Psalms 48:12

Walk about Zion. — Notice here the strong patriotic feeling of Hebrew song. The inhabitants of the city are invited to make a tour of inspection of the defences which, under God’s providence, have protected them from their foes. We are reminded of the fine passage in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, which gratefully recalls “the natural bravery” of our own island home, or of the national songs about our “wooden walls.” Comparison has also been drawn between this passage and a similar burst of patriotic sentiment from the lips of a Grecian orator (Thuc. Ii. 53); but while the Greek thinks only of the men who made Athens strong, the Hebrew traces all back to God.

(12) Tell — i.e., count. So in Milton, “Every shepherd tells his tale,” i.e., counts his sheep.