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Psalm 48

Psalm 48 celebrates God’s rule and protection of Zion, calling his people to pass that testimony to the next generation.

Worshipers praise God in Jerusalem, where assembled kings have fled in terror. The song, attributed to the sons of Korah, celebrates Mount Zion as the great King’s city and God as its refuge. The particular event behind the kings’ retreat is uncertain. In the temple, the singers reflect on God’s loving kindness, then call for a walk around the city’s defenses so the next generation can hear of the God who guards and guides his people.

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Read
1A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
2Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the north sides, the city of the great King.
3God has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge.
4For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together.
5They saw it, then they were amazed. They were dismayed. They hurried away.
6Trembling took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in travail.
7With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.
8As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of the LORD of Armies, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. Selah.
9We have thought about your loving kindness, God, in the middle of your temple.
10As is your name, God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness.
11Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments.
12Walk about Zion, and go around her. Number its towers.
13Notice her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation.
14For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to death.
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Key verses
Psalm 48:1The opening places God’s greatness at the center of the praise that surrounds his city and holy mountain.
Psalm 48:14The closing identifies Zion’s defender as the enduring God of his people, whose guidance reaches even to death.
Psalm 48:2Zion’s glory rests in its identity as the great King’s city, with a significance that reaches the whole earth.
Where this chapter reaches

Matthew shares the description of Jerusalem as the great King’s city, linking its identity to God’s rule. Isaiah and Revelation share Psalm 48’s imagery of Zion and the holy city, where God’s presence and reign shape the hope of his people.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What connection do you notice between the kings’ terror and the worshipers’ confidence in God?

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What would you want the next generation to hear about God, and what could you point to?

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Questions people ask about Psalm 48

What historical event is Psalm 48 about?

Psalm 48 describes kings assembling, seeing Zion, and fleeing in terror, but it names no king or battle. Its heading attributes the song to the sons of Korah without giving a date. Attempts to connect it with a particular deliverance of Jerusalem remain uncertain.

What does Psalm 48:14 mean by God guiding his people even to death?

In the supplied translation, the closing line expresses trust that God will guide his people to the end of life. It follows the call to tell the next generation about him. The verse joins God’s enduring relationship with his people to his guidance, without explaining what that guidance will look like.

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Psalms · 150 chapters
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What the Bible says about worship →What the Bible says about gratitude →What the Bible says about fear →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).