Yahweh, remember David and all his affliction,
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh, remember David and all his affliction,
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LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions:
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A Song of Ascents. LORD, remember unto David all his affliction;
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Psalms 132:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 120:1 In my distress, I cried to Yahweh. He answered me.
- Psalms 129:1 Many times they have afflicted me from my youth up. Let Israel now say,
- Lamentations 5:1 Remember, Yahweh, what has come on us. Look, and see our reproach.
- Genesis 8:1 God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.
- Psalms 121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?
- Psalms 125:1 Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever.
- Psalms 126:1 When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream.
- Lamentations 3:19 Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the bitterness.
- Exodus 2:24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
- Psalms 127:1 Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.
- Psalms 128:1 Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways.
- Psalms 130:1 Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh.
- Psalms 131:1 Yahweh, my heart isn’t arrogant, nor my eyes lofty; nor do I concern myself with great matters, or things too wonderful for me.
- 1 Samuel 18:1-30 When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and wouldn’t let him go home to his father’s house any more. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him, and gave it to David, and his clothing, even including his sword, his bow, and his sash. David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war. It was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. As they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music. The women sang to one another as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have creditd David with ten thousands, and they have only credited me with thousands. What can he have more but the kingdom?” Saul watched David from that day and forward. On the next day, an evil spirit from God came mightily on Saul, and he prophesied in the middle of the house. David played with his hand, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; and Saul threw the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” David escaped from his presence twice. Saul was afraid of David, because Yahweh was with him, and had departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Yahweh was with him. When Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them. Saul said to David, “Behold, my elder daughter Merab, I will give her to you as wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight Yahweh’s battles.” For Saul said, “Don’t let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.” David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife. Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David; and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, “You shall today be my son-in-law a second time.” Saul commanded his servants, “Talk with David secretly, and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore be the king’s son-in-law.’ ” Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man, and little known?” The servants of Saul told him, saying, “David spoke like this.” Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king desires no dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies.’ ” Now Saul thought he would make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. When his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the deadline, David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife. Saul saw and knew that Yahweh was with David; and Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him. Saul was even more afraid of David; and Saul was David’s enemy continually. Then the princes of the Philistines went out; and as often as they went out, David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.
- 2 Samuel 15:1-20 After this, Absalom prepared a chariot and horses for himself, and fifty men to run before him. Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate. When any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, “What city are you from?” He said, “Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.” Absalom said to him, “Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you.” Absalom said moreover, “Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!” It was so, that when any man came near to bow down to him, he stretched out his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him. Absalom did this sort of thing to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. At the end of forty years, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron. For your servant vowed a vow while I stayed at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If Yahweh shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.’ ” The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose, and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’ ” Two hundred men went with Absalom out of Jerusalem, who were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they didn’t know anything. Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. A messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.” David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise! Let’s flee; or else none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” The king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.” The king went out, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house. The king went out, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beth Merhak. All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Return, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile. Return to your own place. Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you.”
- Psalms 25:6-7 Yahweh, remember your tender mercies and your loving kindness, for they are from old times. Don’t remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. Remember me according to your loving kindness, for your goodness’ sake, Yahweh.
- Psalms 122:1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let’s go to Yahweh’s house!”
- Psalms 123:1 I lift up my eyes to you, you who sit in the heavens.
- Psalms 124:1 If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, let Israel now say,
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 1. O Jehovah! remember David. Interpreters are not agreed…
1. O Jehovah! remember David. Interpreters are not agreed respecting the penman of this Psalm, though there is little doubt that it was either David or Solomon. At the solemn dedication of the Temple, when Solomon prayed, several verses are mentioned in the sacred history as having been quoted by him, from which we may infer that the Psalm was sufficiently well known to the people, or that Solomon applied a few words of it for an occasion in reference to which he had written the whole Psalm. The name of David is prominently mentioned, because it was to him that the continuance of the kingdom and Temple was promised, and though dead, this could not affect the truthfulness of God’s word. The Church could very properly pray in the manner which is here done, that God would perform what he had promised to his servant David, not as a private individual, but in favor of all his people. It was therefore a preposterous idea of the Papists to argue from this passage that we may be benefitted by the intercession of the dead. Just as if the faithful were here to be understood as calling up an advocate from the tomb to plead their cause with God, when it is abundantly evident from the context that they look entirely to the covenant which God had made with David, knowing well that though given to one man, it was with the understanding that it should be communicated to all. There is a propriety why mention should be made of his affliction or humiliation. Some render the word meekness, but there is no reason for this whatsoever. In 2 Chronicles 6:42, it is true we read of חסדים; that is, mercies, which I consider to be there understood in the passive sense, as meaning the benefits which had been conferred upon David; but I am clearly of opinion that here the reference is to the anxious cares, the numerous difficulties and struggles which David had to undergo, so long as he was kept by God in suspense. Remember, as if it had been said, the great anxieties, the heavy troubles, which David endured before he came to the kingdom, and how fervently and earnestly he desired to build the Temple, though he was not allowed to do it during his whole life. The dangers, labors, and troubles which he underwent, must clearly have confirmed the faith of God’s people in the truth of the divine oracle, inasmuch as they showed how firmly and certainly he was himself convinced of the truth of what God had spoken. Some insert the copulative reading, remember David and affliction; but of this I do not approve. The particle את eth, rather denotes that special respect in which they would have David remembered, viz., as regarded his afflictions, or that he might come forth before the view of God with his afflictions, and obtain his desire according to them.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, with how great difficulty he came to…
That is, with how great difficulty he came to the kingdom, and with how great zeal and care he went about to build thy Temple.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 132:1 A Song of degrees. LORD, remember David,…
Psa 132:1 A Song of degrees. LORD, remember David, [and] all his afflictions:
Ver. 1. Lord, remember David] Origen holdeth Solomon to have been penman of all these songs of degrees, as hath been before noted. But as that is not likely (see the titles of Psa 122:1; Psa 124:1; Psa 131:1), so divers interpreters conceive this to be his; because much of it is the same with that prayer he made at the dedication of the temple, 2Ch 6:16; 2Ch 6:14; 2Ch 6:42. Here, then, he prayeth God to remember David, that is (not his merits and suffrages, as the monks would have it, but), the promises made unto him (for the which Solomon praised God as well as for the performance to himself, 2Ch 6:10), and his singular solicitude about the house and worship of God, which was so great, as that it affected, yea, afflicted his spirit; whence it followeth here, "and all his afflictions"; for which it is, 2Ch 6:42, the mercies or kindness of David, Ita ut dormire non potuerit (Kimchi.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Remember David; either,
Remember David; either,
1. Thy covenant made with David; or rather,
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2. David’s eminent piety and zeal for thy service, amplified by the following clause.
All his afflictions; all his sufferings for thy sake, all the solicitude of his mind, all his hard and wearisome labours for thy service and glory, and for provisions towards the building of thy temple, and for the establishment of thy people in peace and tranquillity, that so way might be made for that great work.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain In these verses we have Solomon's address to God…
In these verses we have Solomon's address to God for his favour to him and to his government, and his acceptance of his building a house to God's name. Observe,
I. What he pleads - two things: -
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1. That what he had done was in pursuance of the pious vow which his father David had made to build a house for God. Solomon was a wise man, yet pleads not any merit of his own: "I am not worthy, for whom thou shouldst do this; but, Lord, remember David, with whom thou madest the covenant" (as Moses prayed, Exo 32:13, Remember Abraham, the first trustee of the covenant); "remember all his afflictions, all the troubles of his life, which his being anointed was the occasion of," or his care and concern about the ark, and what an uneasiness it was to him that the ark was in curtains, Sa2 7:2. Remember all his humility and meekness (so some read it), all that pious and devout affection with which he had made the following vow. Note, It is not amiss for us to put God in mind of our predecessors in profession, of their afflictions, their services, and their sufferings, of God's covenant with them, the experiences they have had of his goodness, the care they took of, and the many prayers they put up for, those that should come after them. We may apply it to Christ, the Son of David, and to all his afflictions: "Lord, remember the covenant made with him and the satisfaction made by him. Remember all his offerings (Psa 20:3), that is, all his sufferings." He especially pleads the solemn vow that David had made as soon as ever he was settled in his government, and before he was well settled in a house of his own, that he would build a house for God. Observe, (1.) Whom he bound himself to, to the Lord, to the mighty God of Jacob. Vows are to be made to God, who is a party as well as a witness. The Lord is the Mighty One of Jacob, Jacob's God, and a mighty one, whose power is engaged for Jacob's defence and deliverance. Jacob is weak, but the God of Jacob is a mighty one. (2.) What he bound himself to do, to find out a place for the Lord, that is, for the ark, the token of his presence. He had observed in the law frequent mention of the place that God would choose to put his name there, to which all the tribes should resort. When he came to the crown there was no such place; Shiloh was deserted, and no other place was pitched upon, for want of which the feasts of the Lord were not kept with due solemnity. "Well," says David, "I will find out such a place for the general rendezvous of all the tribes, a place of habitation for the Mighty One of Jacob, a place for the ark, where there shall be room both for the priests and people to attend upon it." (3.) How intent he was upon it; he would not settle in his bed, till he had brought this matter to some head, Psa 132:3, Psa 132:4. The thing had been long talked of, and nothing done, till at last David, when he went out one morning about public business, made a vow that before night he would come to a resolution in this matter, and would determine the place either where the tent should be pitched for the reception of the ark, at the beginning of his reign, or rather where Solomon should build the temple, which was not fixed till the latter end of his reign, just after the pestilence with which he was punished for numbering the people (Ch1 22:1, Then David said, This is the house of the Lord); and perhaps it was upon occasion of that judgment that he made this vow, being apprehensive that one of God's controversies with him was for his dilatoriness in this matter. Note, When needful work is to be done for God it is good for us to task ourselves, and tie ourselves to a time, because we are apt to put off. It is good in the morning to cut out work for the day, binding ourselves that we will do it before we sleep, only with submission to Providence; for we know not what a day may bring forth. Especially in the great work of conversion to God we must be thus solicitous, thus zealous; we have good reason to resolve that we will not enjoy the comforts of this life till we have laid a foundation for hopes of a better.
2. That it was in pursuance of the expectations of the people of Israel, Psa 132:6, Psa 132:7. (1.) They were inquisitive after the ark; for they lamented its obscurity, Sa1 7:2. They heard of it at Ephratah (that is, at Shiloh, in the tribe of Ephraim); there they were told it had been, but it was gone. They found it, at last, in the fields of the wood, that is, in Kirjath-jearim, which signifies the city of woods. Thence all Israel fetched it, with great solemnity, in the beginning of David's reign (Ch1 13:6), so that in building his house for the ark Solomon had gratified all Israel. They needed not to go about to seek the ark anymore; they now knew where to find it. (2.) They were resolved to attend it: "Let us but have a convenient place, and we will go into his tabernacle, to pay our homage there; we will worship at his footstool as subjects and suppliants, which we neglected to do, for want of such a place, in the days of Saul," Ch1 13:3.
II. What he prays for, Psa 132:8-10. 1. That God would vouchsafe, not only to take possession of, but to take up his residence in, this temple which he had built: Arise, O Lord! into thy rest, and let this be it, thou, even the ark of thy strength, the pledge of thy presence, thy mighty presence. 2. That God would give grace to the ministers of the sanctuary to do their duty: Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; let them appear righteous both in their administrations and in their conversations, and let both be according to the rule. Note, Righteousness is the best ornament of a minister. Holiness towards God, and goodness towards all men, are habits for ministers of the necessity of which there is no dispute. "They are thy priests, and will therefore discredit their relation to thee if they be not clothed with righteousness." 3. That the people of God might have the comfort of the due administration of holy ordinances among them: Let thy saints shout for joy. They did so when the ark was brought into the city of David (Sa2 6:15); they will do so when the priests are clothed with righteousness. A faithful ministry is the joy of the saints; it is the matter of it; it is a friend and a furtherance to it; we are helpers of your joy, Co2 1:24. 4. That Solomon's own prayer, upon occasion of the dedicating of the temple, might be accepted of God: "Turn not away the face of thy anointed, that is, deny me not the things I have asked of thee, send me not away ashamed." He pleads, (1.) That he was the anointed of the Lord, and this he pleads as a type of Christ, the great anointed, who, in his intercession, urges his designation to his office. He is God's anointed, and therefore the Father hears him always. (2.) That he was the son of David: "For his sake do not deny me;" and this is the Christian's plea: "For the sake of Christ" (our David), "in whom thou art well pleased, accept me." He is David, whose name signifies beloved; and we are made accepted in the beloved. He is God's servant, whom he upholds, Isa 42:1. "We have no merit of our own to plead, but for his sake, in whom there is a fulness of merit, let us find favour." When we pray for the prosperity of the church we may pray with great boldness, for Christ's sake, who purchased the church with his own blood. "Let both ministers and people do their duty."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions. Which prayer…
Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions. Which prayer might be put up by David on his own account, as Nehemiah does, Neh 13:22; and be considered as a petition to the Lord that he would remember his mercy and lovingkindness to him, and him with the favour he bears to his own people, as he elsewhere prays; that he would remember his covenant with him, and his promise to him, on which he had caused him to hope; and sympathize with him, and support him under all his trials and exercises, in his kingdom and family. Or, if it is considered as Solomon's, it may be a request that the Lord would remember the promise he had made to David, that his son should build a house for him, which he desired he might be enabled to do; that he would remember the covenant of royalty he had made with him, that he should not lack a son to sit upon his throne; and particularly that he would remember the promise of the Messiah, that should be of his seed. Also "his afflictions", his toil and labour of mind, his great anxiety about building a house for God; the pains he took in finding out a place for it, in drawing the pattern of it, in making preparations for it, and in the charges he gave his son concerning it: the Septuagint and other versions render it "his humility" (q); which agrees with the subject of the preceding psalm, and may particularly respect what he expressed to Nathan when this affair of building the temple was much upon his mind, Sa2 7:2. Moreover, respect in all this may be had by the authors of this psalm, or those herein represented, to the Messiah, who is the antitype of David; in his name, which signifies "beloved"; in his birth, parentage, and circumstances of it; in the comeliness of his person, and in his characters and offices, and who is often called David, Psa 89:3; see Jer 30:9, Hos 3:5; and so is a petition that God would remember the covenant of grace made with him; the promise of his coming into the world; his offering and sacrifice, as typified by the legal ones; and also remember them and their offerings for his sake; see Psa 20:3. Likewise "all his afflictions" and sufferings he was to endure from men and devils, and from the Lord himself, both in soul and body; and so as to accept of them in the room and stead of his people, as a satisfaction to his justice. Or, "his humility" in the assumption of human nature, in his carriage and behaviour to all sorts of men, in his ministrations to his disciples, in seeking not his own glory, but his Father's, and in his sufferings and death, which was foretold of him, Zac 9:9.
