What does Psalm 48:13 mean?

The theme of this psalm has been God's glory, exemplified in Jerusalem and the Lord's miraculous preservation of the city (Psalm 48:1–11). The writer has noted the continued existence of Jerusalem's walls and defensive towers (Psalm 48:12). The verb translated "consider" can also imply "to divide." The idea is to regard the ramparts and citadels one by one. Attacks by various enemies had not succeeded (2 Kings 19; 2 Chronicles 20). This proof of the Lord's prior work was to be passed down to children (Psalm 44:1–3) so Israel would always remember.

Though Jerusalem was well fortified, her strength did not ultimately lie in her physical walls; it was in the Lord God. The strong man Samson discovered that his own strength was no match for the Philistines, Arising from Delilah's lap to battle the Philistines, he said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But "he did not know that the LORD had left him" (Judges 16:20). As a result, he became the Philistines' captive. His power wasn't in muscles or weapons, but in the Lord's strength.

In his second letter to Timothy, a young pastor, the apostle Paul encouraged him to "be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:1). Timothy's ministry needed to be fortified not by his natural abilities but by the strength that rests in Jesus Christ. Jesus told His disciples that they could accomplish nothing apart from Him (John 15:5).