The Glory of Panic Text: Psalm 48:4-8
Introduction: The Unassailable City
We live in a time of great bluster. The enemies of God are loud, they are arrogant, and they seem to be carrying everything before them. They assemble themselves in their corporate boardrooms, their faculty lounges, their legislative chambers, and their media conglomerates. They pass resolutions, they issue decrees, they mock the faithful, and they congratulate one another on their enlightened courage. To the watching world, and sometimes to the wavering Christian, their coalition appears formidable, their advance unstoppable. They look like an army of kings, arrayed in all their worldly glory, preparing to level the city of God once and for all.
But the psalms teach us to see with different eyes. They teach us to see the world as it actually is, from the vantage point of God's throne. From that high place, the swaggering kings of the earth look very different. Their strength is a sham, their wisdom is foolishness, and their bravado is tissue paper in a hurricane. Psalm 48 is a song about the security of Zion, the city of God. And in the middle of this song, we are given a snapshot of what happens when the assembled might of the unbelieving world comes face to face with the reality of God's kingdom. What happens is not a protracted war, not a negotiated settlement, but a sudden, catastrophic, and divinely induced panic.
This is a truth we desperately need to recover. We are often tempted to think that our deliverance will come through political maneuvering, or clever arguments, or cultural savvy. But God's chosen instrument is often something far more primal, something He gives as a gift to His enemies. That gift is stark terror. When God's people are faithful, when they are trusting in Him and not in their own strength, God has a long and distinguished history of routing their enemies by simply causing them to lose their nerve. He sends a holy panic. He makes them see things as they really are, if only for a moment, and the sight undoes them completely.
This psalm is not just a historical record of some forgotten battle. The city of God is now the Church of Jesus Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem. And the promise of her defense is as certain today as it was when the sons of Korah first sang this song. We are to learn from this what God does to His enemies, so that we might not fear them, but rather pray for them in the way the Scriptures teach. Our first preference is that God would destroy their enmity by turning them into friends, as He did with Saul of Tarsus. But if they persist in their rebellion, we are to be confident that God knows how to break their charge and send them fleeing in confusion.
The Text
For, behold, the kings assembled themselves,
They passed by together.
They saw it, then they were astonished;
They were dismayed, they fled in alarm.
Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as of a woman in childbirth.
With the east wind
You break the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of Yahweh of hosts, in the city of our God;
God will establish her forever. Selah.
(Psalm 48:4-8 LSB)
The Grand Coalition (v. 4)
The scene is set with a gathering of worldly power.
"For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, They passed by together." (Psalm 48:4)
The psalmist says, "behold." He wants us to look. He wants us to see the threat as it appears to the natural eye. This is not just one king, but a confederacy of them. "The kings assembled themselves." They came together in unity, with a common purpose. This is the perennial picture of the world's opposition to Christ and His Church. Psalm 2 describes it perfectly: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh and against His Anointed" (Psalm 2:2). Whether it is the Sanhedrin and Pilate, or the pagan emperors of Rome, or the secularist ideologues of our own day, the pattern is the same. The world can be hopelessly divided on every other subject, but they find a remarkable solidarity when it comes to opposing the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
They "passed by together." There is a military precision to it. They are on the march. Their banners are flying, their armor is gleaming, and their cause is, in their own minds, entirely just. They are not shambling; they are parading. They are full of confidence, moving as one, convinced of their own invincibility. This is the United Nations of rebellion. This is the grand coalition of human autonomy, and their target is the city of God.
The Great Unraveling (v. 5-6)
But then, in the very next breath, this imposing spectacle completely falls apart.
"They saw it, then they were astonished; They were dismayed, they fled in alarm. Panic seized them there, Anguish, as of a woman in childbirth." (Psalm 48:5-6 LSB)
Notice the rapid-fire sequence of events. There is no battle. There is no siege. There is no clash of arms. There is only seeing, and then utter collapse. "They saw it, then they were astonished." What did they see? They saw the city. They saw Zion. But they did not just see walls and towers. They saw the city "of our God" (v. 8). They caught a glimpse of the reality that God was in her midst. For a brief, terrible moment, the veil was pulled back, and they saw what they were truly up against. They were not fighting a band of religious provincials; they were fighting the Lord of hosts.
And the sight shatters them. The word for "astonished" carries the idea of being dumbfounded, paralyzed by wonder and terror. Their intellectual categories were blown apart. Their next reaction was to be "dismayed," which means they were thrown into confusion, agitated, and terrified. Then, they "fled in alarm." The proud procession turns into a panicked rout. The kings who marched together now trample one another to get away.
Verse 6 describes the internal experience of this terror. "Panic seized them there." This was not a strategic retreat; it was a complete meltdown. The "anguish, as of a woman in childbirth," is a common biblical metaphor for a sudden, sharp, and overwhelming agony that cannot be resisted. It comes upon you, and you are completely in its grip. This is what God does. He doesn't just defeat His enemies on the outside; He undoes them from the inside. He gives them the gift of panic. We see this throughout Scripture. When Gideon's three hundred men blew their trumpets, the whole Midianite army panicked and turned on itself (Judges 7). When Jehoshaphat's choir began to sing, the Lord set ambushes against their enemies, and they destroyed one another (2 Chronicles 20). This is one of God's signature moves. If God delivered His people in the old covenant by sending panics among their adversaries, why would He stop doing that?
Shattered Pride (v. 7)
The psalmist then provides a parallel illustration of God's destructive power, moving from land to sea.
"With the east wind You break the ships of Tarshish." (Psalm 48:7 LSB)
The "ships of Tarshish" were the pinnacle of ancient maritime technology and commercial power. They were the great ocean-going vessels that conducted international trade, symbols of wealth, pride, and human achievement. They represented the very best that man could build. And the "east wind" was a notoriously violent and destructive wind coming off the desert. The point is this: the greatest achievements of man are utterly fragile before the raw power of God's creation. He doesn't need an opposing navy to defeat the world's fleets. He just needs to blow.
The same God who sends a panic that shatters the hearts of kings is the God who sends a wind that shatters the hulls of their most impressive ships. The pride of military might and the pride of economic might are both broken with effortless ease. This is a warning to every age, including our own. Our technological marvels, our financial systems, our global networks, they are all ships of Tarshish. They look impressive, but they are nothing before the east wind of God's judgment. He can break them in a moment.
Heard and Seen (v. 8)
Finally, the psalmist brings it all home. This is not abstract theology; it is lived experience.
"As we have heard, so have we seen In the city of Yahweh of hosts, in the city of our God; God will establish her forever. Selah." (Psalm 48:8 LSB)
"As we have heard, so have we seen." This is the testimony of a mature faith. We begin by hearing. We are taught the stories of God's faithfulness to our fathers. We hear of the Red Sea, of Jericho, of David and Goliath. We hear the promises of God in His Word. This is the foundation. But faith does not remain in the realm of hearing alone. As we walk with God, we begin to see His faithfulness for ourselves. The promises we once only heard with our ears become events we witness with our eyes. The God who delivered our fathers delivers us. The doctrines become experiences. We hear that God routs His enemies, and then we see a coalition of arrogant kings dissolve into a terrified mob before our very eyes.
This experience happens "in the city of Yahweh of hosts." This is where God's protection is manifested. And who is Yahweh of hosts? He is the Lord of armies, the commander of the angelic legions. The Church is the city of the God who commands all the powers of heaven. It is no wonder her enemies are terrified when they get a true glimpse of her King.
Because of all this, the psalmist concludes with a statement of unshakable confidence: "God will establish her forever." The security of the Church does not depend on her own strength, but on the character and power of her God. Kingdoms and empires rise and fall. The ships of Tarshish are built, and they are broken. But the city of God, the Church of Jesus Christ, will be established forever. The gates of Hell itself shall not prevail against it.
And then, "Selah." This is a musical or liturgical notation, but its function is to tell us to pause and think about what has just been said. Stop. Consider this. Let the truth sink in. The assembled kings of the earth saw Zion and had a panic attack. The greatest commercial fleets are matchsticks in the wind of God's breath. The stories of God's power are being reenacted in our own lives. And the Church is eternally secure. Meditate on that. Let it cure you of your fears.
Conclusion: Living in the Unshakeable Kingdom
So what do we do with a psalm like this? We are to take it and apply it directly to our situation. The Church today is the city of God. And the kings of the earth are still assembling. They are passing laws to redefine marriage, to murder the unborn, and to silence the preaching of the gospel. They are marching in lockstep, and they look very formidable.
Our task is not to panic with them. Our task is to be the calm center in the middle of the storm, because we know who is in charge of the winds. We are to live as citizens of the unshakeable city. This means we do not put our trust in political saviors or worldly strategies, which are just ships of Tarshish waiting for a storm. We put our trust in the Lord of hosts.
It also means we should pray with a holy confidence. We should pray that God would once again give the gift of panic to His enemies. We should pray that He would pull back the curtain and let them see, just for a moment, the folly of fighting against the Almighty. We should pray that their confident assemblies would be thrown into confusion, that their plans would unravel, and that their pride would be shattered.
And as we pray, we should be looking. "As we have heard, so have we seen." We should be cataloging God's deliverances, both small and great. We should be teaching them to our children, so that they begin by hearing, and grow up to see for themselves that our God is a mighty fortress, a bulwark never failing. The kings of the earth may assemble, but they will be astonished. Their ships may be impressive, but the east wind is coming. For God has established His city, and He will defend her forever.