GLEANINGS IN THE PSALMS

(Psalm 48)

Verse 1 “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised …” According to His nature should His worship be. It cannot be too constant, too earnest, too reverential, too sublime. There is none like the Lord, and there should be no praises like His praises.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Verse 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.” “Beautiful for situation.” Jerusalem was so naturally, and was so styled the Queen of the East. The Church is so spiritually, being placed near God's heart, within the mountains of His power, upon the hills of His faithfulness, in the centre of His providential operations. The elevation of the Church is her beauty. The more she is above the world, the fairer she is. “The joy of the whole earth is mount Zion.” Jerusalem was the world's star; whatever light lingered on earth was borrowed from the oracles preserved by Israel. An ardent Israelite would esteem the holy city as the eye of the nations, the most precious pearl of all lands. Certainly the Church of God, though despised of men, is the true joy and hope of the world. “On the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” It was the glory of Jerusalem to be God's city, the place of His regal dwelling, and it is the joy of the Church that God is in her midst. The great God is the great King of the Church, and for her sake He rules all the nations. The people among whom the Lord deigns to dwell are privileged above all others; the lines have fallen into them in pleasant places, and they have a goodly heritage.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Verse 3 “God is known in her palaces for a refuge.” As the walls, houses, and palaces of Jerusalem were not the strength of the citizens, but God was her strength, as they had learned by experience; so worldly strength is not the confidence of God's church, but God only, who defendeth her by His power. “God is known in her palaces for a refuge.”

David Dickson

Verse 4 and 5 “For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They saw it … and hasted away.” They were many and powerful; “Kings” – and a plurality of them. They were confederate kings, for “The kings were assembled.” Forces united are the most powerful. But all the endeavours of those confederate kings came to nothing. “They passed by together,” – together they came, and together they vanished.

William Nicholson

Verse 7 “Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.” It is only by her Lord that the church gains “the true riches.” When she enters into traffic with the world, and takes the means of the world for her resources; when she trusts in her wealth, in her political power, and her earthly cunning to make merchandise, the Lord will “break” her “ships of Tarshish with an east wind.”

From – A Plain Commentary on the Book of Psalms

Verse 10 “… thy right hand is full of righteousness.” All temporal mercies are the mercies of God's Left hand, which He gives to many whom He will put at His left hand at the Day of Judgment. Spiritual mercies are the mercies of His right hand, and mercies in His right hand. Let us be earnest petitioners for those mercies, which whomsoever has shall be placed at the right hand of Christ at the Day of Judgment. Let us see that we make temporal mercies as so many footstools to raise us up to higher mercies. Let us not make these mercies our God, but bridges to lead us over to God.

Edmund Calamy

Verse 13 “Mark ye well her bulwarks …” The appointment of Jesus Christ to be King of the Church, King of Zion, is the first and great bulwark of Zion. The second bulwark of Zion is the promises of God, which are innumerable. The third is the watchful providences of God over the Church, while another is God's special presence in His church, for he is present in an especial manner there. The last bulwark unto which all others may be reduced, is the Covenant of God: “For this God is our God.”

J. Owen

Verse 14 “For this God is our God for ever and ever …” What a portion then is that of the believer! The landlord cannot say of his fields, these are mine for ever and ever. The king cannot say of his crown, this is mine for ever and ever. These possessions will soon change masters; these possessors will soon mingle with the dust, and even the graves they occupy may not long be theirs. But it is the singular, the supreme happiness of every Christian to say, “This God is my God for ever and ever, and even death itself shall not separate me from His love.”

G. Burder