Bible Commentaries
Psalms 48

Verses 1-14

In Psa 46:1-11 the dominant note was of confidence, because of the government of God in the midst of His people. This is a song describing the experience resulting from such government. It is the anthem of a city's deliverance from an alliance of hostile kings. The beauty and glory of the city remain, notwithstanding the foes attack. The intervention of God was of such a nature that the attack failed ere it positively began.

The kings assembled themselves, They passed by together.

They were seized with weakness and fear, and fled. So God had delivered, and the deliverance is a reason for new confidence that the city will be established forever. The singer urges the inhabitants to examine well the city, that the wonder of its preservation may fill the heart with praise, and be the foundation for faith in all the years to come.

We may seem to have lost something in the reading of this psalm, because we cannot place it historically with any certainty. Yet it is so due to a constantly recurring experience of the saints that it is in constant use. Threatening perils massed against us suddenly waver and pass away, smitten by unseen hands, and deliverance comes when we had seen nothing but destruction. Verily great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised as the God of deliverance.