Psalm Photos - 48 - Foundation

Psalm 48

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, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.

Within its citadels God has shown himself a sure defense.

Then the kings assembled, they came on together.

As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic, they took to flight;

trembling took hold of them there, pains as of a woman in labor,

as when an east wind shatters the ships of Tarshish.

As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes forever. Selah

We ponder your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.

Your name, O God, like your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with victory.

Let Mount Zion be glad, let the towns of Judah rejoice because of your judgments.

Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers,

consider well its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation

that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever.

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Having just finished a study of Nehemiah here at PCW, any discussions of walls and foundations goes back to that story. This Psalm today did exactly that and it drew my eye to the wall across the street from our house. This picture is of a newly built wall that replaced a retaining wall that completely collapsed under the weight of a rain storm several years ago. The old wall was without a solid foundation and when it could no longer hold back the rain, it fell completely over in one solid piece. Not just one section, but the whole thing. This replacement wall, however, was built much differently - solid foundation (and a lot of drainage areas too) - nothing’s going to move it. I thought of Nehemiah walking around the ruined wall of Jerusalem and then beginning the process of rebuilding both the physical wall, but also the foundations of the people and the community within the wall. This Psalm speaks not only to my own personal foundations, but also to the one my faith is founded upon. There may be storms, there may be doubts, there may be questions, but God stands firm and strong. Amen.