Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments.
Walk about Zion, and go around her. Number its towers.
Notice her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation.
Parallel Translations
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Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments.
Walk about Zion, and go around her. Number its towers.
Notice her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation.
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Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.
Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.
Show all 3 translations
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(48-12) Let mount Zion be glad, let the daughters of Judah rejoice, because of Thy judgments.
(48-13) Walk about Zion, and go round about her; count the towers thereof.
(48-14) Mark ye well her ramparts, traverse her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.
Cross-references (27)
- Psalms 97:8 (v11) Zion heard and was glad. The daughters of Judah rejoiced because of your judgments, Yahweh.
- Psalms 71:18 (v13) Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to…
- Psalms 122:7 (v13) Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.
- Revelation 18:20 (v11) “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”
- Revelation 15:4 (v11) Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your…
Show all 27 cross-references
- Revelation 16:5-7 (v11) I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have judged these things. For…
- Revelation 19:1-3 (v11) After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory…
- Deuteronomy 11:19 (v13) You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when…
- Psalms 78:4-6 (v13) We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds…
- Isaiah 33:18-20 (v12) Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers? You will no…
- Joel 1:3 (v13) Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation.
- Zechariah 9:9 (v11) Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation;…
- Matthew 24:1-2 (v12) Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. But he…
- Luke 23:28 (v11) But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
- Judges 5:31 (v11) “So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest…
- 2 Chronicles 20:26-27 (v11) On the fourth day, they assembled themselves in Beracah Valley, for there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore the name of that place was called…
- Nehemiah 12:31-40 (v12) Then I brought up the princes of Judah on the wall, and appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession. One went on…
- Psalms 58:10 (v11) The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
- Psalms 137:8-9 (v11) Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us. Happy shall he be, who takes and…
- Song of Solomon 1:5 (v11) I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar’s tents, like Solomon’s curtains.
- Song of Solomon 2:7 (v11) I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.
- Song of Solomon 3:5 (v11) I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up nor awaken love, until it so desires.
- Song of Solomon 5:16 (v11) His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 37:22 (v11) this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of…
- Isaiah 58:12 (v13) Those who will be of you will build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations. You will be called…
- Amos 9:11 (v13) In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it…
- Acts 15:14-16 (v13) Simeon has reported how God first visited the nations to take out of them a people for his name. This agrees with the words of the…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11 Mount Zion shall rejoice The Psalmist now concludes…
11 Mount Zion shall rejoice The Psalmist now concludes his exhortation to rejoicing, telling us that Jerusalem and the other cities of Judea shall have cause to commend the righteousness of God, because they had found from undoubted experience that he was the protector of their welfare. He here makes use of the word judgment, because God, who undertook the cause of his Church, openly showed that he was the enemy of her oppressors, and that he would repress their presumption and audacity.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Let Jerusalem and the cities of Judea rejoice, for…
Let Jerusalem and the cities of Judea rejoice, for thy just judgments against thine enemies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Psa 48:11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters…
Psa 48:11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.
Ver. 11. Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters, &c.] Let the Church catholic, and each particular member thereof: give God the glory of his justice, and see that their joy be spiritual.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Mount Zion; synecdochically put for Jerusalem. The daughters of…
Mount Zion; synecdochically put for Jerusalem. The daughters of Judah, i.e. the other and lesser cities and towns or villages (i.e. all the people) of Judah; for such are commonly called daughters in respect of the mother city, to which they are subjects: see Jos 15:45; 17:16; Psa 45:12; 137:8. He mentions Judah only, and not all Israel; partly because they were more immediately and eminently concerned in Jerusalem’s deliverance; and principally because ten of the tribes of Israel were now cut off from Jerusalem, and from the kingdom of David’s house, and possibly carried away captive, 2Ki 18:9-11.
