Comment on a Psalm

 Psalms 48

This Psalm is about a city or more precisely one part of a city: Mount Zion. So, what is it about this place that it merits a Psalm of praise about it? And the answer is clear: God is there. Now, we know, of course, that God is everywhere. And yet, there is a sense in which His presence is on Mount Zion in a special way. The Temple is there. And so, we will find various places in the Scriptures where Mount Zion or more generally, Jerusalem, which includes Mount Zion, is extolled (Psalm 84.5-7) or yearned after (Jeremiah 31.6). And that is why the God's departure from His Temple on Mount Zion is such a big deal in Ezekiel 10.

The question to ask is whether experiencing God's special presence is something only for Old Testament saints. Is there the equivalent of what happened on Mount Zion and its Temple for us? Everything in the Old Testament points ahead, in some way, to Jesus and what He has done. So, there is a fulfillment today of this picture in Psalm 48. We enter God's special presence every Sunday when we get together to worship. The Church is, after all, the (new) Temple of the Spirit of God. And so, it is quite appropriate for us to read this Psalm together this Sunday, keeping in mind what it means to us today.