“Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth” (Psalm 48:1-2). That’s how the psalm refers to Mount Zion, the place of the great king, where God dwells to protect the people of Jerusalem (48:3).

It is perhaps not obvious that this is “the joy of all the earth,” if foreign kings have made an alliance to destroy the city (48:4). Yet it is interesting how the story proceeds from there. When these foreigners saw what God was doing, “they panicked and fled away” (48:5). This is perhaps a reference to the attack by Sennacherib against Jerusalem (II Kings 19, II Chronicles 32) where an action by the Lord caused the Assyrian army to flee in the night.

In the end, it is not economic or military might that preserves us; instead, it is the saving justice of our God that sets us free and fills our hearts with rejoicing (Psalm 48:11). This saving justice, moreover, that rescues us from those who would destroy us, causes God’s name to be praised over the whole world: “Your name, O God, like your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth” (48:10). That doesn’t necessarily mean everyone; for example, Sennacherib and the Assyrians might not be rejoicing, because they intended to be plundering Jerusalem rather than fleeing in panic. But most everyone else in the world would be glad to see it, when tyrants who intended to destroy their neighbors end up getting defeated by the hand of God.

We should notice that it is not just geography that is in view, here: it is future generations as well (48:13), for our God is our guide and protector, for ever and ever (48:14). We should draw the proper conclusion from this that the grace of our Lord is not limited by place or time: no matter which generation we are talking about, and no matter where we may find ourselves. And that should lead us to exult, along with the psalm, singing that God’s saving justice really is the joy of the whole world.

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You are worthy of our praise, O Lord, though we are often slow to give it. Stir up our hearts to remember all your saving acts; fill us full and overflowing with gladness of soul. For your steadfast love, your saving justice poured out to us, truly is the joy of the whole world.

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