Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
Beautiful for situation - rather, 'in its elevation' х nowp (H5131)]. In so far only as the physical height is a symbol of the spiritual does the Psalmist value it. Compare Psalms 68:16, wherein "the hill which God desireth to dwell in" is preferred to all the "high hills" of pagandom. Compare Isaiah 2:2; Ezekiel 40:2, where the ideal "very high mountain (in the land of Israel), with the frame of a city on the south," is beheld in vision (Revelation 21:10; high mountain (in the land of Israel), with the frame of a city on the south," is beheld in vision (Revelation 21:10; Matthew 5:14).
The joy of the whole earth. Lamentations 2:15 refers to this psalm. In the eyes of the spiritual, such is Jerusalem regarded, because of its precious and sacred associations, in which all the earth is interested (Ezekiel 16:15). Compare as to Jerusalem's future glory and permanency, Isaiah 33:20.
Is mount Zion, on the sides of the north. 'He speaks not as a geographer, but as a divine' (Hengstenberg). "The sides of the north" literally mean the inner and farthest recesses, whereat both "sides" meet; so the farthest hollows on the sides of Mount Moriah, on which the temple was built, north of mount Zion (Isaiah 14:13, note). The city was built, in its greater part, in these hollows and hill sides. The upper city, Zion, was north of Zion strictly so called; the lower city, Acra, was north of this and of Moriah. Thou all the parts "of the city of the great King," south and north alike, are "the joy of the whole earth." The northern parts of the city, though lower in height than Zion, yet were distinguished by their lofty towers and fortifications. But Hengstenberg takes "the sides of the north" in apposition to "Mount Zion" - Zion, the true seat of Deity. The pagan thought 'the extreme north' to be the seat where the gods held their assembly, the mountain of the gods (Isaiah 14:13-14, notes). 'What the pagan dreamed of, that mount Zion was in reality-its foundation on earth, its top in heaven. The farthest north stands in contrast to the mountains of Israel' (Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2). The contrast of "the great King" to "the kings" of the earth (Psalms 48:4) favours this similar contrast of His seat at Jerusalem to the imaginary seat of the pagan gods in the extreme north.