God Speaks
48 A song. A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
1 How great is the Lord,
how deserving of praise,
in the city of our God,
which sits on his holy mountain!
2 It is high and magnificent;
the whole earth rejoices to see it!
Mount Zion, the holy mountain,
is the city of the great King!
3 God himself is in Jerusalem’s towers,
revealing himself as its defender.
4 The kings of the earth joined forces
and advanced against the city.
5 But when they saw it, they were stunned;
they were terrified and ran away.
6 They were gripped with terror
and writhed in pain like a woman in labor.
7 You destroyed them like the mighty ships of Tarshish
shattered by a powerful east wind.
8 We had heard of the city’s glory,
but now we have seen it ourselves—
the city of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
It is the city of our God;
he will make it safe forever. Interlude
9 O God, we meditate on your unfailing love
as we worship in your Temple.
10 As your name deserves, O God,
you will be praised to the ends of the earth.
Your strong right hand is filled with victory.
11 Let the people on Mount Zion rejoice.
Let all the towns of Judah be glad
because of your justice.
12 Go, inspect the city of Jerusalem.
Walk around and count the many towers.
13 Take note of the fortified walls,
and tour all the citadels,
that you may describe them
to future generations.
14 For that is what God is like.
He is our God forever and ever,
and he will guide us until we die.
49 For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
1 Listen to this, all you people!
Pay attention, everyone in the world!
2 High and low,
rich and poor—listen!
3 For my words are wise,
and my thoughts are filled with insight.
4 I listen carefully to many proverbs
and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp.
5 Why should I fear when trouble comes,
when enemies surround me?
6 They trust in their wealth
and boast of great riches.
7 Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death
by paying a ransom to God.
8 Redemption does not come so easily,
for no one can ever pay enough
9 to live forever
and never see the grave.
10 Those who are wise must finally die,
just like the foolish and senseless,
leaving all their wealth behind.
11 The grave is their eternal home,
where they will stay forever.
They may name their estates after themselves,
12 but their fame will not last.
They will die, just like animals.
13 This is the fate of fools,
though they are remembered as being wise. Interlude
14 Like sheep, they are led to the grave,
where death will be their shepherd.
In the morning the godly will rule over them.
Their bodies will rot in the grave,
far from their grand estates.
15 But as for me, God will redeem my life.
He will snatch me from the power of the grave. Interlude
16 So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich
and their homes become ever more splendid.
17 For when they die, they take nothing with them.
Their wealth will not follow them into the grave.
18 In this life they consider themselves fortunate
and are applauded for their success.
19 But they will die like all before them
and never again see the light of day.
20 People who boast of their wealth don’t understand;
they will die, just like animals.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Psalm 48: Fr. Reardon refers to a late fourth century cleric who mentioned four applications of the word Jerusalem: the physical city of the Jews, the Church of Christ, the heavenly city of God, and the soul of man. The author of this blog maintains that all four may apply. Reardon contends that the security and protection by the LORD God spoken of in Psalm 48 does not apply to the physical city because it has been destroyed in the past by the Babylonians, the Romans, and others. [Even to this day it is under both physical and political attack by terrorists and some of its neighbors.] The physical city of Jerusalem, however, has a special place in the heart of God. He watches over it and knows what He wants to accomplish through what He allows to happen there. The same is true of the Church of Christ. Down through the centuries, there has always been persecution and martyrdom of faithful followers of Christ, but God has also always sustained a remnant of his people as they remain faithful to Him. The heavenly city of God, the New Jerusalem, will descend upon the New Earth at God’s appointed time for His glory. As for “the soul of man,” “God certainly does surround the souls of His servants with every manner of blessing and protection.”* Whenever believers are “under siege,” they should follow the orders in verses 8-11 and engage in spiritual battle.
Psalm 49: This psalm is about the wisdom and reasoning that comes from observation and applies to everyone, rich or poor, of high position or low, famous or unknown, successful or failures in this life, no matter where they live or to what culture they belong. It tells how all alike will die. Their bodies will be forever in the grave. No matter how famous or wealthy people are, they cannot live forever. Only those who trust in God will have their lives redeemed. Christ died to snatch those who trust in Him from the power of the grave.
*Christ in the Psalms by Patrick Henry Reardon, pp. 93-96.
Prayer: How great You are, O God. You desire for all people to turn to and rely on You for their safety and security. You are deserving of all praise. I call on You to help me fight against the enemies that have risen up against You, Your principles, Your purposes, and Your people. Please help me to focus on You and find safety in Your presence. O God, I meditate on Your unfailing love. I worship in Your Temple (my own spirit). Your name deserves to be praised to the ends of the earth. Your strong right hand is filled with victory. May all Your people rejoice and be glad because of Your justice. LORD, please keep me from trusting in the wrong things: wealth, high position, fame, success, even myself. Help me trust only in You, Jesus, and all that You have done on my behalf through Your suffering, death, and resurrection. Help me to live out the truth that You are the one who snatched me from the power of the grave. May I live for Your glory now and forever. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will focus on the greatness of my God [list 10 ways in which God is great] and do battle as He directs.
- I will thank God for the victory He has already accomplished. [List 10 ways He has been victorious, both physical and spiritual.]
- I will hopefully use Psalm 49 to spark a conversation about death and the meaning of life with a secularist or an atheist.
- I will strive to interact with people outside of my home at least once this week, hopefully leading up to conservations about God.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.