The Meaning of Psalms 125:2 Explained

Psalms 125:2

KJV: As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

YLT: Jerusalem! mountains are round about her, And Jehovah is round about His people, From henceforth even unto the age.

Darby: Jerusalem! mountains are round about her, and Jehovah is round about his people, from henceforth and for evermore.

ASV: As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, So Jehovah is round about his people From this time forth and for evermore.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

As the mountains  [are] round about  Jerusalem,  so the LORD  [is] round about  his people  from henceforth even for  ever. 

What does Psalms 125:2 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 125:1-5 - The Christian's Fortress
Here are three instances of escaped peril. In Psalms 124:3 is an allusion to Korah and his company; see Numbers 16:32-33. Why are we spared when others have been overwhelmed by swift disasters? In Psalms 124:4 and Psalms 124:5, as the morning breaks, we see the proud waters that have burst their banks and are inundating the low-lying lands. Why did our house escape? In Psalms 124:6 and Psalms 124:7 we have the metaphor of the ensnared bird and as the fluttering fledgling, when freed, leaps into the sunny air, so do we rejoice when God frees us. But why should we escape when so many never break loose?
Psalms 125:1-5
Jerusalem lies on a broad and high mountain range, shut in by two deep valleys. But the surrounding hills are higher, and made her almost impregnable to the methods of ancient warfare. They who trust in God live within ramparts of His loving care for evermore. The scepter of evil may sometimes cast its gaunt shadow over their lives, but it is always arrested in time. Crooked ways are by-paths. The commandments of God are a public thoroughfare. Keep on the highway and no hurt shall assail you. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 125

1  The safety of such as trust in God
4  A prayer for the godly, and against the wicked

What do the individual words in Psalms 125:2 mean?

Jerusalem as the mountains surround to so Yahweh surrounds His people from this time forth and forever
יְֽרוּשָׁלִַ֗ם הָרִים֮ סָבִ֪יב לָ֥הּ וַ֭יהוָה סָבִ֣יב לְעַמּ֑וֹ מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־ עוֹלָֽם

יְֽרוּשָׁלִַ֗ם  Jerusalem 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: יְרוּשָׁלַםִ  
Sense: the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split.
הָרִים֮  as  the  mountains 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: הַר  
Sense: hill, mountain, hill country, mount.
סָבִ֪יב  surround 
Parse: Adverb
Root: מוּסָב 
Sense: places round about, circuit, round about adv.
וַ֭יהוָה  so  Yahweh 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
סָבִ֣יב  surrounds 
Parse: Adverb
Root: מוּסָב 
Sense: places round about, circuit, round about adv.
לְעַמּ֑וֹ  His  people 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה  from  this  time  forth 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adverb
Root: עַתָּה  
Sense: now.
עוֹלָֽם  forever 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.