Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 68:15-18

"A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A high mountain is the mountain of Bashan. Why look ye askance, ye high mountains, At the mountain which God hath desired for his abode? Yea, Jehovah will dwell [in it] for ever. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands; The Lord is among them, [as in] Sinai, in the sanctuary. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led away captives; Thou hast received gifts among men, Yea, [among] the rebellious also, that Jehovah God might dwell [with them]." — Psalms 68:15-18 (ASV)

A third retrospect follows—the third scene in the sacred drama of Israel’s early fortunes. It sets forth the glory of God’s chosen mountain. A finer passage could hardly be found. The towering ranges of Bashan—Hermon with its snowy peaks—are personified. They become, in the poet’s imagination, envious of the distinction given to the modest heights of Judea. (Perhaps a similar envy is implied in Psalms 133:3.)

The contrast between the smallness of Palestine and the vast extent of the empires that loomed large on its northern and southern borders is rarely absent from the minds of the prophets and psalmists. (See Isaiah 49:19-20.) Here, the watchful jealousy with which these powers regarded Israel is represented by the figure of the high mountain ranges watching Zion (see Note below) like hungry beasts of prey ready to spring. And what do they see? The march of God Himself, surrounded by an army of angels, from Sinai to His new dwelling.