The Christmas carol we know as Joy to the World was written by the 18th- century pastor and hymn-writer Isaac Watts. Although we may think of it as a song meant to welcome the infant Jesus, it actually celebrates His coming reign. In other words, it is a song of the second Advent!

In a similar way, Psalm 48 speaks of joy to the earth. In this Psalm, however, Jerusalem is the source of joy. Jerusalem is called “Mount Zion” and “the city of the Great King” (v. 2). The Psalmist compares it to “the heights of Zaphon.” In Isaiah 14:14, Zaphon is the abode of God. It was the name of the sacred mountain where Canaanites believed their gods dwelt. Similarly, “Great King” was a title ascribed to the King of Assyria (Isa. 36:4).

These allusions to pagan worship help us understand why Zion is also characterized as a “fortress” in verse 3. There is a note of tension combined with this theme of joy in verses 4–8. Jerusalem is the joy of the whole earth because the God of Israel is the God of all the earth. There are no others. Yet, Israel’s God is not unopposed. Jerusalem is a city under siege. Earthly rulers seek to seize power from the God who claims this city as His own. The kings mentioned in verse 4 are exemplified by the coalition of rulers organized by Sennacherib, who surrounded Jerusalem in 701 B.C. but were miraculously defeated (2 Kings 18:13–19:37; Isa. 36–37). The New Testament church turned to passages like this to understand the opposition they faced from the governing authorities (Acts 4:24–31; see also Ps. 2:1–2). Jerusalem is still at the center of God’s plans for the future (Rev. 3:12; 21:2, 10).

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