Psalm 48

The 48th psalm is a psalm of the "sons of Korach". It belongs to the so-called Zion songs and is in the 2nd book of the Psalter. The different terms and variations of Zion are:

• City of our God (עִיר אֱלֹהֵינוּ) - v. 2
• Mount of His Holiness (הַר־קָדְשׁוֹ) - v. 2
• Mount Zion (הַר־צִיּוֹן) - v. 3
• City of the Great King (קִרְיַת מֶלֶךְ רָב) - V. 3
• City of Adonais Zebaoth (עִיר־יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת) - V. 9
• City of our God (עִיר אֱלֹהֵינוּ) - v.12

A classic Kantus firmus of Zion theology can be found in v. 9: God receives it (the city of Zion) forever - אֱלֹהִים יְכוֹנְנֶהָ עַד־עוֹלָם

Classification

According to Charles Haddon Spurgeon , the psalm can be divided as follows:

• V. 1: purpose and author
• Verses 2–4: Praise to the Lord and the city dedicated to his service.
• Verses 5–9: Description of the confusion over the enemies of Zion.
• Verses 10–12: God alone should be praised for this.
• Verses 13-15: Description of the glory of Zion and the confession that the Lord shall be God for his people forever.

circumstances

CH Spurgeon considers it very likely that the psalm refers to the reign of Jehoshaphat. At that time God worked a defeat among the Ammonites and Moabites ( 2 Chr 20  SLT ). The mention of the Tarshish ships that break also fits the time of Jehoshaphat ( 1 Kings 22.49  SLT ).

content

The psalm begins with praise for the Lord and a description of Jerusalem, especially the temple. From there the Lord rules as King and gives security to the people of Jerusalem. Now the sons of Korah describe an incident in which kings marched together against Jerusalem - but fled from it in fear. But this King of Kings not only drives out kings, but also breaks Taris ships in a storm. If Josaphat's Taris ships are actually meant, this verse is supposed to show that God protects his own against enemies from outside, but also educates them himself (cf. 2 Chr 20 : 36-37  SLT ). In verse 9, the poets describe that not only have they heard of the greatness of God, but have experienced it. Because of this, they praise God in the temple and him Jerusalem. He should be their god forever.

Web links

Commons : Psalm 48  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Psalm 48 in the standard translation , the Luther Bible and other translations from bibleserver.com
• Psalm 48 in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) on bibelwissenschaft.de
• Sheet music in the public domain for settings of Psalm 48 in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ CH Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, CLV (2004), 677
2. ^ CH Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, CLV (2004), 677