Day 2: Mount Zion

So here I am, day two from the mountain top, even though I am not actually there.  I guess you could say that instead of me going to the mountains, I am having the mountains come to me.

Today's mountain scripture is from Psalm 48 -

¹ Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
    in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

² Beautiful in its loftiness,
    the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon  is Mount Zion,
    the city of the Great King.
³ God is in her citadels;
    he has shown himself to be her fortress. 

The first verse I knew the moment I saw it because I have sang that line in anthems, praising God.  The whole psalm, which is 14 verses long reflects on Mount Zion being the seat of God, and how God has protected it.  Even though Mount Zion is not geographically the highest  in the region, it is the "highest" because God had chosen it.  It's funny how the different gods of the time had their own mountains.  Mount Zaphon was home to El - chief of the gods of the Phoenicians and of course, Mount Olympus, home to Zeus and the Greek gods.  


The psalm is a celebration of the joy in the security of Mount Zion, the psalmist suggest that the city was secure from all forms of attack with its towers, ramparts and citadels.  But it was God who did the protecting, not the walls surrounding Mount Zion.  Beautiful in its loftiness, that sounds so wonderful, you can almost picture it.  


This psalm and these scriptures tell me to praise God, because He is worthy of praise, He is our protector and our fortress in the toughest of times.  If we seek our refuge in God we cannot be destroyed spiritually because simply, God cannot be destroyed, he is truly our tower, rampart and citadel.  He is truly worthy of our praise, faith and trust.


This psalm ends very powerfully, with this verse.  14 - For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.


Amen to that.