(q) , Sept. "mansuetudinis ejus", V. L. so Syr. Arab. Ethiop.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Probably this psalm was wrote by Solomon to be…
Probably this psalm was wrote by Solomon to be sung at the dedication of the temple, of which he desires God would come and take possession, ver. 8, 9, 10. With these words he concluded his prayer, 2 Chron. vi, 41, 42. He pleads David's piety towards God, ver. 1-7. And God's promise to David, ver. 11-18. A song of degrees.
Afflictions - All his sufferings for thy sake.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The psalmist prays that God would remember his promises…
PSALM CXXXII
The psalmist prays that God would remember his promises to
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David, 1.
His purpose to bring the ark of the Lord into a place of rest,
2-5.
Where it was found, and the prayer in removing it, 6-9.
The promises made to David and his posterity, 10-12.
God's choice of Zion for a habitation, and his promises to the
people, 13-17.
All their enemies shall be confounded, 18.
NOTES ON PSALM CXXXII
Some attribute this Psalm to David, but without sufficient ground; others, to Solomon, with more likelihood; and others, to some inspired author at the conclusion of the captivity, which is, perhaps, the most probable. It refers to the building of the second temple, and placing the ark of the covenant in it.
Verse 1. Lord, remember David] Consider the promises thou hast made to this thy eminent servant, that had respect, not only to him and to his family, but to all the Israelitish people.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 132:1-2. Lord, remember David — Thy covenant with…
Psa 132:1-2. Lord, remember David — Thy covenant with David; or David’s eminent piety and zeal for thy service; and all his afflictions — All his sufferings for thy sake, all the solicitude of his mind, all his hard and wearisome labours for thy service and glory. How he sware and vowed — Made a solemn vow, and confirmed it with an oath. This he undoubtedly did, although no mention be made of it in the history of David. Unto the mighty God of Jacob — Of Israel; that is, the people so called, the posterity of Jacob.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Lord, remember David - Call to remembrance his zeal,…
Lord, remember David - Call to remembrance his zeal, his labor, his trials in order that there might be a permanent place for thy worship. Call this to remembrance in order that his purpose in thy cause may not be frustrated; in order that the promises made to him may be accomplished.
And all his afflictions - The particular trial here referred to was his care and toil, that there might be a settled home for the ark. The word used would not refer merely to what is specified in the following verses (his bringing up the ark to Mount Zion), but to his purpose to build a house for God, and - since he was not permitted himself to build it because he was a man of war, and had been engaged in scenes of blood, 1Ki 5:3; 1Ch 22:8 - to his care and toil in collecting materials for the temple to be erected by his son and successor. It is not, therefore, his general afflictions which are here meant, but his anxiety, and his efforts to secure a lasting place for the worship of God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Psalms 132
Psalms 132
A Song of degrees
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Lord, remember David,
And all his afflictions:
2 How he sware unto the Lord,
And vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;
3 Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house,
Nor go up into my bed,
4 I will not give sleep to mine eyes.
Or slumber to mine eyelids,
5 Until I find out a place for the Lord,
A habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.
6 Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah:
We found it in the fields of the wood.
7 We will go into his tabernacles:
We will worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, O Lord, into thy rest;
Thou, and the ark of thy strength.
9 Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness;
And let thy saints shout for joy.
10 For thy servant David’s sake
Turn not away the face of thine anointed.
11 The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David;
He will not turn from it;
Of the fruit of thy body
Will I set upon thy throne.
12 If thy children will keep my covenant,
And my testimony that I shall teach them,
Their children shall also sit
Upon thy throne for evermore.
13 For the Lord hath chosen Zion;
He hath desired it for his habitation.
14 This is my rest for ever:
Here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provision:
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation:
And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17 There will I make the horn of David to bud:
I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.
18 His enemies will I clothe with shame;
But upon himself shall his crown flourish.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.—A prayer is uttered (Psa_132:1-5), that a recompense might be made for those toilsome efforts with which David sought to fulfil his vow to find a dwelling for Jehovah. An invitation to enter into this dwelling of God for worship is then addressed (Psa_132:6-7). Next follows a supplication that the sanctuary and its ministers may be blessed for David’s sake (Psa_132:8-10), to whose throne Jehovah hadsworn to grant perpetuity, provided his descendants would keep his covenant (Psa_132:11-12), and which He had sworn to bless in Zion as the seat of the Theocracy, together with all her members and servants (Psa_132:13-18).
The mode of expression is not such as to lead to the conclusion, that the Psalm was a prayer uttered by David at the dedication of the sanctuary after the removal of the ark into the holy Tent on Zion (Aben Ezra, et al.), or at the consecration of the threshing-floor of Araunah, 2 Samuel 24. (Kimchi, Geier). Psa_132:10, especially, contradicts this; for though the suppliant styles himself the anointed of Jehovah, which expression must be understood as applied, not to the High Priest, nor to the people, but to a theocratic king, yet this king, in his petition, prays for an answer “for the sake of David thy servant.” But we should not go very far down into later times; for, according to Psa_132:8, the ark of the covenant must be regarded as still in existence. This not only forbids a resort to the Maccabæan period (Olshausen, Hitzig, who refers to Simon’s entry into the conquered city, 1 Maccabees 13.), or to the end of the period of Persian rule (Ewald), but also excludes any occasion subsequent to the exile (Köster, Hengst., et al.). For all support is wanting to the supposition which the contrary view would necessitate, that the poet only employed the language of an earlier time, and sought to cheer and encourage his cotemporaries, either by borrowing directly from older compositions, or by transferring his stand-point with poetical freedom to a period of past glory, and exhibiting that glory to them, together with the prophecies uttered at that time and fulfilled in part when the Psalm was penned. If we consider the former hypothesis, that of a borrowing, it is suggested that the passage, Psa_132:8-10, with a few changes, embodies the conclusion of Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the Temple, as it is recorded in 2Ch_6:41 f, in a more extended form than in 1 Kings 8. But these differences are of such a nature as to lead to the conclusion that the Chronicler (Del., Hupfeld), and not the Psalmist (Hengst., Olsh., Hitzig), was the borrower (comp. Psa_130:2). With regard to the hypothesis of a poetical transfer of stand-point, it must be admitted that it would be the gloomiest times that would be most appropriately directed to a brilliant past with its promises (Köster, Hupfeld), and that, in particular, the expectation of a revival of the kingdom and family of David would most naturally have been excited during the founding of the new colony (Hengst.). But Psa_132:10 creates the impression, not of a Messianic (Stier and older commentators), but of an historical reference, and, as mentioned above, of having been spoken by a theocratic king. For this reason, we cannot refer directly to Zerubbabel (Ewald, Bauer, et al.) as the offspring of the Davidic stock (1Ch_3:1; 1Ch_3:19), at the head of those who returned from the exile (Ezr_2:2), who fixed in him especially their joyful hopes of a restoration of the Theocracy (Hag_2:23; Zec_4:6-7). It is possible that the Psalm is the application of an older one to him and to his age (De Wette); but there are grave objections to supposing that it was composed at this or a later time, when there was no actual king such as is here described. For the history of Israel does not exhibit theocratic expectations grounded upon poetical conceptions and representations, but contains the development of God’s kingdom on the ground of prophetic revelations. If this view be taken, there is occasion sufficient to justify a reference to the building of Solomon’s Temple and the transfer of the ark from the Tabernacle to the House on Zion (Amyrald, De Wette, Tholuck), not employed as a poetical figure and as the drapery of another meaning (Hupfeld), but as the actual occasion of the origin of this Psalm.—Yet a confident decision cannot be made. Even Delitzsch, who still remarks the resemblance to Psalms 122. in a certain diffuseness, a repetition of words, and a progress of thought advancing with difficulty here and there with uncertain steps, remains finally of the opinion, “that the acts done, according to 2Sa_6:7, by David for the honor of Jehovah, and the promise made to him by Jehovah there repeated, are here employed by a poet after his time, who bases upon them a prayer full of hope, a prayer for the kingdom and priesthood of Zion, and for the Church regulated by them.” He, however, presents this view in close connection with the following words: “It, at all events, proceeded from an age when the throne of David still remained and the holy ark was not yet irrecoverably lost.” Nothing points specially to king Josiah (Maurer). The same remark applies to the supposition that the Psalm was to be sung in responses by the congregation and a choir of the priests (Olshausen).
[Hengstenberg’s opinion that the Psalm was designed for the “new colony” is largely based upon his assumption that all the anonymous pilgrim-songs were composed after the exile. But each Psalm must be treated independently, nor can a general rule of this nature be employed to support any special case. His other main argument is that the Psalm begins with an allusion to the depressed state of David’s kingdom. But it is impossible to discover anything of the kind, the “trouble” of David (Psa_132:1) being manifestly, as is evident from the connection in which he stands, supported by the form of the word in the Hebrew, that which he underwent in preparing a dwelling for God. On this point see further in the exposition. On the other hand, the only view which is not encumbered with difficulties is that which assigns the composition to Solomon or some contemporary poet, after the building of the Temple. So Perowne, who says: “It is perfectly natural that Solomon or a poet of his age, writing a song for such an occasion, should recur to the earlier efforts made by his father to prepare a habitation for Jehovah. On the completion of the work, his thoughts would inevitably revert to all the steps which had led to its accomplishment. It is no less natural that, at such a time, the promise given to David should seem doubly precious, that it should be clothed with a new interest, a fresh significance, when David’s son sat on the throne, and when the auspicious opening of his reign might itself be hailed as a fulfilment of the promise.”—J. F. M.]
Psa_132:1-2. All his trouble [E. V.: all his afflictions]. The infinitive Pual used as a substantive here describes the anxieties and vexations by which men are harassed, and by which they feel themselves inwardly as well as outwardly oppressed (Isa_53:4; Psa_119:71), the troubles which attend efforts that are long without result, and of which they yet never weary (1Ki_5:17).—The mighty one of Jacob is a designation of God taken from Gen_49:24, and frequent in Isaiah. [Render Psa_132:1-2 : Remember, Jehovah, to David, all his harassing cares, who sware to Jehovah, vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob.—J. F. M.]
Psa_132:3-7. It is idle to discuss whether the words of the oath, which the Septuagint present still more fully, are given literally. It is not indicated whether the allusion is to the vow made by David, that he would build a temple, which is inferred from 2Sa_7:2, or only to the preparation of a secure place generally (Psa_78:67) for the ark which had previously no fixed residence, by transferring it to Zion (2 Samuel 6.). In the days of Saul there was very little concern felt for the ark (1Ch_13:3). From the hands of the Philistines it was taken to Kirjathjearim, and remained there twenty years, as though forgotten (1Sa_6:21; 1Sa_7:1 f.). This city is mentioned in the Old Testament under several different names. It is therefore not absolutely impossible that the field of yaἁr, or the field of the wood, Psa_132:6 b. was intended to designate this city Kirjathjearim, i.e., forest-city, the sense being: we have at last found the ark in that place. Under this view the preceding clause is to be understood: we heard that it was in Ephrathah. But what place is that? Bethlehem, which anciently (Rth_4:11, Gen_35:16; Gen_35:19; Gen_48:7) was so designated (Mic_5:1), cannot be meant; for the ark had never been in that city. The explanation also: we in Ephrathah, i.e., David and other Bethlehemites, heard of it by report (Kimchi, Grotius, Hengst.), is inadmissible, in the light both of grammatical rules and of actual fact. So, too, with the supposition of an allusion to the birth of the Messiah (Jerome, Stier), or to Jerusalem as lying in the vicinity of Bethlehem (Aben Ezra, et al.). Most hold, therefore, that Ephraim is meant, since in Jdg_12:5; 1Sa_1:1; 1Ki_11:26, אֶפְרָתִי means: an Ephraimite. But they differ as to the precise locality referred to. Some suppose that it is Shiloh, as a place within the bounds of Ephraim, and where the ark resided in older times (Piscator, Cocceius, Amyrald, et al.). Others maintain that the word is a figurative and appellative designation of Bethshemesh, when the ark was set down by the Philistines, and where it created a great sensation by its effects, 1Sa_6:16 (Hupfeld). Others, again, explain Ephrathah as the name of the district in which Kirjathjearim lay, referring to the circumstance that Caleb had, by his third wife, a son Hur (1Ch_2:19), who was the ancestral head of the Bethlehemites (1Ch_4:4), and, through his son Shobal, the head also of the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim (1Ch_2:50). The latter accordingly would belong to Caleb Ephratha (1Ch_2:24), as the northern part of this portion of the country appears to have been designated, in distinction from negeb Caleb (1Sa_30:14), the southern portion (Del., Hitzig). But all these explanations have, in addition to the objections which may be urged against them individually, to meet in common the following difficulty: If the suffix in Psa_132:6 a be referred to the ark, which is not named before Psa_132:8 b, and there in a quite different connection, and especially when it is considered that the suffix depends upon שׁמע, the discourse becomes very abrupt, odd, and obscure. This is so marked that it has even been conjectured that part of the text has fallen out (Olshausen). It would be better, therefore, to refer the suffix to the notion which lies concealed in the word, viz: the report heard. There is then no ground for the division of the verse in such a way that the first member is made to relate to the hearing of the report of David’s intention in Bethlehem, while the second tells of the finding of the ark in Kirjathjearim (Baur). For in both members the speakers are the same, namely, the Israelites generally; for it is inadmissible to assume that David here continues (Hengst.) what had been announced to be only a vow. The Psalmist is included in the Israelites as a member of the same united nation, as in Psa_66:6. It is impossible that the latter are described here as people of Bethlehem; for special prominence is given in this Psalm to David and his house, and Bethlehem was the seat of his family. It lay, moreover, not far from Jerusalem, so that one would be at once reminded of the Holy City and its environs. Under these circumstances, it is much more natural to suppose that the name is not used here topographically but figuratively (Calvin), and that it is put by periphrasis for the whole land of Judea, whether this be indicated by a contrasting of the arable and wooded, the inhabited and uninhabited land, or by that of the South and the North, Ephratha and the wooded land of Lebanon, Isa_22:8; Isa_29:17; Psa_75:7; Hag_1:8 (Venema, Ewald, Kamphausen). The sense would then be that everywhere throughout the land there was heard, not the report of David’s vow, but as the word “lo!” indicates, and the whole style and purport of what follows require, the voice or discourse, whose words are given in Psa_132:7, i.e., the voice which utters the invitation to enter the house of God which had since been completed, and to worship there.
