Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 48 (February 19, 2026)

February 19, 2026:  Thursday Bible Study on Psalm 48

Good morning, dear friends in Christ. I know that some of you who are doing these Bible Studies during the week are in much colder places than Tucson. However, today our high temperature is only going to be in the 50s. Up north that is spring weather, but here in Tucson it is cold (by our standards) and damp from light rain this morning. It is OK though, because next week, all week long we will be in the lower 80s during the day, and the 50s will be our nighttime lows. I hope that you get a chance to get some relief from the snow and winter weather where you live.

In our study for today we encounter the claims that God has chosen Jerusalem as His Home on earth. And, indeed, even today, though ridden with the remnants of battles, the Temple Mount remains a bright shining natural outcropping of white cliffs. In the time of our Psalmist, Jerusalem is the example of the natural work of the Creator, and God's presence there with David the Jews who live there, makes it a sight to behold through faith and vision. This Psalm addresses for us the faithfulness of God who has stuck by His chosen people through both obedience and disobedience, but the faithfulness of God Himself never fails. Though I have never traveled to the East and Jerusalem, the pictures which are widely available reveal it as a beautiful hilltop city, where many generations of Jews have lived and thrived, on this small hill on which God has chosen to anchor His Home, and to make it clear that failure to remember who He is can, and certainly does later in 70CE, cause God to allow the natural consequences of that lost faith, and the sense of the value of being God's People has withered away, to suffer the consequences of defeat and loss.  The shining city on the hill is obliterated by the Romans, leaving only the beauty of the natural rock hill to stand! I understand that pride is in one's hometown. Melody and I grew up in a small Lake Michigan community. As you drive into the city of Ludington on the lake, you are immediately immersed in mansion after mansion, beautiful Victorian homes, and Romanesque massive portico columns, left from the boom of the lumbering era, but still maintained today,  Ahead in the main section of downtown you can see the blue waters, or icebergs this time of the year, of Lake Michigan.  Main street ends in the harbor where there is a massive city beach, playground for children, golden sandy beaches, and verdant green grass in the park area, and along Lake Shore Drive you are taken to area lakes, and miles of sand dunes along the big lake to a state park where you can hike for hours along wooded paths and small bridges over clear water that eventually take you to massive dunes at the end of Hamlin Lake.  Unlike the people of Israel and Jerusalem, growing up there was a little slow with not a lot to do except cruising the main street back and forth on Friday night. Unlike the obliterated city of Jerusalem, Ludington remains vibrant, cold this time of the year, and a most lovely community. There you can still drink the city water without concern. It is fresh from the bottom of Lake Michigan some distance from the shoreline. As God chose Jerusalem for his earthly home, it is good for us to know that David was a pretty smart guy. He settled on a pretty defensible outcropping of rock, and even better, when enemies assailed this city, its people had an endless supply of spring water that came from a cave below the city. Out of the boasting in this Psalm, it is good for us to note that bigger is not necessarily better! That is often true for small congregations too. Jerusalem was a powerful resilient force to be reckoned with in its day, and so are many small congregations who really make a difference for their members, the community in which they live, and even impact God's world in which they exist. Like those people so long ago in Jerusalem, we too have joy in God's election of us through Baptism and Holy Communion in the Church today. And like the folks in Jerusalem, we must trust that God's promise to be with us, and has been kept for all the years of the ministry for the Gospel that has taken place on Tucson Blvd. On into our future, we too must trust the faithfulness of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier of Life as we live faithfully in our life's journey with Christ.

Thank you for allowing me to guide you through the study of Psalms.

With love in Christ, Pastor Kim