John Calvin Commentary Psalms 68:16

"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." — Psalms 68:16 (ASV)

Why leap you, you high hills? In this verse there is no obscurity or ambiguity. David, having said that there was only one mountain in all the world which God had chosen, calls upon the highest hills to yield it preeminence. Since he repeats in the plural what had been said immediately before of Bashan, this leads me to think that he intended first to oppose that mountain, and then all other high mountains generally, to Zion.

Mountains are here to be understood figuratively, and the great truth conveyed is that the kingdom of Christ, which God had begun to foreshadow in the person of David, far excels all that is considered glorious by the world. The reproof that the Psalmist administers to humble the proud boasting of the world is justified by the contempt that we know carnal and ungodly persons hold for Christ’s kingdom. Devoted as they are to their own pleasures or wealth, they are unable to appreciate spiritual blessings.

The lesson will be felt to be the more useful and necessary if we consider that this vain pride of man rises to an additional height when the slightest occasion is given for its exercise. When we see those indulging it who have no grounds to do so, we need not wonder at the arrogance of those who possess wealth and influence.

But the Lord’s people can afford to leave them to their self-complacency, resting satisfied with the privilege of knowing that God has chosen to make his dwelling among them. They have no reason to be discontented with their lot as long as they have union with God, the only and sufficient source of their happiness.