The Holy City

 Temple Baptist Church - 7-12-2026

Psalm 48

 

Introduction:  Tonight, I want to give recognition for some of this sermon to Bro. Michael Lovett, Pastor of Graham Road Baptist Church in Hudson, OH, a dear friend and brother over the years, for part of this sermon. Thank you for your faithfulness.

A.  Tonight, we come to the Holy, Eternal City of God and Mount Zion.  How many of you have sung the first two verses of the precious Psalm?  Let’s sing it together tonight.

 

B.  Jerusalem, where everything began, everything will come to fruition. 

 

1.  I can biblically reason that Eden was in what we call Israel, and the Garden of Eden was were Jerusalem now sits.  Everything in the first three chapters of Genesis bear this out.  A long sermon for another time, but we find in this precious Psalm the importance of Jerusalem. 

 

2.  Today, both Jews, the descendants of Abraham and the Arabic nations, descendants Ishmael, claim right to her.

 

C.  That being said, I want to look at Jerusalem through the eyes of the Bible and God’s Covenant people, Israel.  A Psalm praising, not the city itself, the God who has chosen to eternally dwell there with His people.

 

1.  It was there that Abraham offered up Issac.  Mount Moriah and now called amount Zion.

 

2.  King David established the perpetual throne where Christ will rule and reign.

 

3.  Solomon built his Temple on the Mount Zion.

 

4.  God’s glory filled that Temple.

 

5.  Soon, the final Temple will stand there.

 

6.  Without God’s approval and presence, Jerusalem would be just another city.

 

7.  And a place where our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus frequented during His time on earth.

 

D.  Now, the breakdown of the Psalm

 

1.  Verse 1.  It is a place of Divine Positioning.  “in the mountain of his holiness.” 

 

a.  By many, Jerusalem is considered by many as being centrist in its location, possibly the center of the land mass of the earth.  That being said, Jerusalem is the center or crossroads of trade routes of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

 

Ezekiel 5:5  Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.

 

2.  Regardless of that fact, Jerusalem was situated by God Almighty, the great Creator.

 

2.  Verse 2.  It is a place of Divine Purpose.  “Beautiful for situation.”  Jerusalem has never been without purpose and, therefore beautiful for every situation or circumstance.

 

3.  Verse 2.  It is a place of Divine Pleasure. “the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north.”  The Jewish people continue to love that place today, from praying at the Wailing Wall or walking the Via Dolorosa (The Way of Sorrows or The Way of Suffering), where Christ walked and carried his cross.  Where at Golgotha, the place of the Skull, the Lamb of God died for the sins of the world, and the Garden Tomb where the resurrection took place.  Oh, what joy it brings to this pastor!

 

4.  Verse 2.  Is a place of Divine Preeminence.  “the city of the great King.”  When our Lord comes back in power and glory, He and He alone will ascend to the Throne of David as “King of kings and LORD of lords.”  There we who are saved will rule and reign with Him for a thousand years!

 

5.  Verses 3-7.  It is a place of Divine Protection.  “God is known in her palaces for a refuge. 4 For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. 5 They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away. 6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail. 7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.”  No weapon formed against it will prosper.  The hand of the LORD rests there.

 

6.  Verse 8.  A place of Divine Perpetuality. “As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.”  And so shall we ever be with the LORD in the New Jerusalem!

 

7.  Verses 9-11.  A place of Divine Praise.  “praise … rejoicing … and gladness.  I cannot fathom what eternity will be like, but do know that it will be a place of eternal bliss and happiness.  I am always happy when I walk through the doors of this church.  What will eternity be like?

 

8. Verses 12-14.  It is a place of Divine Promise.  “For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.”  You can “take it to the bank!”  One day soon, the present future will be reality to everyone of God’s children.  What a day that will be, Bro. Alvin, what a day that will be.