Because of thy judgments upon thine and their enemies; at which they were glad, not simply, but because it was highly conducible to God’s honour, and to the preservation and enlargement of God’s church in the world.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Mark ye well her bulwarks,.... Such as the free…
Mark ye well her bulwarks,.... Such as the free favour of God in Christ; which is not only as a shield, but as a bulwark to the church; his everlasting love, electing grace, the covenant of grace, with its blessings and promises, all which are more immovable than rocks and mountains; and especially the power of God, which surrounds his church, as the mountains did Jerusalem; and by which they are kept and preserved as in a garrison, Psa 125:2. Also salvation by Christ; his righteousness, sacrifice, and satisfaction, which God has appointed for walls and bulwarks, and which make the city, the church, a strong and impregnable one, Isa 26:1. Likewise the Spirit of God, and his operations and influences, which are a standard against the enemy's flood of opposition and persecution; and who being in his church and people, is greater than he that is in the world, Isa 59:19, Jo1 4:4. Some render the words, set "your hearts on her strength", as the Vulgate Latin version; that is, on Christ, who is the strength of the poor and needy in their distress; the strength of their hearts, of their lives, and of their salvation, and the security of the church. Others readier them, "set your hearts on her armies"; as the Targum is; her volunteers, her soldiers, who endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ, fight the Lord's battles, and are more than conquerors through him; and a lovely sight it is to behold them, with Christ at the head of them; see Rev 19:14;
consider her palaces; for Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, have their dwelling places in Zion; and here, besides apostles, prophets, evangelists, and ordinary ministers of the word, who are rulers and officers set in the first place, every saint is a prince and a king; and has a place and a name here, better than that of sons and daughters of the greatest potentate on earth; every dwelling place in Mount Zion is a palace.
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that ye may tell it to the generation following: that is, the beauty and glory, strength and safety of the church; and even all that is spoken of her in this psalm, as well as what follows: this is the end proposed by taking a circuit round Zion, and making the above observations on it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Judgments - Upon thine and their enemies.
Judgments - Upon thine and their enemies.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Verse 11. Let Mount Zion rejoice] The temple is…
Verse 11. Let Mount Zion rejoice] The temple is restored in majesty, which was threatened with total destruction; it is again repaired.
Let the daughters of Judah be glad] That thou hast turned her captivity, and poured out thy judgments upon her oppressors.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Psa 48:11. Let mount Zion rejoice — That is,…
Psa 48:11. Let mount Zion rejoice — That is, Jerusalem; let the daughters of Judah — The other lesser cities, towns, and villages; be glad, because of thy judgments — Upon thy and their enemies. Let the mother city give an example of joy and thankfulness to all the smaller places, and to the whole kingdom, and let them unanimously join together, with the greatest gladness, to express how sensible they are of thy power and goodness in the wonderful deliverance granted them. Just so, “the church and all her children ought to rejoice with joy unspeakable, on account of the manifestation of divine power on her behalf against her enemies. Thus, at the fall of mystic Babylon, it is said, Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her, Rev 18:20.” — Horne.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Let mount Zion rejoice - Let Jerusalem, the holy…
Let mount Zion rejoice - Let Jerusalem, the holy city, rejoice or be glad. Mount Zion is evidently used here to designate the city; and the idea is, that the city of God - the holy city - had occasion for joy and gladness in view of the manifestation of the divine favor.
Let the daughters of Judah be glad - The phrase “daughters of Judah” “may” denote the smaller cities in the tribe of Judah, that surrounded Jerusalem as the “mother” city - in accordance with an usage quite common in the Hebrew Scriptures. See the notes at Isa 1:8. Perhaps, however, the more obvious interpretation is the correct one, as meaning that the women of Judah had special occasion to rejoice on account of their deliverance from so great danger, and from the horrors which usually attended the siege or the conquest of the city - the atrocities which commonly befall the female sex when a city is captured in war. The “daughters of Judah” are those descended from Judah, or connected with the tribe of Judah. Jerusalem was in the bounds of that tribe, and the name Judah was given to all those that remained after the removal of the ten tribes.
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Because of thy judgments - Thy righteous interposition in delivering the city and people.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11–12 the daughters, &c.--the small towns, or the people, with…
the daughters, &c.--the small towns, or the people, with the chief city, or rulers of the Church.
judgments--decisions and acts of right government.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v12 12, 13. Walk about Zion—The call is not in…
12, 13. Walk about Zion—The call is not in the spirit of boasting or self confidence, but of gratitude, that they may witness for themselves the unharmed condition of the city, despite the proud threats and malicious plans of the enemy.
