In the 68th Psalm, David is praising God for His power and for David’s deliverance from His enemies. He recounts the various times God has saved the children of Israel. He writes and sings this beautiful song that encourages all the earth to bow down at the “one who rides in the highest heavens and whose voice is like a mighty thunder.”
In one of the stanza, David makes this statement:
Mount Bashan, majestic mountain,
Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,
why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain,
at the mountain where God chooses to reign,
where the Lord himself will dwell forever?
The chariots of God are tens of thousands
and thousands of thousands;
the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.[g]
When you ascended on high,
you took many captives;
you received gifts from people,
even from the rebellious—
that you, Lord God, might dwell there.
Mount Bashan is located in modern-day Syria – in the Golan Heights region. The mount is mentioned over 50 times in the Old Testament. The summit is 2600 feet / 800 m above sea level. In Hebrew, bashan means “fruitful.” The mountain range of the Golan Heights where Mount Bashan is/was located is beautiful. Yet, David states plainly even those mighty mountains envy the mountain of God.
Here in the Psalm, David could be referring to how God has chosen to dwell in the “lesser” mountain – the hill – in Jerusalem instead of the rugged mighty mountain of Bashan. He could also just be using Mount Bashan which He was familiar with as a juxtaposition to God’s truly mighty mountain.
Either way, the majestic mountains of this earth envy the mountain of God because it is where God dwells. Who wouldn’t want to dwell in the mountain where God dwells? The mountain mightier than all the mountains of this earth. #TheMountainsofGod #MountaineeringForGod
Adonai's Appeal 