My Notes
What Does Psalms 48:6 Mean?
"Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail." The psalmist describes the reaction of hostile kings who approached Jerusalem with the intent to conquer it — and were immediately seized with fear and pain. The comparison to childbirth pain is deliberate: the most intense, involuntary, body-seizing pain a human experiences. The kings didn't choose to be afraid. Fear "took hold" of them — it gripped them like a contraction.
The imagery inverts expectations: the warriors who came to terrify Jerusalem are themselves terrified. The conquerors who planned to inflict pain experience pain instead. God's protection of Zion doesn't require Israel to fight. The very approach to the city triggers divine defense — fear that breaks the attackers before the battle begins.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When has God broken an approaching threat before it reached you — protection you didn't see until later?
- 2.How does the image of warrior kings seized with childbirth pain reveal the power of God's preemptive defense?
- 3.What approaching enemy or threat do you need to trust God is already handling on the road?
- 4.What does the reversal (they came to terrify, they were terrified) teach about God's ironic justice?
Devotional
Fear took hold of them. Not crept up. Took hold. Like a hand grabbing you by the chest. Like a contraction that seizes your body and won't let go. The kings who came to attack Jerusalem were paralyzed before they could draw a sword.
And pain, as of a woman in travail. The psalmist chooses the most intense pain metaphor available: childbirth. The kind of pain that isn't optional, isn't controllable, doesn't respond to willpower. It just comes — in waves that own your body. That's what these warrior kings experienced when they got close to God's city.
The beauty of this verse is the reversal. They came to produce fear. They received it. They came to inflict pain. They felt it. The weapon they carried was turned on them before they could use it. God's defense of Zion is preemptive — the attackers are broken before the attack begins.
This is how God protects his people: by making the approach itself unbearable. The enemy doesn't have to breach the walls and be repelled. They can't even complete the approach. The fear and pain hit them on the way in. By the time they see the city, they're already done.
If you're afraid of something approaching your life — an enemy, a threat, a crisis heading your way — this psalm says God's defense doesn't wait for the attack. It meets the attacker on the road. The kings who came to break Jerusalem were broken by the journey to Jerusalem. Your enemy may be experiencing the same thing right now — fear and pain seizing them before they can reach you.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with east wind. This is either another simile, expressing the greatness of the dread…
Fear took hold upon them there - Trembling seized them; they were filled with sudden consternation. That is, as soon as…
The psalmist is designing to praise Jerusalem and to set forth the grandeur of that city; but he begins with the praises…
Trembling took hold of them there:
Pangs, as of a woman in travail.
Cp. Exo 15:14-15; and for the phrase though in a…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture