PSALMS 48

     We will begin by giving the 47th chapter of Psalms in metre.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                             Chapter 47

Verse 1  "All nations clap your hands, Let shouts of triumph ring, for
          dreadful over all the lands The Lord most High is King."
Verse 2  "He'll quell the people's rage, And nations will destroy; For
          us will choose our heritage, His chosen Jacob's joy."
Verse 3  "With shouts ascends out King With trumpets' stirring call;
          Praise, praise ye God, his praises sing, For God is Lord of
          all."
Verse 4  "O sing in joyful strains, In songs his truth make known; God
           over all the nations reigns, High on his holy throne."
Verse 5  "The heirs of Gentile thrones With Abr'am's children meet.
          The shields of earth Jehovah owns; Exalted is his seat.

     We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 47th chapter of
Psalms. Psalms 47:1 "{To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of
Korah.} O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the
voice of triumph."

     The battle is over. The victory is won. To clap the hands shows
extreme joy. Notice, that this is not just a few that are to clap, but
all the people of the world. To shout is to rejoice with great
enthusiasm. Jesus will rule over all the earth and all people. Those
of us who have decided to make Jesus our Lord, as well as our Saviour
now, will be ahead of those who must submit to His rule by force. We
of our own free will have submitted to the will of the Lord now. This
is enough to make the most stayed person begin to shout.

     Psalms 47:2 "For the LORD most high [is] terrible; [he is] a
great King over all the earth."

     This whole chapter is about the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ
on the Earth as Lord of lords and King of kings. This rule will not be
like the meek and mild Jesus that was here to save the world. He will
rule with a rod of iron. Revelation 2:27 "And he shall rule them with
a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to
shivers: even as I received of my Father." His rule is absolute
dominion over all the people of the earth.

     Psalms 47:3 "He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations
under our feet."

     We shall rule with Him as His subordinates. He is King and we are
kings. Revelation 20:6 "Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the
first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they
shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a
thousand years." We did not win the battle, the Lord did. He places us
in a position of authority over the heathen.
     Psalms 47:4 "He shall choose our inheritance for us, the
excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah."

     We will not rule wherever we choose. He will choose the place for
each of us. I do not desire to choose for myself. I have previously
made Jesus my Lord. His will is my will. I do not want to choose. I
want Him to choose for me, and then tell me where He wants me to be.
It is inheritance enough to be with Him. We know that just as God gave
Israel the promised land, He will give us our inheritance, the place
that is best for us. He loved physical Israel, but He, also, loves
spiritual Israel who came to Him by choice and not by birthright. WE
should stop and think on these things.

     Psalms 47:5 "God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound
of a trumpet."

     This is Jesus who goes up with a shout. Matthew 24:31 "And he
shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall
gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven
to the other." The voice of the Lord and the sound of the silver
trumpet of redemption are very close to the same. They are very hard
to separate. I Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with
the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:"  We do not
know the exact events, but praise God! He knows. I trust Him
completely, and I know in my heart that the return of the Lord Jesus
to heaven had to be shouted about by the angels. God, in verse 5
above, is Jehovah. He is Jehovah, Lord God Almighty.

     Psalms 47:6 "Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto
our King, sing praises."

     The type of song here, would be a song of adoration. From the
four praises above, I would believe this to be universal, since four
means universal. Then, this would be sung all over the world, and not
just once, but over and over.

     Psalms 47:7 "For God [is] the King of all the earth: sing ye
praises with understanding."

     He is not just God of the Jews, but of all mankind. The praises
with understanding would be singing of His truth, and His love, and
His majesty, and all the wonderful truths in the Bible. Philippians
2:10 "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in
heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;" His rule
is universal and forever.

     Psalms 47:8 "God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the
throne of his holiness."

     Not only will He reign in the 1000 years upon the earth, but He
actually reigns now. The heathen does not know, at this time, that God
rules over all. Jesus is even now seated at the right hand of the
Father in heaven. He will sit on His throne in full view of everyone
when this verse comes to fulfillment. Sometimes, people who sit on
thrones on the earth,  are not honest and upright. In fact, sometimes
they are down-right unholy. The throne that the Lord sits upon is holy
in every way. It is based on truth and righteousness.

     Psalms 47:9 "The princes of the people are gathered together,
[even] the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth
[belong] unto God: he is greatly exalted."

     Galatians 3:29 "And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise."  We Christians are the
people of the God of Abraham. We, like Abraham, had faith and it was
counted unto us for righteousness. All of the Christians in the world
will be gathered together, when we are resurrected from the earth. All
of us will shout praises to Him. We all get our strength and power
from Jesus who is our protector.

     We will continue this lesson by giving Psalms 48 in metre.

                             Chapter 48

Verse 1  "Within thy temple, Lord, We on thy mercies dwell; As is thy
          name adored, So let thy praise excel: Thy praises sound
          through every land, And right thy sceptre shall command."
Verse 2  "Let Zion Mount rejoice, Let Judah's daughters praise The
          Lord with cheerful voice, For judgment he displays; Go round
          the walls on Zion's Mount, God round her splendors to
          recount."
Verse 3  "The towers of Zion tell, Her palace survey, Mark all her
          Bulwarks Well And to your children say: This God forever
          shall abide, Ev'n unto death our God and guide.

     We will now finish up by giving the verse by verse study of the
48th chapter of Psalms. Psalms 48:1 "{A Song [and] Psalm for the sons
of Korah.} Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city
of our God, [in] the mountain of his holiness."

