“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 her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress. 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. We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness. Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.” (v1-3,8-10,12-14)
What a wonderful and joyful song of praise this is. From the very first verse it declares how great God is and how greatly He deserves to be praised. In the last verse it speaks of His eternal watch and guidance over us, for He is infinite in wonder and His “city” is grand. We could probably end this commentary right here (but I’ll keep going, haha).
God’s “holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.” (v2) The term “Zion” is used roughly 150 times in the Bible, so what and where is Zion, you may ask? Well, initially it was a physical place – a Jebusite fortress in what would become the city of Jerusalem (Zion literally translated means “fortress”). David conquered this fortress (2 Sam 5:7), and David’s son Solomon used the highest point of this site for building God’s temple (v2). So, we’ve gone from meaning a fortress to a glorious temple.
What else does Zion mean? Later, the term Zion begins encompassing the entire city of Jerusalem (Isa 40:9) (you will also sometimes see Zion called the “City of God” or the “City of David”). Eventually, Zion even begins to encompass the land of Judah (Jer 31:12,23) and even the entire nation of Israel (Zec 9:9,13).
It gets even more interesting once we reach the NT, and Zion begins meaning God’s spiritual kingdom. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…” (Heb 12:22a) “For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ ” (1 Pet 2:6) In these two contexts, Zion is clearly a spiritual kingdom, built by God in which He and we will dwell (“the heavenly Jerusalem”, a place where Jesus is the cornerstone the builders rejected).
So what does all of this mean for us today? Is Zion something we need to be part of, or is it a future thing for Christ’s second coming? My personal opinion is Zion is being built as you are reading these very words, and each of us has a role to play – “Jesus came into Galilee… saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’ ” (Mk 1:14-15 abr) “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There!” for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.’ ” (Lk 17:20-21) “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17) Sounds like we have some work to do.
Father God, please grant us understanding and courage – Your eternal guidance, Your infinite wisdom, and Your grand plan are working to build Your kingdom here on Earth in the hearts and minds of those who call You Father, so one day we will live together in the New Jerusalem, the City of God. Father we ask for Your moment-by-moment leadership in our lives, so that we may be the living bricks of Your holy temple, of which Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. May we together bring Zion into this place for the kingdom of God is in the midst of us, and may we together become a dwelling place for You on Earth. Father God may Your Holy Spirit not rest until Your appointed time, may He work in and through each one of us to proclaim Your greatness and Your salvation to a lost generation, so that together as one body we may enter into Zion, Your eternal kingdom. May we, in Jesus’ name in accordance with His calling, proclaim the gospel truth through the boldness the Holy Spirit grants us.
~ Conqueror in Training