Psa_132:8-10. According to this view, Psa_132:8 is not a continuation of the address, but a prayer of the Psalmist, uniting his supplications with those of the congregation, and worshipping before the ark. He, as we think, is identical with the anointed (Psa_132:10), and he with Solomon, and his prayer is that Jehovah would arise and, with the ark of His covenant, would enter into the place prepared as His dwelling. And the place where this happens is not the house of Abinadab in Kirjathjearim, where the ark once resided, but the Tabernacle on Zion, whither David had brought it, and whence Solomon now brings it into the Temple (1Ki_8:3). The expression: raise thyself, or: arise, is taken from Num_10:35, where it is employed to summon the congregation to set forward. The place of rest is the place where the ark was securely placed (Num_10:33; Num_10:36; 1Ch_28:2). In Psa_132:9 prayer is offered for the worthy attendants at the temple: first for the priests, that they may not only be clothed with white garments, the symbol of innocence and purity (Luk_23:11; Rev_8:5), to minister in their midst the rejoicings of the people, 2Sa_6:14-15, comp. Lev_6:3 f (Hitzig), but that they may wear the spiritual robe of righteousness (Job_29:14; Isa_61:10); and then for the people, as they shall serve God in the ordinances of His worship (Kimchi, J. H. Mich., Köster, Hupfeld, Del.). Psa_132:10 then forms a much more suitable conclusion to this division by its reference to Psa_132:1, than would be made if it were treated as the beginning of a new section (Calvin, De Wette.)
Psa_132:11-12. Psa_132:11 refers to the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7, which receives its complete fulfilment in the Messiah (comp. Psalms 89.). The swearing is not to be sought in any single word of the promise (Kimchi), but is to be taken as setting forth its inviolability, for the purpose of strengthening faith so often wavering, and there fore also the reliability of the promise is, in addition, brought out expressly on its positive side as truth (2Sa_7:28), and negatively, by the additional statement that God will not depart from it (Isa_45:23; Joe_2:14). Most join אמת as an accusative to the first member; but see, on the other hand, Delitzsch and Hupfeld. [Perowne: “This is not the object of the verb נשׁבע: ‘He hath sworn a faithful oath.’ Delitzsch makes it an adverbial accusative, and claims the support of the accents, the Pazer (distinctive) marking the close of the first member of the verse. But it is better to take it independently, as standing at the beginning of a parenthetical clause: ‘It (i.e., the oath) is truth, He will not depart from it.’ ”—J. F. M.] The condition (Psa_132:12) of the fulfilment of the prophecy, namely, faithfulness to the covenant, manifested by obedience to God’s testimony of Himself, that is, His revelation, is presented also in 2Sa_7:14 f, similarly to Gen_18:19; Gen_26:5; 1Ki_8:25; Psa_89:31 f.
Psa_132:13-18. The choice of Zion, i.e., of Jerusalem as the seat of the sanctuary and of God’s dwelling, is finally, in Psa_132:13, mentioned as the ground, not of the invitation expressed in Psa_132:7 (Amyrald, Rosenm.), or of a supposed prayer for the restoration of the family of David (Hengstenberg), but of the sure fulfilment of the promise just sworn or adduced as a reliable one. In the following verses, also, it is cited in Jehovah’s own words in attestation of its reliability, first as a fact realized by Divine power, and then described in its blessed effects, which shall reach through all time and bear a Messianic character. The anointed, Psa_132:17, is, it is true, not the same person who prays in Psa_132:10, but, according to the context, David, to whom the promise was given. But the growing of the horn, the symbol of victorious power and warlike strength (Ezek. 29:31), and the blooming of the princely crown, as of an unfading wreath which shall flourish perpetually and ever renew its blossoms, while his enemies shall be covered with shame as with a garment (Job_8:22), and the lamp ordained for the anointed (Psa_18:29; 1Ki_11:36), as the symbol of a brilliant, glorious, and unquenchable life, are directed, in the mouth of God, beyond the mortal and in part faithless descendants of David, to that Seed who, in prophetic visions and announcements, appears as the Sprout of Jehovah, Isa_4:2; Jer_23:5; Jer_33:15; Zec_3:8; Zec_6:12 (Calvin, et al., Köster, Olshausen, Del.). So the Synagogue have also regarded it, which in its daily prayers, consisting of eighteen passages in which blessings occur, has the words: “may the Sprout of David Thy servant soon shoot forth, and his horn soon be exalted by Thy salvation.” This the father of the Baptist employs in the form of a prayer with thanksgiving, with his eyes directed to the approaching fulfilment (Luk_1:68-70). “Shiloh has been rejected (Psa_78:60); in Bethel and Mizpah the sacred ark remained but a short time (Jdg_20:27); the house of Abinadab in Kirjath sheltered it only a little over twenty years (1Sa_7:2); the house of Edom in Perez-Uzzah (2Sa_6:11) only three months. But Zion is Jehovah’s abiding dwelling-place, his own place of settled מְנוּחָה (as in Isa_11:10; Isa_66:1, and besides in 1Ch_28:2). In Zion, His chosen and delightful dwelling-place, Jehovah blesses that which supplies the temporal needs of her poor, so that they will not starve; for Divine love is specially displayed towards the poor. The other blessing which He gives He bestows upon the priests; for it is through them that He takes up His abode among His people. He makes Zion’s priesthood a system actually representative of His salvation; clothes her priest with salvation, so that they shall, not merely as instruments, be the media of its communication, but shall personally possess it; and their whole appearance shall announce its message. And to all the pious He gives reason and matter for exalted and abiding joy, by manifesting Himself also in acts of mercy to the Church which He has made His dwelling. Truly in Zion is the kingdom of promise, whose fulfilment cannot fail!” (Delitzsch).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
What we do and suffer for the sake of God, may indeed be sore to the flesh, but it will be more than fully rewarded by Him.—When we build a house to the Lord of the universe, let us never forget that we should worship Him in it, and prepare ourselves to be His dwelling through the appointed means of grace.—We should rely upon God’s word, and serve Him in accordance with it, and then with His blessing we shall never fail in temporal and spiritual well-being.
Starke: The sufferings of believers for the cause of truth are not meritorious, but neither are they in vain; they are not forgotten by God (Mat_5:11-12).—It is a great blessing of God, that men can come together in freedom of conscience to worship Him; but how little is it regarded!—The more perilous the situation of Christ’s kingdom appears to be, with the more devotion must we utter the next petition of our Lord’s prayer.—The true life in Christ Jesus is required especially in public teachers; this sanctifies all their natural gifts.—Those who would enjoy the benefit of the promises made to the fathers, must walk in their footsteps of faith and godliness.—God loves to dwell where His word is preached in its simplicity and purity, and where He is served in accordance with it. But He has no pleasure in self-selected service.—He who follows after Christ will never fail of spiritual strength or true enlightenment.
Frisch: A man must forego his own comfort and rest rather than neglect the Lord; for that would be to seek his own pleasure and forget God—If God has so favored thee as to make thee stand in His Church, thank Him for it your whole life long; perform its duties worthily, and hold fast to the precious promises which thou hast heard.—Rieger: Oh that nothing were so great in our eyes as the kingdom of God! and that we, by prayer and by searching out, continued as firmly in the Divine promises as believers of old!—Tholuck: God’s rich pleasure in the Church, which He founded from His free purpose of mercy, moves Him to give gracious promises with regard to all three relations of life, as needing maintenance, instruction, and defence.—Guenther: The true Temple can only be that which He, who has been declared King of Glory, keeps building up until the fulness of the times. David and Solomon were the types or Christ.—Diedrich: When we become anxious about the safety of the Church, we must only keep up a lively remembrance of the Divine promises; all distrust will then disappear, for God’s word is the most certain of all things.—Taube: When God blesses, He does it with no niggardly hand; He gives far above what we have asked or can understand. This is to be marked at the table, in the heart, and on the throne.
[Matt. Henry: What God sanctifies to us we shall and may be satisfied with.—God gives more than we ask, and when He gives salvation He will give an abundant joy.—Whom God clothes with righteousness He will also clothe with salvation; we must pray for righteousness and with it God will give salvation.—Scott: If God answered the prayers grounded upon His covenant with David. He will never turn away His face from us, when we plead the covenant made with His anointed Prophet, Priest, and King.—J. F. M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1. Afflictions—The word denotes any trouble, toil, or suffering,…
1. Afflictions—The word denotes any trouble, toil, or suffering, mental or physical, from whatever cause. It may here have a reference to David’s long persecutions by Saul, and trials during the seven years’ civil war with Ishbosheth, or to his special anxieties, perplexities, and care for the removal of the ark to Zion, and the resuscitation of the order of national worship. They were evidently “afflictions” or harassing cares, undertaken and endured for the Lord’s sake. Literally, Psa_132:1-2, read: Remember, O Jehovah, to David all his trouble, who swore to Jehovah; vowed to the mighty one of Jacob.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. Lord, remember David &c.] A possible rendering (cp.…
1. Lord, remember David &c.] A possible rendering (cp. Psa_136:23); but better, Jehovah, remember for David all the trouble he underwent: lit. all his being afflicted; all the pains and trouble and anxiety he underwent in his lifetime for the cause of God, and especially in establishing a sanctuary in Jerusalem, and in making preparation for the building of the Temple. Cp. 1Ch_22:14, “Behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the house of Jehovah” &c. The Psalmist pleads David’s services in establishing the worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem as a reason why Jehovah should remember the promises made to him. For similar pleas cp. Exo_32:13; Deu_9:27; Lev_26:42; Lev_26:45. “The Davidic covenant was to Ezra or Nehemiah what the Abrahamic was to Moses—the focus from which the rays of Divine comfort emanated. Cp. Mic_7:20” (Kay). This simple and natural reference to the services of great leaders was developed in later Jewish theology into an elaborate doctrine of the merits of the fathers. See Weber, System der altsynag. Theol. pp. 280 ff. The form of expression is a favourite one with Nehemiah (Neh_5:19; Neh_13:14; Neh_13:22; Neh_13:31).
1–5. A prayer that Jehovah will remember David’s zeal in bringing the Ark to Jerusalem.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) Afflictions.—The word so rendered is the infinitive plural…
(1) Afflictions.—The word so rendered is the infinitive plural of a verb, which in its first sense means to declare or tell. It is better to keep this meaning here, “Lord, remember David and all his declarations”.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain This present "Song of Ascents" is well suited to…
This present "Song of Ascents" is well suited to be a "pilgrim-song sung by those who went up to Jerusalem to visit the temple, and revivify their faith in the God who had chosen Zion for his dwelling-place. It is concerned almost entirely with the temple, which it sets before the faithful from the first conception of it in the mind of David to its final glory when visited by the Redeemer. Vers. 1-5 are concerned with the birth of the idea in David"s mind; vers. 6-10, with its realization under Solomon; while vers. 11-18 point to the time when David"s true Son would be set upon David"s throne, and the Lord himself would suddenly come to his temple, and make the glory of the second house greater than that of the first had ever been.
Metrically, the psalm consists of four stanzas, each of ten lines: vers. 1-5; 6-10; 11-13; and 14-18.
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Vers. 1-5. David"s abasement and vow to God. The historical books give no account of this vow, which, however, may have been recorded in one or other of the lost compositions spoken of so frequently in Chronicles. (1Ch_29:29 2Ch_9:29 2Ch_16:11, etc.)
Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions; rather, remember to David all his affliction; i.e. reckon it to him, and reward him for it. The "affliction" intended is the distress that David felt at the thought that, while he dwelt in a house of cedar, the ark of God was only lodged within curtains. (2Sa_7:2)
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-18. The service of the sanctuary.
We are accustomed to think of devotion in connection with the house of the Lord. The two things are clearly, though not inseparably, associated with one another. There may be piety where there is no sanctuary; there may be a sanctuary where there is no piety. Practically, however, we find the two in very close alliance. We have in this psalm
I THE GOOD MAN"S ANXIETY. (Vers. 1-5) David is represented as very seriously concerned about the sanctuary of God. It is a mark of devotion when we are more willing to spend our time and our money on God"s house than on our own; when we would rather have our own dwelling out of repair than let his house be neglected.
II GOD"S FAVORING PRESENCE. (Vers. 7, 8, 13, 14) God chose Zion as the place of his manifested presence. There he could be worshipped (by sacrifice) as nowhere else. Though not actually more present in the sanctuary than elsewhere, he is so to our thought and feeling; and there, if we gather in the spirit of devotion and reverent inquiry (Psalm 27), we may confidently expect that God will manifest his power in the enlightening and renewing influences of his Spirit.
III MINISTERIAL EQUIPMENT AND REWARD. (Vers. 9, 16) The ministers of God:
1. Are to be clothed with righteousness. They must be men in whom is the Spirit, and in whose lives are found the principles of Jesus Christ. It is vain to commend him with the lip when the life bears no confirming witness; but when lip and life speak the same truth, there is power and fruitage.
2. They will then be clothed with salvation. They will be men whose word will be of Divine redemption, whose work will be the healing, the strengthening, and the saving of the souls of men; and this plenitude of salvation will overflow to the life of those they serve. There is
IV A CONSEQUENT BLESSING TO THE PEOPLE. "They shout for joy" (vers. 9-16).
1. Where worship is rightly rendered, where the praises of a gracious God are sung with grateful hearts as well as tuneful tongues, where the glories and the graces of God in Christ Jesus are unfolded as they should be, and as they will be by ministers who understand and magnify their mission, there will be pure and deep joy in the act of Divine service. This is the true, the Christian note to strike; not that of spiritual depression, but that of sacred joy; for are we not children and heirs of God? are we...? not kings and priests unto God do we not sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"?
2. When ministerial work has been faithfully discharged, it has led souls into the kingdom of God, which is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The psalm brings out, what we must never lose sight of
V THE CONDITIONAL CHARACTER OF ALL DIVINE PROMISES. (Vers. 11, 12) The promises of God usually, as here, have a condition attached to them; but where it is not expressed it is understood. The wise and holy Father could not promise anything absolutely to his children; that would be unworthy of his wisdom, and injurious to our true interests. Forgiveness is promised to repentance and faith; the indwelling Spirit to purity of heart; peace of mind to believing prayer; the crown of life to faithfulness unto death, etc.
