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Psalm 68:16
Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, the LORD will dwell there forever.
14When the Almighty scattered kings in her, it snowed on Zalmon.
15The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains. The mountains of Bashan are rugged.
16Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, the LORD will dwell there forever.
17The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands. The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.
18You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among people, yes, among the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell there.
Notice
The rugged mountains become envious onlookers in this poem, while the chosen mountain receives its distinction from God's decision to dwell there forever.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your reading when the rugged mountains are pictured as capable of envy?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, do you measure worth by grandeur rather than by what God values?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Deuteronomy 12:5But to the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you shall come there.Both passages describe God's choice of a place for his habitation; Deuteronomy directs his people to seek him there.
Psalm 132:13For the LORD has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation.Both speak of the LORD choosing his dwelling place, and Psalm 132 names that place as Zion.
Psalm 87:1A Psalm by the sons of Korah; a Song. His foundation is in the holy mountains.Both use mountains as the setting for God's presence, with Psalm 87 speaking of his foundation in the holy mountains.
Revelation 21:2–3I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.Both link a particular place with God: a mountain he chooses and a holy city coming from him.
Hebrews 12:22–23But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels,Both connect a mountain with God's presence; Hebrews names Mount Zion and the city of the living God.
Habakkuk 3:6He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.Both portray mountains under God's supremacy and speak of permanence belonging to him: his dwelling forever and his eternal ways.
Deuteronomy 12:11then it shall happen that to the place which the LORD your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: …Both describe a place the LORD chooses for his dwelling, with Deuteronomy specifying the offerings his people must bring there.
Isaiah 2:2It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the …Both distinguish the LORD's mountain from other mountains, with Isaiah describing its elevation and the nations flowing to it.
1 Kings 9:3The LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put …Both join God's chosen dwelling with the word “forever,” expressing his lasting commitment to that place.
Psalm 132:14“This is my resting place forever. I will live here, for I have desired it.Both declare that God will dwell forever in the place he has chosen or desired.
Ezekiel 34:26I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing.Both associate a mountain or hill with God, though Ezekiel speaks of blessing around it and the psalm of dwelling.
Where this verse fits
Envy and comparison. praise and worship. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The mountains' grandeur does not determine where God reigns. His choice stands, and the verse ends with the promise that he will dwell there forever.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).