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Psalm 48:2
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the north sides, the city of the great King.
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.
Notice
Mount Zion is praised for its height and beauty, yet the sentence ends with the one who gives the city its distinction: the great King.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you make of one city's being called “the joy of the whole earth”?
Write on thisHow does the name “the city of the great King” shape your reading of Zion's beauty?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 50:2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines out.Both psalms celebrate Zion's beauty and connect the place with God, its great King and the one who shines from it.
Matthew 5:35nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.Matthew uses the same title for Jerusalem that the psalm gives Zion: “the city of the great King.”
Hebrews 12:22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels,Both passages name Mount Zion as God's city; Hebrews speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Lamentations 2:15All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection …Lamentations repeats “the joy of the whole earth” within mockery of Jerusalem, turning the psalm's praise into a bitter question.
Psalm 101:8Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land, to cut off all the workers of iniquity from the LORD’s city.Both describe a city belonging to God; Psalm 48 celebrates its beauty, while Psalm 101 speaks of cutting wicked people off from it.
Song of Songs 6:4You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.Both texts praise Jerusalem's beauty; Song of Songs uses the city's loveliness to describe the beloved.
Ezekiel 20:6in that day I swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the …Both praise a place associated with God in expansive terms: Zion is earth's joy, and the promised land is the glory of all lands.
Daniel 11:16But he who comes against him will do according to his own will, and no one will stand before him. He will stand in the glorious land, and destruction will be …The shared thread is limited to a celebrated place: Zion's beauty in the psalm and the glorious land threatened with destruction in Daniel.
Isaiah 14:13You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north!Both mention a mountain and the north; Isaiah describes a speaker seeking an exalted throne, while the psalm honors God's city.
Ezekiel 16:13Thus you were decked with gold and silver. Your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered work. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You were …Both passages join beauty with royal status: Zion belongs to the great King, and Ezekiel's addressee prospers to royal estate.
Isaiah 66:10“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her;Both associate Jerusalem with joy; the psalm celebrates her, and Isaiah tells those who love and mourn her to rejoice.
Isaiah 60:15–20“Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one passed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.Both describe a place as a source of joy; Isaiah promises enduring joy where there has been rejection.
Where this verse fits
Praise and worship. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
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Encouragement
There is room in worship to delight in beauty. Here, delight in Zion's height and splendor leads to praise of God: the city belongs to the great King.
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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).