About this sermon
Psalm 48 praises the Lord, great in Mount Zion, the city of the great King, whom God has made known as a stronghold. Believers live in a dangerous world, and God promises to be their fortress in union with Christ. From Eden onward Scripture traces God’s purpose to dwell among his people, and in Christ his church is the living temple, the heavenly Mount Zion. The kings who came against Zion fled in panic, and God will guide his people until death.
Sermon transcript
This evening, as we continue to work our way through various psalms in the Book of Psalms, this evening we’re on Psalm 48. Psalm 48. Let us hear God’s holy word. This is entitled A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. in the city of our God, His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great king. God in her palaces has made himself known as a stronghold. For lo, the kings assembled themselves. They passed by together. They saw it. Then they were amazed. They were terrified. They fled in alarm. Panic seized them there. Anguish as of a woman in childbirth. With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God.
God will establish her forever. Selah. We have thought on your loving kindness, O God, in the midst of your temple. As is your name, O God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. walk about Zion and go around her, count her towers, consider her ramparts, go through her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation. For such is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us until death. Dear friends, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Amen. Please join me in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, once again, we ask that you would Open our eyes and our hearts to behold wondrous things from your word.
We pray for the illumination of your spirit, and we ask, Lord God, that your word would go forth in grace and power. We pray all of these things in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. The title of my sermon this evening is Yahweh is great. in Mount Zion. And remember, Yahweh is one of the names for God in the Bible. It is, in particular, the covenantal name for God. Whenever you see in an English translation the word Lord in all capital letters, that is the translators cluing you in to the fact that they are translating the Hebrew word Yahweh and the covenant name for God. There’s many key words to be listening for in my sermon this evening. If you find that to be helpful, Zion, king, city, dwelling, stronghold, covenant, praise, temple, and worship.
Well, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we live in a dangerous world, don’t we? That’s reflected in a number of the song selections that we sang this evening. We do live in a dangerous world. We live in a world that is filled with opposition to God and God’s people. As fallen creatures living in a fallen, sin-cursed world, Even as believers, we are vulnerable, frail, subject to potential harm. For we’re all subject to the effects of the common curse. Because of the dangers of living in this fallen world, we naturally long for a sense of safety, a sense of security, a sense of stability and protection. While our Heavenly Father does not give us any absolute guarantees in this present age that we will be shielded from all of the potential dangers and harms that threaten us as creatures subject to the common curse.
The Bible makes it very clear, friends, that in union, in spiritual saving union with the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit that we experience in Christ’s Church, our faithful covenant God promises to be our stronghold, our fortress. He promises also in his words to ultimately deliver us from all of his and our enemies, and he promises to make us impregnable from any ultimate spiritual harm. Our psalm for this evening reflects that ultimate protection that God promises for his people. For Yahweh, the Lord, our faithful covenant God, he is indeed a great king, as is revealed in verse 3 and throughout this passage. He is a great king who dwells among us in his holiness and who constitutes us in Christ as the great city of God, the heavenly Mount Zion.
As we read passages like this Zion psalm, this psalm of the son’s song of Zion in this passage, we are reminded of what the scriptures teach elsewhere throughout the scriptures about this theme of Mount Zion. I’m reminded, for example, of what the author of Hebrews writes under the inspiration of the Spirit in Hebrews 12 verses 22 to 24, where he reminds this suffering group of Christians that he’s writing to. He says, But you have come to Mount Sion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to myriads of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God, the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect and to Jesus. the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Dear friends, Yahweh, our God, is indeed great in Mount Zion. As I mentioned in our psalm for this Lord’s Day evening, we consider one of these songs of Zion. And this psalm, of course, has close thematic ties. to the two preceding Psalms, to Psalms 46 and 47. One commentator describes Psalm 48, our psalm for tonight, as, quote, a Zion hymn praising the holy city as the invincible dwelling place of God. Unconquerable, it is an apt symbol of God who has defeated all enemies. After seven epithets describing the city, and we read of those in verses 2 and 3, the psalm describes the victory by the divine warrior over hostile kings, as described in verses 4 through 8. The second half proclaims the dominion of God, of Zion, over all the earth in verses 9 through 12, and invites pilgrims to announce that God is eternally invincible, like Zion itself.
