What is the meaning of Psalm 48:6? Trembling seized them there Psalm 48:4 has just pictured “the kings assembled, they advanced together.” The next breath tells us how swiftly God turns their confidence into terror: “Trembling seized them there.” • The word “seized” paints fear that grabs and paralyzes—just as “the peoples heard and trembled” when Israel crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 15:14-16). • “There” points to Zion itself, the place God had chosen and promised to defend (Psalm 46:5). The same ground that gave His people security became the ground of dread for their enemies. • Scripture shows this pattern repeatedly: Rahab testified, “terror of you has fallen on us” (Joshua 2:9-11), and the Assyrian army melted when the Lord struck them outside Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:35-36). In every case the trembling is not random panic; it is the direct result of encountering the living God who “breaks the spirit of rulers; He is feared by the kings of the earth” (Psalm 76:12). Anguish like a woman in labor The image intensifies: “anguish like a woman in labor.” Childbirth pain is unavoidable, overwhelming, and steadily increasing until delivery. God chooses this comparison to show that the foes of Zion cannot escape what is coming. • Isaiah uses the same language: “They will be dismayed, pangs and agony will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor” (Isaiah 13:8). The thought is in Jeremiah 6:24 and Micah 4:9-10 as well. • Labor pains arrive suddenly yet follow an ordered progression—just as God’s judgments are both unexpected to the wicked and perfectly timed by Him (1 Thessalonians 5:3). • For His people, labor imagery can signal hopeful anticipation (John 16:21), but for the unrepentant it speaks of inescapable distress. Here the enemies of Zion experience the latter: pain with no relief until they retreat in defeat. The verse therefore reinforces that the Lord’s protection of His city is not symbolic—real adversaries feel real anguish when they collide with His sovereign power. summary Psalm 48:6 pictures the instant, God-given panic that strikes the assembled kings attacking Jerusalem. First, fear grips them on the very ground they expected to conquer; then the terror deepens into unstoppable agony likened to labor pains. The verse celebrates the Lord’s faithful defense of Zion and assures believers that any force opposing His purposes will ultimately be overwhelmed by His might. |
    |