Psalms 68:16

16 Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.

Psalms 68:16 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 68:16

Why leap ye, ye high hills?
&c.] Meaning the kingdoms of this world that lift up themselves above, and look with contempt upon the interest, kingdom, and church of Christ; lie in wait for it, leap upon it, insult over it, and endeavour to crush and extirpate it; but all in vain; these high hills and mountains are nothing before Zerubbabel King of saints; his church is built on a rock, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it; the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands will become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth, and break in pieces and consume the kingdoms of it: the word (dur) , in, the Arabic language, signifies "to lie in wait", as Jarchi from R. Moses Hadarsan observes; and to look out, and leap upon the prey; so R. Hai in Ben Melech says, it has the signification of looking, observing, hoping, or waiting, in the Arable language F11;

[this is] the hill [which] God desireth to dwell in;
as in ( Psalms 132:13 ) ; the Word of the Lord, as the Targum; the essential Word, the Messiah: his desire was towards his church and people, in eternity, in time, and now is; he has chosen and desired them for his habitation, and in the midst of them he delights to be, ( Revelation 1:13 ) ;

yea, the Lord will dwell [in it] for ever:
he dwells in his church now by his gracious presence; he will dwell in the New Jerusalem church state personally for the space of a thousand years; and after that he will dwell with and among his people to all eternity; see ( Psalms 132:14 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F11 "Ratzad, insidiatus fuit, uti praedae leo", Golius, col. 991. Castel. col. 3633.

Psalms 68:16 In-Context

14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, It was white as snow in Zalmon.
15 A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
16 Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.
17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, Even thousands of thousands; The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.
18 You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the Lord God might dwell there.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.