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Illustration for Psalm 48: The City of God

Psalm 48

The City of God

PraiseWhen AfraidAdventure

Jerusalem is called the City of God — the most beautiful place on earth because God lives there. When enemies saw it, they ran away in fear! God's love for His city is forever, and He will be our guide even until the end.

  1. 1Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain.
  2. 2Beautiful in elevation, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.
  3. 3God is in her citadels; He has shown Himself to be her fortress.
  4. 4When the kings assembled and advanced together,
  5. 5they saw and were astounded; they were terrified and fled in haste.
  6. 6Trembling seized them there, anguish like that of a woman in labor,
  7. 7as when You shattered the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
  8. 8As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the LORD of Hosts, in the city of our God; God makes her secure forever. Selah
  9. 9Within Your temple, O God, we meditate on Your loving devotion.
  10. 10Like Your name, O God, Your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.
  11. 11Mount Zion rejoices; the daughters of Judah are glad because of Your judgments.
  12. 12Walk about Zion and go around her; count her towers,
  13. 13consider well her ramparts, and view her citadels, that you may tell the next generation:
  14. 14"This God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end."

What it means

The best thing about the city in this psalm is not its walls or its towers — it is that God is there. What makes any place good is God's presence in it. And the psalm ends with a promise you can hold onto: God will be your guide, all the way to the very end.

A little prayer

Lord, thank You that what makes a place truly good is that You are in it. Be with me wherever I go. Thank You that You will guide me even to the end. Amen.

Memory verse

“"This God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end."”

Psalm 48:14 (BSB)

It makes the point of the whole psalm: the walls are worth counting because of who is inside them.

Talk about it

Questions with no single right answer — for a family table or a Sunday-school circle.

  1. The psalm says a city is beautiful because God lives there. What makes a place feel good to be in?
  2. It tells people to walk around the city and count the towers, so they can tell the next generation. What would you show someone about your home?
  3. Enemies looked at the city and ran. What were they actually afraid of?
  4. What do you want to be able to tell people who come after you?

Try this

Walk the walls

Walk once around the outside of your home or your street. Count something — doors, trees, windows. Tell each other one good thing that happened in this place.

Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB)