Psalms 48:3

²Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King. ³God is in her citadels; He has shown Himself to be a fortress.

Summary

Psalm 48:3 praises the beauty and grandeur of Mount Zion, the city of God. It exalts Jerusalem as the holy city where God dwells, emphasizing its strength and splendor. The verse reflects on the significance of God's presence in the midst of His people, highlighting the security and protection found in His sanctuary. This declaration of God's greatness inspires reverence and awe for His divine presence and the eternal blessings bestowed upon His chosen city.

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

palaces--literally, "citadels." refuge-- (Psa 9:10; Psa 18:3). He was so known in them because they enjoyed His presence.

John Gill Bible Commentary

God is known in her palaces for a refuge. As there were palaces in Jerusalem; see Psa 48:13; so there are in the church of Christ; every place in it is a palace fit for a king; and everyone that has truly a name and a place there are kings and priests unto God: and here God is a "refuge" both for saints and sinners to fly unto; See Gill on Psa 46:1; and is "known" to be so; the ministers of the Gospel being here appointed to direct and encourage souls to flee to Christ for refuge, who is the hope set before them in the everlasting Gospel, preached by them to lay hold upon; and all that do flee to him know, by experience, that he is a refuge for them; and as all the people of God do in every time of distress, and when all refuge fails them elsewhere. ; and is "known" to be so; the ministers of the Gospel being here appointed to direct and encourage souls to flee to Christ for refuge, who is the hope set before them in the everlasting Gospel, preached by them to lay hold upon; and all that do flee to him know, by experience, that he is a refuge for them; and as all the people of God do in every time of distress, and when all refuge fails them elsewhere. Psalms 48:4 psa 48:4 psa 48:4 psa 48:4For, lo, the kings were assembled,.... As the princes of the Philistines to seek for David, when in the strong hold of Zion, Sa2 5:17; as the Ethiopians in the time of Asa, Ch2 14:9; and the Moabites and Ammonites in the times of Jehoshaphat, Ch2 20:1; and the kings of Syria and Israel in the times of Ahaz, Isa 7:1; and Sennacherib with his princes, who, in his esteem, were kings, in the times of Hezekiah, Kg2 18:17; which are instances of the kings, of the nations' gathering together against Zion, the city of Jerusalem, and people of the Jews, who were typical of the church of Christ; and that without success, and to their own confusion and destruction; though this seems to refer to the latter day of the Gospel dispensation, when all the kings of the earth, Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan, will be gathered together at the instigation of Satan, to the battle of the great day of the Lord God Almighty, in a place called Armageddon, where they will be defeated by Christ the King of kings, Rev 16:13. Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the passage of Gog and Magog gathering together to fight against Jerusalem, with which compare Rev 20:8; they passed by together; either to the battle, as Jarchi explains it; or they passed by Jerusalem, the city of our God, the church, without entering into it, or doing it any harm.

Psalms 48:3

Broken Bondage

²Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King. ³God is in her citadels; He has shown Himself to be a fortress.