VI THE GREAT FULFILMENT. The psalm is Messianic. (see Luk_1:69)
1. An availing plea. If for David"s sake God is asked not to send the suppliant away unblessed, how much more confidently may we plead the Name of the Son of David, and ask that for Christ"s sake he would not send us away without forgiveness and spiritual refreshment!
2. The hope of truth and victory. Christ, the Light of the world, the victorious Prince and Savior, was ordained, and in due time he came (vers. 17, 18).
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Vers. 1-5. The power of a holy soul.
I THAT DAWN WAS SUCH WE ARE BOUND TO BELIEVE, notwithstanding the flagrant and most grievous sins which are recorded against him. They stagger us when we read of them, and we wonder how such a man could ever have been called "the man after God"s own heart." But in this psalm, as so constantly throughout the Holy Scriptures, we come across statements which prove that, in the estimation of the people of his day, and of those who knew him best, he was held most dear. A passionate enthusiasm of honor and affection gathered round his name and memory, the evidence of which is met with simply everywhere. How could this have been if he were only what many in our day say he was, and who hold him up, not for warm approbation, but for severe reprobation? We are bound to judge of a man, not according to the standards of our own age, but of his, and to accept their testimony and not our inferences from statements which it is impossible for us in this age fully to understand. His own people loved and honored him, and that is enough.
II AS SUCH HE WAS DEAR TO THE HEART OF GOD. For his descendants felt that they might plead his name as an argument in their prayers. They believed that they might call upon God to "remember David." There is no hint here or anywhere that they were wrong in this. Doubtless they were right. There is no saint-worship in this, and no seeking David"s intercession with God; but there is the valid plea that God would remember the prayers and sorrows of his faithful servant sorrows which came to him in consequence of his love and zeal for God. The people of God knew how God had remembered Noah, and saved him and his from the Flood; how he had remembered Abraham, and for his sake had saved Lot out of Sodom; and now they believed he would remember David, and would bless them as David had prayed. Such is the power of a holy soul to bring down blessing upon his children and upon his people.
III WHAT MADE HIM THUS DEAR TO THE HEART OF GOD?
1. Because dishonor to God was distress to him. It was a grief of mind that the ark and service of God should be so ill cared for. (cf. 2Sa_7:2) It was to him a public dishonor done to God to allow such a thing to continue. How few there are who feel like this! All people seek their own, not those things that are God"s. It was an affliction to David that God was not honored. Oh that it may be so to us!
2. Because he not only grieved for the dishonor, but earnestly sought to remove it. See how intense was his desire that God should have a fit habitation (ver. 5). He would not rest in his house, nor lie down, etc. (vers. 3, 4), until, etc. (ver. 5). Oh for zeal like this! What a witness for God it would be! And how solemnly he bound himself over to this work (ver. 4)! And it was ever his anxious concern; this the meaning of "his affliction" in ver. 1. Now, because of this, though he was a man of so many faults, and though he never did build the Lord"s temple, yet was he beloved of the Lord.
IV THE RESULT THAT FOLLOWED, AND STILL FOLLOWS, FROM WHAT DAVID WAS.
1. His name became a valid plea with God.
2. An inspiring memory for all time, and especially to those who succeeded him.
3. A perpetual encouragement to all who work and suffer for God.
4. A call to us to cherish holy zeal for the honor of God. S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Anxious purpose delayed may prove afflictive.
"Remember for David i.e. so as to fulfill the promise made to him all his trouble". (see 2Sa_6:8-15 1Ch 22) This psalm may belong to the period of Solomon, but it is better to read it in the light of the memories and feelings and hopes of the restored exiles. It is a plea for the fulfillment of the promises made to David in the experiences of the restored nation; and it is a poetical way of saying that the anxieties of the exiles for the honor of Jehovah and Jehovah"s worship were only fitly represented by the anxiety of David in the olden time. The key-note of the psalm is given in the first sentence, Lord, remember David." "Fulfill in us thy promises to him; for we are like-minded towards thee and thy service." The point immediately before us is, that affliction is a comprehensive term, and may include providential hindrances. It should be borne in mind that, as David purposed to build a temple for God, and could not accomplish his purpose, so the restored exiles purposed to rebuild the temple, and could not accomplish their purpose because of the opposition of the Samaritans. The psalm represents the fretting of the pious part of the nation at this enforced delay.
I DIVINE HINDRANCES, CAUSING DELAY, MAY BE NECESSARY. It is true that God deals with the individual, and has personal interest in each individual; but he is the Father of a family, and must keep supremely in view the interest of the whole. The wish of one is always considered, but delay may be necessary in order to get things worked round so that the wish may be met without injury to others. Man"s purposes are formed without full knowledge, so they often must be qualified.
II DIVINE HINDRANCES, CAUSING DELAY, MAY BE AFFLICTIVE. That depends greatly on the disposition of those who form the purposes. A king, like David, who was constantly getting his own way, would find it especially hard to be hindered. The exiles, who were full of enthusiasm for God"s house, must have found it very hard to have their work arrested. All the harder because their purpose was such a manifestly good one. It may be urged that no severer strain ever comes into a good man"s life than enforced delay in accomplishing his pious purposes. In agony a man may say, "God will not let me do the good I would.
III DIVINE HINDRANCES, CAUSING DELAY, MAY BE EDUCATIVE. They may educate humility, by convincing us that we are not absolutely necessary; and submission, by compelling our wills to wait on God"s will; and hope, by assuring us that God being in the delay will surely be in the issue to which it leads. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-18. Spiritual worship.
"The psalmist, filled with the memory of many an ancient oracle in praise of David and his city Zion, unable to bear the thought that this "beauty of all the earth," for which David had toiled, should remain sunk in misery and ruin, prays to God to remember his promises, and to return once more to his chosen dwelling-place;" that the temple may be rebuilt, and the national worship restored, Some of the principal thoughts suggested are
I THAT THE GREATEST WORK A MAN CAN DO IS TO HELP TO BRING GOD NEARER TO MEN. In this case David toiled with unwearied efforts "to find out a place for the Lord," where the ark might at length rest. But there are many ways besides of bringing God nearer to the thoughts of men. Public worship is only one means. A life divinely lived; works; conversation. God is made known best by the living temple.
II GOD WILL, HOWEVER, IN DUE TIME REWARD THE LABORS OF HIS FAITHFUL SERVANTS. "Lord, remember David, and all his labor and trouble." "Turn not away the face of thine anointed." Do not deny his prayers. Seeming delay on God"s part is no real delay.
III IT IS GOD"S WILL TO REVEAL HIMSELF AND BE FOUND OF MEN. "The Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation," etc. He has created men for the fellowship of himself and of one another. "This is my rest forever;" as the father finds rest at home.
IV GOD HAS MADE ABUNDANT PROVISION FOR THE WANTS OF OUR SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL NATURE. "I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout for joy, ordained a lamp for mine anointed," etc. "I will bless her provision with increase, and satisfy her poor with bread. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Title. A Song of Degrees. A joyful song indeed:…
Title. A Song of Degrees. A joyful song indeed: let all pilgrims to the New Jerusalem sing it often. The degrees or ascents are very visible; the theme ascends step by step from, "afflictions" to a "crown", from "remember David", to, "I will make the horn of David to bud." The latter half is like the over arching sky bending above "the fields of the wood" which are found in the resolves and prayers of the former portion.
Division. Our translators have rightly divided this Psalm. It contains a statement of David's anxious care to build a house for the Lord (Ps 132:1-7); a prayer at the removal of the Ark (Ps 132:8-10); and a pleading of the divine covenant and its promises (Ps 132:11-18).
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Ver. 1. LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions. With David the covenant was made, and therefore his name is pleaded on behalf of his descendants, and the people who would be blessed by his dynasty. Jehovah, who changes not, will never forget one of his servants, or fail to keep his covenant; yet for this thing he is to be entreated. That which we are assured the Lord will do must, nevertheless, be made a matter of prayer. The request is that the Lord would remember, and this is a word full of meaning. We know that the Lord remembered Noah, and assuaged the flood; he remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of Sodom; he remembered Rachel, and Hannah, and gave them children; he remembered his mercy to the house of Israel, and delivered his people. That is a choice song wherein we sing, "He remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever"; and this is a notable prayer, "Lord remember me." The plea is urged with God that he would bless the family of David for the sake of their progenitor; how much stronger is our master argument in prayer that God would deal well with us for Jesus' sake! David had no personal merit; the plea is based upon the covenant graciously made With him: but Jesus has deserts which are his own, and of boundless merits these we may urge without hesitation. When the Lord was angry with the reigning prince, the people cried, "Lord remember David"; and when they needed any special blessing, again they sang, "Lord, remember David." This was good pleading, but it was not so good as ours, which runs on this wise, "Lord, remember Jesus, and all his afflictions."
The afflictions of David here meant were those which came upon him as a godly man his endeavours to maintain the worship of Jehovah, and to provide for its decent and suitable celebration. There was always an ungodly party in the nation, and these persons were never slow to slander, hinder, and molest the servant of the Lord. Whatever were David's faults, he kept true to the one, only, living, and true God; and for this he was a speckled bird among monarchs. Since he zealously delighted in the worship of Jehovah, his God, he was despised and ridiculed by those who could not understand his enthusiasm. God will never forget what his people suffer for his sake. No doubt innumerable blessings descend upon families and nations through the godly lives and patient sufferings of the saints. We cannot be saved by the merits of others, but beyond all question we are benefited by their virtues. Paul saith, "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name." Under the New Testament dispensation, as well as under the Old, there is a full reward for the righteous. That reward frequently comes upon their descendants rather than upon themselves: they sow, and their successors reap. We may at this day prayLord, remember the martyrs and confessors of our race, who suffered for thy name's sake, and bless our people and nation with gospel grace for our fathers' sakes.
Whole Psalm. Lightfoot ascribes this Psalm to David, and supposes it to have been composed on the second removal of the ark from the house of Obededom: 1Ch 15:4, etc. But the mention of David's name in the tenth verse in the third person, and the terms there employed, militate against his being the author. Others ascribe it to Solomon, who, they think, wrote it about the time of the removing of the ark into the Temple which he had built for it: 2Ch 5:2, etc. Others are of opinion, that it was composed by Solomon for the solemn services that were celebrated at the dedication of the Temple. James Anderson's note to Calvin in loc.
Whole Psalm. The Psalm is divided into four stanzas of ten lines, each of which contains the name of David. The first part begins with speaking of David's vow to the Lord, the third with the Lord's promise to David. William Kay.
Whole Psalm. The parallelisms need to be traced with some care. Ps 132:1-6 are answered by Ps 132:12, Ps 132:7 by Ps 132:13; Ps 132:8 by Ps 132:14; Ps 132:9 by Ps 132:15-16; Ps 132:10 by Ps 132:17-18.
An attention to these parallelisms is often necessary to bring out the meaning of Scripture. Joseph Angus, in "The Bible Handbook", 1862.
Ver. 1. LORD, remember. It is a gracious privilege to be permitted to be God's reminders. Faith is encouraged to remind him of his covenant, and of his precious promises. There is, indeed, no forgetfulness with him. The past, as also the future, is a present page before his eye. But by this exercise we impress on our own minds invaluable lessons. Henry Law.
Ver. 1. Remember David, and all his afflictions. Solomon was a wise man, yet pleads not any merit of his own; I am not worthy, for whom thou shouldest do this, but, "Lord, remember David", with whom thou madest the covenant; as Moses prayed (Ex 32:13), "Remember Abraham", the first trustee of the covenant; remember "all his afflictions"; all the troubles of his life, which his being anointed was the occasion of; or his care and concern about the ark, and what an uneasiness it was to him that the ark was in curtains (2Sa 7:2). Remember all his humility and weakness, so some read it; all that pious and devout affection with which he had made the following vow. Matthew Henry.
Ver. 1. Remember...all his afflictions. The sufferings of believers for tim cause of truth are not meritorious, but neither are they in vain; they are not forgotten by God. Mt 5:11-12. Christopher Starke, 1740.
Ver. 1. Afflictions. The Hebrew word for "afflictions" is akin to the word for "trouble" in 1Ch 12:14: "Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold." H. T. Armfeld.
Ver. 1-2. If the Jew could rightly appeal to God to show mercy to his church and nation for the sake of that shepherd youth whom he had advanced to the kingdom, much more shall we justly plead our cause in the name of David's son (called David four times in the prophets), and of all his trouble, all the sorrows of his birth and infancy, his ministry and passion and death, which he bore as a consequence of his self dedication to his father's will, when his priesthood, foreordained from all eternity, was confirmed with an oath, "for these Levitical priests were made without swearing an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek": Heb 7:21 Ps 100:4. Theodoret and C'assiodorus, in Neale and Littledale.
Ver. 1.
1. The Lord remembers Jesus, our David: he loves him, he delights in him, he is with him.
2. In that memory his griefs have a prominent place"all his afflictions."
3. Yet the Lord would be put in remembrance by his people.
Ver. 1-2. Concerning his people,
1. The Lord remembers,
a) Their persons.
b) Their afflictions.
c) Their vows.
2. The Lord remembers them,
a) To accept them.
b) To sympathize with them.
c) To assist them.
Ver. 1-2.
1. God remembers his people, each one: "Remember David." The Spirit maketh intercession within us according to the will of God.
2. He remembers their afflictions: "David and all his afflictions." "I know thy works and thy tribulation."
3. He remembers their vows, especially,
a) Those which relate to his service.
b) Those which are solemnly made.
c) Those which are faithfully performed. G. R.
Ver. 1-5. Notice,
1. How painfully David felt what he conceived to be a dishonouring of God, which he thought he might be able to remedy. Consider "his afflictions", because the ark dwelt within curtains, while he himself dwelt in a house of cedar: 2Sa 7:2.
2. Consider,
a) Its singularity. Most find affliction in personal losses; very few suffer from a cause like this.
b) The little sympathy such a feeling meets with from the most of men. "If God means to convert the heathen, he can do it without you, young man", was said to Dr., then Mr. Carey, when heathenism was an affliction to him.
c) Its fittingness to a really God fearing man.
d) Its pleasingness to God: 1Sa 2:30.
2. How earnestly he set himself to remedy the evil he deplored: "He sware", etc. There cannot be the least doubt that he would have foregone the enjoyment of temporal luxuries until he had accomplished the work dear to his heart, if he had been permitted of God. Remark,
a) There is little zeal for God's honour when self denial is not exercised for the sake of his cause.
b) Were a like zeal generally shown by God's people, there would be more givers and more liberal gifts; more workers, and the work more heartily and better done.
c) It would be well to astonish the world, and deserve the commendations of the righteous by becoming enthusiasts for the honour of God. J. F.
