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1- 3. |
The city of our God |
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4- 7. |
The enemy |
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8-11. |
The redeemed |
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Psalm 48 |
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Isaiah 33 |
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6. |
Fear |
14. |
The sinners in Zion are afraid |
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7. |
Ships of Tarshish |
21. |
Neither shall gallant ship pass thereby |
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12. |
The towers thereof |
18. |
Where is he that counteth the towers? |
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13. |
Tell it to the generation following |
20. |
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities |
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14. |
Our guide, even unto (or, beyond)
death |
22. |
He will save us |
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2. |
Mount Zion on the sides of the north. Isa. 14:13 is
about this same event: The king of Babylon (i.e. in this case, of Assyria also)
boasts that he will sit “upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north”. This might mean: (a) the camp of the Assyrians
was on the north side of the city; (b) the temple was on the north side of
Jerusalem; or (c) the temple was just north of the king’s palace, as a
kind of protection for the royal house. |
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The great king. But, in contrast to Sennacherib’s
blasphemous boasts (2 Kings 18:19), it is God, and only God, who is the Great
King. |
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3. |
God is known in her palaces. An allusion to the
righteousness of king Hezekiah, who — assisted by Isaiah — always
kept his God at the forefront of his reign. |
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For a refuge: s.w. 46:7,11. God is pictured as a refuge
in 2 Chron. 32:7,8. |
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4. |
The kings. The plural implies that, like Napoleon with
his generals, so also Sennacherib made his favorites rulers over provinces. Or,
this plural may refer to the many, like Arab chieftains, who would rather help
the Assyrian than be plundered by him. Compare Psa. 83:8, where
“Assur” is linked with the Arab powers invading Israel. |
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Passed by together. Or, crossed over (i.e. the
boundaries of Israel, as an invading force): cp. the same verb in Judg. 11:29
and 2 Kings 8:21. “They came on together” (RSV). |
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5. |
They saw, but the record does not say what they
saw, for the Shekinah Glory of God overwhelmed all their powers of
description. |
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They hasted away. A Passover word (Exod. 12:11). This
deliverance almost certainly happened at Passover: Isa. 26:20,21; 30:29;
31:5. |
|
6. |
Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in
travail. The very effect these Assyrians were accustomed to producing in
others was now their own experience. |
|
7. |
Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish. Earlier
Shalmanezer V had come against Tyre with a fleet of sixty ships; but the
Tyrians, with only twelve ships, routed them and thus made themselves a great
reputation (Jos. Ant. 9:14:2). But now Tyre was helping Sennacherib, and
therefore paid for this disloyalty to Israel by having its proud fleet smashed
by the hurricane of the Lord. This was precisely what had happened years before
to the eastern fleet of Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:48,49; 2 Chron. 20:36,37; cp.
Ezek. 27:26). |
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With an east wind. Here “wind”
(ruach) means “Spirit” (Isa. 37:7, s.w.). |
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8. |
As we have heard, so have we seen. The people of
Jerusalem, awestruck, saw the wreck of the Assyrian camp (vv. 4-6). But what did
they hear? |
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The Lord of hosts = The God of the Cherubim (Isa.
37:16). |
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God will establish it for ever, just as He will
establish (s.w. v. 25) David’s house and kingdom (2 Sam.
7:13,16,24,25). So mount Zion “shall not be moved” (46:5;
125:1). |
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9. |
Thy lovingkindness... in the midst of thy temple: Isa.
37:14. |
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10. |
According to thy name. Which name?
Shaddai, the “Destroyer”? |
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Praise unto the ends of the earth. “Thus the Lord
saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the
king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.
And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king
of Judah: so that he (i.e. the Lord, not Hezekiah) was magnified in the sight of
all nations from thenceforth” (2 Chron. 32:22,23). |
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Thy right hand. The king’s palace was at
God’s “right hand”, being immediately south of the
Temple. |
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Is full of righteousness. Isa. 41:10 refers to this:
“I will uphold thee with the right hand of my
righteousness.” |
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11. |
Let the daughters of Judah be glad. Literally, the
maidens of the land singing a song of triumph, as in Exod. 15:20,21 and 1 Sam.
18:6,7. Or, figuratively, the plundered cities and villages of the land (Isa.
36:1; 46 in number according to Sennacherib himself) now rejoice after being
restored to peace and prosperity. These satellite settlements are called
“daughters” because Jerusalem (where Judah reigns) is the
“mother” (this figure of speech is quite common: Psa. 87:2-6; Isa.
54:1-5; 66:7,8,13; Gal. 4:26). |
|
12. |
Tell the towers thereof. Sennacherib had had his
experts going about Zion, assessing the quality of its defenses (Isa. 33:18).
Now Zion’s people glory in its impregnability, not because of its walls
and towers, but because the Lord of hosts is there. |
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13. |
Consider. From this Hebrew word Pisgah is
derived. As Moses, standing on Pisgah, viewed the Land of Promise from afar
(Deut. 34:1-4), so now the faithful take pride in their city and their
God. |
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Her palaces. Better: ‘her wonderful temple’
(an intensive plural). The same word occurs in v. 3 and in 122:7: “(May)
prosperity (be) within thy palaces.” |
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To the generation following. In the spirit of 78:4-8,
but also with special reference to Manasseh, not yet born. (But, alas, he seems
to have taken little heed.) |
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14. |
He will be our guide even unto death. Hezekiah knew
precisely how many years he had to live, and meant to dedicate every one of them
to his God. As Moses stood on Pisgah (see v. 13 above), or Nebo, and surveyed
the Promised Land (Deut. 3:27; 34:1-4), yet knowing he was soon to die —
so Hezekiah stood on the “mountain peak” of rejoicing, viewing the
Promised Land delivered from its oppressors, yet knowing that his own years were
severely numbered. |
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Psalm 48 |
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Psalm 2
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1
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City of God, my holy mountain |
6
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3
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Kings gather themselves |
2,10
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5
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Troubled/vexed (s.w.) |
5
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10
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Ends of the earth |
8
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3. |
God is known in her palaces (citadels: RSV) for a
refuge. The deliverance is a divine deliverance. |
|
4-6. |
The picture of modern military might reduced to helplessness,
as of a woman in travail (cp. 1 Thes. 5:3; Matt. 24:8; Mark 13:8), is
very impressive. Of course, a necessary item in the assertion of divine
authority must be an exposure of the futility of human cleverness. |
|
7. |
The ships of Tarshish. Tarshish was a son of Javan
(Gen. 10:4), a name which came to refer to the Phoenicians, with which Tyre was
connected. The name may have come in later days to refer to any seafaring
merchant power — either to the east or the west of Israel (cp. Jonah 1:3;
Ezek. 27:12; 1 Kings 9:26; 10:22; 2 Chron. 9:21). Attempts to identify Tarshish
with a single marine power — such as Britain in earlier days, or America
in later times — always seem to run afoul of at least some of the Biblical
evidence. (For a more technical discussion, see L.G. Sargent, “Tarshish
— Once More”, The Christadelphian, Sept. 1964, pp. 401-403.)
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That Tarshish represents a latter-day power or powers
is evident from Ezek. 38:13 and Psa. 72:10. “Tarshish” appears in
Ezekiel as an ally of “Sheba and Dedan” (Arab powers: see Whittaker,
The Time of the End, pp. 58-60), to be broken by God’s power (here;
Isa. 2:11-17; 23:14). But later it will bring gifts to Christ (Psa. 72:10),
including “thy sons” (Isa. 60:9). |
|
8. |
God will establish her. And it must be seen that this
is an act of God. In this new order there will be no glory in the works
of men. |
|
9. |
We are the Lord’s redeemed, the Lord’s true
temple, experiencing now more than ever his lovingkindness, in the final
fulfillment of His promises. |
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10. |
Thy praise unto the ends of the earth. How else can
this be, except through open demonstration of the authority and power of a King
of Kings? |
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Thy right hand is full of righteousness. Here is a
strange expression which only becomes meaningful when this divine King is seen
as being a King-Priest, coming from the presence of God with upraised hand to
impart blessing and forgiveness (Num. 6:23-27). |
|
11. |
Be glad, because of thy judgments. Gladness, as in the
prototype, because the might of God has been exercised against human pride. The
world is so far gone in evil that its education in godliness must necessarily
begin with judgment. “For when thy judgments are in the earth, the
inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:9). A
rebellious child has to be taught first to respect authority. Then, and only
then, does obedience follow. |
|
12,13. |
Towers... bulwarks... palaces. The glory of the New
Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10-23) is something to marvel at. (Compare also the
description in Heb. 12:22,23.) But to what extent this description should be
taken literally rather than (or in addition to) figuratively, may safely be left
to the future. Imaginative designs of the city and temple of the age to come
lean far too much on supposed architectural expertise and far too little on
solid Scriptural exposition. |
|
13. |
That ye may tell it to the generation following. As
children playing in the streets of Jerusalem (Zech. 8:5) grow up, their
spiritual education through the past experiences of their city will be
all-important. |
|
14. |
For ever and ever. Even the phrase unto death
can be read (by a small textual change) “for ever” (as LXX, RSV,
NEB). Or, as Delitzsch: “beyond death”. Christ has destroyed
that “which hath the power of death” — so that his brethren
need no longer fear the great enemy (Heb. 2:14,15; 1 Cor. 15:57; Rom.
8:37,38). |
|
1. |
His holiness: cp. s.w. in 46:4 and 47:8. |
|
2. |
Beautiful for situation. The last word may mean
“shaking”, referring to (a) the earthquake (46:2,3) in the great
theophany, both past and future; or (b) the offering of sacrifice (a fairly
common usage). The RSV has, instead, “elevation” — referring
to the lifting up (physically? or spiritually? or both?) of mount Zion (Isa.
2:2; Zech. 14:4,5,10). Elsewhere the phrase has been translated:
“eminently beautiful”, i.e. beautiful above all
others! |
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The joy of the whole earth: cp. 47:2,7; Lam.
2:15. |
|
7. |
The ships of Tarshish: cp. Rev. 18:17,18. |
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An east wind is always associated with destruction:
Gen. 41:6,23-27; Exod. 10:13; Job 27:21; Isa. 27:8; Ezek. 17:10; 27:26; Jon. 4:8
(cp. D. Baly, Geography of the Bible, p. 52). |
The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen.
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay wither’d and strewn.
For the Angel of Death went forth on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass’d;
And the eyes of the sleepers wax’d deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still!
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there roll’d not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Assur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
George Gordon Byron
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