Psalms 48:12

_WALK ABOUT ZION, AND GO ROUND ABOUT HER: TELL THE TOWERS THEREOF._ Tell the towers thereof - number them, to see that not one is wanting, and that the enemies' formidable invasion has not in the least impaired them....

12and 13_Encompass Zion, etc. _Here the prophet again commends the situation and beauty of Jerusalem, intimating that the city was strongly fortified and impregnable; and he does this, because in these external things the blessing of God in some respect shone forth. We must always bear in mind what he stated in a preceding verse, that “God in her palaces is known for a fortress.” In making mention here of her _towers _and _walls, _we are not to suppose that he would have the minds of the faithful to rest in these things. He rather sets them before us as a mirror in which the character of God may be seen. He therefore says, _Encompass Zion _that is, look upon it carefully and attentively on every side_; _— _number her towers, and apply your mind to consider her walls; _that is, estimate her palaces as they deserve, and thus it will be manifest beyond all doubt that this is a city chose

8-14 We have here the improvement which the people of God are to make of his glorious and gracious appearances for them. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. Let our hope of the stability of the church be encouraged. Let our minds be filled with good thoughts of God. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us, must be traced to the fountain of His loving-kindness. Let us give to God the glory of the great things he has done for us. Let all the members of the church take comfort from what the Lord does for his church. Let us observe the beauty, strength, and safety of the church. Consider its strength; see it founded on Christ the Rock, fortified by the Divine power, guarded by Him who neither slumbers nor sleeps. See what precious ordinances are its palaces, what precious promises are its bulwarks, that you may be encouraged to join yourselves to it: and tell this to...

Verse Psalms 48:12. _WALK ABOUT ZION_] Consider the beauty and magnificence of the temple, count the towers by which it is fortified....

WALK ABOUT ZION - This is a call on all persons to go round the city; to take a survey of it; to see how beautiful and how strong it was - how it had escaped all danger, and was uninjured by the attempt to destroy it - how capable it was of resisting an attack. The word “walk” here means simply to go around or surround. The other word used has a more direct reference to a solemn procession. AND GO ROUND ABOUT HER - The word used here - from נקף _nâqaph_ - to fasten together, to join together, means to move round in a circle, as if persons joined together (see the notes at Job 1:5), and would refer here properly to a solemn procession moving round the city, and taking a deliberate survey of its entire circuit. TELL THE TOWERS THEREOF - That is, Take the

EXPOSITION HERE we have another psalm of thanksgiving for a deliverance, but not apparently for the same deliverance as gave occasion for either of the two preceding psalms. Israel had now been delivered from a confederacy of kings (Psalms 48:4), who had come within sight of the city, but had then been seized with panic, and retreated, without making an attack (Psalms 48:5). After this, pain had come upon them, and they had been "broken," like "ships of Tarshish with an east wind" (Psalms 48:6, Psalms 48:7). The deliverance had been celebrated by a thanksgiving service held in the temple ...

WALK ABOUT ZION, AND GO ROUND ABOUT HER,.... These words are either an address to the enemies of the church, sarcastically delivered; calling upon them to come, and surround, and besiege Zion, and see what the issue and consequence of it will he, even the same as that of the kings, Psalms 48:4; or to the builders of Zion, as Jarchi observes, to come and take a survey of it, and see what repairs were necessary; or rather to the saints, to the daughters of Judah before mentioned, to take a view of the strength and defence of the church, for their own comfort and encouragement, and to report the same to others for theirs also; for by walking around it may be observed the foundation, the rock and eminence on which it is built, Christ Jesus; the wall of it, the Lord himself, a wall of fire; the entrance into it, Christ the gate of righteousness; the fortress and strong hold of it the same; an...

Psalms 48:1. _Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge._ It was so with the literal Jerusalem; and it is so now with the Church of Christ, of which «the city of the great King» was a type. God still dwelleth among men; his Spirit abides with his people; and his Church stands securely upon the rock of his eternal purposes, evermore the same. Psalms 48:4. _For, lo, the kings were assembled,_ The adversaries, who boasted that they would destroy Jerusalem: «the kings were assembled,»...

Psalms 48 The Judgment of the Nations and the Millennium _ 1. Jerusalem the city of the King (Psalms 48:1)_ 2. The confederated nations scattered (Psalms 48:4) 3. The millennium (Psalms 48:8) Jerusalem is now seen as the city of the great King. His glorious throne will there be established, and Mount Zion becomes the joy of the whole earth. Psalms 48:4 show what preceded the coming of the King. The nations had come against Jerusalem (Zecharia

XLVIII. A PSALM WHICH DESCRIBES THE IMPRESSION MADE ON A PILGRIM BY HIS VISIT TO ZION. Psalms 48:1 f. Praise of Zion. SIDES OF THE NORTH is hard to comprehend. It has been explained as contrasting Zion, the true mountain of the North, with the Oriental Olympus (Isaiah 14:13). The text, however, does not even hint at any such contrast. Mount Zion did indeed occupy the NE. corner of Jerusalem, but what of that? It has been suggested that the pilgrim came from the extreme S. of Egypt. But even then he must have known that there were mountains far further N. Really the text is unintelligible and probably corrupt. PSALMS 48:3. God's protection of His own city. The poet is thinking of Sennacherib's fate (s