Psalms 132:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions.
Psa_132:1-18
Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions.
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The house of God
This psalm was probably composed on the occasion of the installation of the ark in the place provided for it in the temple. Solomon himself may possibly have been the author; but it is more likely that it came from the lips of one who had been a companion of David as well as of his son.
I. The idea of the house of God (Psa_132:1-6). Davids was an agitated life; but he found time to think for the house of God. Many whose lives are very full do so still. Some of those who care most for Christs cause and spend on it unceasing energy are the most occupied of business men. Where there is a will there is a way; let only the passion for doing good be present and the time and the means will not be wanting. David was not allowed to carry out his pious intention; but, at great trouble and expense, he collected the materials of which Solomon subsequently made use. Thus one soweth and another reapeth. The good cause descends from generation to generation; and the godly are linked to one another by the sacred task which fills the ages.
II. The occupation of the house of God (Psa_132:7-9). The temple is now supposed to be complete and ready for occupation. In verse 6 the worshippers express their desire to enter the sacred precincts, and expression is given to the sentiments of awe and humility with which this should be done. But something more than the presence of worshippers is needed to constitute Gods house: the presence of God Himself is requisite; and, in the next verse, He is requested to take possession of the habitation prepared for Him. Who does not know how empty the Sabbath may be, and how secular the church, when Gods presence is not felt? But, when He comes down and breathes His own influence through the soul, then worship is real, and the church truly a house of God.
III. The supports of the house of God (Psa_132:10-18). In the remainder of the psalm the sacred poet recalls two oracles of the past in support of his prayer. The first is a promise, confirmed by an oath, which was given to David, that to the fruit of his body God would give the throne. And from this the inference is drawn that God will support the son of David in his great national undertaking, and the kings of the future, who will be the conservators of the sacred building. Here we perceive one of the secrets of the art of prayer: it lays hold of Gods promise and pleads it. The other oracle refers to Gods choice of Zion as His seat. Jehovah had announced that if a habitation for Him were built there, He would make it His rest for ever; and from this centre He would send out streams of blessing over the whole land. These glowing promises may by us be applied to the Church; and what is said about David may be applied to Christ. But these promises may also be applied to the temple of the individual soul. How blessed is the soul of which God has taken possession with the words, This is My rest for ever, etc. (J. Stalker, D. D.)
A prayer for the house of David
I. Davids anxiety to build a temple (Psa_132:1-5; 1Ch_22:14-16). We are to worship God with our best, and His house should always surpass the houses of His worshippers.
II. The removal of the ark to Zion (Psa_132:6-10). The reference in verse 6 is to Davids experience in the days of his youth, when he used to hear of the ark in his native town, although he had never seen it. On its return from the Philistines the ark was for twenty years in the forest-city, Kirjath-jearim (1Sa_7:2), where it was out of sight, and, in a large measure, out of mind. Here David found it (2Sa_6:1-23.), and brought it up to the city of David, to Jerusalem. Having been installed in the capital, it was used for its appointed and appropriate purpose, and the psalm recites the feelings and words of the people in view of their privileges.
III. The covenant made with David (Psa_132:11-13; 2Sa_7:1-29; Psa_89:28-37).
IV. The promise based on the covenant (Psa_132:14-18). This strophe, although it is not expressly so stated, rehearses the words of God Himself, resuming and enforcing the terms of the original engagement. Jehovah declares that Zion is His resting-place. Here Jehovah sat as upon a throne, and manifested His royal state by the blessings lie bestowed upon His people. These blessings are set forth with detail and emphasis. In the concluding verses the poet reverts to the main theme, the grace given to the house of David and the promise linked inseparably with that lineage. The horn is a common Biblical emblem for strength and prosperity (Deu_33:17; 1Sa_2:10; Psa_75:10; Eze_29:21; Rev_5:6), and to say that a horn should sprout or shoot forth for David is to convey the idea of some signal descendant who should fulfil all that David suggested. The psalm closes with a contrast between the scion of Davids house and his foes. They are to be clothed with shame and wear it as a garment, while on the contrary the crown upon his head sparkles with jewels, its lustre undimmed, its splendour unfading. (T. W. Chambers, D. D.)
The song of the builders
I. Preparatory work. The picture of my text may be a rebuke to the slothfulness of us all, to the feeble wavering purposes of Divine services which we languidly entertain and partially carry out, to the preference of our own comfort to Gods work, which leads us all to give but the superfluity of our time, or of our means, or of our sympathy, to the service of our brethren, or, what is the same thing, to doing the work of God. But it should come with a special message to men, and emphatically to women, of comparative leisure and freedom from corroding frets and consuming toils. Brace yourselves for continuous service, give yourselves in resolved self-dedication to it, and fling behind you your leisure and regard for your own selfish repose, that you may lay some stone in the Temple of God.
II. The prayer for Gods blessing on the work. The prayer rests upon the profound conviction of the incompleteness of all our organizations and works if taken by themselves. The Temple may be finished. But something more is needed. Not till the ark is in the Holiest of all, and the cloud of glory fills the house, could they say, It is finished. And the lesson is of everlasting importance. It is true for all ages of the Church. None, perhaps, ever needed it more than our own. We need to guard ourselves most jealously lest we come to pug the instrument in the place of the power, to burn incense to our own net, and to sacrifice to our own drag. If ever we do that, then we shall soon haw to say, We have toiled all night and caught nothing.
III. The Divine answer, which more than fulfils the psalmists desires. The prayer had pointed to Davids swearing to the Lord as a plea on which its petitions rested. The reply points to a mightier oath than Davids, as the ground on which Gods mercy is, sure. The king sware to the Lord. Yes, but the Lord hath sworn to David. That is grander and deeper. Another parallel of the same kind occurs between the former and the latter parts of the psalm. The one alleges Davids finding out a habitation for the Lord, as a plea. The other replies, The Lord hath chosen Zion, etc. A mightier will than Davids had determined it long ago. State this in its widest form, and what does it come to but that great truth, that Gods own love is the cause, and Gods own promise, based upon His unchangeable nature, the guarantee for all His merciful dealings with us? He is His own all-sufficient reason. The day shall come when the weary work of the ages shall be accomplished, and the glory of the Lord shall fill that wondrous house. In that lofty and glorified state of His Church the prayers of earth shall be surpassed by the possessions of heaven. Here we ask that. God would dwell with us, and there the tabernacle of God shall be with men, etc. Here we ask for righteousness as our garment, and there it shall be granted us to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, etc. Here we ask for joy in the midst of sorrow, and there they shall obtain joy and gladness, etc. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Psalms 132
Psalms 132
THE continuance of "the sure mercies of David" to his descendants for his sake is first besought from God, and is then promised, for his sake, by God Himself, speaking in the singers spirit. The special blessing sought for is Jehovahs dwelling in His house, which is here contemplated as reared after long toil. Expositors differ, as usual, in regard to the date and occasion of this psalm. Its place among the pilgrim psalms raises a presumption in favour of a post-exilic date, and one class of commentators refers it confidently to the period of the rebuilding of the Temple. But the mention of the Ark (which disappeared after the destruction of Solomons Temple) can be reconciled with that supposed date only by a somewhat violent expedient. Nor is it easy to suppose that the repeated references to Davids descendants as reigning in accordance with Gods promise could have been written at a time when there was no king in Israel. Zerubbabel has indeed been suggested as "the anointed" of this psalm; but he was not king, and neither in fact nor in idea was he anointed. And could a singer in Israel, in the post-exilic period, have recalled the ancient promises without some passing sigh for their apparent falsification in the present? Psalms 89, is often referred to as the "twin" of this psalm. Its wailings over the vanished glories of the Davidic monarchy have nothing corresponding to them here. These considerations are against a post-exilic date, for which the chief argument is the inclusion of the psalm in the collection of pilgrim songs.
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If, on the other hand, we disregard its place in the Psalter and look at its contents, it must be admitted that they perfectly harmonise with the supposition that its occasion was the completion of Solomons Temple. The remembrance of Davids long-cherished purpose to build the House, of the many wanderings of the Ark, the glad summons to enter the courts to worship, the Divine promises to David, which were connected with his design of building a Temple, all fit in with this view of the occasion of the psalm. Singularly enough, some advocates of later dates than even the building of the second Temple catch in the psalm tones of depression, and see indications of its having been written when the glowing promises which it quotes appeared to have failed. It is not in reference to "Nature" only that "we receive but what we give." To other ears, with perhaps equal though opposite bias, glad confidence in a promise, of which the incipient fulfilment was being experienced, sounds in the psalm. To some it is plain that it was written when Ark and king had been swept away; to others it is equally clear that it presupposes the existence of both. The latter view is to the present writer the more probable.
The psalm is not divided into regular strophes. There is, however, a broad division into two parts, of which Psa_132:1-10 form the first, the pleading of Israel with Jehovah; and Psa_132:11-18 the second, the answer of Jehovah to Israel. The first part is further divided into two: Psa_132:1-5 setting forth Davids vow; Psa_132:6-10 the congregations glad summons to enter the completed sanctuary and its prayer for blessings on the worshipping nation with its priests and king. The second part is Jehovahs renewed promises, which take up and surpass the peoples prayer. It is broken by a single verse (Psa_132:13), which is an interjected utterance of Israels.
"One remembers anything to another, when one requites him for what he has done, or when one performs for him what one has promised him" (Delitzsch). Davids earnest longing to find a fixed place for the Ark, his long-continued and generous amassing of treasure for the purpose of building the Temple, are regarded as a plea with God. The solidarity of the family, which was so vividly realised in old times, reaches its highest expression in the thought that blessings to Davids descendants are as if given to him, sleeping in the royal tomb. Beautifully and humbly the singer, as representing the nation, has nothing to say of the toil of the actual builders. Not the hand which executes, but the heart and mind which conceived and cherished the plan, are its true author. The psalmist gives poetic version of Davids words in 2Sa_7:2. "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwelleth in curtains," contains in germ all which the psalmist here draws out of it. He, the aged king, was almost ashamed of his own ease. "God gave him rest from his enemies," but he will not "give sleep to his eyes" till he finds out a place for Jehovah. Wearied with a stormy life, he might well have left it to others to care for the work which the prophet had told him that he was not to be permitted to begin. But not so does a true man reason. Rather, he will consecrate to God his leisure and his old age, and will rejoice to originate work which he cannot hope to see completed, and even to gather materials which happier natures and times may turn to account. He will put his own comfort second, Gods service first.
Such devotedness does make a plea with God. The psalmists prayer goes on that supposition, and Gods answer endorses it as valid. He does not require perfect faithfulness in His servants ere He prospers their work with His smile. Stained offerings, in which much of the leaven of earthly motives may be fermenting, are not therefore rejected.
Psa_132:6-10 are the petitions grounded on the preceding plea, and asking that Jehovah would dwell in the sanctuary and bless the worshippers. Psa_132:6 offers great difficulties. It seems clear, however, that it and the next verse are to be taken as very closely connected (note the "we" and "us" occurring in them for the only time in the psalm). They seem to describe continuous actions, of which the climax is entrance into the sanctuary. The first question as to Psa_132:6 is what the "it" is, which is spoken of in both clauses; and the most natural answer is-the Ark, alluded to here by anticipation, though not mentioned till Psa_132:8. The irregularity is slight and not unexampled. The interpretation of the verse mainly depends on the meaning of the two designations of locality, "Ephrathah" and "the fields of the Wood." Usually the former is part of the name of Bethlehem, but the Ark in all its wanderings is never said to have been there. Most probably Shiloh, in which the Ark did remain for a time, is intended. But why should Shiloh be called Ephrathah? The answer usually given, but not altogether satisfactory, is that Shiloh lay in the territory of Ephraim, and that we have instances in which an Ephraimite is called an "Ephrathite," {Jdg_12:5; 1Sa_1:1; 1Ki_11:26} and therefore it may be presumed that the territory of Ephraim was called Ephrathah. "The fields of the Wood," on the other hand, is taken to be a free poetic variation of the name of Kirjath-jearim (the city of the woods), where the Ark long lay, and whence it was brought up to Jerusalem by David. In this understanding of the verse, the two places where it remained longest are brought together and the meaning of the whole verse is, "We heard that it lay long at Shiloh, but we found it in Kirjath-jearim." Delitzsch, followed by Cheyne, takes a different view, regarding "Ephrathah" as a name for the district in which Kirjath-jearim lay. He founds this explanation on the genealogies in 1Ch_2:19; 1Ch_2:50, according to which Calebs wife, Ephrath, was the mother of Hur, the ancestor of the Bethlehemites, and whose son Shobal was the ancestor of the people of Kirjath-jearim; Ephrathah was thus a fitting name for the whole district, which included both Bethlehem and Kirjath-jearim. In this understanding of the names, the verse means, "We heard that the Ark was at Kirjath-jearim, and there we found it."
Psa_132:7 must be taken as immediately connected with the preceding. If the same persons who found the Ark still speak, the "tabernacle" into which they encourage each other to enter must be the tent within which, as David said, it dwelt "in curtains"; and the joyful utterance of an earlier age will then be quoted by the still happier generation who, at the moment while they sing, see the sacred symbol of the Divine Presence enshrined within the Holy Place of the Temple. At all events, the petitions which follow are most naturally regarded as chanted forth at that supreme moment, though it is possible that the same feeling of the solidity of the nation in all generations, which, as applied to the reigning family, is seen in Psa_132:1, may account for the worshippers in the new Temple identifying themselves with the earlier ones who brought up the Ark to Zion. The Church remains the same, while its individual members change.
The first of the petitions is partly taken from the invocation in Num_10:35, when "the Ark set forward"; but there it was a prayer for guidance on the march; here, for Jehovahs continuance in His fixed abode. It had wandered far and long. It had been planted in Shiloh, but had deserted that sanctuary which He had once loved. It had tarried for awhile at Mizpeh and at Bethel. It had been lost on the field of Aphek, been borne in triumph through Philistine cities, and sent back thence in terror. It had lain for three months in the house of Obed-edom, and for twenty years been hidden at Kirjath-jearim, It had been set with glad acclaim in the tabernacle provided by David, and now it stands in the Temple. There may it abide and go no more out! Solomon and Hiram and all their workmen may have done their best, and the result of their toils may stand gleaming in the sunlight in its fresh beauty; but something more is needed. Not till the Ark is in the Shrine does the Glory fill the house. The lesson is for all ages. Our organisations and works are incomplete without that quickening Presence. It will surely be given if we desire it. When His Church prays, "Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the Ark of Thy strength," His answer is swift and sure, "Lo, I am with you always."
