What does Psalm 48:1 mean?

The city of Jerusalem serves as a symbol of God's power and majesty. The city of Israel's great God (Matthew 5:35) was located on Mount Zion (Psalm 2:6). David had seized Mount Zion from the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5:6–9; 2 Chronicles 11:4–7), but it was not "holy" until David brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem and installed it there. Thus, Mount Zion became God's holy dwelling (Psalm 99:9). Only the presence of a holy God makes a place holy. Even a spot in the desert was declared holy because God chose to be present there (Exodus 3:4–5).

The psalmist will soon refer to kings of other nations who flee from Jerusalem, rather than conquering it (Psalm 48:4–8). Commentators are divided over what historical event the psalm mentions, if any. Some assign this description to the end-times glory of Jerusalem during the reign of the Messiah. Others suggest a connection to incidents recorded in the Bible.

A possible inspiration for this psalm was the Lord's overwhelming defeat of the Assyrian forces laying siege to Jerusalem. Although the attacking army was vast, the Lord was far greater. During the night, the angel of the Lord passed through the camp of the Assyrians and killed a terrifying number of them (2 Kings 19:35).

This passage may also reflect the defeat of enemies who came against Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20); these armies were defeated without Israel even needing to fight.

The "Sons of Korah" were likely a group of worshippers especially devoted to music. They would be descendants of survivors of judgment on Korah and others for rebelling against God (Numbers 16:25–32; 26:9–11).