PSALMS 48-49

Zion, the City of Our God

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

48:1   Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
    in the city of our God!
  His holy mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
  Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.
3   Within her citadels God
    has made himself known as a fortress.
4   For behold, the kings assembled;
    they came on together.
5   As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight.
6   Trembling took hold of them there,
    anguish as of a woman in labor.
7   By the east wind you shattered
    the ships of Tarshish.
8   As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the LORD of hosts,
  in the city of our God,
    which God will establish forever. Selah
9   We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
10   As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
  Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11     Let Mount Zion be glad!
  Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!
12   Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
13   consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
  that you may tell the next generation
14     that this is God,
  our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.

Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

49:1   Hear this, all peoples!
    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2   both low and high,
    rich and poor together!
3   My mouth shall speak wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4   I will incline my ear to a proverb;
    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5   Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6   those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7   Truly no man can ransom another,
    or give to God the price of his life,
8   for the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
9   that he should live on forever
    and never see the pit.
10   For he sees that even the wise die;
    the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and leave their wealth to others.
11   Their graves are their homes forever,
    their dwelling places to all generations,
    though they called lands by their own names.
12   Man in his pomp will not remain;
    he is like the beasts that perish.
13   This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
14   Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    death shall be their shepherd,
  and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
    Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15   But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me. Selah
16   Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
17   For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
18   For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed—
    and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19   his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again see light.
20   Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

(ESV)

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