The Greatness of God And The Beauty Of The Place Which Represents His Dwelling Among Men (Psalms 48:1-3).
‘Great is YHWH, and greatly to be praised,
In the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
Is mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
The city of the great King.
God has made himself known in her palaces for a refuge.'
We should note here that while Mount Zion is being admired, it is not Mount Zion but the Great God Himself Who is being exalted. Mount Zion is only seen as beautiful in that it points towards the living God. It is the great God YHWH Who is to be greatly praised.
The description of Mount Zion should also be noted. It is described in a way that transcends itself. ‘The sides of the north' indicated the sacred mountains far off from men (see Isaiah 14:13; Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2). Here in this psalm God is, as it were, seen to have planted those sacred mountains in Jerusalem as His earthly abode. So as in Isaiah 2:2-4 it represents both the earthly and the heavenly Mount Zion. As men gazed on the earthly they were also to think of the heavenly. Today the earthly has long been done away, and we are to concentrate our thoughts on the heavenly (Hebrews 12:22; compare Galatians 4:20 ff).
And yet there is still a Temple on earth in which God can be found. It is that Temple which consist of all true believers in Jesus Christ. In them dwells the Holy Spirit of God, and through them the glory of God is to be manifested to the world (see 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16-18; Ephesians 2:18-22). That is why we can rightly apply ideas about Mount Zion to His people.
So just as the people of old could gather on Mount Zion and sing His praises, and see it as beautiful because of its exaltation, and as the joy of the whole earth because of what it represented as ‘the city of the Great King' where God made himself known, so today can we glorify God for His true church in which He dwells, made up of all who truly believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and call on His Name (regardless of denomination) and worship Him in His Temple. His church is beautiful in elevation (compare Galatians 4:26; Ephesians 5:25-27), even though it may dwell here in vessels of clay, for we are the living stones of the Temple of God, built up on the chief Cornerstone, our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-7), and we are called on to show forth the excellencies of Him Who has called us out of darkness into His most glorious light (1 Peter 2:9).
Thus can we sing:
Glorious things of you are spoken,
Zion city of our God.
He Whose word cannot be broken,
Formed you for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake your sure repose,
With salvation's walls surrounded,
You can smile at all your foes.
‘God has made himself known in her palaces for a refuge.' And because God has made Himself known in the palaces of Jerusalem as being a refuge of His people (at that stage Jerusalem had a godly king), Jerusalem can rest secure knowing that she cannot be touched by her enemies. And the same confidence can be enjoyed by God's people today as He makes Himself known to us in His church.