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O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple.
Psalms 48:9 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB We have thought about your loving kindness, God, in the middle of your temple.
  • KJV We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
  • BSB Within Your temple, O God, we contemplate Your loving devotion.
  • NKJV We have thought, O God, on Your lovingkindness, In the midst of Your temple.
  • NASB ¶We have thought over Your goodness, God, In the midst of Your temple.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

In the temple the people meditate on God's steadfast love. True worship dwells on His covenant faithfulness.

Overview

Gathered in the sanctuary, the worshipers do not merely perform rituals but ponder God's 'loving kindness' (hesed), His committed covenant love. Worship here is reflective and grateful, centered on who God is toward His people. This points forward to the believer's communion with God, now grounded in the once-for-all love displayed at the cross.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Ps 26:3For your loving kindness is before my eyes. I have walked in your truth.
  • Ps 77:10–14Then I thought, “I will appeal to this: the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
  • Ps 40:10I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.
  • 2 Chr 20:5–13Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in Yahweh’s house, before the new court;
  • Ps 63:2–3So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory.
  • Luke 22:19–20He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.”
  • Ps 104:34Let my meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in Yahweh.
  • Song 1:4Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! They are right to love you.
  • Isa 26:8Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, have we waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
  • Ps 105:5–6Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 48:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 48:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.