A song of ascents.
This thanksgiving psalm is the sixth of fifteen songs of ascents. It is likely that these songs were sung as people traveled to Jerusalem and then went up to the temple. In this song, as the people go up to the temple (or imagine the process on some future day), they look to the hill around them and remember that God surrounds their city.
Psalm 125:1-2, Surrounding the people
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so too does YHWH surround His people. As Kidner points out, this has some similarities to Psalm 121:1-2, with a slightly different riff. In that psalm, the singer asks if the mountains provide salvation and says, No! In this psalm, the singer is reminded that YHWH surrounds the people like the mountains do.
oel 3:20 promises that (someday) Jerusalem and Israel will endure forever.
Psalm 125:3, Will not remain
The scepter of the wicked will not remain
over the land allotted to the righteous,
for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.
The scepter (power) of the wicked is, at this time, over the land, but it will not remain. Surely justice will come to show the people that evil is not the route to take.
Many of the songs of ascent were probably written during the Babylonian captivity. Consistent with that is the statement here that evil covers that land.
Psalm 125:4-5, Do good, please!
Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
to those who are upright in heart.
But those who turn to crooked ways
the LORD will banish with the evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel.
The psalmist pleads forYHWH to do good to those who are good and to turn His favor away from the evildoers.
First published November 7, 2025; updated November 7, 2025
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