Jerusalem! -- mountains are round about her, and Jehovah is round about his people, from henceforth and for evermore.
The psalm turns from Mount Zion to the ring of hills around Jerusalem, a picture of God Himself surrounding those who trust Him. What safety does He promise, how long does it last, and does it belong only to Israel?
The verse works by comparison. One writer points out that an older English wording added a word here, and that dropping it strengthens the second half.
The wording of verse 2 can be changed slightly. If we leave out the first "so," which was added, and change the second one into "and," it reads: "The mountains are around Jerusalem, and the Lord is around His people from now on and forever." The meaning stays the same. But the change gives the second half its full and unlimited force. We can see the mountains around Jerusalem as her natural defence, a wall of protection. And we can see the Lord surrounding Israel with His own all-powerful care, to shield them from danger and attack. What trouble the Lord takes to assure His people of their perfect safety, once they are under His sheltering care!
Edward Dennett (the rendering discussed here follows an older English translation)
The people in this verse are not strong in themselves. They borrow their steadiness from what they lean on.
Those who trust in Him partake of the character of the foundation on which they rest, just as the living stones in 1 Peter 2 get their character from the Living Stone to which they have come. We are blessedly reminded that it is not our feebleness but the Lord's strength which we have to consider; and that we may rest in unshaken confidence on Him who cannot be moved, since He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
If God surrounds His people, every danger has to come from outside the circle — and it meets Him first.
The Lord surrounds His people, just as the mountains surround Jerusalem (Ps. 125). He is nearer to them than danger and war and suffering and death.
Another writer makes the same point about Israel at Gilgal. That was their first camp after they crossed the Jordan into Canaan.
God is for them: who can be against them? … So, "as the hills surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people." To reach them, their enemies must strike through Him!
The verse names a starting point, then never names an end. One writer marks where that clock starts and how far it runs.
The verse here stresses the absolute certainty of lasting blessing for the Israel of God. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion — steadfast, unmovable, abiding forever. The mountains around Jerusalem are a symbol: God protects His people perfectly by His supreme power. It adds "from this time forth and forevermore" (v. 2). This points to God's special care for Israel from the beginning of the millennium. That care lasts not only through those thousand years, but on for eternity.
The encircling hills are one form of God's care, fitted to one need. He is not limited to it.
On this Psalm we may say this: the thoughts of the Spirit in the prophets show the Lord's varied provision for His people in a striking way! He will plant mountains around Zion when she wants security. He will spread a plain around her when she wants to bask in the light of glory. (See verse 2, and Zech. 14:10)
Israel's protection here was physical and national. One writer contrasts it with what belongs to the believer now.
Its first feature is security from evil, freedom from what everyone else faces. "As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, from this time forth and forevermore." … For us it is a far more blessed thing. Deliverance for the body, on earth, in this life — that was the mark of Israel, the people the Lord kept safe. But our salvation is marked by eternal security. It is spiritual, not physical, and it reaches to our very hearts and minds. So the apostle says, "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard (or garrison) your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
- Surrounded — the picture. The hills ringing Jerusalem are her natural wall. God surrounds His people the same way, with His own all-powerful care.
- Surrounded — the ground. The steadiness belongs to the One trusted, not to the one trusting. Those who lean on Him take their character from that foundation.
- Surrounded — the position. He stands between His people and every threat. To reach them, their enemies must strike through Him.
- Surrounded — the duration. "From this time forth and forevermore" starts at the beginning of the millennium, runs through those thousand years, and goes on into eternity.
- Surrounded — the reach. Israel's circle was physical and national. For the believer it becomes eternal security, with the peace of God guarding heart and mind.
For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
Psalm 125 looks at the hills around Jerusalem and sees a picture of God surrounding His people. Verse 3 gives the reason for that guard: God shields His people so that evil rule can never press them into evil themselves.
One writer explains the two key words, then says what the promise rules out:
By "rod" we understand "sceptre" or "rule," and by "lot" we understand "portion" or inheritance. So the meaning is simply this: the righteous will never again come under the rule of the wicked. Israel came under it often in past ages, because of their sin.
The writers quoted here use an older translation. It reads "the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous," where the ESV reads "the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous."
The promise has a purpose. Freedom from that rule takes away a temptation:
Once their inheritance is free from the sceptre of the wicked, the righteous will feel no pull to make a sinful alliance with the wicked, and so give up their confidence in the Lord.
Another writer names the danger. Evil that is winning looks attractive:
And this in holiness. He would not let the rod of wickedness rest on the lot of the righteous. Their weakness might give way before evil that was doing so well, and they might follow the path of its success.
The same writer points to the force of the promise, and to the care behind it:
And notice how absolute the statement is: "The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous." Then notice the tenderness of Jehovah's care. He longs that His people should never again reach out their hands to iniquity. A holy God loves a holy people, and must have one. He will guard them on every side to secure what He wants for them.
The word "rest" is precise. God may use the wicked, but He sets limits on how long:
Their rescue from Babylon has taught them this: the Lord may for a time use the wicked as a rod of anger on His people, but He will not let that rod rest or stay on them. He deals with His rod in measure. He sets how long it lasts as well as how hard it falls, and in His grace He remembers that the spirit might fail under an oppression that lasts too long.
One writer applies the verse to believers now. Suffering is not ruled out, but the control of the wicked over it is:
We know, from many passages, the Lord may see good to let us suffer, but not a hair of our head shall perish. When His time is come, the rod of the wicked shall not be on the lot of the righteous. He may let us suffer for our God, or for His name's sake. Even then it is not by the will and power of the wicked, but by His own. And this assumes someone who is walking in His ways.
That last condition matters. One writer describes people who gave up every defence except God's word:
But as soon as they came to feel that they had no defence except the word of God and a good conscience before Him, deliverance came... But it is always dangerous to give up the principles of God's word, and to let the rules and policy of this world govern our ways.
One writer reads verse 3 as a line drawn inside Israel, not only around it. It marks off the faithful few:
It was judgment: "the rod of the wicked" (and those who came against them) "should not rest on the lot of the righteous." There was no mixing, and this applied to the wicked among Israel as well. The difference was not only between Israel and the nations. It was a difference in the deliverance of the righteous Remnant.
- Rod. "Rod" means sceptre or rule. "Lot" means portion or inheritance. The wicked will never again rule the land God gave the righteous.
- Reason. God removes that rule for a purpose. Free of it, His people feel no pull to ally with the wicked and give up their confidence in Him.
- Weakness. Evil that prospers looks attractive, and weak people can follow the path of its success.
- Measure. The rod may fall for a time. God sets how long it lasts and how hard it falls, because the spirit might fail under a long oppression.
- Condition. God may still let us suffer. But the wicked never set the terms; He does. And this assumes a walk in His ways.