12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: count the towers thereof;
And I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great choirs and processions, on the right hand upon the wall towards the dung-gate. And after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, Judah and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, and [certain] of the priests' sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph; and his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azareel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe before them. And at the fountain-gate, and over against them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even to the water-gate eastward. And the second choir went in the opposite direction upon the wall, and I after them, and the half of the people, from beyond the tower of the furnaces even to the broad wall; and from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the gate of the old [wall], and above the fish-gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even to the sheep-gate; and they stood still in the prison-gate. And both choirs stood in the house of God, and I, and the half of the rulers with me;
Thy heart shall meditate on terror: Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers? Thou shalt no more see the fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst comprehend, of a stammering tongue that cannot be understood. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be pulled up, neither shall any of its cords be broken;
And Jesus went forth and went away from the temple, and his disciples came to [him] to point out to him the buildings of the temple. And he answering said to them, Do ye not see all these things? Verily I say to you, Not a stone shall be left here upon a stone which shall not be thrown down.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 48
Commentary on Psalms 48 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 48
This psalm, as the two former, is a triumphant song; some think it was penned on occasion of Jehoshaphat's victory (2 Chr. 20), others of Sennacherib's defeat, when his army laid siege to Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time; but, for aught I know, it might be penned by David upon occasion of some eminent victory obtained in his time; yet not so calculated for that but that it might serve any other similar occasion in aftertimes, and be applicable also to the glories of the gospel church, of which Jerusalem was a type, especially when it shall come to be a church triumphant, the "heavenly Jerusalem' (Heb. 12:22), "the Jerusalem which is above,' Gal. 4:26. Jerusalem is here praised,
In singing this psalm we must be affected with the privilege we have as members of the gospel church, and must express and excite our sincere good-will to all its interests.
A song and psalm for the sons of Korah.
Psa 48:1-7
The psalmist is designing to praise Jerusalem and to set forth the grandeur of that city; but he begins with the praises of God and his greatness (v. 1), and ends with the praises of God and his goodness, v. 14. For, whatever is the subject of our praises, God must be both the Alpha and Omega of them. And, particularly, whatever is said to the honour of the church must redound to the honour of the church's God.
What is here said to the honour of Jerusalem is,
Psa 48:8-14
We have here the good use and improvement which the people of God are taught to make of his late glorious and gracious appearances for them against their enemies, that they might work for their good.