The Bible says in Psalms 48:1-2, Great is the
LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his
holiness.[2] Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is
mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
I learned to sing these verses from Lester Roloff
back in the early seventies when he would come as a guest speaker at Bob Jones
University. I still remember the tune and have had the congregation sing it in
our church. It is a good example of the value of taking Bible verses and
putting them to song: it helps you to memorize the verses. Why should we praise
God? We should praise Him because He is great. In other words we should praise
Him for who He is. God is the greatest of all. Therefore, praise Him.
These two verses are talking about the
city of Jerusalem. God chose the city of Jerusalem to be the location of the
temple, and thus to symbolize the presence of God. God chose the city of
Jerusalem to be the city of the great King: in other words the city of the
Messiah: the city from which the Messiah will rule the earth at His Second
Coming. Strange that a city with such a potential would be the city that
crucified the Savior. But God has a plan for Jerusalem. Though man has failed,
God will not fail. Jerusalem will one day be Beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth.
The Bible says in Psalms 48:3, God is known
in her palaces for a refuge. If you have learned to dwell in
the presence of God, then you have learned that God is a refuge. Jesus will
protect you. He will build walls around you. He will put up a shield in front
of you. He will give you a place to live in safety and security as long as He
has something for you to do for Him and for His glory. In the age in which we
live, God no longer has set up a city with the temple to symbolize His
presence. Christ in us is the hope of glory. The presence of God within each
believer makes up the kingdom of God. Concerning the presence of God within
each of us, we can say God is known in her
palaces for a refuge. All of the true
believers know this. Through faith in Christ, God dwells in us. Because He
dwells in us, He is always with us and will always be our refuge.
The Bible says in Psalms 48:4-7, For, lo, the
kings were assembled, they passed by together.[5] They saw it, and so
they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.[6]
Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.[7]
Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
In the days of King David Jerusalem was a testimony to the world. God created
Jerusalem through His servant David. God established Jerusalem. God protected
Jerusalem. It was obvious to all that this was the work of God. When other
kings of the earth passed by Jerusalem, they marveled. And they were troubled
because the hand of Gods blessing was upon Jerusalem, and by the power of God
they knew that Jerusalem was safe, and that Jerusalem would be victorious
should they try to fight against them. And so they hasted away. That is
the kind of victory that God can give. God can chase away your enemies before
you even have to fight them because of the fear that God can put in their hearts as it says in verse six.
It is not just a small amount of fear that God can put in someones heart to
protect you from them. We are talking a lot of fear. The fear is described in
verse six as pain, as of a woman in
travail. That is a lot of pain, and thus a
lot of fear. God loves you, and He can and will do anything to protect
you.
And God can give victory in other ways
too. God controls the whole earth. If an armada of ships comes against you, God
can bring a mighty wind to destroy the ships. That has happened more than once
in history. We all know about the Spanish Armada. Remember that it says about
Jesus: Even the winds and the sea obey him. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
The Bible says in Psalms 48:8, 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.
David says something important to know concerning prophecy about the city of
Jerusalem: God will establish it for ever. God has a plan
for the city of Jerusalem because it is the capital of Israel. God has a plan
for the city of Jerusalem because king David was king there, and King David
symbolized the great King who would come: King Jesus. King Jesus came into
Jerusalem as king once already. We call it Palm Sunday when Jesus rode in peace
into Jerusalem riding upon a donkey and with the foal of a donkey. But Jesus
was rejected by the inhabitants of Jerusalem when they called out, Crucify
Him, crucify Him. But where man fails, God succeeds. Jesus will come to
Jerusalem one more time, but the second time He will come as a conquering King.
Jesus will rule on the throne of David from the city of Jerusalem for a
thousand years. God has said that it will happen and so it will. God will establish it for ever.
The Bible says in Psalms 48:9, We have
thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
It is good to think about the lovingkindness of God for you. Think good thoughts, and one of the best
thoughts is that God loves you. God proved His love by sending His Son Jesus to
die for you on the cross. It says in John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
The Bible says in Psalms 48:10-11, According to
thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is
full of righteousness.[11] Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of
Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. There are two things
about God mentioned in these two verses that are reasons we should praise the
Lord. We should praise God for His righteousness. God always does the right thing. We can count on that.
People may not do the right thing, but God does. God is at work in the world:
doing good and saving souls. His truth is marching on. No one can stop God from
doing all the righteous deeds from taking place. Look for the righteous things
that God is doing. They are everywhere because God is everywhere. We can praise
God every day for all that His name stands for and for the fact that His right hand is full of righteousness. We should praise God also for His judgments. God
evaluates the behavior of people and nations: in other words God judges and
then God decides what should happen to those individuals and to those nations.
God has His own reasons for His judgments and His decisions. We should see the
hand of God, trust in the hand of God, and believe in the hand of God in all
that is going on around us. And as verse eleven says, we should rejoice and be
glad because of His judgments.
The Bible says in Psalms 48:12-14, Walk about
Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.[13] Mark ye well
her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation
following.[14] For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our
guide even unto death. David looked at the works of God and was thankful to God
for what God had done. In Davids day Jerusalem was a new city. All of the
buildings and walls had recently been built. The temple had not even been built
yet because Davids son, King Solomon, built the first temple. But when David
looked at the city of Jerusalem that he had built with Gods help, David knew
that Jerusalem itself was a testimony to the truth that God has a plan: an
eternal plan. That is important to remember: God is fulfilling His plan. If you
are a believer, and you are serving the Lord Jesus, you are part of an eternal
plan, and if your eyes are open, you will see in your life evidences of Gods
plan being accomplished. Every soul that is saved becomes a part of Gods plan
forever. We call that eternal security. When you accept Jesus as your Savior,
your soul becomes eternally secure. As it says in verse fourteen, For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our
guide even unto death. Our soul is eternally
secure, and God will guide us and provide for us and protect us throughout life
until the day comes that God decides we will die. But because we will live forever,
death will simply be leaving this earth and this life to go to a far better
life. This will happen because Jesus died for us on the cross.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2019 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved