The City Of The Great King
Psalms 48
September 8, 2019
Tonight we come to the 48th Psalm and I am inclined to agree with
Those who see Psalms 46, 47, and 48 as sort of a trilogy.
In Psalms 46 we ESTABLISHED GOD’S PRESENCE
The Psalmist set out to make sure that we understood the great benefit of the presence of God.
Psalms 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”
Psalms 46:7 “The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.”
Psalms 46:10-11 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.”
He wanted us to understand the very real benefit of the presence of God.
And so we took away from that chapter
A great AWARENESS of the presence of God.
In Psalms 47 we EXALTED GOD’S PRESENCE
The Psalmist carried us with prophetic eyes to the day when God is not only King in Jerusalem, but King over the whole earth.
Psalms 47:2-3 “For the LORD Most High is to be feared, A great King over all the earth. He subdues peoples under us And nations under our feet.”
And the mood of the day was that of ANTICIPATION
We rejoiced in the reality that one day our God
Will reign over all the earth and everyone will exalt Him.
So in Psalms 46 we Established God’s Presence in Awareness.
In Psalms 47 we Exalted God’s Presence in Anticipation.
And now we come to the final leg of the trilogy.
It is Psalms 48 where we ENJOY GOD’S PRESENCE IN ASSURANCE
That’s what Psalms 48 is all about.
It is about the enjoyment and necessity of the presence of God.
It is the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem rejoicing
In the fact that their city is home to the great King.
Psalms 132:13-14 “For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.”
A lot of cities may boast a lot of attractions or benefits,
But none ever boasted of one like Jerusalem had.
They enjoyed in their midst the very presence of the God of the Universe.
This is a Psalm that tours the great city
And quickly comes to a recognition that its chief value is God.
And laying here for us is such an important message.
It is the reminder that the presence of God
Is our only security and attraction as well.
Even as we take inventory of the things we possess,
• Whether they be programs or buildings or savings accounts or ministries,
• None of them really mean anything apart from the presence of God.
So let’s work our way through this Psalm tonight as we see the sons of Korah enjoying the presence of God and the benefits He brings.
They begin with or Psalmist on his way to the Holy City
That he might worship God.
Perhaps we would see these first 3 verses as the chorus of the song.
(1-3) “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.”
The opening declaration is obvious and fitting.
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,”
Later in verse 10 the Psalmist will say, “As is Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth.”
And that is certainly worth acknowledging.
• We ascribe greatness to God through the quality of the praise we bring.
• If God is great, then His praise should be great.
• If God’s name is great, then His worship should be great.
Jesus made it clear to the woman at the well:
John 4:23-24 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
I heard John MacArthur say it, but it was a point that stuck; that “When we gather to worship there is really only one seeker in the house.”
That seeker is the Father who is seeking true worshipers.
True worshipers are those who “worship in spirit and truth”
Their worship isn’t purely emotional, it is grounded in doctrine and theology and the depths of the understanding of God.
And their worship isn’t purely doctrinal, it is sung with a joyful heart and eager lips and there is much excitement and gratitude there.
God seeks those who bring both.
A true understanding of who He is,
And a pure emotional rejoicing in that understanding.
God certainly deserves nothing less.
THE PSALMIST DECLARES THAT AT THE BEGINNING.
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,”
And the Psalmist tells us where the LOCATION of this worship is to occur.
“In the city of our God, His holy mountain.”
So when you enter this city, and you ascend this temple mount,
Then know for what purpose you come.
• Come here not for business…
• Come here not to turn a prophet…
• Come here not to exalt yourself or improve your fame…
Enter this city for the purpose of greatly praising our great God.
Psalms 100:4 “Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.”
This is the call of the Psalmist in the chorus of this song.
And as he enters, you can hear the delight of his soul.
(2) “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great King.”
This is just the generic praise of his heart
As takes in all that is around him.
• He approaches the city which was an ascent; a climb and as he climbs he marvels at the beauty of her elevation.
• As he examines the glory of the city he recognizes that in this city is the source of “joy of the whole earth”
• He sees at the northern part of the city sits Mt. Zion which holds the temple mount and his joy takes on a whole new feel as he realizes that this is far more than just a beautiful city.
This is “the city of the great King.”
Can you feel his excitement?
Can you sense his joy and enthusiasm?
• This is NOT a man who resented having to travel up to the city.
• This is NOT a man who reluctantly was pulled away from his worldly business to go and attend worship.
This is a man who eagerly came to worship God in Spirit and in truth.
And we could stop there and spend a moment in inward reflection
In regard to our own attitudes for worship.
We have seen far too many times in Scripture
How little God enjoyed the false worship of ungrateful worshipers.
To the hypocrites of Isaiah 1 God said:
Isaiah 1:14 “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.”
To the legalists of Psalms 50 who were caught up in traditional ritual God said:
Psalms 50:13-14 “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats? “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High;”
To the apathetic of Malachi 1 who thought sacrificing was too much trouble God said:
Malachi 1:10 “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you.”
You get the point, God is seeking eager worshipers who desire to gather and worship Him in Spirit and truth.
At the very least we can see that this man is such a worshiper.
But even in his generic worship,
He focuses in on one particular truth
That fuels the remainder of the Psalm.
And that truth is found in verse 3
“God, in her palaces, Has made Himself known as a stronghold.”
No doubt there are many great truths
That the Psalmist could focus on for the heart of this song.
He even alludes to some others.
• (9) “We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God”
• (10c) “Your right hand is full of righteousness”
He could have written an entire song on those attributes too.
BUT TODAY, as he enters the city
And begins to contemplate the greatness of God,
THE ONE TRUTH that has captivated him is that
God has so defended this city that He has actually earned a reputation.
He “has made Himself known as a stronghold”
That is to say, God has so defended this city
That people know not to mess with this city because God is here.
And at this point the Psalmist begins to reminisce.
In his mind he goes to a former battle.
Most commentators have it narrowed down to 1 of 2 battles.
• Most either reference the day when the Moabites and Ammonites teamed up to
war against Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20.
• Or they reference when Sennacherib from Assyria attacked Jerusalem under
the reign of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18.
It may have been that the Psalmist had both events in view
As he is just remembering the great deliverance of God of this city.
I do think, if we wanted to make a case however,
I’d go with the story of 2 Chronicles 20.
But let’s look at it for a moment to at least get a reference of at least one time when God did defend this city.
TURN TO: 2 Chronicles 20
(READ 1-4)
• There’s the context, the Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites all teamed up to try and come topple Jerusalem.
• When Jehoshaphat heard he was afraid and he turned to seek God.
And one of the points to be gleaned here is that
Seeking God was very convenient
Since God’s temple was right there in the city.
And then Jehoshaphat offers one of the great prayers of Scripture. It is certainly worth reading:
(READ 5-12)
• If you keep reading you will find that in response to Jehoshaphat’s prayer God sent Jahaziel with a word to Jehoshaphat that he should not be afraid for God was going to deliver him.
And that deliverance is seen:
(READ 22-24)
• So God delivered.
• He totally defended his city.
And that certainly fits what the Psalmist says in verse 4
(4) “For, lo, the kings assembled themselves, They passed by together.”
They all showed up to fight, but they would have no victory.
Spurgeon said they had veni, vidi, but no vici.
They came, they saw, but they did not conquer.
On top of that, the defeat at the hands of God was so severe that it sent a ripple effect throughout the other nations.
(READ 29-30)
Other nations heard of the great defeat
And they wanted nothing to do with Israel’s God.
And perhaps this is what the Psalmist referenced when he wrote:
(5-6) “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.”
Maybe that is exactly what the Psalmist is remembering on this day
When he attended the city of God for worship.
But then we find a rather obscure verse that almost seems out of place.
(7) “With the east wind You break the ships of Tarshish.”
That is a somewhat peculiar verse, however,
There is a reference to this very thing happening.
• If you continue following the story of Jehoshaphat you will find that although he had great faith he was also a man who too easily compromised with the wicked.
• First in 2 Chronicles 18 Jehoshaphat allied himself by marriage to King Ahab of Israel and that got him in a war he had no business being in.
And the Lord rebuked him for that.
2 Chronicles 19:2 “Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD and so bring wrath on yourself from the LORD?”
But it seems Jehoshaphat did not learn his lesson fully.
• Because after the event of this great deliverance we read at the end of 2 Chronicles 20 that Jehoshaphat again made an unwise allegiance.
2 Chronicles 20:35-37 “After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly in so doing. So he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” So the ships were broken and could not go to Tarshish.”
