48:4-6 Besieging armies could not prevail against God's stronghold. They turned away unsuccessful. It was as though the presence of God terrified them. The psalmist may have written these words shortly after an invading army, perhaps the Assyrians, had attacked Jerusalem and failed (cf. Isa. 10:8; 33:3, 14).
48:7 The east wind is very strong and hot in Israel. Tarshish probably refers to some nation to the west, possibly near modern Spain. Ships of Tarshish were probably large Mediterranean vessels. The writer pictured their destruction as symbolic of God's defeat of nations foreign to Israel.
48:8 The psalmist could confirm earlier reports of God's delivering Zion with his own eyewitness testimony. The Lord of Armies had indeed defended His capital with His mighty forces. Some of the Lord's troops were natural: Israel's fighting force. Some was supernatural: His angelic army.
