Psalm 48 is the third of three Psalms (Psalm
46, 47 and 48), written to commemorate the defeat of the Assyrian army in the
days of Hezekiah that we read about in 2 Kings 18-19 and Isaiah 37. Psalm 48
could have been written by King Hezekiah or even the Prophet Isaiah as they led
the people in worship after God sent an angel and killed 185,000 Assyrian
soldiers in one night.
In preparation for today’s chat, we need
to think about a couple things. I’ve always pictured that the angel destroyed
the whole army of Assyrians but when we read the passages more closely, we find
that the rest of the army went back home. This means that maybe only half of
them were killed. We are never told the total number of this enemy’s army, so
we really don’t know how many were left. But can you imagine when they did wake
up that morning and see 185,000 of their fellow soldiers lying dead on the
ground around them how they must have been struck with tremendous fear!
Now when you read verses 4-7, you get
the picture behind these words: “They saw it, and so they marveled; They
were troubled, they hastened away. Fear took hold of them there, And pain, as
of a woman in birth pangs”. The
writer of this Psalm acknowledges that it was “You”, God, who did it, just as
He broke the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. In other words, you might not
see the wind or the angel that brought about the destruction on the enemy, but
it still really happened!
As I look at of all these verses in this
chapter of worship, I see a wonderful application of when we get saved from our
great enemy of sin and death. We are surrounded and held captive by the devil,
our sin, and face a sure death! We are helpless to deal with this enemy. But
then God comes in the Person of Holy Spirit and convicts us of our sin. We are
overwhelmed with the guilt of it, and sense our hopeless condition, and maybe
even feel the fires of hell about to consume us. “As of a woman in birth
pangs” (v. 6). Our eyes are then opened to the Cross of Christ and His
resurrection and we by faith believe, and the greatest miracle of our life
takes place! We are born again into the
family of God!
Jesus said it this way to Nicodemus in John
3:7-8: “Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind
blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it
comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." We didn’t physically see all the mighty
working of God with our own eyes at the Cross and resurrection of Jesus or the
mysterious working of the Holy Spirit behind the scenes to bring us to
salvation, but we sure know we have experienced the miracle of a great
deliverance and salvation!
What did the people do in Psalm 48 after
this great deliverance? They went to the
temple and worshipped and “thought about God’s lovingkindness” (v. 9).
That’s why we go to church, the place of worship, after we get saved! We go to
praise and thank the LORD for His lovingkindness and righteousness (v. 10). We
rejoice and are glad because through Jesus Christ our sin has been judged, the
devil defeated, and we have been set free (v. 11).
We now should tell the “generation
following” us of God’s great sacrifice and deliverance (v. 13). And
remember that “this God, is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide
Even to death.” Amen!
God bless!