     This Psalm is sung in our churches now. There is no question in
my mind that God is great. We could look up all the adjectives for
greatness in all the world, and yet they still would not be able to
tell of the greatness of the Lord. I could begin praising Him because
He saved me. To go back to the beginning, I would have to praise Him
for making the heavens, and the earth, and all the things in it. Then
I would have to thank Him for creating me, and allowing me to live in
His created world. You see, there would be no end to the things that I
should praise Him for. Where should we praise Him? Everywhere. Even to
look at all the beauties of nature could cause me to burst out in
praise.

     Psalms 48:2 "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,
[is] mount Zion, [on] the sides of the north, the city of the great
King."

     Zion, and the city of the great King, symbolize the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ. There is a literal Zion, however, and it is in
Jerusalem, the great city of God. This, like most Scripture, is
possibly literal, as well as spiritual. Jerusalem is a very special
city. Those of us who have been blessed to have seen it know of its
magnificence. As far as God is concerned, it is the center of the
earth. Everything measures from Jerusalem in the Bible.

     Psalms 48:3 "God is known in her palaces for a refuge."

     The wonderful thing, to me, is that I can call Him, my God. God
is our refuge {hiding place}. These are the palaces that God has
provided for His own.

     Psalms 48:4 "For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by
together."

     It appears that this was earthly kings, that come and go. We,
also, know that the kings of this earth are for but a while. They are
not to be compared with the King {Jesus Christ} of all the earth.

     Psalms 48:5 "They saw [it, and] so they marvelled; they were
troubled, [and] hasted away."

     These worldly people have come, and seen, and they realize that
they are not living up to these standards, and they haste away. It is
so strange, but many times we realize our shortcomings, when we see
those who are living for God.

     Psalms 48:6 "Fear took hold upon them there, [and] pain, as of a
woman in travail."

     The fear that overcame them was fear of being found out. The
world has no one to look to for encouragement. They fear the things
that might come upon them.  This type of fear is more like terror. The
following Scripture is a very good example of that type of fear. Luke
21:26 "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall
be shaken."  This pain they felt was pain of guilt.

     Psalms 48:9 "We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the
midst of thy temple."

     We see believers thinking back on the lovingkindness of God. The
temple is just a place that causes them to remember God. When we all
meet together in church and begin to think on God, the first thing
that comes to mind is His grace and mercy toward us. Perhaps, that is
why many churches go in for the beautiful surroundings to worship in.
Beauty brings on thoughts of God.

     Psalms 48:10 "According to thy name, O God, so [is] thy praise
unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness."

     We have already mentioned in this study, how at the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow. We, also, found out that it was not just in the
earth, but in heaven and in the deep, as well. This just means that,
along with the bowing of the knee in reverence is the praise. Every
person will praise God. There will even be praises and adoration in
heaven. Thy right hand is Jesus Christ. He is righteousness.

     Psalms 48:11 "Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah
be glad, because of thy judgments."

     Mount Zion is symbolic of the church. There is much rejoicing in
the church of the Lord Jesus at this. I believe this is speaking of
physical and spiritual Israel rejoicing at the judgements of the Lord.
All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be judged righteous,
because we have put on the righteousness of Christ.

     Psalms 48:12 "Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the
towers thereof."

     This is a glorious walk around the church to take another look at
the wonderful workings of the Lord in the church. The towers of the
church point a finger to heaven. Perhaps, this is saying, inspect and
see if it still points to heaven and God.

     Psalms 48:13 "Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces;
that ye may tell [it] to the generation following."

     Bulwarks, in the verse above, means entrenchment. This was built
to protect. Notice, the protection around the church that you might
tell it to future generations.

     Psalms 48:14 "For this God [is] our God for ever and ever: he
will be our guide [even] unto death."

     This is the real God. We must never forget who God is. He never
changes, and our belief in Him must never change either. He will walk
with us even unto death. The Light of my blessed Lord Jesus shall
guide my steps all the way. I love Him, and depend on Him as my friend
and comforter, even unto the end.

















                             Questions 48

1.  Why are they to clap their hands in verse 1?
2.  Shout unto God with the voice of ________.
3.  Who is this saying should do this?
4.  What is the difference in the Christian shouting praise to the
    Lord and the rest of the world?
5.  What is chapter 47 about?
6.  What describes the way Jesus will rule over them?
7.  What will the Christians be doing during this 1000 year reign of
    Jesus?
8.  Who does the second death have no power over?
9.  Where will we rule?
10. Spiritual Israel came to the Lord by _______, and not by birth
    right.
11. Quote Matthew chapter 24 verse 31.
12. Who shall descend from heaven with a shout?
13. Who shall rise first?
14. God, in verse 5, is who?
15. Why was sing praises said 4 times in verse 6?
16. Verse 7 says, sing praises with _____________.
17. Quote Philippians chapter 2 verse 10.
18. Verse 8 says God reigns over whom?
19. Where does God sit?
20. What is the throne of God based upon?
21. Quote Galations chapter 3 verse 29.
22. What was counted unto us for righteousness?
23. Quote Psalms chapter 48 verse 1.
24. How did the author express just how great God is?
25. What do Zion and the city of our great King symbolize?
26. From what city does everything in the Bible measure?
27. What is a refuge?
28. Why did they haste away after seeing the city?
29. What was their fear compared to in verse 6?
30. Why do some churches have beautiful surroundings?
31. According to thy _____, O God so is thy praise.
32. Who is Righteousness?
33. Why will all who believe in Christ be judged righteous?