Psalm 48 locates the Great King's throne in Mount Zion—Jerusalem. It is referred to as God's "holy mountain" (verse 1), yet this should also be understood as figurative of God's Kingdom—a mountain being symbolic of a kingdom in prophecy (compare Daniel 2:35, Daniel 2:44-45; Isaiah 2:2-4).

Note the phrase in Psalm 48:2, "beautiful in elevation" or "beautiful in its loftiness" (NIV). Neither the original fortress of Zion, David's city, nor the Temple Mount area he later incorporated, formed the highest peak in the area. Today the Mount of Olives looks down over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount—as it did then. However, we should understand that the general area of Jerusalem was of higher elevation than the surrounding land of Judah and central Israel so that people in pilgrimage to the holy city would ascend to it.

Nevertheless, the main idea here concerns Jerusalem's spiritual exaltation. As the city of God's tabernacle and temple, and of the throne of God's anointed king over Israel and Judah, Jerusalem was the peak spiritual location on earth—and it will be on a much grander scale in the future. Even today, Jewish immigration to the Holy Land from anywhere in the world is referred to as aliyah—“ascent."

In the same vein, another focus of the passage is the physical city of Jerusalem as representative of the city of God now presently in heaven to later descend: "Mount Zion...the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:22; see Revelation 21-22). The reference to the "sides of the north" in verse 2 could signify the Temple Mount and royal palace being on the north side of David's city. Yet it may also signify the heavenly "mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north...above the heights of the clouds" (see Isaiah 14:13-14).

The verses here would also appear to portray on some level the spiritual Zion or Jerusalem of today—the Church of God, wherein God now dwells through His Spirit and which He greatly blesses and protects (compare Hebrews 12:22-23).

Yet the primary focus of Psalm 48 is the future time of Christ's reign over all nations as in the previous psalm, when Jerusalem, as the capital of God's Kingdom, will truly be "the joy of the whole earth" (verse 2). God in the person of Christ will literally dwell bodily in Jerusalem's palaces or citadels—governing the earth from there.

That this is the principal backdrop we discern from the message of the previous two psalms as well as the apparent time setting of Psalm 48:4-7. "This section describes from a different point of view the final battle [at Christ's return] referred to in Psalms 2; 110. Psalm 48 describes the approach and hasty retreat of the errant kings. The connection between this text and Psalm 2 is heightened by the use of an unusual Hebrew word for fear—a term meaning 'trembling' or 'quaking terror'—which is found in both places (Psalm 2:11)" (Nelson Study Bible, note on Psalm 48:4-7). The imagery of God breaking ships of Tarshish in verse 7 is later found in Ezekiel 27, where the figure is meant to symbolize the destruction of ancient Tyre and its commercial system as well as, chiefly, the destruction of end-time Tyre, the international power bloc also known as Babylon—the parallel account of its destruction being found in Revelation 18 (see the Beyond Today Bible Commentary on Ezekiel 27).

Beyond the wars and assaults, Jerusalem will be safe because God will be her refuge (Psalm 48:3)—repeating the message of Psalm 46. Coming to the splendor and magnificence of God's holy city, and the wonderful way of life proclaimed from there, visiting pilgrims will remark, "As we have heard, so we have seen..." (Psalm 48:8). These words call to mind the reaction of the Queen of Sheba in visiting King Solomon: "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard" (1 Kings 10:6-7). How much more will this be true of Jerusalem during the reign of the Great King, Jesus Christ.

Visitors are encouraged to walk about and enjoy the city's awesome beauty (Psalm 48:12-13). Parents will tell their children that the city, a bastion of righteousness and justice, exemplifies the Everlasting God (see verse 14). Just as God provides evidence that He is the Creator (Romans 1:18-20), in Jerusalem He provides evidence that He is the King.In its note on Psalm 48:9-11, The Expositor's Bible Commentary states that Jerusalem will be "a God-given visual aid, encouraging [visitors] to imagine and to reflect on the long history of God's involvement with Israel and of the evidences of his 'unfailing love' (hesed)."

Though verses 9-14 paint a vivid picture of the future, the words here also applied well to the experience of the Israelites in ancient times as they came to Jerusalem and its temple to worship. Just the same, these words can have immediacy for us today as we ponder being part of spiritual Zion, God's Church, and what that entails—and as we consider what God will yet do for us in the wonderful age to come.

Finally it should be pointed out that some have objected to the last words of this psalm, which in the NKJV state that God "will be our guide even to death." If the interpolated word "even" is left out, this would seem to make God "our guide to death"—as if to say He leads us to death. This may be why the Septuagint translators changed the final words to "forever," which is used earlier in the verse. However, the phrase "even to death" is certainly true—that God is with us and guides us through all our lives even to the point of death. Of course, God will ultimately guide us even beyond death. It may be, as some have argued, that "to death" is actually part of a postscript to this psalm or of a prescript to the next, a cue phrase meaning set to the tune of another song titled "Death"—perhaps an abbreviated form of "Death of the Son," mentioned in the superscription of Psalm 9.