And one of the things that’s interesting about this psalm is the phrase, or the term, our God. Our God. This, as another commentator points out, the phrase our God appears as a frame in verses 1 and 14, and also as the thematic center of this psalm. For example, look at verse 1. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of what? The city of our God, His holy mountain. And then you skip down to the end. of this psalm in verse 14. For such is God, our God, forever and ever. And then at the center, the heart of this psalm in verse 8. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, God will establish her forever. This terminology reminds us of God’s promise in the covenant of grace.
What is the ultimate promise that God makes to us in his covenant of grace? He says, I will be God to you, I will be your God and you shall be my people. And of course, because of the saving work of Christ, that covenant is secured for us and we benefit from it. So with all of this in mind, as we as we work our way through this beautiful psalm this evening, we see, first of all, that God, that Yahweh, our God, is the great king who dwells among his covenant people. Yahweh, our God, is the great king who dwells among his covenant people. The psalm begins, Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. It is because God is great. He is awesome. He is glorious. He is majestic because Yahweh is great.
He is greatly to be praised. But notice he is to be praised. Of course, he’s to be praised out in the world. He’s to be praised everywhere. He reveals himself. But he is to be praised in the city of our God, his holy mountain. This language of the city of our God, the holy mountain of God, what is this referring to? Verse one, we read of the city of our God. Verse two, this city of God is described as the city of the great king, the city of the great king. It’s also described as his holy mountain and as Mount Zion. What is this referring to? Well, in the original context, the original setting of this psalm, the psalmist is no doubt referring to the temple and the mountain on which the temple was built, the Temple Mount.
And in this temple was a symbol of God’s palace or palaces. As it says in verse three, God in her palaces has made himself known as a stronghold. God’s palaces. This is referring to, this is a symbol of the royal dwelling place of God among his covenant people. That’s what the temple indicated. God’s royal dwelling in the midst of his covenant people. But remember, friends, that the tabernacle and later on the temple under the old covenant, what do they ultimately point to? What do they ultimately symbolize and signify? They point forward to Jesus Christ, for Christ is revealed in scripture to be the living divine temple. And not only that, in spiritual and saving union with Christ, it points to his people as the living temple in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, his church.
We’re all familiar, I imagine, with that beautiful prologue of John’s Gospel, John 1, verse 1 through 14. In the beginning was the Word, the Logos, And the word was with God and the word was God. That’s referring to Christ with respect to his divine nature, that he is one one in divine essence and being with the father and the Holy Spirit in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, meaning God, the father and the word was God. Jesus is God. But then if you go down to verse 14 in that passage and the word became flesh, and dwelt among us. He pitched his tent. He tabernacled among us. And in doing so, he fulfilled the tabernacle and temple imagery. Jesus Christ is the ultimate living temple on the holy mountain of the Lord.
But in Christ, the church, too, is a living temple. The number of passages of the New Testament that that we are reminded of when we consider this theme. For example, Ephesians 2 verses, and I’m just going to take you to a couple passages as we compare scripture with scripture. But if you look to Ephesians chapter 2, look at verses 19 through 21, where the apostle Paul is speaking of the church and he’s addressing in this particular passage, he’s addressing Gentile believers and he’s telling them that they’re no longer strangers from the covenant promises of God, from the covenant people of God. He says, So then you, you Gentile Christians, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into what?
A holy temple in the Lord. When we read passages like our psalm for this evening, we need to read it redemptive. Historically, we need to read it with a view to where does this where is this ultimately and how is this ultimately fulfilled? Well, it’s ultimately fulfilled in Christ and in his church. And then if you one more passage in the New Testament, consider what the Apostle Peter writes in first Peter, chapter two, verses four and five, first Peter two, four and five. We read these words. And coming to him, coming to Christ as to a living stone, there Jesus is described as a living stone, coming to him as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God. You also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.
That’s a temple dwelling. A spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice is acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So ultimately, beloved, we who are in Christ, we are the living temple of the Lord. We are Mount Zion. Because we are in union with Christ. Now, if you’re attentive in your studies of scripture, if you’re an attentive and diligent student of God’s word, the Bible, You will notice that a major theme that is revealed in scripture, a major theme that is interwoven throughout the scriptures, is the theme of God reestablishing his holy dwelling among humanity. God’s original royal palace, if you will, his royal dwelling amongst humanity was Eden. The Garden of Eden was God’s original holy garden temple dwelling among his image bearers, Adam and Eve. It was the place where God’s holy presence dwelt among them, and they were able to dwell directly in his presence because they were holy.
