This psalm, along with the previous two psalms speak about the strength of God to help His people. Although no one really knows the background to this psalm, it’s possible that the historical setting could be the deliverance of Jerusalem from the attack of Sennacherib who was king of the Assyrians, 2 Kings 18-19 / Isaiah 36-37.
There are other commentators who believe that this is also speaking of the future Messianic kingdom, Hebrews 12:18-24.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Psalms 46-48, form a group of three which we may assign with little doubt to the reign of Hezekiah, when Sennacherib’s army was suddenly destroyed, 2 Kings 19:35. They all three strike the same note of gratitude, confidence and praise, which is found in Isaiah’s references to the same event, Isaiah 29-31 / Isaiah 33 / Isaiah 37’.
Although the headings aren’t inspired by God, they are important because they give us some understanding of the Psalm and they help us to see why it was written. The headings usually tell us four things.
1. Who wrote them, probably wrote them, or possibly wrote them.
2. Information about the historical background to the Psalm. Why it was written.
3. They tell us of the tune the Psalm was written to.
4. How it was used.
The heading tells us that this is a song. The sons of Korah were Levites, from the family of Kohath, who by the time of David, served in the musical aspect of the temple worship, 1 Chronicles 9:19 / 1 Chronicles 26:1 / 1 Chronicles 26:19 / 2 Chronicles 20:19. It was David who originally organised the temple singers, 1 Chronicles 15:17 / 1 Chronicles 16:41-42 / 1 Chronicles 25:4-5.
Korah is probably most famous for his role in the rebellion against Moses during the wilderness days of the Exodus, Numbers 16 / Jude 11. God judged Korah and his leaders and they all died, but the sons of Korah remained, Numbers 26:9-11. It’s possible they were so grateful for this mercy that they became prominent in Israel for praising God.
The psalmist begins by declaring that the Lord is great, Psalm 48:1, that is, He is all-powerful, powerful enough to defend His people. He is worthy to be praised, Psalm 48:1 / Psalm 47:5-9, because He saves His people.
The ‘city of God’ Psalm 48:1, is a reference to Jerusalem, Psalm 46:4 / Matthew 5:35. The city that was chosen by David as the capital of the southern kingdom, Judah. His ‘holy mountain’, Psalm 48:1, is a reference to Mount Moriah where the temple was built and its location was beautiful, Psalm 48:2.
Because it was a place of beauty and because of its strength, and because it was the place where God was worshipped, it was the source of joy for all the inhabitants of the earth Psalm 48:2. Mount Zion, Psalm 48:2, refers to the whole city of Jerusalem, Isaiah 2:2-3.
God is in her citadels, Psalm 48:3, that is, He is in the houses and places, He is their fortress, Psalm 48:3, that is, He is their refuge, Psalm 46:1, and security. The kings which are mentioned, Psalm 48:4, may refer to the time of Jehoshaphat, where the kings of Ammon and Moab and others, came up against Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 20:1 / 2 Chronicles 20:10.
There was an attack against the city, but when the attackers saw the beauty and strength of the city, they were astounded and fled in terror, Psalm 48:4-5 / 2 Kings 19:35-36 / 2 Chronicles 20:22-25.
These kings were overtaken by fear like a woman who is in labour, Psalm 48:6, that is, the worst kind of pain, Jeremiah 4:31 / Jeremiah 6:24 / Jeremiah 13:21 / Jeremiah 22:23 / Jeremiah 30:6 / Jeremiah 49:24 / Micah 4:9-10 / Isaiah 53:11.
God destroyed these kings ‘like ships of Tarshish shattered by an east wind’, Psalm 48:7 / 1 Kings 22:48 / 2 Chronicles 20:36-37 / Isaiah 2:16. The psalmist says that what God has done has been heard and seen in His city, Psalm 48:8 / Isaiah 1:24 / Psalm 24:10, by others. They declare that God will secure His city forever, Psalm 48:8. This is also an illusion of the establishment of Christ’s church, Matthew 16:18.
You may notice at the end of verse eight, some translations have the word, ‘selah’, although no one really knows what this word means, it’s likely it means to pause. It’s a time to stop and reflect upon what has just been said. We can almost imagine the psalmist pausing for a breath as they contemplate the greatness of God.
From within God’s temple, Psalm 48:9 / Psalm 5:7, God’s people meditate on His unfailing love, Psalm 48:9, that is, they contemplated what they had heard and seen themselves and from others, Psalm 48:8 / Philippians 4:4.
His unfailing love is like God’s Name, it will be praised throughout the earth, Psalm 48:10 / Isaiah 11:12 / Revelation 7:1. God’s right hand is filled with righteousness, Psalm 48:10, that is, everything which God did was just and right.
Mount Zion, Psalm 48:11, refers to Jerusalem and its inhabitants rejoice, whilst the villages or daughter of Judah, as some translations have it, are glad, Isaiah 1:8, because of God’s righteous judgments, Psalm 48:11.
The psalmist encourages the people to ‘walk about Zion’, Psalm 48:12, that is, as a group, Job 1:5, they were to walk around the city, and admire its beauty and strength, Psalm 48:12. As they walked around the city, they were to ‘count the towers’, Psalm 48:12 / Genesis 11:4-5 / 2 Chronicles 26:9-10 / Isaiah 2:15.
They were to ‘considers the cities ramparts’, Psalm 48:13, that is, they were to consider how well-fortified the city was, 2 Samuel 20:15 / Isaiah 26:1. They were to ‘view the citadels’, Psalm 48:13, or palaces, as some translations have it. That is, they were to look at the royal palaces which were often well fortified and well-guarded.
Because God had delivered the city from those who attacked the city, the message of this was to be told to everyone, especially the next generation, Psalm 48:13. Notice the psalmist tells us that ‘this God is our God for ever and ever’, Psalm 48:14.
Notice how personal God is to them. God is their God and always will be their God. The psalmist says that God will be their ‘guide even to the end’, Psalm 48:13. This implies that God will lead and guide them, not only for the rest of their lives but also in the life to come.
The psalmist called upon the people to meditate upon God’s unfailing love, which is a theme which runs through many of the psalms, Psalms 13:5 / Psalm 17:7 / Psalm 31:16 / Psalm 36:5 / Psalm 107:1 / Psalm 136:1.
There are times in our Christian lives when we don’t ‘feel’ loved by God, especially, after we have sinned against Him. The problem is our feelings can be very misleading, Proverbs 14:12, but when we take a moment to meditate upon His love for us, we begin to stop trusting our feelings and we start thinking about what we actually know as true.
We know that God is love, 1 John 4:8, we know that He loved us before we became Christians, John 3:16 / Romans 5:8. If God loved us so much before we became Christians, what makes us think He will love us less, now that we became Christians!
We may not always ‘feel’ God’s love for us in our lives but we have the assurance that nothing will separate us from His love, Romans 8:38–39. We have the assurance that He will forgive us our sins when we confess them to Him, 1 John 1:6-9.