From this petition all the others flow. If "the Ark of Thy strength" dwells with us, we too shall be strong, and have that Might for our inspiration as well as our shield. "Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness." The pure vestments of the priests were symbols of stainless character, befitting the ministers of a holy God. The psalmist prays that the symbol may truly represent the inner reality. He distinguishes between priests and the mass of the people; but in the Church today, as indeed in the original constitution of Israel, all are priests, and must be clothed in a righteousness which they receive from above. They do not weave that robe, but they must "put on" the garment which Christ gives them. Righteousness is no hazy, theological virtue, having little to do with everyday life and small resemblance to secular morality. To be good, gentle, and just, self-forgetting and self-ruling, to practise the virtues which all men call "lovely and of good report," and to consecrate them all by reference to Him in whom they dwell united and complete, is to be righteous; and that righteousness is the garb required of, and given by God to, all those who seek it and minister in His Temple.
"Let Thy favoured ones utter shrill cries of joy." Surely, if they dwell in the Temple, gladness will not fail them. True religion is joyful. If a man has only to lift his eyes to see the Ark, what but averted eyes should make him sad? True, there are enemies, but we are close to the fountain of strength. True, there are sins, but we can receive the garment of righteousness. True, there are wants, but the sacrifice whereof "the meek shall eat and be satisfied" is at hand. There is much unreached as yet, but there is a present God. So we may "walk all the day in the light of His countenance," and realise the truth of the paradox of always rejoicing, though sometimes we sorrow.
The final petition is for the anointed king, that his prayers may be heard. To "turn away the face" is a graphic expression, drawn from the attitude of one who refuses to listen to a suppliant. It is harsh in the extreme to suppose that the king referred to is David himself, though Hupfeld and others take that view. The reference to Solomon is natural.
Such are the psalmists petitions. The answers follow in the remainder of the psalm, which, as already noticed, is parted in two by an interjected verse (Psa_132:13), breaking the continuity of the Divine Voice. The shape of the responses is determined by the form of the desires, and in every case the answer is larger than the prayer. The Divine utterance begins with a parallel between the oath of David and that of God. David "sware to Jehovah." Yes, but "Jehovah has sworn to David." That is grander and deeper. With this may be connected the similar parallel in Psa_132:13 and Psa_132:14 with Psa_132:5. David had sought to "find a habitation" for Jehovah. But He Himself had chosen His habitation long ago. He is throned there now, not because of Davids choice or Solomons work, but because His will had settled the place of His feet. These correspondences of expression point to the great truth that God is His own all-sufficient reason. He is not won to dwell with men by their importunity, but in the depths of His unchangeable love lies the reason why He abides with us unthankful. The promise given in Psa_132:12, which has respect to the closing petition of the preceding part, is substantially that contained in 2 Samuel 7. Similar references to that fundamental promise to David are found in Psalms 89, with which this psalm is sometimes taken to be parallel; but that psalm comes from a time when the faithful promise seemed to have failed for evermore, and breathes a sadness which is alien to the spirit of this song. Psa_132:13 appears to be spoken by the people. It breaks the stream of promises. God has been speaking, but now, for a moment, He is spoken of. His choice of Zion for His dwelling is the glad fact, which the congregation feels so borne in on its consciousness that it breaks forth into speech. The "For" at the beginning of the verse gives a striking sequence, assigning, as it does, the Divine selection of Zion for His abode, as the reason for the establishment of the Davidic monarchy. If the throne was set up in Jerusalem, because there God would dwell, how solemn the obligation thereby laid on its occupant to rule as Gods viceroy, and how secure each in turn might feel, if he discharged the obligations of his office, that God would grant to the kingdom an equal date with the duration of His own abode! Throne and Temple are indissolubly connected.
With Psa_132:14 the Divine Voice resumes, and echoes the petitions of the earlier part. The psalmist asked God to arise into His rest, and He answers by granting the request with the added promise of perpetuity: "Here will I dwell forever." He adds a promise which had not been asked-abundance for all, and bread to fill even the poor. The psalmist asked that the priests might be clothed in righteousness, and the answer promises robes of salvation, which is the perfecting and most glorious issue of righteousness. The psalmist asked that Gods favoured ones might utter shrill cries of joy, and God replies with an emphatic reduplication of the word, which implies the exuberance and continuance of the gladness. The psalmist asked for favour to the anointed, and God replies by expanded and magnificent promises. The "horn" is an emblem of power.
It shall continually "sprout"-i.e., the might of the royal house shall continually increase. The "lamp for Mine anointed" may be simply a metaphor for enduring prosperity and happiness, but many expositors take it to be a symbol of the continuance of the Davidic house, as in 1Ki_15:4, where, however, the word employed is not the same as that used here, though closely connected with it. The promise of perpetuity to the house of David does not fit into the context as well as that of splendour and joy, and it has already been given in Psa_132:12. Victory will attend the living representative of David, his foes being clothed by Jehovah with shame-i.e., being foiled in their hostile attempts-while their confusion is as a dark background, against which the radiance of his diadem sparkles the more brightly. These large promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, of the seed of David; and the psalm is Messianic, as presenting the ideal which it is sure shall be realised. and which is so in Him alone.
The Divine promises teach the great truth that God over answers our desires, and puts to shame the poverty of our petitions by the wealth of His gifts. He is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," for the measure of His doing is none other than "according to the Power that worketh in us," and the measure of that Power is none other than "the working of the strength of His might, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain The author of this Psalm and the occasion upon…
INTRODUCTION
The author of this Psalm and the occasion upon which it was composed are both unknown. The opinion of M. Henry, Perowne, and others, is that it was composed for the dedication of Solomon’s Temple. Many ancient expositors held that it was composed by David, either at the time of the bringing of the Ark to Zion, or at the time when it was in his heart to build the Temple of the Lord. Many modern expositors hold that it was composed for the dedication of the Second Temple. It is quite impossible to arrive at any certain conclusion on the question. “This Psalm,” says Perowne, “is a prayer that God’s promises made to David may not fail of fulfilment, that He will dwell for ever in the habitation which He chose for Himself in Zion, and that the children of David may for ever sit upon His throne. It opens with a recital of David’s efforts to bring the Ark to its resting-place; it ends with a recital of the promises made to David and to his seed.”
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Homiletically we shall view it as presenting Lessons for Church-Builders, and Encouragements for Church-Builders.
LESSONS FOR CHURCH-BUILDERS
(Psa_132:1-10)
From these verses we learn—
I. That when churches are needed their erection is of great importance (Psa_132:1-6). Previous to the bringing of the Ark to Mount Zion, the arrangements for religious worship were most unsatisfactory. “The sacred tent was without the Ark of the covenant, a body without a soul; and the Ark was at Kirjath-jearim, deposited as in its grave, without any rites of worship, well-nigh lost sight of.” David himself said, “Let us bring again the Ark of our God to us; for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul.” He was deeply solicitous for the revival of the national religion, and that arrangements should be made for the worship of Jehovah, with suitable dignity and magnificence. The Psalmist represents him as tormenting himself with anxiety to prepare a becoming dwelling-place for the Lord. The intensity of his concern was manifest in—
(1.) The solemnity of his declaration concerning it. “He sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty One of Jacob.” This solemn vow is not recorded in the history. Nor do we know whether it was made concerning the removal of the Ark to Zion, or the fixing the site of the Temple and the preparation of materials for its erection (1Ch_22:1-5). But that it was made is an evidence of the anxious care of David that appropriate provision should be made for the worship of the people. This care was manifest in—
(2.) The promptitude of his declaration. “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed,” &c. (Psa_132:3-5). So in 1Ch_22:5 David says, “I will now make preparation for it.” The matter was too important and urgent to admit of any delay; so he resolved to make it his first business and to set about it at once.
Now the lesson we deduce from this is, that when adequate and appropriate provision is not made for religious worship, the building of churches is of great importance. This will appear from the following considerations:—
1. The religious element in man is the grandest portion of his nature. Reason, conscience, affections, and that in us which wonders, admires, adores—these are the highest things in us.
2. The religious element in man needs worship for its right development and growth. The worship of the Highest humbles, purifies, exalts, enriches our being. Worship transforms the worshipper into the image of the object of worship. The complete and harmonious development of our being is impossible apart from worship.
3. That churches are needed for the becoming and profitable exercise of worship. We need the absence of distracting scenes and circumstances, the aid of quiet and of hallowed associations, in order to worship in a becoming manner and with spiritual advantage. These are secured by the erection of churches.
But are not the temple of nature and the sanctuary of home sufficient for the worship of man? They would be if man were not a social being; but man is a social being. “It is not good that man should be alone.” In work and play, in enjoyment and sorrow, man needs and delights in fellowship. Private and family worship is not enough; we need public worship also to help us to realise our relation to our fellow-men, that we are members of one great family, children of one Divine Father. We need both the closet and the temple, both the quiet and solitude of private worship, and the fellowship and inspiration of public worship. Where adequate provision is not made for the public worship of the people, the building of Christian churches is a work the importance of which it is impossible to exaggerate.
II. That churches should be erected for the worship of God. “We will go into His tabernacles; we will worship at His footstool.” We fear that all persons who are zealous in the building of churches do not always regard the worship of God as the great purpose for which they are to be used. The grand use of Christian churches is—
1. Not the propagation of any ecclesiastical system. The laudation of “the church,” or of “our denomination,” or of “our body,” seems to be the object for which some churches are built. This is misleading and injurious.
2. Nor the propagation of any theological system. Some churches seem to be built chiefly for the propagation of Calvinism, Arminianism, Sacramentarianism, &c. But our interpretations of God and His Word are one thing, while God and His Word are other and sometimes very different things. Even at best “our little systems are but broken lights” of the Most High.
3. Nor for the delivery of religious addresses or theological lectures, however able or eloquent they may be. We are far from undervaluing the importance of the preaching of the Word, but it seems to us that the worship of God is a higher use of Christian churches than even that.
4. Nor for ritualistic display however brilliant, or musical performances however perfect. When forms and ceremonies, processions and pageants, are the great things in what ought to be Christian churches, intelligent and earnest Christians cannot but regard such a state of things as a prostitution of such edifices.
5. But for the worship of God. The grand use of churches is to worship the Lord God in spirit and in truth. This worship should be humble and reverent. We are not worthy to approach His throne or look into His face, but we may “worship at His footstool.”
III. That in the worship of God in His Church the manifestation of His presence should be earnestly sought. “Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest,” &c. (Psa_132:8-9). The Lord is here entreated to dwell in His Church—
1. As an abiding presence. “Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest.” This may have been spoken when the Ark was brought to Zion, and certainly was spoken at the dedication of the Temple. The Ark was no more to be removed from place to place, but was to be fixed there. We need the abiding presence of God in our churches; for without this, however stately and beautiful they may be, they will be but as beautiful corpses.
2. As a strengthening presence. “Thou, and the Ark of Thy strength.” The Ark was the symbol of the Divine presence and power. When it was taken with them into battle, the people were nerved to courage and endurance and conquest. When God by the Holy Ghost dwells among His people, they are “strengthened with might in the inner man.”
3. As a sanctifying presence. “Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness.” One of the effects of the abiding presence of God in the Church will be that His ministers will be holy in heart and life. “Righteousness is the best ornament of a minister.” It is an essential qualification for the office.
4. As a joy-inspiring presence. “Let Thy saints shout for joy.” Sincere worshippers of Jehovah are here designated His “saints.” They find their highest blessedness in the realisation of His presence. They sing, “In Thy presence is fulness of joy.”
Here is the great want of religious assemblies and of the Church of God as a whole in this day—the realisation of His abiding presence. Having this, she will be nerved with might, clothed with righteousness, and inspired with joy.
IV. That in seeking the manifestation of the presence of God in His Church, we have powerful pleas which we may urge. We may, like the Psalmist, plead—
1. The solicitude of our pious ancestors for His worship. “Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions.” David’s anxiety to provide for the becoming celebration of the worship of God is here urged with God on behalf of his descendants. And as we seek the Divine blessing we may surely make mention of the devotion of our godly forefathers.
2. His covenant relation with our pious ancestors and with us. “For Thy servant David’s sake, turn not away the face of Thine anointed.” Perowne: “The anointed here must be Solomon, or some one of David’s descendants, who pleads David and the promises made to David as a reason why his prayer should not be rejected.” And we in this age plead—
“God of our fathers, be the God
Of their succeeding race.”
God will ever be mindful of His covenant, and we shall do well to encourage ourselves in prayer by the remembrance of this.
CONCLUSION.—To build churches for the seeking of the manifestation of the Divine Presence, and for the offering of humble and reverent worship to the Divine Being, is to engage in a work of sacred significance and great importance. Churches consecrated to such purposes are blessings of incalculable worth to society; they aid the spiritual education and growth of the race towards perfection; they promote in a high degree the wellbeing of man, and they honour the Lord God.
BLESSINGS ON THE SANCTUARY
(Psa_132:8-9)
Notice two or three thoughts—
I. The Temple is here called the place of rest, or the abiding place of God. “Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest,” &c. The words mark a transition from the nomadic condition of the tribes to the compacted life of the nation, and a transfer of obligation that was suited to the change. In the free, wild life of the desert, with its perpetual migrations, the Sacred Tent might be pitched and struck like the others. But when the city was laid out for man, God would have His honoured house chiefest and costliest of all.… The Christian dispensation, although it is a dispensation of universality, and bases all its promises and sanctions upon the fact of spiritual service, has not annulled the seemly and the sacred in connection with the worship of God. It nowhere approves the idea that all places are equally sacred, or that God has ceased to visit Zion, and to dwell in its tabernacles with His manifestations of peculiar regard. If you want to know whether God can manifest His Spirit and His power in connection with the houses that are set apart for Him, you have but to think of the building of the Temple. “It seems as if God had built a Solomon on purpose that Solomon might build a house.” And then, underneath that, how all inferior forces were brought into tribute!… Has not the Lord Himself proclaimed it,—“The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob”?
II. The Temple, gorgeous as it was, was altogether incomplete and valueless without the Ark. In all ages the Ark in the Temple is its life. Still the quick heart within the man, and you will have the stately skeleton soon. Withdraw the magic vapour, and the wheels whirr no longer, and the most exquisite contrivances are mute and motionless machinery. Take the breath from the great organ’s heart, and in vain you bid it discourse its harmonies. And as the heart to the man, as the engine to the machinery, and the breath to the instrument of sound, so is the Ark to the Temple, because it is the symbol of the presence of the Lord.
There is no age that needs to be more impressed with this truth than the age in which we live. Our organisations are multiplied, &c. We are too apt to vaunt of our institutions, of our efforts, of our sacrifices, and thus damage our usefulness fatally by putting the instrument in the place of the power.
III. Look at the other blessings which are asked for, either obviously or by direct implication in the Psalm. The presence of God is the chief, the all-absorbing object of desire; but then that presence is manifested by the diffusion of itself in blessing.
1. The Ark of God’s strength in the Temple implies that God’s power is in the Temple, and He waits to exert it in the Word, in the ministers’ appeals, in the people’s prayers. God’s power is always in the Temple when God’s presence is there. Power “to make the sinner quail,” and to “sound the unbelieving heart;” power to send healing to the spirit of the wounded; power to make the selfish bountiful, &c.
2. The prayer proceeds to ask that the priests may be “clothed with righteousness,” which is, in fact, a petition for universal purity. There is no priesthood now except the priesthood of the Saviour in heaven, and the priesthood of the whole community of the faithful, who are “kings and priests unto God.” It is a prayer, therefore, not only for us who minister, but for you who hearken, that we may, all of us, be robed always, robed already, in the new linen, clean and white, in which the saints were seen in heaven. Righteousness is a word of comprehensive import, and it includes all that is alleged of it touching the purification of the soul before God.… It is, in fact, Paul’s Thessalonian supplication, embodied in a solemn litany, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly,” &c. (1Th_5:23). If we are to be a strong church, we must be a pure church.
3. The third blessing that is asked for is holy joy in God, which has its foundation in oneness with God, both in favour and feeling, and which has its outlet in the appropriate expressions of praise. This will, indeed, be a natural result of the blessings already asked, for if we take hold of God’s power, and if we reflect God’s purity, be sure we shall never lack materials for praise.
I cannot dwell, except for a moment, upon the beautiful answer which the prayer received—so prompt, so generous, so full. In every case the answer is more large than the request. The prayer is contained in the first ten verses of the Psalm; in the eleventh the answer begins. It is worth looking at.…
Mark the ineffable wealth with which He fulfils the promises He makes to His people.—W. M. Punshon, LL.D.
ENCOURAGEMENTS FOR CHURCH-BUILDERS
(Psa_132:11-18)
The Psalmist, for the encouragement of the people, recalls certain promises which were made to David. The Lord had promised him that the government should be perpetuated in his family (2Sa_7:12-16). But the promise was conditional. The great majority of the Divine promises are so. It was distinctly intimated to David that if the conditions were not fulfilled, though the promise would not be withdrawn, yet its operation would be suspended. The descendants of David failed to comply with the conditions; they violated the covenant; and the sovereignty for a long time passed away from the house of David. But that sovereignty in a higher form, on a vastly wider scale, and with more glorious significance, was resumed by “the Root and Offspring of David,” even by Jesus Christ the Lord. In Him the promises made to David have their full and splendid realisation.
Here, in this section of the Psalm, are promises which are richly fraught with encouragement for those who are engaged in the building of churches, or in any other work for the extension of the Redeemer’s kingdom. We have here a promise of—
I. The presence of God in His Church. “For the Lord hath chosen Zion,” &c. (Psa_132:13-14). (See Hom. Com. on Psa_48:1-2; and Psa_76:2.)
1. He dwells there by His own choice. “The Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it,” &c. “I have desired it.” Henstenberg translates: “He has selected it for His habitation.… I have selected it.” God dwells in the Church, not because of the excellence or worthiness of the members thereof, but because of His own good pleasure.
2. He dwells there perpetually. “This is My rest for ever.” “Shiloh,” says Perowne, “had been abandoned; for a time the Ark was at Bethel (Jdg_20:27); then at Mizpah (Jdg_21:5); afterwards, for twenty years, at Kirjath-jearim (1Sa_7:2); and then for three months in the house of Obed-Edom, before it was finally brought to its last resting-place.” The Ark and the Temple have long since passed from Zion; but this Divine assurance finds its fulfilment in the Christian Church. In the darkest days of her history His presence has not been withdrawn; nor will He ever withdraw from His Church. Here then is a most inspiring assurance for all who are interested in His Church. Here is consolation for Christians in the dark and stormy day. Here also is inspiration for the Christian worker.
II. The blessing of God in His Church.
1. His blessing as an accompaniment of her ordinances. “I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.” M. Henry interprets this as provision for both body and soul, and applies it to both “the poor of this world” and “the poor in spirit.” And Barnes says: “A strong affirmation, meaning that He would do it in every way; that every needed blessing would be imparted; that God would provide abundantly for their support.” But it seems to us to refer to spiritual provision. God by His blessing will vitalise the ordinances of the Church; He will make her services means of grace indeed to His people,—channels by which pardon shall flow to the guilty, comfort to the mourner, strength to the weak, holiness to those who long for it, &c.
2. His blessing upon her ministers. “I will also clothe her priests with salvation.” This is an assurance that the petition in Psa_132:9 should be granted. (See on that verse.) Perhaps the change of the word “righteousness” for “salvation” is meant to indicate that God will not only bless them with holiness of heart and life, but also make them instrumental in saving souls. Usefulness is a result of holiness.
3. His blessing upon her members. “And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.” This also is a promise that the petition in Psa_132:9 should be granted. (See on that verse.) M. Henry: “It was desired that the saints might shout for joy; it is promised that they shall shout aloud for joy. God gives more than we ask, and when He gives salvation He will give an abundant joy.” Here then is encouragement, &c.
III. The triumph and glory of the Head of the Church. “There will I make the horn of David to bud,” &c. (Psa_132:17-18). David is here put for the house of David. And we must look to the Christ for the complete fulfilment of these promises. The horn is the symbol of power. To “make the horn to bud” is to make it shoot forth and grow. In Christ God “raised up an horn of salvation in the house of His servant David.” He is “mighty to save.” We have here an assurance of—
1. The subjugation of His enemies. “His enemies will I clothe with shame.” God will frustrate their deepest designs, and overthrow their mightiest forces. “He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.”
2. The success and glory of His reign. “I have ordained a lamp for Mine Anointed.” (On the application of this to David, comp. 1Ki_11:36.) But the lamp is frequently used in the Scripture as an emblem of prosperity. And so we regard it here in its application to the kingdom of our Lord. We have the same idea in the last clause of the Psalm: “Upon Himself shall His crown flourish,” or blossom. The glory of the Redeemer’s crown shall never fade; amaranthine are the flowers which adorn His brow.
“O’er every foe victorious,
He on His throne shall rest;
From age to age more glorious,
All-blessing and all-blest.
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove;
His name shall stand for ever;
That name to us is—Love.”
—Montgomery.
CONCLUSION.—
1. Here is warning to the enemies of the Lord. If you persist in your opposition to Him He will clothe you with shame, and crush you by His power.
2. Here is exhortation to the enemies of the Lord. Submit yourselves to Him, ere His anger wax hot against you.
3. Here is amplest encouragement to His people, and especially to those who heartily labour in His cause. According to His promise He is ever present to enrich His Church with grace and power; and all who labour for the extension of His kingdom will find in the end their labour crowned with complete and glorious success.
THE SONG OF THE BUILDERS
(The whole Psalm)
Our Psalm has been universally and wisely applied to the Church of these Christian days, and its invocations and promises claimed as expressive of the desires and confidences of Christian people in their work for God. We are God’s building, and we are God’s builders too. The Psalm is full of strength and encouragement for us in both characters.… We may call it the Song of the Builders.… For our present purpose it will be most convenient to divide the whole into three sections, in the first of which, extending to the close of the seventh verse, the Church pleads with God the many thoughts and long toil that had laid the foundation for His house.
I. Let us gather from this portion some lessons touching preparatory work. “Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions.” The Psalmist looks upon the fair dwelling, reared at last for God, and goes back in thought to the days when the design thus happily accomplished was first conceived. It was David’s thought which was the parent of this holy and beautiful house, though Solomon was its builder; and his name springs first to the singer’s lips.… Not the toil of hand and arm which carries out, but the mind which conceives the plan is its true author. “Lord, remember David.” Look at the picture which is given of the aged king setting himself to his task. (Comp. 2Sa_7:1-2 with Psa_132:3-4 of the Psalm). He was an old man now, wearied with “all his afflictions,” &c. And he had the other excuse for repose that he had done much work, as well as suffered many changes.… But not so does a true man think.… He will put his own comfort second, God’s service first. The picture may be a rebuke to the slothfulness of us all, &c. But it should come with a special message to men and women of comparative leisure and freedom from corroding frets and consuming toils, whose lives are only too apt to be frittered away in trifles and dissolved in languid idleness, or corrupted by self-indulgence. To such the lesson from that picture of the old soldier-king is, Brace yourselves for continuous service, &c.
Notice, too, that David’s devotedness does make a plea with God. The prayer goes upon the supposition that his toil and self-sacrifice will not, cannot, be all in vain. And the prayer is answered. God does not require perfect faithfulness in us ere He blesses us with His smile; He does not need that the temple shall be all complete ere He enters in. He receives, and pardons, and loves an imperfect faith; a wandering heart He still blesses and welcomes; stained services, in which much of the leaven of earthly motives may be fermenting, and many a taint of sloth and selfishness may be found, are not therefore rejected of Him.
And consider, too, how God’s remembrance of such preparatory work is shown. David saw no result from all his toils to build the Temple. He got together the great store, but it was reserved for another to mould it into completeness, and to see the cloud of glory fill the house. But none the less was it true that God remembered David, and accepted and crowned his work. We all receive unfinished tasks from those who go before; we all transmit unfinished tasks to them who come after. Our vocation is to advance a little the dominion of God’s truth, and to be one of the long line who pass on the torch from hand to hand. “One soweth and another reapeth,” &c. You may never see the issues of your toils. If you can see them, they will generally not be worth looking at. We work for eternity. We may well wait for the scaffolding to be taken away.
II. The prayer for God’s blessing on the builders’ work (Psa_132:8-10). Picture to yourselves the moment. The Temple is finished, shining in its new beauty on its hill top. (See 2 Chronicles 5-7) The Psalmist asks first that God would dwell in the completed Temple, and that the symbol of His presence may now at last, after so many wanderings, rest there, &c.
May we not, from all this, draw needful lessons for ourselves? And first, as to the one great blessing which all builders for God should desire. The Temple may be finished. But something more is needed. Not till the Ark is in the Holiest of all, and the cloud of glory fills the house could they say, “It is finished.” The lesson is of everlasting importance. We need to guard ourselves most jealously lest we come to put the instrument in the place of the power. You may perfect your machinery, but all its nicely-fitting parts stand motionless—a dead weight; and not a spindle whirrs till the strong impulse, born of fire, rushes in.… When we have done all, we have to pray, “Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest,” &c.
That presence will surely be given, if we desire it.
And that presence is all which we need to make ourselves strong and our work effectual.
From this fundamental petition all the other clauses of the prayer flow. I can only glance hastily at them.
There is first power—“The ark of Thy strength.” They in whom God dwells will be strong.… There is next righteousness, with which the Psalmist prays that the priests may be clothed. In the new Israel all the people are priests. Righteousness is to be the robe of every Christian soul.… Thank God for that “fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness” with which Christ covers our wounded nakedness. Remember that growing purity in life and deed is the main proof that Christ’s righteousness is indeed ours. If we are to do God’s work in the world we must be good, true, righteous men.… Further, the prayer desires that gladness from God’s presence and the possession of His righteousness may burst into the shout of praise. All true religion is joyful.… Finally, the Psalmist prays that the king of Israel and his people with him may be heard and accepted when they pray. Such are his desires for his nation. What do we desire most for our brethren, and for ourselves?
III. The Divine answer, which more than fulfils the Psalmist’s desires (Psa_132:11-18). Throughout these verses there is constant allusion to the preceding petitions. The shape of the response is determined by the form of the desires. (Comp. Psa_132:2 with Psa_132:11, and Psa_132:5 with Psa_132:13). Not in us, but in Him, lies the motive for His grace, and so it can never change.
Then, notice, that each single petition is enlarged in the answer to something much greater than itself. (Comp. Psa_132:8 with Psa_132:14-15; Psa_132:9 with Psa_132:16; and Psa_132:10 with Psa_132:17-18.) Put this in its widest form, and what does it come to but that great law of His grace by which He over-answers all our poor desires, and, giving us more than we had expected, shames us out of our distrust? And the law holds for us in all our works and in all our prayers.—A. Maclaren, D.D.
ZION A TYPE OF THE CHURCH
(Psa_132:13-16)
I. God’s delight in Zion.
1. There He dispensed His ordinances.
2. There He vouchsafed His presence.
3. There he communicated His blessings.
II. God’s promises to Zion.
1. In respect to its institutions.
2. In respect to its ministers.
3. In respect to all its worshippers.
Infer—
(1.) That formalists do not really belong to the Church.
(2.) That the Church cannot be overthrown.
(3.) That Christians are bound to serve and honour God.—George Brooks.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain Psa 132:8-9
Psa 132:8-9
In the Psalm before us this prayer stands in a kind of central position: central to the need which prompted it on the one hand, and on the other hand to the bountiful answer which it received.
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I. The Temple is here spoken of as the "rest" or abiding-place of God. The original allusion is doubtless to the long wanderings of the symbol of His presence; and it marks a transition from the nomadic condition of the tribes to the compacted life of the nation, and a transfer of obligation suited to the change.
II. The Temple, gorgeous as it was, was incomplete and valueless without the ark. Unless the Lord took possession, the house was left unto the builders desolate, alienated from the purposes of its construction, a lonely and decorated folly.
III. Notice the other blessings which are directly or by obvious implication asked for in the prayer. (1) The presence of God is the chief, the all-absorbing, object of desire; but that presence implies its own diffusion in blessing. The ark of His strength in the Temple implies that those who are in communion with Him may draw upon the resources of His power. (2) The prayer then asks that the "priests may be clothed with righteousness," which is, in fact, a petition for personal purity. (3) The third blessing asked for is a holy joy in God—joy which has its foundation in the sense of oneness with God both in favour and feeling, and which has its outlet in the appropriate expressions of praise.