God created mankind, as our shorter catechism says. God created man, male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. Sadly, Adam and Eve did not remain in that original state. They fell into sin. They disobeyed. God’s command not to eat of the forbidden fruit. And so what does God do? He casts them out of Eden. He exiles them. When they fell into sin and were kicked out of Eden, humanity was exiled from the safety and security of the city of God, thrust out into the dangers and threats of the world outside of Eden. And so the history of redemption, beloved, is the history of God re-establishing his holy temple dwelling, his royal residence amongst mankind. This restoration of God’s dwelling among humanity was foreshadowed in the Old Covenant through the tabernacle and the temple.
And that’s why the Old Testament, you know, if you read through the Old Testament, it places a lot of emphasis on the temple and the structure of the temple and the furnishings of the temple and so forth. From our 21st century perspective, we read passages like that and we think, what’s going on here? Well, again, what is going on there is God is symbolizing and pointing us forward to Christ. God is saying, I am going to reestablish Eden. I’m going to reestablish my dwelling, my holy dwelling among humanity, my image bearers. And that’s what’s going on in the history of redemption. The tabernacle and temple under the old covenant pointed forward to the ultimate fulfillment of that reestablishment of God’s dwelling place. And that takes place in Christ, the word made flesh who came to dwell in our midst.
This restoration of God’s dwelling among humanity was again ultimately accomplished through the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is experienced by faith and in the fellowship of the spirit that is found in what our passage describes as the city of God. which ultimately that is referring to Christ’s body, his church. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of God, the city of our God, his holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, we are told, the joy of the whole earth. Now let’s pause there, going back to our passage and looking at verse two. Notice how Mount Zion is described here. It is described as beautiful in elevation, as the joy of the whole earth. But if you know anything about the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, it’s very modest in elevation as compared to other hills and mountains in the area, even in the region.
Dr. Van Gemeren says the beauty and joy are not inherent in Mount Zion because it is surrounded by higher mountains offering a better panoramic view. So what’s the psalmist talking about here when he describes this to the physical eyes of the flesh, a rather modest mountain elevation. Well, he goes on to say that the godly looked on the city, mountain and temple as symbols of God’s presence with his people. And therefore, the psalmist uses the geographical spatial references to express the joy of God’s people with the blessed presence of God. You see, in the tabernacle and the temple in Old Testament times, and here the focus is on the temple, the Temple Mount, all of these things were symbols to God’s people at that time of God’s dwelling in their midst. And God did indeed dwell in a special way on the Temple Mount.
And that was the place, by the way, of sacrifice. The temple was the place where atoning sacrifices were were offered, sacrifices which pointed forward to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. And the point here is that the psalmist’s focus in verse 2 is not on the literal elevation of Mount Zion, for again, other mountains were higher in elevation, more majestic in terms of physical elevation. Rather, the psalmist is giving a spiritual and redemptive historical perspective from a spiritual and religious standpoint, Mount Zion and what it represents is far, far greater than even the loftiest mountain in terms of physical elevation. And the psalmist uses some interesting language here. He says, beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion in the far north. Now, some of your translations may read beyond Zaphon.
In fact, that is its literal translation. As one commentator points out, he says regarding beyond Zaphon, that’s the literal translation. He says, this is not a reference to Jerusalem, but to a mountain often described in Canaanite texts as the dwelling place of their gods. He goes on to say, Yahweh is described in terms used by the neighboring religions to show that all praise really belongs to the true God. Praise to other gods is in vain because they do not. In other words, in this terminology that the psalmist is using here, there is a subtle anti-polytheistic polemic going on. The psalmist is subtly jabbing, taking jabs against the false gods and false religions of Israel’s pagan nation, neighbors, when he says that beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion in the far north.
