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Psalm 48 · a question people ask

Which kings came against the city in 48:4-6, and when?

In the text

The psalm doesn't say. It names no king, no people and no time: "For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together. They saw it, then they were amazed. They were dismayed. They hurried away" (48:4-5). Its title says only "A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah" (48:1), and no New Testament verse names this psalm or says when it was sung. The psalm doesn't point to any event, so these notes don't either. What the psalm does say is how the kings' coming ended: "Trembling took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in travail" (48:6), and it speaks to God of what he does: "With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish" (48:7).

The verses

“A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.”
Psalm 48:1 · World English Bible
“For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together. They saw it, then they were amazed. They were dismayed. They hurried away. Trembling took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in travail. With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.”
Psalm 48:4-7 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 48

Psalm 48: The city of the great King

Number its towers (Psalm 48:12) and tell the next generation (Psalm 48:13) are one Hebrew verb: count it, then recount it. The kings "saw" and hurried away (Psalm 48:5), and the psalm's "we" have "seen" with the same verb (Psalm 48:8). And "the city of the great King" (Psalm 48:2) comes again, word for word in the WEB, on Jesus' lips (Matthew 5:35).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions