A Song of Ascents.

1Those who trust in the LORD
         Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.

2As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
         So the LORD surrounds His people
         From this time forth and forever.

3For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous,
         So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.

4Do good, O LORD, to those who are good
         And to those who are upright in their hearts.

5But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways,
         The LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.
         Peace be upon Israel.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in the LORD Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
A song for going up to worship. Those who trust the LORD are like Mount Zion, which can never be shaken. It remains firm forever.

King James Bible
<> They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.

Douay-Rheims Bible
They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion: he shall not be moved for ever that dwelleth

Darby Bible Translation
{A Song of degrees.} They that confide in Jehovah are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved; it abideth for ever.

English Revised Version
A Song of Ascents. They that trust in the LORD are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth for ever.

Webster's Bible Translation
A Song of degrees. They that trust in the LORD, shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.

World English Bible
Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, which can't be moved, but remains forever.

Young's Literal Translation
A Song of the Ascents. Those trusting in Jehovah are as Mount Zion, It is not moved -- to the age it abideth.

Cross References

Psalm 21:7 For the king trusts in the LORD, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.

Psalm 46:5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

Psalm 61:7 He will abide before God forever; Appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve him.

Proverbs 10:30 The righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not dwell in the land.

Ecclesiastes 1:4 A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever.

Isaiah 33:20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation, A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never be pulled up, Nor any of its cords be torn apart.

Ezekiel 21:20 "You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

PSALM 125

This short psalm may be summed up in those words of the prophet (Isa. 3:10, 11), "Say you to the righteous, It shall be well with him. Woe to the wicked, it shall be will with him." Thus are life and death, the blessing and the curse, set before us often in the psalms, as well as in the law and the prophets. I. It is certainly well with the people of God; for, 1. They have the promises of a good God that they shall be fixed (v. 1), and safe (v. 2), and not always under the hatches (v. 3). 2. They have the prayers of a good man, which shall be heard for them (v. 4). II. It is certainly ill with the wicked, and particularly with the apostates (v. 5). Some of the Jewish rabbies are of opinion that it has reference to the days of the Messiah; however, we that are members of the gospel-church may certainly, in singing this psalm, take comfort of these promises, and the more so if we stand in awe of the threatening.

A song of degrees.

Verses 1-3

Here are three very precious promises made to the people of God, which, though they are designed to secure the welfare of the church in general, may be applied by particular believers to themselves, as other promises of this nature may. Here is,

I. The character of God's people, to whom these promises belong. Many call themselves God's people who have no part nor lot in this matter. But those shall have the benefit of them and may take the comfort of them, (1.) Who are righteous (v. 3), righteous before God, righteous to God, and righteous to all men, for his sake justified and sanctified. (2.) Who trust in the Lord, who depend upon his care and devote themselves to his honour. All that deal with God must deal upon trust, and he will give comfort to those only that give credit to him, and make it to appear they do so by quitting other confidences, and venturing to the utmost for God. The closer our expectations are confined to God the higher our expectations may be raised from him.

II. The promises themselves.

1. That their hearts shall be established by faith: those minds shall be truly stayed that are stayed on God: They shall be as Mount Zion. The church in general is called Mount Zion (Heb. 12:22), and it shall in this respect be like Mount Zion, it shall be built upon a rock, and its interests shall be so well secured that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The stability of the church is the satisfaction of all its well-wishers. Particular persons, who trust in God, shall be established (Ps. 112:7); their faith shall be their fixation, Isa. 7:9. They shall be as Mount Zion, which is firm as it is a mountain supported by providence, much more as a holy mountain supported by promise. (1.) They cannot be removed by the prince of the power of the air, nor by all his subtlety and strength. They cannot be removed from their integrity nor from their confidence in God. (2.) They abide for ever in that grace which is the earnest of their everlasting continuance in glory.

2. That, committing themselves to God, they shall be safe, under his protection, from all the insults of their enemies, as Jerusalem had a natural fastness and fortification in the mountains that were round about it, v. 2. Those mountains not only sheltered it from winds and tempests, and broke the force of them, but made it also very difficult of access for an enemy; such a defence is God's providence to his people. Observe, (1.) The compass of it: The Lord is round about his people on every side. There is no gap in the hedge of protection which he makes round about his people, at which the enemy, who goes about them, seeking to do them a mischief, can find entrance, Job 1:10. (2.) The continuance of it-henceforth even for ever. Mountains may moulder and come to nought, and rocks be removed out of their place (Job 14:18), but God's covenant with his people cannot be broken (Isa. 54:10) nor his care of them cease. Their being said to stand fast for ever (v. 1), and here to have God round about them for ever, intimates that the promises of the stability and security of God's people will have their full accomplishment in their everlasting state. In heaven they shall stand fast for ever, shall be as pillars in the temple of our God and go no more out (Rev. 3:12), and there God himself, with his glory and favour, will be round about them for ever.

3. That their troubles shall last no longer than their strength will serve to bear them up under them, v. 3. (1.) It is supposed that the rod of the wicked may come, may fall, upon the lot of the righteous. The rod of their power may oppress them; the rod of their anger may vex and torment them. It may fall upon their persons, their estates, their liberties, their families, their names, any thing that falls to their lot, only it cannot reach their souls. (2.) It is promised that, though it may come upon their lot, it shall not rest there; it shall not continue so long as the enemies design, and as the people of God fear, but God will cut the work short in righteousness, so short that even with the temptation he will make a way for them to escape. (3.) It is considered as a reason of this promise that if the trouble should continue over-long the righteous themselves would be in temptation to put forth their hands to iniquity, to join with wicked people in their wicked practices, to say as they say and do as they do. There is danger lest, being long persecuted for their religion, at length they grow weary of it and willing to give it up, lest, being kept long in expectation of promised mercies, they begin to distrust the promise, and to think of casting God off, upon suspicion of his having cast them off. See Ps. 73:13, 14. Note, God considers the frame of his people, and will proportion their trials to their strength by the care of his providence, as well as their strength to their trials by the power of his grace. Oppression makes a wise man mad, especially if it continue long; therefore for the elect's sake the days shall be shortened, that, whatever becomes of their lot in this world, they may not lose their lot among the chosen.

Calvin's Commentary

1. They who confide in Jehovah "are" as mount Zion, "which" shall not be removed, "but" shall abide for ever. [81] 2. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so Jehovah round about his people, henceforth and for ever.

1. They who confide in Jehovah are as mount Zion. The present Psalm differs from the preceding in this -- that while in the other it was said that the Church had been preserved by the power of God, without any human means, the Holy Spirit, in the one before us, teaches that in the time to come she shall always continue in perfect safety, because she is defended by the invincible power of God. When the Church is emblematically described by the situation of the city of Jerusalem, the design of the Prophet is to encourage each of the faithful to believe, that the safety promised in common to all the chosen people belongs to him. But in exhibiting to the eyes a visible image of the Church, he accommodates himself to the rudeness of those who, detained by the dulness of the flesh, still continue settled down in the earth. It ought then, in the first place, to be noticed, that to those who may not sufficiently apprehend by faith the secret protection of God, the mountains which environ Jerusalem are exhibited as a mirror, in which they may see, beyond all doubt, that the Church is as well defended from all perils, as if it were surrounded on all sides with like walls and bulwarks. Moreover, it is profitable to know what I have just now touched upon -- that whenever God speaks to all his people in a body, he addresses himself also to each of them in particular. As not a few of the promises are extended generally to the whole body of the Church, so many contemplate them as at a distance, as far removed from them, and will not presume to appropriate them to themselves. The rule here prescribed must therefore be observed, which is, that each apply to himself whatever God promises to his Church in common. Nor does the Psalmist without cause make Jerusalem a representation of the Church, for the sanctuary of God and the ark of the covenant were there.

With respect to the explanation of the words, it is to be observed that the last two verbs of the first verse may be understood in two ways. They may both be governed by Jerusalem as the nominative. But some understand the first verb, l' ymvt al, lo yimmot, shall not be removed, only as spoken of Jerusalem and the latter verb, ysv, yesheb, shall abide, as referring to the faithful, so that according to this view there is a change of number, which is very common among the Hebrews -- the singular number, ysv, yesheb, being used instead of the plural, ysvv, yeshbu. And certainly the sentence might not improperly be translated thus: They who trust in Jehovah, as mount Zion shall not be removed, shall dwell for ever, or continue steadfast, for the verb translated to abide is taken in this sense. We now perceive the meaning of the Prophet, which is, that although the world is subject to so many and so sudden changes as almost to put on a new face every moment, and although the faithful are mingled with and placed in the same external condition as others, yet their safety continues steadfast under the invincible protection of God. Not that they are permitted to dwell undisturbed and at ease; but because their safety being under the guardianship of God is assaulted in vain; at least they can never altogether fall, although they may stumble. But let us notice that the word hvmchym, habbtechim, which signifies, those who hope or wait for, conveys an implicit injunction to steadfastness of faith. Whoever, then, desires to be sustained by the hand of God, let him constantly lean upon it; and whoever would be defended by it, let him patiently repose himself under it. When God suffers us to be often carried hither and thither, or driven about like chaff by the wind, this comes to pass through our own inconstancy -- because we prefer fluttering in the air to fixing our minds on the rock of his help. The similitude employed in the second verse is abundantly plain, teaching us, that as the continuous chain of mountains round about Jerusalem exhibits the appearance of walls, so God encompasses the faithful by his power, to ward off from them all harm. [82] Similar forms of expression are frequently to be met with in the Scriptures' God often promises to be a wall and a fore-wall to his people. But David, or whoever was the author of the psalm, proceeds still farther, showing under the figure of mountains the secret protection with which God defends his own people, to the end that the ignorant and feeble-minded who are still held down to the earth by their own dulness of understanding, aided by the sight of the mountains, may raise their minds upwards to the conception and contemplation of heavenly things.

Footnotes:

[81] The supplementary words in this verse marked by inverted commas are taken from the French version.

[82] From the mountains or hills which surrounded Jerusalem, the Prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 11:3) represents it under the image of a "cauldron."

Links

Psalm 125 Commentaries: Barnes • Calvin • Clarke • Darby • Gill • Geneva • Guzik • JFB • Keil / Delitzsch • KJV Translators' • Henry's Concise • Matthew Henry • Scofield • TSK • Treasury of David • Wesley

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