He’s basically subtly saying there, It’s not these other gods, it is the true and living God who indeed is to be worshipped and who dwells in the midst of his people. And then he goes on to say, God in her palaces has made himself known as a stronghold. God has made himself known as a stronghold. Some of your translations say as a fortress. As the old covenant people of God walked about Mount Zion, they walked about the Temple Mount and they looked at the temple and they considered what these things signified. Their thoughts were to turn to God himself and God’s royal dwelling in their midst. What a privilege it was and what a privilege it is to have God dwell in their midst, in our midst. He dwells in our midst through Christ and by his Spirit.
And he dwelt among them. And the symbol of that was the Temple and the Temple Mount, Mount Zion. And this reminded them that God was their fortress. God was their protector. Now, the people of God in Old Testament times, the Jews sometimes adopted sort of a superstitious view, a view that, well, we’ve got the Temple in our midst and that’s our security. They trusted in the temple rather than in that which the temple pointed to. The strength of Mount Zion, the beautiful elevation of Mount Zion, the Temple Mount, was a symbol of God’s dwelling in their midst. These symbols were meant to point to the spiritual reality of God himself reestablishing his royal, holy dwelling in the midst of his sinful people. And the reason he could do that was because he himself provided atonement for their sins, as was signified in the sacrifices and ultimately fulfilled, of course, in Christ and his sacrifice for our sins.
Now, as we go on in this in this passage for this evening, we notice next that Yahweh, the great king, secures the city of God against its enemies. Yahweh, the Great King, secures the city of God against its enemies. And in verses 4 through 8, these verses reflect a situation where the city was attacked by foreign adversaries, perhaps a group of kings that came against the city, but were defeated because of God’s presence with His people. And so, the psalmist reminds his readers, he says, for Lo, The kings assembled themselves. What particular historical situation is he referring to? Some have suggested this has reference to what happened when Sennacherib tried to threaten the city of Jerusalem and so forth. We don’t know what exactly, what the historical circumstances were particularly, but the psalmist reminds the people of God that God has defended this city in the past.
We can rely upon him. He says, for lo, the kings assembled themselves. They passed by together. They saw it. Then they were amazed. They were terrified. They fled in alarm. Panic seized them there. Anguish as of a woman in childbirth. In other words, this terror suddenly came upon them. It’s one of the things that God did when he went with his people. He caused their enemies to fear before them. and the language of anguish as of a woman in childbirth reflects the suddenness of this anguish, the suddenness of this fear, this panic, this God-given panic that was poured out upon these enemies of God’s people. And then, with the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish. The ships of Tarshish were well-built, sturdy, seafaring ships that were able to go long distances in the Mediterranean.
Some have suggested that these were perhaps ships built and used by the Phoenicians built in what is now Spain. But whatever the case may be, God sends an east wind and breaks even the ships of Tarshish, these mighty, sturdy ships. And then he goes on to say in verse eight, As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, God will establish her. forever. We have heard, we have heard, and now we have seen. He’s saying we’ve heard, we’ve heard the stories about how God was with our forefathers, how he delivered Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans, how he delivered Israel out of slavery in Egypt. We’ve heard all of the stories of God’s mighty works for his people in the past, but now we have seen it.
We’ve seen it with God defending his city against these kings that had assembled themselves for the destruction of the city. And what does this lead to? It leads to the conclusion God will establish her forever. Now what is the takeaway for us living today under the new covenant? Obviously God did in redemptive history allow the temple to be eventually overrun because of the people’s unfaithfulness and breaking of the covenant. God did ultimately exile them from the land. and sent them into exile, just as he had sent Adam and Eve into exile, so he sent his people Israel into exile to the east. But God will establish her forever in the spiritual sense, in the sense that we are secure in Christ. The city of God will not be ultimately defeated because the city of God is the people of God, the people among whom God dwells. with his royal, covenantal, holy presence.
