Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
It calls for a careful circuit of Zion to count its towers, mark its bulwarks and defenses well, and consider its palaces, so that its glory and God's care can be declared to the generation to follow. It is given with remembrance of God's loving-kindness in His temple and with the assurance that this God is our God forever and will guide even unto death. Zion is the church of Christ, whose children are to survey her strength, take courage in her final triumph, stand apart from the world, and invite others to join God's people. Its towers and bulwarks picture present truth as firmly founded and harmonious, to be studied part by part, especially its prophecies and sanctuary, so its truths can be clearly explained. Its triumph looks forward to the establishment of God's kingdom over all the earth and to the redeemed dwelling in the heavenly city, troubled no more by the wicked but beholding the Lord face to face.
Call to Survey Zion
Walk about Zion and go round her, count and tell her towers, mark her defenses and bulwarks well, and look upon her palaces, so that her glory may be told to the generation following. Her visible strength and splendor are to be carefully examined and remembered in order to bear witness to Jerusalem's glory as the seat of God's government on earth and to pass the knowledge on. Her defenses and palaces are grounds for remembering God's enduring care and for guiding later generations. This surveying belongs to Israel's worship at the Jerusalem temple crowning Mount Moriah, where morning and evening worship joined the people's prayers with incense and the burnt offering. The towers, defenses, and palaces were to be closely observed there so the next generation could hear of God's refuge and lasting guidance.
The psalm belongs to the post-Davidic psalms written at the return of the Jews from captivity in Babylon in the reign of Cyrus king of Persia. It expresses the mingled joy, sorrow, and anxiety of the returning exiles, and refers to the building and dedication of the second temple and the glorious triumphs connected with it. It recalls Zion in the days of its former glory when its towers could be surveyed with pride. After Jerusalem's wall and gates had been rebuilt, much of the city still lay in ruins, making that former splendor a painful contrast with present desolation. In the setting of Judah's return after victory it celebrates God's deliverance and righteous judgments and declares that He will guide His people throughout their lives, whom they could praise with understanding because He had proved their refuge and deliverer.
Promise and Future Triumph
The call to walk about Zion and number her towers is a promise of God to be held together with meditation on His loving-kindness in the midst of His temple. It belongs with the declaration that according to His name so is His praise unto the ends of the earth, that His right hand is full of righteousness, and that Mount Zion is glad and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of His judgments. It closes with the assurance that this God is our God for ever and ever and will be our guide even unto death, to be told to the generation following after marking her defenses well and beholding her palaces.
Her defenses and palaces so surveyed are grounds for remembering His enduring care and for guiding later generations. The triumph of the psalm is placed in the future, when His kingdom is established over all the earth and His people have triumphed over their enemies. In that future setting it points prophetically to the glory of Christ's kingdom.
It shows the redeemed walking around the heavenly Zion and viewing its towers, bulwarks, and palaces. There they find God's promises about life in the city all fulfilled, for the wicked trouble them no more and they are with the Lord and behold Him face to face. There they know fully, and they wear crowns and serve God and praise Him.
Zion is thus a city whose towers and battlements are viewed while walking round about her. So viewed, they appear near, making the end of the long conflict seem almost visible and urging the work to its finish. The same survey bears witness to Jerusalem's glory as the seat of God's government on earth. It is applied to the city of God as a real place that people will see and study closely, noticing towers, defenses, and palaces in order to describe them to future generations.
Church and Present Message
Zion is the church of Christ, and her children are called to look carefully over her and recognize her strength. Christian teachers are to consider her defenses and regain courage and confidence in her final triumph. They are to stand apart from worldly influence and teach the knowledge of God and Christ, helping young people remain within the church and prepare to invite others to join God's people and bear witness to the present last generation. The call is to invite people to see the church and its strength, while standing firmly by its faith and speaking of it with love.
Her towers to be told are Divine Revelation, Saving Faith, Righteousness, and Personal Service. They are guarded and protected by impregnable bulwarks, the first of which is Creation. Creation gives scientific and philosophic security against the paper forts of atheistic evolution such as the protoplastic monad and spontaneous generation. All creation pulsates with life, and it is folly to claim that life is produced by a pulseless, lifeless, inanimate nonentity.
Applied to the message for that time, the exhortation to carefully examine Zion means its workers should study every part of the message closely, especially its prophecies and the sanctuary, so they can explain its truths clearly to the next generation. Present truth has solid foundations, with bulwarks that can be walked around and towers that can be counted, showing its strong and well-formed structure. Since 1844 further truths have become visible as parts of one harmonious system, like additional proportions of a great edifice.