Tell the towers… mark… her bulwarks—Count the towers, set your heart to the strongholds. The fortifications of Jerusalem were a marvel to the heathen, as the remains of them are to modern archaeologists. Ruins as old as the days of Solomon and of the first Herod are still traceable. They are seen in the foundations on the south and southwest of the temple, and in the “citadel” on the northwest corner of Zion, just south of the modern Jaffa gate. In this latter place the first forty feet of elevation of the principal tower is allowed to date as far back as Herod the Great, and was, probably, built upon foundations as old as David or Solomon. Rabbi Schwarz, (Pales., p. 273,) supposes this may be the “house of the heroes,” or the “corner of the armory house,” Neh_3:16-17. Tradition has given it the name of “tower, or fort, of David,” but without authority. See note on Psa_45:8. Various are the traces of massive, ancient fortifications in Ophel, Moriah, Zion, and the western and northern city walls, which modern discoveries have brought to light. Extensive excavations will do vastly more. But it is not to these physical strongholds, the terror of Zion’s enemies, to which the prophet would confine attention. These, to his eye, bore a higher significance as types and symbols of the surer defences of the living Church of God, in which sense the language of Psa_48:12-13, finds its true fulfilment. See the notes on Psa_48:14
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11, 13 11. The R.V. assimilates the rendering to that of…
11. The R.V. assimilates the rendering to that of Psa_97:8, where the same words recur:
Let mount Zion be glad,
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Let the daughters of Judah rejoice.
The daughters of Judah are not the maidens of Judah, though the fact that women were wont to celebrate victories with dance and song may have suggested the use of the expression, but the cities of Judah, which had been captured by Sennacherib (Isa_36:1), and therefore had special cause for rejoicing at his overthrow. Country towns are regarded as ‘daughters’ of the metropolis. Cp. Num_21:25; Jos_17:11; Jos_17:16; the word for towns in both cases literally means daughters.
12ff. The inhabitants of Jerusalem had been confined within its walls during the siege: now they can freely walk round, and thankfully contemplate the safety of the walls and towers and palaces so lately menaced with destruction. Cp. Isa_33:20.
tell] I.e. count, as in Psa_22:17; Gen_15:5. The retention of the archaism in R.V. is justifiable for the sake of the connexion with Psa_48:13, where the same word is used for tell = narrate. But lately the towers had been counted with a very different object by the Assyrian officers reconnoitring the city in preparation for the siege (Isa_33:18).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–13 (11) Daughters of Judah.—Not the maidens of Jerusalem, but…
(11) Daughters of Judah.—Not the maidens of Jerusalem, but the towns and villages of Judah.
Judgments.—Perhaps here, as in Psa_119:132, with prominent idea of God’s customary dealings with His people.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah…
Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad; i.e. let there be a chorus of joyful thanks over the length and breadth of the land, not only in Jerusalem, but in every city of Judah (Jos_15:45) equally. Because of thy judgments. Because thou hast vindicated thy people, and executed judgment on their enemies.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Ver. 11. Let mount Zion rejoice. As the first…
Ver. 11. Let mount Zion rejoice. As the first of the cities of Judah, and the main object of the enemies' attack, let her lead the song. Let the daughters of Judah be glad, let the smaller towns join the chorus, for they join in the common victory. Let the women, who fare worst in the havoc of war, be among the gladdest of the glad, now that the spoilers have fled. All the church, and each individual member, should rejoice in the Lord, and magnify his name. Because of thy judgments. The righteous acts of the Lord are legitimate subjects for joyful praise. However it may appear on earth, yet in heaven the eternal ruin of the wicked will be the theme of adoring song. Re 19:1, 3: "Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia, and her smoke rose up for ever and ever." Justice which to our poor optics now seems severe, will then be perceived to be perfectly consistent with God's name of love, and to be one of the brightest jewels of his crown.
None.
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Ver. 11.
1. The subjects of his peoples' joy. Not mercies merely, but judgments
2. Reasons:
1. Because they are holyneedful to the purity of moral government
2. Justneedful to vindicate law.
3. Goodneedful for the greatest amount of good.
Psalms 48:12*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell…
Psa_48:12-14
Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
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The love of Zion
So they revered the city on the hill. Their affections clustered round about its sacred courts. They loved the very tracks which led to it. Blessed is the man in whose heart are the highways to Zion. The beaten roads were trodden deep in their affections. The stones of the building were clothed in rich and mystic meaning. Thy servants take pleasure in her stones. A radiant history made worship eager, grateful and assured. We have heard with our ear, O God; our fathers have told us what work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old. The hoary pile was beautified with the association of the spiritual splendours of other days. They gloried in their heritage. Such was the sentiment of the olden days. The nation found its unity in its common love of Zion. There are now many Zions. The exaltation of one particular mountain has ceased. Spiritual affections no longer find their points of convergence in a lonely and isolated temple. To-day religion has many homes, but because of the many abiding-places the strength of the general fellowship need not be impoverished. The zealous reverence for particular faiths creates the religious atmosphere of a people. Here, then, is our own Zion. What is the significance of this building to the family which gathers within its walls? To an uncounted host the plain old pile is a dear and honoured home. The very stones are revered. They are the shrine of a sacred sentiment. Here our fathers met and prayed. Hero they had such visions of the Master as made them bold to confront the world. But it is not only that these stones are the shrine of a sacred sentiment; they are to many of you the house of a sacred experience. It was here you first saw the face of your Lord. It was here you were born again. I do not wonder that you love the old Zion. Every other place is a strange and unsuggesgive lodging: this house is your birthplace and your home. Tell the towers thereof! What are the towers of our faith? Here is the primary stronghold: Christ is the alone-exalted head of the Christian Church. No one shares His headship or pre-eminence. No one can claim a deputed sovereignty. There is only one throne, and to that throne we may all come boldly, and find grace and mercy in every time of need. Christ is the alone-exalted head of the Christian Church. That is one of the strong towers of our faith. Tell the towers thereof. Here is another of our strongholds: The Christian Church is constituted of Christian believers. The confines of a country do not mark the boundaries of a Church. Geographical measurements cannot delimit the magnitude of a Church. The Christian Church begins where Christian believers begin; it ends where they end. Tell the towers thereof. Here is a third of our strongholds: Every body of Christian believers enjoys the guiding presence of the Holy Ghost. He has called Himself the Spirit of Counsel and of Might, and as such will He stand revealed. Mark ye well her bulwarks! Yes, what are the bulwarks of our faith? What is the character of its walls? What is the nature of its defence? The defences of our faith are the resistance of its own redemptive grace. Spirituality is to be safeguarded by the spiritual. The bulwarks of a saving grace are to be found in the powers of its own salvation. Consider her palaces! Yes, we are not afraid to consider the home-life created and sustained by the forces of our faith. Consider her palaces, her dwellings, the family life which is nourished behind the ramparts of our faith. Can you conceive of any surer and firmer cement for the solidarity of a home than the immediate fellowship of each member with the Christ, in the common bond of the Holy Ghost? The palaces created by our faith, its family and its social life, are the abiding-places of the Eternal God. Walk about Zion, go round about her: tell the towers thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks: consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generations following. Is it worth the telling? Or shall we close the book and shelve the story? Can the twentieth century do without our faith? Is there no need for our towers, and our bulwarks, and our palaces? Have we a gospel which will redeem the coming man? Have we a faith which will sanctify the coming home? Have we a hope which will be directive and preservative of the purest elements in the State? Then let us proclaim it, and let us make provision for its proclamation. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
The unity of the Church
The walk about Zion is an examination of her position and extent; going round about her implies a complete view of the entire circumference of the holy city. Filling her towers is an examination of her resources; marking the strength of her bulwarks is to admire her stability; considering her palaces is to exalt and glorify the majesty of her internal state. The study of the external and internal condition of the Church fills the heart with rapture and the lips with praise. In figurative martial terms the psalmist celebrates the position, strength, glory and perpetuity of the Church. Based upon the eternal rock, it will stand until the long-groaning creation awakes to hear the Easter hymn that is to be sung in the Jubilee of the final Sabbath. The uppermost questions that now challenge the attention of the chief nations of the world are of and concerning the Church. Much is being said about organic unity, which is another thing than ecclesiastical unity. A forest may be a unit--that is, one forest, all its parts nursed on the same soil and under the same conditions of climate, but it is not an organic unit, for it contains twenty species of trees, all trees, indeed, but not the same in trunk, fibre or branches. They grow together, but they have each their own special development. When, therefore, we talk of organic unity among Protestants, let us remember that the unity of a common life does not imply the necessity of ecclesiastical consolidation. Still, various branches of the Evangelical Catholic Church are every day coming nearer toward one another. And they are coming in virtue of the assimilating force that is deeper than creeds, and deeper far than preferences for mere forms, whether of worship or of government. That force is defined in Holy Scripture as the Unity of the Spirit. And this is the only unity for which we need to pray or labour. To understand this unity, consider the meaning of three words.
I. Christianity. The Rationalist regards it as a system more or less divine which must needs be measured by human reason before it can bind the consciences of men. This low and inadequate view may be Protestant as against the superstitions of the Papacy, but it is not evangelical, inasmuch as it denies the infallibility of Scripture, the vicarious atonement of our Lord and its related doctrines. But Christianity is the complete revelation of the Divine will in the Scriptures. It is Christ revealing Himself to the human consciousness.
II. The church is one in historical transmission; and it is catholic, including all who fear God. Ecclesiastical arrangements are not of its essence, and do not interfere with its real unity, which is that of the Spirit. Rome has been fighting on a thousand battlefields to compel an external unity, but human nature will never submit to it. Such unity is but a dream, an ecclesiastical device.
III. Religion. This is to some--
1. An intellectual conception only. To others--
2. Feeling, rapture. To others--
3. A devout performance on the Lords day. But--
4. To the evangelist it is faith and holiness. (Elbert S. Porter, D. D.)
The beauty and strength of Zion
A diligent search into, and consideration of, the means and causes of the preservation and protection of the Church in the greatest dangers and difficulties, is a duty incumbent on us for our own support against sinful fears, and to enable us to that testimony which is required for future generations, to encourage them to trust in the Lord.
1. What is to be understood by the preservation and protection of the Church, so as we may look neither for less nor more than what we are like to meet with?
2. What is meant by searching into, and considering of, these causes and means of the Churchs preservation? Walk about Zion, tell her towers, set your heart to her bulwarks, consider her palaces, etc.
3. What are those causes and means of the Churchs preservation, those towers and bulwarks which will not fail, whenever Zerah or Sennacherib comes, or whatever attempts are made upon Zion?
4. What reason is there why we should thus search into and consider these causes of the Churchs preservation and protection?
5. What is the testimony which we have to give concerning this matter to the ensuing generation? That ye may declare it to the generation to come. (J. Owen, D. D.)
A view of national felicity, the cause of gratitude to God
I. The natural advantages of our situation.
1. Our soil is fertile, liberally rewarding the husbandman with grass for cattle, and herb for the use of man; with all the necessaries and many of the luxuries of life.
2. No country in the world is more sufficient for itself, or more independent of every other; while from innumerable ports we disperse our superfluities and the fruits of our industry to every nation under heaven.
3. Our climate is mild, temperate and salubrious. We are neither scorched by excess of heat, nor made torpid by intense cold.
4. Our people are hardy and vigorous; patient of toil; docile, generous and open; attached to their country; intrepid in war, industrious at home.
II. The excellence of our government.
1. Ye have personal liberty, which, as it cannot be taken from you without a crime, so neither can ye alienate it of yourselves but for a time, and upon such terms as still keep you under the protection of the laws, to guard you from abuse, and to secure your hire.
2. Ye have political liberty. Every man is allowed to declare his sentiments concerning the measures of government, and to animadvert on them in the most public manner.
3. Ye have religious liberty in a very eminent degree. Every man is allowed to hold his own creed, and to worship God in his own way.
III. The favour of providence. (J. Adamson, D. D.)
The Church of God
I. The church of God is our birthplace. Angels said, This man was born there.
II. The centre of our chief social attractions. Are not our grandest associations connected with the house of God? These are the men that are to stand by us in times of trouble. These are they who are to counsel us when we go astray. These are the men who are to carry us out to our last slumber when we have done with our earthly toil. Oh! I want to be surrounded by church friends, some to counsel me, some to encourage me, some to cheer me and strengthen me. I want to sit with them, and sing with them, and pray with them, and die with them.
III. The home of our children.
IV. A refuge. Seafaring men do not always expect smooth sailing. Neither ought we on the sea of life always expect to have smooth sailing. You have not always had it the way you wanted it in the past. You will not always have it the way you want it in the future. But when trouble came you went into the house of God and found it a refuge. You had your troubles explained to you.
V. Our monument. It seems a very silly thing to expend one or two or three thousand dollars on a tombstone. But that which you do for the Church of God is your eternal monument. It is a living memento.
VI. The gate of heaven. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The threefold glory of the Chureh
I. Her towers. These naturally represent the great truths that are lifted into prominence. There are some ten great truths curiously related and parts of one system. Five of them are like corner towers--the Being of God is central to all--then the doctrine of the Son, the Spirit, Man, and the Word of God. The intermediate connecting truths are the Mediation of Christ in Atonement, the Mediation of the Spirit in Regeneration, Justification by Faith, the Inspiration of the sacred writers, and the right of private study of Scripture. No one of these truths can be sacrificed without weakening the whole structure.
II. Her bulwarks. These as naturally represent the great barriers or defences of the Church, which act as restraints against wickedness and worldliness, serving both to keep in disciples and keep out evildoers. The Church has certain separating barriers which define her province and life, and restraining barriers which repel and restrain evil. No small part of the service of the Church in the world is found in the resistance to evil. What the dykes are to Holland the Church is to the community: it keeps out the flood of evil.
III. Her palaces. These suggest beauty, honour, delight, privilege, and may stand for all the privileges of the children of God.
1. Worship, with all the ordinances, sacraments, prayer, praise, etc.
2. Fellowship, both with God and saints.
3. Holy living and growing both in knowledge and grace.
4. Service to God and man. (Homiletic Review.)
The great city
Cities are prominent waymarks in human history. With them began the distribution of rights from the few to the many. Cincinnatus at his plough had his patriotism fed by voices from the city. Cities show us the most of man; they exhibit what life can be made; they fortify genius so that its power runs not to waste; and out of the struggles of commerce, the breadth of view concerning human relations to which commerce leads, has sprung the best thought of what is duo from man to man. When Henry the First--called The City Builder, gave to cities peculiar privileges to induce his people to congregate, unwittingly he laid the grand basis of opposition to the Feudal system, and the legal foundation of popular rights. The people united to ward off the attacks of the lords or barons; union gave strength; the limit of locality made them develop their resources; commerce, art and wealth increased within their walls; energy grew and multiplied; the people became wealthy, respectable, educated and refined; better laws and institutions were desired; and thus the principle of human rights, leading to political equality, was gradually developed. Towers and bulwarks, high walls and fortified castles, were the defences of old; to walk about an ancient city was to mark these things; and the great story that was carried down from one generation to another was of hugs walls and mighty gates--stories which we can hardly believe as we see the variety of these defences in the presence of modern arts of destruction. Then cities had to be set upon a hill, that no mountain might give the archers of the enemy a position of assault; or they must be reared, like Babylon and Palmyra, in the midst of a vast plain. But not so now. He who now walks about a great city to note its strength, its defences, its promises of superior greatness, does not mark down upon his map of survey walls, towers, bulwarks, palaces; for he looks into the character of homes, the intelligence and virtue of families, and he counts up schools and institutions of learning, benevolence, religion. Undazzled by all the glitter and show of wealth, unimpressed by the stately palaces, unmoved by the boasts of trade and commerce, and disregarding the growth of material prosperity that makes the grand exhibition of thronged streets and crowded marts--the river dotted with the white sails, amid which the floating vapour from the steam craft rises as incense, sending the thoughts out to sea and to the infinite, unimpressed, in his deepest nature, by all this, his great question is, How true is it that God and the Lamb have their thrones and servants here? How much is God the light of this city? How much of all this glory is as the costume of this oriental bride adorned for her husband, as we think of the city wedded to Christ? No interest of the city can be secured by deserting the Church or profaning the Sabbath. Religion is the patron of all good. She consecrates the child to God, that daily duty towards it may be more and better felt. She invokes a blessing in the school, and sanctifies education as the process of unfolding the mind, as the sun opens the flower, ripens the fruit, gives the seasons of the year. She comes to the workshop and to the lad at his apprenticeship everywhere, telling him labour is a great ordinance of God, and bids him aim to do well his task as a part of religious duty, assuring him that all effort or improvement has its relation to the moral culture and condition and prospects of the soul. Join the elements of duty thus presented, and we may be able to speak in Scripture language, with more than its original meaning, of the crowning City, whose merchants are princes, and whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth. The city will be great. To walk round about her will be to walk about Zion, and to find something worthy of telling to the generations springing up around us. God will be known in her palaces for a refuge. (H. Bacon.)
