Biblion Bible Commentary
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As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem
Psalms 125:1-5
1 A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever. · WEB
The pilgrims look at the ring of hills around the city and are told that is what they are standing inside.
Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, which can't be moved, but remains forever Psalms 125:1.
The pilgrims have arrived and the psalm uses what they can see. The comparison is not to a fortress or an army but to the ground under the city, which does not have to do anything to be immovable.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so Yahweh surrounds his people from this time forward and forever more Psalms 125:2.
The geography is exact. Jerusalem sits in a bowl, overlooked on almost every side — a poor military position, and any pilgrim standing in the city could turn round and see the ring. The psalm takes what looks like a vulnerability and calls it the picture of God's protection.
What is claimed is not a wall but an encirclement, which is what the surrounding heights actually are.
For the scepter of wickedness won't remain over the allotment of the righteous, so that the righteous won't use their hands to do evil Psalms 125:3.
The reason given for ending an unjust rule is unexpected and it is the psalm's most searching line. Not that the righteous are suffering, though they are. It is so that they will not start doing wrong themselves.
The observation is that prolonged injustice corrupts the people enduring it. A government that cannot be resisted lawfully eventually produces subjects who resist unlawfully, or who join in — and the psalm treats that danger as a sufficient reason for God to act.
Do good, Yahweh, to those who are good, to those who are upright in their hearts Psalms 125:4.
But as for those who turn away to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel Psalms 125:5.
The psalm ends with a blessing that is also the name of the city they are standing in.
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