Ps. 48.3 (Zion: emblem of God's covenant)

“God is in / its citadels – renowned / as a stronghold.” As we have alluded to, spatial imagery is central in this psalm. Vs. 2 drew our attention to the “city of God” and, within that city, to God’s “holy mountain.” Here, we move further within Zion—God is in its citadels. With the centralizing movement there is an opposite movement outward: “renown”. The closer we move into the “inner rooms” the more we come to see how public Zion is. We saw this in our previous reflection on Zion’s “beautiful elevation” and its “exultation of the whole earth”. God’s presence within Zion is anything but hidden. Indeed, quite the opposite, the more intimately we move into Zion the more we come to contemplate Zion’s immense and public display of authority (“beautiful”, “exultation”, and “renown”). It participates and displays the uniqueness of the God that is now seen to be “in its citadels” (whatever God covenants with will participate and display his own Oneness). One cannot help but envision Zion as almost an organic entity, pulsing with the glory of Yhwh. Yhwh breathed into Adam, but here Yhwh is actually in Zion. There is, however, a shift in tone in this verse. Vs. 2 focused on Zion’s beauty, its being the “exultation of the whole world”. It was, although a vision of authority, one of peace. Here, ‘renown’ turns the corner; “stronghold” completes the shift. Zion is now militarily displaying itself to the world. The face of Zion has hardened. We will see in the next verse why this shift is taking place. For now, however, what we can say is that the public display of Zion operates in much the say way that God’s covenant does: as either blessing or curse. Vs. 2 revealed the blessing of Zion; vs. 3 prepares us for the ‘face of curse’ that Zion will display to the those who attempt to attack it. Again, in this way Zion is the icon not only of God but of his covenant. It is a physical manifestation of it.