A walk about Zion
As the Jews were very proud of their temple, and greatly inclined to magnify themselves on account of it, we feel as if we could sympathize with them in their joy and admiration when we picture them walking about Zion literally, and marking the towers thereof; but it may not occur to us, when under this feeling, that we ourselves, as a nation, have a far more magnificent temple than even the Jews had, for we have part and portion in the great Christian temple of which Solomons was after all but the appointed type or symbol. The foundation of our Zion is not concealed. It is all before us in explict revelation, and the great master builder Himself thus brings it fully into view, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation. And, alluding to it still further, in telling believers on whom they rest, it is said of them that they are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. So close is the spiritual connection between Christ and believers. But we wish to show now that it is for the sake of the Church the world itself exists.
I. The importance to be attached to the towers and bulwarks of Zion, and the duty of all to help in maintaining them. The world is spared for the sake of the Church to be redeemed out of it, and the Church is to aid in gathering together the souls that shall be saved. How much, then, does the world owe to the Church, for it is only for her sake that it is preserved. As the Canaanites were for Israel, who should inherit their land.
II. All people in a Christian land, whatever their position, are under strict obligation to aid in tee building of Zion, Now, this duty is binding, not on private individuals only, but on men in their official capacities as kings, rulers and having authority. It would be strange if those who, by their position, could do most for this work, were free from obligation to do anything. All past history, as given in Scripture, contradicts those who would have no connection between the Church and the State. For kings and governments have helped the Church, have been commanded to do so, and been blessed for that which they have done. Then, my soul, come not thou into their secret. Who would separate what God has joined? (J. Allen.)
Mark well her bulwarks; consider ye her palaces.
Bulwarks and palaces
The psalm speaks of Jerusalem, the pride of the Jewish heart, and the boast of the Jewish glory. It is described from two points: from that of admiring friendship, and from continuous enmity. In this symbolical poem the kings are represented as enemies.
I. Bulwarks symbolize power and strength. I fail to discern any of the marks of decay and weakness with which the Church of God in our day is charged. Her towers are growing stronger, her glory more resplendent, her foes decrease, and her friends become more numerous. Some of the manifest emblems of power are--
1. Christian civilization. The very air men breathe is charged through and through with Christian thought.
2. The Bible, for it is a great source of power. One of the surest proofs of its power is the virulence of its enemies. Men would not attack a book which is a dead letter.
3. The vast accumulation of wealth, and the number of churches. These are signs of power. The value of Church property in our land is unparalleled, and increases greatly every year. There is not a single heathen temple in process of erection in the world. The Church gives hundreds of thousands a year for mission world. Her light flashes away up in frozen Greenland, in Central Africa and in Polynesia. Christ will be universal King.
II. Riches and glory are indicated by the palaces of Zion.
1. There is the palace of assurance--the doctrine of the witness of the Spirit. These need no witness of guilt--of that men are conscious. When pardon comes we have the witness of the Spirit that we are taken into the family of God.
2. The palace of Christian fellowship.
3. That of Divine communion. Zion with her towers, her bulwarks, her palaces, is the joy of the whole earth. Now she is the Church militant, but shall be soon the Church triumphant. (J. H. Bayliss, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11–12 Let Mount Zion be glad
Let Mount Zion be glad
The writer speaks of Mount Zion as if it were a person who could be glad. The phrase refers to the people who live in Jerusalem. AT: "Let those who live on Mount Zion be glad" (See: Personification and Metonymy)
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let the daughters of Judah rejoice
The writer speaks of the towns in Judah as if they were Judah's children. The phrase refers to the people who live in those towns. AT: "let the people who live in the cities of Judah rejoice" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
translationWords
Zion
Judah
joy
righteous
decree
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v12 48:12-13 towers . . . fortified walls . .…
48:12-13 towers . . . fortified walls . . . citadels: These structures provide a visual tour of Zion’s strength.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.