The Nations Quail Before The Power of God In His Holy Hill (Psalms 48:4-7).
The glory of the dwellingplace of the Great God is such that the nations quail before Him. Though they may assemble themselves against His people and approach them with hostile purpose, once they recognise what they are fighting against they quail before it and fade away. This had proved true of Sennacherib and his forces. It would always prove true for whoever came against Jerusalem, because God was with them.
‘For, lo, the kings assembled themselves,
They passed over together.
They saw it, then were they amazed,
They were dismayed, they hastened away.
Trembling took hold of them there,
Pain, as of a woman in travail.
With the east wind you break,
The ships of Tarshish.'
The kings of the nations had gathered themselves together against God's people. They had passed over together and approached the city of God. But then, when they actually saw it they stopped in amazement. They were dismayed at what they saw and hastened away. Indeed so great was its impact that they trembled and were filled with the equivalent of labour pains. And God's powerful and feared east wind blew among them, and the proud Tyreans and their associates fell before it. The ships of Tarshish sailed regularly from Tyre, and indeed from other ports, around the world, and here they indicate what is strong and invulnerable. The mighty ships of Tarshish. Or at least they are until the East wind blows. Perhaps it also represents the powerful Tyrean contingent in Sennacherib's army. But we are not to limit it to Tyre. Tyre's glory and Sennacherib's glory could not stand in the face of God's holy mountain, the place that God had chosen as His earthly abode. God's East Wind would see to that.
In the same way we can be sure today that all who begin to plot against the people of God will find themselves ashamed and dismayed. They may appear to be a great threat, but in the end their threat will collapse.