the majesty of the divine advent. Angels and winds may represent all rational and irrational agencies of God's providence (compare Psa 104:3, 4).
**did fly--**Rapidity of motion adds to the grandeur of the scene.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
We have here the improvement which the people of God are to make of his glorious and gracious appearances for them. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. Let our hope of the stability of the church be encouraged. Let our minds be filled with good thoughts of God. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us, must be traced to the fountain of His loving-kindness...
Read full commentary →Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
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KJV Study Commentary
The invitation to 'walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof' engages believers in surveying God's gifts. Counting towers, marking bulwarks, considering palaces--this detailed examination deepens appreciation. What we observe carefully, we value more fully.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Walk about Zion.**—Notice here the strong patriotic feeling of Hebrew song. The inhabitants of the city are invited to make a tour of inspection of the defences which, under God’s providence, have protected them from their foes. We are reminded of the fine passage in Shakespeare’s *Cymbeline, *which gratefully recalls “the natural bravery” of our own island home, or of the national songs ab...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. dark waters--**or, clouds heavy with vapor.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
We have here the improvement which the people of God are to make of his glorious and gracious appearances for them. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. Let our hope of the stability of the church be encouraged. Let our minds be filled with good thoughts of God. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us, must be traced to the fountain of His loving-kindness...
Read full commentary →Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. Mark: Heb. Set your heart to consider: or, raise up
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KJV Study Commentary
The purpose of the survey: 'Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.' Observation serves transmission. We study God's works in order to teach them to our children. Faith is not merely personal possession but heritage to be passed on.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Consider.**—The Hebrew word is peculiar to this passage. The root idea seems to be *divide, *and the natural sense of *divide her palaces *is, *take them one by one and regard them.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. Out of this obscurity, which impresses the beholder with awe and dread, He reveals Himself by sudden light and the means of His terrible wrath (Jos 10:11; Psa 78:47).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
We have here the improvement which the people of God are to make of his glorious and gracious appearances for them. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. Let our hope of the stability of the church be encouraged. Let our minds be filled with good thoughts of God. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us, must be traced to the fountain of His loving-kindness...
Read full commentary →For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.
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KJV Study Commentary
The conclusion: 'For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.' The demonstrative 'this God' points to all that has been described--defender, refuge, judge, eternal. The covenant formula 'our God' emphasizes relationship. He guides 'even unto death' and, by implication, beyond it.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Unto death.**—The words (‘*al mûth*) are proved by the ancient versions and various readings to be really a musical direction, either placed at the end instead of the beginning, as in Habakkuk 3:19, or shifted back from the title of the next psalm. See Psalms 9 title, *‘alamôth.*
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. The storm breaks forth--**thunder follows lightning, and hail with repeated lightning, as often seen, like balls or coals of fire, succeed (Ex 9:23).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
We have here the improvement which the people of God are to make of his glorious and gracious appearances for them. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. Let our hope of the stability of the church be encouraged. Let our minds be filled with good thoughts of God. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us, must be traced to the fountain of His loving-kindness...
Read full commentary →