Seeznak

The Mighty Mountain and The Little Hill

July 10th, 2008 by Daniel
Posted in Ponderances

 

O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;

   O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!

Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,

    at the mount that God desired for his abode,

    yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?

-Psalm 68:15-16

 

The mountain(s) of Bashan, usually meaning the entire range but here, with the singular ‘mountain’ probably refers to Mt. Hermon’s ridge, at its highest point, stands 9230 feet above sea level.

 

 

The ‘mount that God desired for his abode’, Mt. Zion, rising up amidst Jerusalem, is a mere 2533 feet in elevation. Considered with Jerusalem’s average elevation of 2400 feet, the little hill does little to pontificate grandeur:

 

Nevertheless, God chose this little hill to be the place in which He would meet with His people. The contrast between these two mountains, and the choice of Zion as the more, shall we say, worthy of the two, is yet another example of God’s joy in baffling our human expectations.

 

It should cause little wonder that Psalm 68’s ode to the Lord’s victory, just two verses later, is quoted by Paul in a discussion of Christ’s spiritual gifts to His church-

 

When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,

   and he gave gifts to men.

-Eph. 4:8 (quoting Ps. 68:18)

 

These gifts to us are the spoils of victory, which Jesus won for us at the cost of His life. These are worthy, effective, and purposeful gifts given to build up the church to unity (see 4:11-13). The “measure of Christ’s gift” (4:7) to us often seems to follow the same ironic logic of God’s mountain-measuring stick - what is little in our eyes is much in God’s; what is weak is strong; what is put to death brings life.

 

Let us worship God for His strange and never-seasonal Christmas-spirit to us, the blest inhabitants of little Zion:

That He has blessed us (Eph. 1:3)

That He has chosen us (1:4)

That He predestined to do adopt us (1:5)

That He lavished grace upon us (1:8)

That He made known to us this mystery (1:9)

That He has obtained an inheritance for us (1:11)

That He loved us with a great love (2:4)

That He made us alive with Christ (2:5)

That He seated us besides Christ as royal children (2:6)

That He created us in Christ for good works (2:10)

That He has allowed us access to Himself through Christ (2:18)

That He is building us into His dwelling place (2:22)

That He has given grace to each of us according to His mysterious measurements (4:7)