IN THE MIDST OF THY TEMPLE

This psalm, together with the preceding two, form a group, so we may assume that this psalm was composed after the Assyrian enemy had been routed by “the angel of the Lord”, when 185,000 of the enemy were slain, 2 Kings 19. 35. For the psalm says, “they were troubled, and hasted away. Fear took hold upon them”, vv. 5, 6. Immediately after this deliverance, there was death in the house of the Assyrian god, 2 Kings 19. 37, and although Hezekiah was ill, there was promised that on the third day he would “go up unto the house of the Lord”, 20. 5. What a contrast! In this temple, there would then be the thought of the loving kindness of God, Psa. 48. 9.

In the psalm, God is praised, not so much for the deliverance, but for the beauty of the city, mount Zion, its palaces and the temple. The city of God was unique. There was no liberty to pick and choose which religion suited one best. The city was “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth”, v. 2. Not that the heathen found it a joy over their cities and temples, rather the psalmist viewed his city as pre-eminent, being “the city of the great King”.

There were other buildings around, apart from the temple itself. All had to be considered, the towers, the bulwarks and the palaces. But the temple was not just one of many—it was special in that there God had to be contemplated. And such testimony was not just for the psalmist; the results of the contemplation must be told to “the generation following”.

Believers today must not think of the assembly or local church as a formal place of repetitive service week by week. They must view it as bringing joy to the Lord, as being the only place of beauty in a world where Christ is largely passed by and unknown. He would see it as a “chaste virgin”, 2 Cor. 11. 2. And our testimony should pass this blessedness on to others being saved. Thus there are those who shall believe “through their word”, John 17. 20. The apostle wrote, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you”, 1 John 1. 3. Paul wrote, “the things that thou hast heard … commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also”, 2 Tim. 2. 2. This is the true testimony of Zion.

“For ye are our glory and joy”, 1 Thess. 2. 20.