It calls for a careful circuit of Zion to count its towers, mark its bulwarks and defenses well, and consider its palaces, so that its glory and God's care can be declared to the generation to follow. It is given with remembrance of God's loving-kindness in His temple and with the assurance that this God is our God forever and will guide even unto death. Zion is the church of Christ, whose children are to survey her strength, take courage in her final triumph, stand apart from the world, and invite others to join God's people. Its towers and bulwarks picture present truth as firmly founded and harmonious, to be studied part by part, especially its prophecies and sanctuary, so its truths can be clearly explained. Its triumph looks forward to the establishment of God's kingdom over all the earth and to the redeemed dwelling in the heavenly city, troubled no more by the wicked but beholding the Lord face to face.
Call to Survey Zion
Walk about Zion and go round her, count and tell her towers, mark her defenses and bulwarks well, and look upon her palaces, so that her glory may be told to the generation following. Her visible strength and splendor are to be carefully examined and remembered in order to bear witness to Jerusalem's glory as the seat of God's government on earth and to pass the knowledge on. Her defenses and palaces are grounds for remembering God's enduring care and for guiding later generations. This surveying belongs to Israel's worship at the Jerusalem temple crowning Mount Moriah, where morning and evening worship joined the people's prayers with incense and the burnt offering. The towers, defenses, and palaces were to be closely observed there so the next generation could hear of God's refuge and lasting guidance.
The psalm belongs to the post-Davidic psalms written at the return of the Jews from captivity in Babylon in the reign of Cyrus king of Persia. It expresses the mingled joy, sorrow, and anxiety of the returning exiles, and refers to the building and dedication of the second temple and the glorious triumphs connected with it. It recalls Zion in the days of its former glory when its towers could be surveyed with pride. After Jerusalem's wall and gates had been rebuilt, much of the city still lay in ruins, making that former splendor a painful contrast with present desolation. In the setting of Judah's return after victory it celebrates God's deliverance and righteous judgments and declares that He will guide His people throughout their lives, whom they could praise with understanding because He had proved their refuge and deliverer.
Promise and Future Triumph
The call to walk about Zion and number her towers is a promise of God to be held together with meditation on His loving-kindness in the midst of His temple. It belongs with the declaration that according to His name so is His praise unto the ends of the earth, that His right hand is full of righteousness, and that Mount Zion is glad and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of His judgments. It closes with the assurance that this God is our God for ever and ever and will be our guide even unto death, to be told to the generation following after marking her defenses well and beholding her palaces.
Her defenses and palaces so surveyed are grounds for remembering His enduring care and for guiding later generations. The triumph of the psalm is placed in the future, when His kingdom is established over all the earth and His people have triumphed over their enemies. In that future setting it points prophetically to the glory of Christ's kingdom.
It shows the redeemed walking around the heavenly Zion and viewing its towers, bulwarks, and palaces. There they find God's promises about life in the city all fulfilled, for the wicked trouble them no more and they are with the Lord and behold Him face to face. There they know fully, and they wear crowns and serve God and praise Him.
Zion is thus a city whose towers and battlements are viewed while walking round about her. So viewed, they appear near, making the end of the long conflict seem almost visible and urging the work to its finish. The same survey bears witness to Jerusalem's glory as the seat of God's government on earth. It is applied to the city of God as a real place that people will see and study closely, noticing towers, defenses, and palaces in order to describe them to future generations.
Church and Present Message
Zion is the church of Christ, and her children are called to look carefully over her and recognize her strength. Christian teachers are to consider her defenses and regain courage and confidence in her final triumph. They are to stand apart from worldly influence and teach the knowledge of God and Christ, helping young people remain within the church and prepare to invite others to join God's people and bear witness to the present last generation. The call is to invite people to see the church and its strength, while standing firmly by its faith and speaking of it with love.
Her towers to be told are Divine Revelation, Saving Faith, Righteousness, and Personal Service. They are guarded and protected by impregnable bulwarks, the first of which is Creation. Creation gives scientific and philosophic security against the paper forts of atheistic evolution such as the protoplastic monad and spontaneous generation. All creation pulsates with life, and it is folly to claim that life is produced by a pulseless, lifeless, inanimate nonentity.
Applied to the message for that time, the exhortation to carefully examine Zion means its workers should study every part of the message closely, especially its prophecies and the sanctuary, so they can explain its truths clearly to the next generation. Present truth has solid foundations, with bulwarks that can be walked around and towers that can be counted, showing its strong and well-formed structure. Since 1844 further truths have become visible as parts of one harmonious system, like additional proportions of a great edifice.