Psalms 48 (YLT)

Chapter Text

48:1 A Song, a Psalm, by sons of Korah. Great <FI>is<Fi> Jehovah, and praised greatly, In the city of our God--His holy hill.

48:2 Beautiful <FI>for<Fi> elevation, A joy of all the land, <FI>is<Fi> Mount Zion, The sides of the north, the city of a great king.

48:3 God in her high places is known for a tower.

48:4 For, lo, the kings met, they passed by together,

48:5 They have seen--so they have marvelled, They have been troubled, they were hastened away.

48:6 Trembling hath seized them there, Pain, as of a travailing woman.

48:7 By an east wind Thou shiverest ships of Tarshish.

48:8 As we have heard, so we have seen, In the city of Jehovah of hosts, In the city of our God, God doth establish her--to the age. Selah.

48:9 We have thought, O God, of Thy kindness, In the midst of Thy temple,

48:10 As <FI>is<Fi> Thy name, O God, so <FI>is<Fi> Thy praise, Over the ends of the earth, Righteousness hath filled Thy right hand.

48:11 Rejoice doth Mount Zion, The daughters of Judah are joyful, For the sake of Thy judgments.

48:12 Compass Zion, and go round her, count her towers,

48:13 Set your heart to her bulwark, Consider her high places, So that ye recount to a later generation,

48:14 That this God <FI>is<Fi> our God--To the age and for ever, He--he doth lead us over death!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "song", "psalm", "sons", "korah", "great", "jehovah", "praised", and "greatly". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "song" and "psalm", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local YLT text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "song" and "psalm" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "song" and "psalm" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.