This is a corporate prayer psalm. A liturgical setting may be implied by the changing references to Yahweh. Only in the petition of verse 4 is he addressed directly. The confessions of trust (vv. 1–3) and the admonition (v. 5), where he is referred to in the third person, were probably addressed to a congregation. The prayer appears to stem from the postexilic period after the Hebrews returned to their homeland under the government of the Persian empire. The opening comparisons with Mount Zion and the mountains surrounding Jerusalem imply the people are present in “the land allotted to the righteous,” but it is under “the scepter,” or control, of the wicked.

125:1–2 The opening verses employ two similes, both drawn from the mountainous geography of Jerusalem. The first draws a point of co…