And this is all made possible because of God’s loving kindness, his covenant love for his people. And this brings me to my final point. As we look at briefly at verses nine through 14, we see that God’s people rejoice in their corporate worship as they contemplate the covenant love of God. Verse nine, we have thought on your loving kindness, O God. Your loving kindness, some translations say your steadfast love. I believe this is referring to God’s covenant love, his love by which he binds himself in mercy and grace to his people. We have fought on your loving kindness, O God. And when and where have they fought on his loving kindness? In the midst of your temple, your temple, this symbol of God’s holy royal presence in the midst of his people. And then it goes on to say in verse 10, as is your name, O God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is full of righteousness. What is the context here? What is the setting here? It is clear. It would seem to be clear from verse nine that the setting here is corporate worship. God’s people had experienced God’s deliverance from a military adversary that threatened of a city of God that threatened the temple mount. God had delivered them and had established once again, shown himself to be the stronghold, the fortress of his people. And so they think on, they reflect upon God’s mighty works for them as they reflect upon his steadfast love, his loving kindness in the midst of your temple, in the midst of their worship as they are in God’s holy presence there in the temple. As is your name, O God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is full of righteousness. God has demonstrated his righteousness in delivering his people from their enemies and indeed securing Mount Zion. And so the conclusion is, let Mount Zion be glad. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. Walk about Zion. Go around her. Count her towers. Consider her ramparts. Go through her palaces. that you may tell it to the next generation.” And here the psalmist is urging these believers, living as they do in the Old Covenant context, to tell the next generation what these things mean, what this temple means, what is the significance of Mount Zion, what is the significance of the towers and the ramparts and all of the setting there. on Mount Zion. It points to the reality of God. For such is God, our God forever and ever.
He will guide us until death. My friends, in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit, as one commentator puts it, the true Mount Zion is a heavenly reality that is known in the earthly assembly of the saints. Again, In Christ and through the Holy Spirit, the true Mount Zion is the heavenly reality that is known in the earthly assembly of the saints. In other words, beloved, we who belong to Christ, we are the city of God, not because we are more worthy or more righteous than our unbelieving neighbors. No, we are sinners saved by grace. Remember, in Old Testament times when when God went to dwell among his people, He had to warn them to let no unclean thing enter the camp where the Lord’s special royal presence, his saving presence would be, lest his wrath be poured upon them.
But Christ has taken the wrath of God upon himself on the cross. Christ has fulfilled all of that symbolism, for he is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin. And therefore, because of Christ’s obedience and sacrifice God’s presence, his holy royal presence, once again can dwell in the midst of his image bearers, and even in the midst of sinful image bearers like us, because Christ has taken our sin upon himself and clothed us in his perfect, everlasting righteousness. Beloved, we who belong to Christ, we are the city of God. God does dwell in our midst, and we experience that especially in holy worship. When we gather for worship, we don’t just gather to hear some guy flap his jaws about the Bible. We don’t just gather to sing some hymns. We gather into the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Indeed, he comes to dwell in our midst. He is present in Christ and through the Holy Spirit. As we gather in the name of Christ, and that’s why we gather around his word to hear it read and proclaimed. That is why we gather to offer him our praises and our prayers and our adoration. That is why we confess and reaffirm our faith in him. We do these things because he is here by his spirit. We experience that through the word and in the context, especially of corporate worship. And dear listener, this side of glory, we experience this reality of God dwelling in our midst again, especially in the context of corporate worship and the fellowship of the church. Indeed, the spirit does dwell in us as individuals, and we do experience his presence individually in the Lord as we worship him and commune with him.
But he especially is present with us as we are gathered in holy worship, for we have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem. And we have come to these spiritual heavenly realities in and through Christ. Christ is our divine warrior. He has defeated all of his and our enemies. He did so by dying for us and rising victorious from the dead. He intercedes for us at the father’s right hand. And therefore, he is great. Yahweh, our Lord, is great on Mount Zion. We can say with the psalmist, greatest the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, his holy mountain. And that he has made himself known as a stronghold. God in Christ is our stronghold. He is our fortress. He is our refuge. And though, again, we still live in a dangerous, sin-cursed world, we still feel the effects of living in this fallen, sin-cursed world.
Let us be assured. that God is our fortress. He is our strength. He has come to dwell in our midst. He is the great king over all the earth. And we are the city in Christ. We are the city of the great king. So let us rest in him. Amen. Let us pray. Great God and Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for the truth of your word. We thank you for the presence of your spirit with us. We thank you that you are our stronghold, our refuge. Lord, we need safety. We need security. We need strength. Lord, we thank you that you have promised to guard us and to guide us even until death. We pray that the truth that we’ve considered this evening might find a powerful lodging place in our souls and bear much spiritual fruit in our lives that brings glory to your name.
May we be comforted and challenged and encouraged and blessed by these truths. In Jesus name we pray, and all of God’s people said, Amen.
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