Now, I don’t know if that’s the event that the Psalmist is talking about
In 48:7 when he says,
“With the east wind You break the ships of Tarshish” But it’s possible.
And if that is the case then in verses 4-7 you have the Psalmist
Worshiping God as a deliverer and for 3 reasons.
1) HE PROTECTS AGAINST FOREIGN ENEMIES
“For, lo, the kings assembled themselves, they passed together.”
• That would have been Ammon and Moab and the Meunites.
2) HE PROTECTS AGAINST FUTURE ENEMIES
“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.”
• That would have been all the other nations who now wanted no part of fighting Israel.
And, if that story does indeed refer to Jehoshaphat’s blunder
3) HE PROTECTS AGAINST FOOLISH ENEMIES
“With the east wind You break the ships of Tarshish”
• That would be God protecting His city even from the foolish mistakes of his people to walk too close to evil.
Certainly God has worked that type of protection many times.
• We saw it several times during the wilderness wanderings,
• But even in the New Testament church we saw the Lord strike down Ananias and Sapphira.
But clearly here the Psalmist enters the city with a heart full of praise,
He reminisces first of the great security of the city
And praises God for making Himself known as such a great stronghold.
And upon remembering the great deliverance he says:
(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 her forever. Selah.”
That is the first verse of his song.
That is his first declaration.
• His soul was stirred by the great fortress of God as he entered the city, and his mind remembered the great deliverances God had worked.
And in jubilant praise the Psalmist cries out,
“You are exactly who we heard You were!”
• You are with us!
• You will deliver us!
• You are in fact a stronghold for Your people!
NOW THAT’S QUITE A WAY TO GO TO CHURCH ISN’T IT!
• To eagerly enter the city and climb the hill rejoicing that he has access to the very presence of God.
• And as he goes he reminisces on the great victories of God and worships him accordingly.
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised”
And then as we read the Psalm we realize
The Psalmist then went and attended worship in the temple.
He went and drew near to God
And as he exits the temple his song of praise picks back up.
(9) “We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God, In the midst of Your temple.”
• He walked into the temple marveling at how God had made that city a stronghold for His people.
And while there He was overwhelmed with such loyal love that God would have for His people.
• Of all the places where God could have caused His name to dwell, He chose us.
• Of all the people God could have chosen to deliver, He chose us.
• And even though we fail Him repeatedly yet He still remains loyal to us to be our God.
That’s a worship service isn’t it!
To enter His courts with praise and to meditate in His temple
On His great loyalty to His people.
And that reality causes him to burst forth in praise again.
(10) “As is Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.”
The idea there being “great”
As great is Your name is, so great is Your praise.
He’s just a man overcome with joy regarding the worship experience.
• He has contemplated the presence of God.
• He has contemplated the power of God.
• He has contemplated the loyal love of God.
• And he is once again singing in praise.
And yet, he still isn’t done.
Now the worship service is over,
But his heart is so full of the goodness of God for His people
That the Psalmist has a message for the city.
Look at it:
(12-14) “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.”
Now the Psalmist is walking the streets of Jerusalem
And as he does he has a message for all those who are there.
• “Count her towers”
• “Consider her ramparts”
• “Go through her palaces”
He is just pointing out the great defenses of the city.
• “Look how tall those towers are”
• “Look how reinforced her walls are”
• “Look how protected her palaces are”
And that’s the first part of the message.
• Take a tour and walk around this city and look how strong it is.
• Look how defended this city is.
• And tell it to your kids about how this city was standing when you were a kid.
“tell it to the next generation”
Come back in 30 years and tell your grandchildren
That that tower was there when you were a kid.
But then tell them WHY that tower still stands.
Tell them what this fortress represents.
(14) “For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death.”
The Psalmist walked around and saw all the fortifications of the city and in them he saw an analogy of God.
He saw them as a physical illustration of God’s great defense of the city.
• Those towers aren’t our defense.
• Those walls aren’t our defense.
• Those palaces aren’t our defense.
In fact, it is God who has defended all of those things.
And the Psalmist is simply rejoicing again the great benefit of the presence of God.
• Because He is here, we are secure.
• Because He is here, we need not fear.
• Because He is here, we have assurance.
That is what the Psalmist learned
On the day he entered this city to worship the living God.
And there is plenty of great application in that for us.
• Certainly we learn about the anticipation of worship and entering His courts with thanksgiving and joyful praise.
• Certainly we learn about the necessity of meditating on God’s great wonders and all that He is accomplished on our behalf.
• Certainly we learn the expectation that we will go and proclaim those excellencies to all around us so that they may know the benefit of God.
But we must also recognize the main point of the Psalmist
And that is that this city is nothing and cannot endure
Without the presence of God.
God is all they really have.
• He is their stronghold.
• He is their defense.
• He is their main attraction.
And that is an important reminder to the church.
GOD IS WHAT WE OFFER TO THE WORLD.
The church today gets so confused trying to compete with the world in entertainment game or the sensational game.
• We want to offer music like the world offers music.
• We want to offer special effects like the world offers special effects.
• We want to offer entertainment or fun like the world offers those things.
It’s as though we seek to appeal to the very fallen nature of man
In hopes that if they like us better then maybe we can get them in church.
And in that we fail to use our greatest resource.
WE HAVE THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD.
We alluded a moment ago to the story of Ananias and Sapphira and how God struck them dead in church for lying to the Holy Spirit.
Do you remember the result?
Acts 5:11-13 “And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things. At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.”
The result was that the people understood that God was in that place.
It terrified everyone because God was there.
In the early church the word on the street was
“Don’t go to that church, you might die.”
That’s a far cry from let’s go to church it will be fun.
That church didn’t have anything except the presence of the living God.
Paul appeals to that as well to the Corinthians.
Remember they were all caught up in speaking in tongues and the sign gifts and they all wanted to sing specials and get on the stage and have their version of “Corinth’s Got Talent”
And Paul scolded them and told them to stick to preaching the word.
And here’s why:
1 Corinthians 14:23-25 “Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.”
Now that’s how church is supposed to work.
• When God is exalted by His people.
• And God’s word is clearly proclaimed.
• God makes Himself known.
It’s just a reminder that He is the greatest thing we’ve got going.
We are nothing and we cannot endure without Him.
Any one of us might leave this church and it will go on fine,
But if God leaves, it’s over.
And sadly Israel learned that the hard way.
They had the city which housed the living God and they took it for granted.
You can go read Ezekiel 8 and see how
THEY LITERALLY DROVE GOD RIGHT OUT OF HIS TEMPLE
Because they wanted other gods.
And when God left, their walls and their towers and their palaces were useless.
Ezekiel 11:22-25 “Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me. Then I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.”
And history taught us that when God left, that city fell.
That is why Ezekiel ends with the rebuilding of that city.
• They talk all about the size of the city and the measurements of the city and
there are all sorts of details to sort through.
• But one detail about the rebuilt city takes precedence.
• There was one aspect that interested them more than any other.
Ezekiel 48:35 “The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘The LORD is there.'”
They’re going to learn what matters.
TURN TO: MARK 13
(READ VERSE 1)
“As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
Now, I sort of think perhaps that disciple was referencing Psalms 48.
Maybe he was doing what he had been taught to do in the Psalms.
But on that day Jesus blows his point all to pieces.
(READ VERSE 2)
“And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”
Ouch!
• And of course from there Jesus teaches on the end times and how the whole place will be laid waste until He returns.
Jesus sort of turned Psalms 48 on its head right there.
EXCEPT HE DIDN’T.
What He said fit perfectly with the message of Psalms 48.
IT’S NOT THE BUILDINGS, IT’S THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
And Israel was running God right out of that temple as fast as they could.
And just like they learned in Ezekiel’s day,
They would learn again in Jesus’ day.
When you run God out of the temple
There’s not a defense in Israel strong enough to hold off the enemy.
Or even consider those churches in the book of Revelation.
Do we not see Jesus warning Ephesus if they don’t start valuing Him again then He’s going to take away their lampstand?
Revelation 2:4-5 “’But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place — unless you repent.”
Do we not see Jesus knocking on the outside of the church at Laodicea telling them that though they think they are rich they don’t have anything without Him?
Revelation 3:17-20 “Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
It’s just that continual warning.
Church that city of old only had one thing going for it
And that was the presence of God.
The same can be said for the church.
We have only one thing going for us, and that is the presence of God.
Now to that end,
• Do you see why the Psalmist is so excited to worship God for being present?
• Do you see why he is so excited to acknowledge the most important One there?
This Psalm really captures the heart of worship.
And it really sets our perspectives straight
As to our focus every time we gather.
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised”
