The North Side

How many times have we sung these verses in worship without really understanding what the psalmist was thinking about.

Ps 48:1-2 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. 2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

I always wondered about that phrase “on the sides of the north” and so I did a little reading and… surprise… I learned something new. “The mountain of His holiness” refers to Jerusalem, where the tabernacle stood which was later replaced by the temple. It is surrounded on three sides by steep valleys. This is what protected the city from attack by the Assyrians and Babylonians. However, the north side was unprotected and that left the city open to attack.

The solution? That’s where Israel put the Temple. Their answer to attack from the outside was to say to the whole world that God Himself would protect them. He would protect the area in which they were most vulnerable.

There’s a good lesson in there for us. Where is your most vulnerable area? Where are you open to attack from the enemy? The answer is to determine in your heart to worship God in that area. You can rest assured that He will defend and protect you from the enemy’s attack.

In truth, God has made our life in Him so simple and yet we complicate it with all our thoughts, ideas, contemplations, fears, and worries. All He ever asked of us is to trust Him, and what could be a better way to trust than to turn over every vulnerability to Him. Release control of those areas and just worship Him with thanksgiving for coming to your rescue. Spend some time in the Old Testament and see how He protected and rescued Israel time and time again. Let The Word encourage you. Then, like David, after the attack you will be able to rejoice and say:

Ps 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Remember His promise that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Let’s be sure that in the time of attack that we don’t wander away from Him in fear. Let’s make sure we stand and let Him protect the sides of the north.