1Great 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 sides of
the north,
The city of the great King.
3God is in her palaces;
He is known as her refuge.
4For behold, the kings assembled,
They passed by together.
5They saw it, and so they marveled;
They were troubled, they
hastened away.
6Fear took hold of them there,
And pain, as of a woman in
birth pangs,
7As when You break the ships of Tarshish
With an east wind.
8As we have heard,
So we have seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts,
In the city of our God:
God will establish it forever. Selah
9We have thought, O God, on Your lovingkindness,
In the midst of Your temple.
10According to Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends
of the earth;
Your right hand is full of
righteousness.
11Let Mount Zion rejoice,
Let the daughters of Judah be
glad,
Because of Your judgments.
12Walk about Zion,
And go all around her.
Count her towers;
13Mark well her bulwarks;
Consider her palaces;
That you may tell it to the
generation following.
14For this is God, Our God
forever and ever;
He will be our guide Even to death.
Commentary
Vs.
1 “Great is the Lord,
and greatly to be praised
In the city of our God,
In His holy mountain.”
It is the Greatness of the Lord that captivates us. From His Wisdom, Power, Knowledge, Understanding and Might, to His Everlasting Lovingkindness and Mercies to all of His other attributes that one cannot list all here, nonetheless when we experience any of these in our lives we also want to greatly praise Him! And that is what takes place in the city of our God, (the New Jerusalem), In His holy mountain where all the peoples there will praise Him, for His deliverance and salvation of us all!
Vs. 2 “Beautiful in elevation,
The joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion on the sides of
the north,
The city of the great King.
The scene is utterly majestic as Jerusalem is now exalted above all as it has now become the joy of the whole earth as all peoples flock to it seeking her King. Thus, it is also described as Mount Zion on the sides of the north, that is it is now the true north register of the whole earth, thus not only is it the destination for the whole earth, but it is now the default marker for all truth and righteousness and justice for it is there that the Lord Jesus Christ now reigns as the great King!
Vs. 3-7 3God is in her palaces;
He is known as her refuge.
4For behold, the kings assembled,
They passed by together.
5They saw it, and so they marveled;
They were troubled, they
hastened away.
6Fear took hold of them there,
And pain, as of a woman in
birth pangs,
7As when You break the ships of Tarshish
With an east wind.
God then is the reigning King who now occupies her palaces, He is her refuge. Therefore, when the kings of the earth thought to overthrow it saw this they marvelled that He Himself was there to defend it, therefore they were troubled and they hastened away as fear took hold of them as a woman in birth pangs! Indeed, their fleeing and scrambling to get away was with such panic and fear that it is here described as when God Himself raises up an east wind which smashes the ships of Tarshish causing men to abandon ship and to flee for their lives!
Vs. 8 “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 it forever. Selah”
Now when God’s people see this they begin to recall how often they heard of God’s deliverance in ancient times of His people, but now as they have seen it unfold with their own eyes they with great delight now declare:
“In the city of the Lord
of hosts,
In the city of our God:
God will establish it forever. Selah”
Vs. 9-11 9We have thought, O God, on Your lovingkindness,
In the midst of Your temple.
10According to Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends
of the earth;
Your right hand is full of
righteousness.
11Let Mount Zion rejoice,
Let the daughters of Judah be
glad,
Because of Your judgments.
The reflection upon God's gracious and glorious works continues as God having saved His people once again now ushers in a time of reflection, worship and praise. In previous times God’s lovingkindness was meditated upon in the Temple, but now there is a declaration that according to His Name his praise is now heard even to the ends of the earth, as He has once again saved and delivered His people, for He indeed does righteousness and justice in the earth! Therefore, the call goes out to let all in Mount Zion rejoice and all the daughters of Judah be glad because of His judgments.
Vs. 12-14 12Walk about Zion,
And go all around her.
Count her towers;
13Mark well her bulwarks;
Consider her palaces;
That you may tell it to the
generation following.
14For this is God, Our God
forever and ever;
He will be our guide Even to death.
Though I have taken some liberties in applying this Psalm to the Millennial reign it has a place there, just as it has to the time when it was first penned. Therefore, do not think it, or my seeing it as exclusive to one or the other. For it foresees both. Versus twelve to fourteen then are words of great confidence in our Lord and Saviors deliverance of her. Thus, because of Him alone all the people now confidently now securely within Zion saying to one another to count all of her towers, to mark well her bulwarks (all her defenses), to consider her palaces, to tell it to the generations following,
“For this is God, Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide Even to death.”
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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