IV. Notice the bountiful answer to the prayer, so prompt, so generous, so full. The first ten verses of the Psalm are the prayer. In the eleventh the answer begins. The petition is, "Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest;" the answer, "This is My rest for ever:" the prayer, "Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness;" the answer, "I will also clothe her priests with salvation" which is of righteousness the flower, and crown, and perfecting: the prayer, "Let Thy saints shout for joy;" the response, "And her saints shall shout aloud for joy." And then, as if were thrown in the largess of the King, there are abundance and bounty, the blessings of the camp and of the "horn;" that is, the gifts of wisdom and power, the discomfiture of his enemies and on his head an ever-prosperous crown.
W. Morley Punshon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 385.
Psa 132:9
What did these words "priests" and "saints" mean to a Jew? Why does the Psalmist perceive such a close connection between the righteousness of the one and the joy of the other?
I. A whole book of the Pentateuch is written to tell us what the Jewish priest was and what work he did. He could appoint nothing, devise nothing. He was told what he had to do. He was called out, as every other officer of the commonwealth was called out, to be a witness of the Lord God of Israel, of Him who was revealing Himself to the nation, delivering them, governing them, feeding them, judging them. The atonement day testified that the priest was holy, just as every man in the nation was holy, because God had chosen him to be His servant, to do His work; and that he was bound to consider himself holy upon that ground, and upon no other.
II. We have learnt, in speaking of the Jewish priests, what the Jewish saints were. Were they the good men, the choice men of the land, those who stand out in such broad and startling contrast to the stiff-necked race about them? Surely they were these, but then only because they were Israelites, and believed themselves to be Israelites, and claimed the rights of Israelites.
III. The prophets trace many of the nation’s worst corruptions to the priests. They represented the holiness of the nation; if they ever began to fancy that the holiness was their own, that it belonged to them as members of a caste by hereditary right, one can fancy how soon security would take the place of vigilance, how easily they would learn to look in other men for the evils that were getting full possession of their own hearts, how gladly they would escape from the dreary routine of duties that had no meaning for them to coarse animal indulgence. The effect of such spectacles in lowering the tone of the people at large would be gradual and certain. A joyless, thankless spirit would be diffused through all hearts, visible on all countenances. Everywhere there would be a sense of death and dread of it, a glow of life scarcely anywhere. That such a state of things might not overtake his land, the Psalmist prayed, "Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness; let Thy saints shout for joy."
IV. There is the same connection as in former days between the unrighteousness of the priests and the joylessness of the saints or the Church. The prayer of the Psalmist is still the one which we have most need to offer. Throughout the history of modern Europe this truth, I think, is written in sunbeams: that the degeneracy of the priesthood is the main cause of the degeneracy of the nations; and this other: that the degeneracy of the priesthood is always connected with unbelief in the righteousness of God.
F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. vi., p. 237.
References: Psa 132:13, Psa 132:16.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 248. Psa 132:15.—J. Baldwin Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvii., p. 57.
Psalm 132
This Psalm is plainly a hymn for the consecration of the Temple. We may call it the song of the builders. In its first portion, extending to the close of the seventh verse, the Church pleads with God the many thoughts and long toils that had laid the foundation for His house.
I. Let us gather from this portion some lessons touching preparatory work. (1) Look at the picture which is given us here of the aged king setting himself to his task. He has a sense almost of shame in thinking of his own ease and comfort while so much remains to be done. The repose which he has earned and reached at last he will not take. He will put his own comfort second, God’s service—which is but the noblest name for duty—first. The picture of the text may be a rebuke to the slothfulness of us all. (2) Notice, too, that David’s devotedness does make a plea with God. The prayer goes upon the supposition that his toil and self-sacrifice will not, cannot, be all in vain. And the prayer built upon that supposition is answered. (3) Consider how God’s remembrance of such preparatory work is shown. David saw no result from all his toils to build the Temple. He got together the great store, but it was reserved for another to mould it into completeness and to see the cloud of glory fill the house. But none the less was it true that God remembered David and all his afflictions, and accepted and crowned his work. So it is with much of every man’s doings. We all receive unfinished tasks from those who go before; we all transmit unfinished tasks to them that come after. Our vocation is to advance a little the dominion of God’s truth, and to be one of the long line who pass on the torch from hand to hand.
II. Psa 132:8-10: The prayer for God’s blessing on the builders’ work. (1) Notice the one great blessing which all builders for God should desire: "Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest," for the Temple of our rearing is not completed till the ark is in its sanctuary and the cloud fills its courts. (2) From this fundamental petition all the other clauses of the prayer flow: (a) power; (b) righteousness; (c) gladness. Such are the Psalmist’s desires for his nation.
III. The final section of the Psalm contains the Divine answer, which more than fulfils the Psalmist’s desires. Each single petition is enlarged in the answer to something much greater than itself.
A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester, 2nd series, p. 259.
Reference: Psalm 132—S. Cox, The Pilgrim Psalms, p. 261.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain Zion and the King.
Zion and the King.
A song of the ascents.
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Zion and the king, and the relation between these two are the subject of the first psalm of this closing series. Zion is here the seat of two Kingdoms, a heavenly and an earthly one, which now come into an absolute agreement never again to be disturbed. The books of the Kings give us the long history of past discord. The present psalm inaugurates the new peace brought in by the Prince of peace; and founded upon the work by which He has made peace.
The work itself is not here, but the King is, and His zeal for Jehovah’s house -His dwelling-place among men, -which has found the means of accomplishment, at His own cost, of eternal purposes. It will be best to let the psalm speak for itself with regard to such things, as it does in its own perfect way.
It is not directly said to be a psalm of David; but this seems to be most naturally indicated; and the tenth verse, which is generally considered to be against this, is in fact the most decisive argument in its favor, and that just because, interpreted, as is commonly done, it creates," as Moll says, "the impression, not of a Messianic, but of an historical reference, and of having been spoken by a theocratic king. . . . The suppliant styles himself the anointed of Jehovah, yet prays for an answer ’for the sake of David thy servant.’" Typically, we shall indeed be troubled to know how to account for this king who prays for the sake of David, except David and the king are one! And then David is the petitioner also. That he speaks of himself in the third person is no difficulty, but quite according to his utterances elsewhere (2Sa 7:20; 2Sa 7:26).
1. The first section gives us the foundation of God’s covenant with Him; his own intense longing for Jehovah’s dwelling-place among men; which was, however, only the mere faint reflection of what it points to in the true "Beloved." All His trouble sprang but out of this; the zeal of God’s house was that which consumed the Blessed Sufferer Himself. This, therefore, is a plea which the Eternal cannot possibly forget.
The vow of service follows to the "Mighty One of Jacob," easily realized by us as the God of omnipotent grace. To the purposes of divine grace, in which He is glorified, and in fulfillment of which it is that His dwelling-place is found among men; the "Man Christ Jesus" absolutely devoted Himself. Here was the One who would take no rest, whom no natural weakness would divert from His one object -"a place for Jehovah: tabernacles" -the twofold sanctuary, for us by the rending of the veil made one -"for the Mighty One of Jacob."
This is indeed what Immanuel -that Name of His which is grounded in the mystery of His wondrous Person -keeps ever before us. "God with man" is what is the innermost thought of the Mediator, what mediation means. The form in which it is here expressed is, of course, Jewish; but it embodies an infinite blessing, which it takes the full Christian gospel and the Book of Revelation together to bring out as we know it now. Eternity alone will give to us its priceless value.
2. Israel’s estrangement from God is now brought before us: a fact of history with a prophetic significance. The ark was the essential feature of the tabernacle. It was the ark of the covenant, -the throne of Jehovah in Israel, upon the mercy-seat of which, once every year, the blood of atonement was sprinkled, in order that the sanctuary might be able to abide in the midst of Israel. When the ark, therefore, went into captivity in the Philistines, land, "Ichabod" was written upon the people. The link between God and the people had ceased to be by the priesthood. God indeed maintained one by the prophet He had raised up for the emergency; but this did not restore the priesthood, nor therefore the ark: it was a sign; rather, of its being in abeyance. And thus, though it speedily returned from among the Philistines, it did not return to its former place in Israel; and David himself speaks of it as not sought unto, all the days of Saul (1Ch 13:3). The words of the psalm here show how far it had dropped out of Israel’s thoughts. "We heard of it at Ephratah;* we found it" -where? "in the fields of the wood." The last word is "Jaar," and there is no need for doubt that it refers to Kirjath Jearim; the "city of the woods." But this style of speech clearly emphasizes it as a place of obscurity and retirement. The city has disappeared, as it were, from view, and only the "woods" are left.
{* Ephratah seems to be certainly not Bethlehem, -which would answer neither to the conditions nor the history, -but the district in which Kirjath Jearim was situated, Caleb-ephratah (1Ch 2:24), named from Caleb’s wife Ephratah,whose son Shobal was the "father of Kirjath-jearim" (ver. 50). This was the view of Delitzsch and Hitzig.}
But now the call to return is heard: "let us go unto His tabernacles; let us worship at His footstool." The abrupt, impulsive character of the address is quite in keeping. The heart is now awake, and realizing its ungrateful neglect of Him who is thus in grace come down to man.
3. Now the house is got ready for its divine Inhabitant. He is besought to come in; and after all changes to find here his rest: "Arise, Jehovah, into Thy resting-place, Thou and the ark of Thy strength." Here is His throne, and the priestly service must be connected with it, if it is to be a throne of grace. The priesthood of the past failed through the iniquity which characterized it: now may Jehovah provide Himself priests that shall be clothed with righteousness; and let pious ones, instead of wailing "Ichabod," shout for joy. The plea with which the psalm began is again urged: "For thy servant David’s sake, turn not away the face of Thine Anointed."
The plea is, I think, here a double one, and complete in its two members. Christ in His Person and work are represented in "David" and Jehovah’s "Anointed." But instead of the actual work being named, it is rather His own appointment to it and the testimony given of His delight in that appointment, that Jehovah is besought to remember. He had made no mistake. It was the Christ, His Christ, who invited Him to enter into the house made ready for Him; in the fulfillment of His own purposes of unfailing grace.
4. Jehovah’s answer commences in the fourth section; but here we are called to distinguish, as connected with the typical character of the announcement, that which was but the type and therefore imperfect and transient, from that which belonged to this eternal purpose. We see in the end of Samuel (2Sa 23:5, notes) how David there would have us distinguish. Here there is the same separation: the fourth section gives us the conditional promise, in connection; however, with that which is not so; while the fifth section speaks only of the unconditional.
The unconditional purpose is first of all shown as the basis of the conditional. But here David is, however, simply the historical person: "Jehovah hath sworn unto David in truth; He will not turn from it: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." Here, plainly, is something more than Solomon. David is to have a throne upon which a Son of his shall sit unchangingly. Christ is not named, but can alone be this "Son of David," -not David, but his Son.
In contrast with this we have then the conditional promise: "If thy children keep My covenant, and My testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for aye." Here is what explains the long history of failure. The promise, like that as to Abraham’s seed, has its two different -and in some sense contrasted -applications. The fulfillment seems fitful and uncertain until the eye rests on Christ; and then, through Him at last, even that on the lower plane is finally secured.
5. But then we pass from that which is conditional to sovereign purpose; and here, though the fulfillment may be delayed, there is nothing but absolute assurance. We can see, too, that it is the real and full answer to the prayer of the first part of the psalm. In this again Christ is the antitypical David, and the blessing is eternal.
Again we see that God’s everlasting purpose alone explains all the rest: —
"For Jehovah hath chosen Zion: He hath desired it for a habitation for Himself. This is My resting-place for aye: here will I dwell, for I have desired it." Here we see, indeed, how God rests in His love, -because His heart is satisfied.
Here He pours out His heart, therefore: "I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy ones with bread." While grace more than answers the desire for its tender ministrations: "I will also clothe her priests with salvation," -a security greater than that of any personal righteousness of man; "and her pious ones" -not holy ones, as separate from evil, but godly rather, as with heart for God -"shall shout" -aye, shall shout aloud for joy."
And here, in the everlasting city, the horn of David’s power shall bud forth at last, without any check or intermittence. "I will set in order a lamp for Mine Anointed." Now there is final triumph: "His enemies will I clothe with shame; but upon Himself shall His crown flourish."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain This is the most difficult of the Pilgrim Songs.…
This is the most difficult of the Pilgrim Songs. According to accepted literary criticism it must be a post-exilic Ps. The Temple worship has been restored. The days of David are in the distant past. The circumstances of the time are such that God's promise to David of a perpetual dynasty is recalled as a ground of hope. Accordingly we must believe that the writer either incorporated a fragment from an earlier period, Psa_132:6-10, or represented Israel speaking, dramatically describing three periods, (1) Psa_132:6-7, the time of David; (2) 8, 9, the time of Solomon; (3) 10, the writer's own age. In any case, the Ps. is one of great charm and delicacy, echoing and re-echoing the promise that Jehovah hath chosen Zion for His habitation.
1. 'Lord, remember unto David all his afflictions' (cp. 1Ch_22:14), i.e. for good—to do him good in consequence: cp. Psa_137:7. David] perhaps, here, 'the house of David,' or 'the representative of David.'
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3-5. David's vow to find a permanent home for the ark: cp. 2Sa_7:2.
6. We heard of it at] i.e. the people heard the ark was at Ephratah, perhaps the district round Kirjath-jearim, where the ark stayed till a place was prepared for it in Mt. Zion: cp. 1Ch_13:5. Fields of the wood] field of Jaar,' i.e. Kirjath-jearim, shortened for the sake of rhythm.
8-10. These vv. are found in 2Ch_6:41-42, and undoubtedly refer to the dedication of the Temple by Solomon.
8. Ark of thy strength] the symbolical centre of Jehovah's power in Israel. The ark is mentioned only here in the Psalter. Unless, as suggested above, the whole passage is quoted from the very late book of Chronicles, it is difficult to account for its presence in this Ps.
9. Thy saints] God's chosen people.
10. Turn not away the face] owing to the rejection of his prayer. Thine anointed] means the king.
11, 12. Cp. 1Ki_8:25. In Psa_132:11-18 we may trace the divine answer to the prayers of Psa_132:8-10.
13. This is the keynote of the Ps.
14. See Psa_68:16.
15. A Messianic promise against famine, very welcome in such a country as Palestine.
16. Salvation] here, 'health,' 'prosperity.'
17. The horn] which is generally a symbol of strength, is in Daniel the symbol of a king.
To bud] sprout: see Jer_23:5; Jer_33:15; Zec_3:8, where the 'branch' or 'sprout' denotes the Messianic King: see also Luk_1:69. Ordained] EM 'prepared.' A lamp] symbol of undying prosperity in a house: cp. 1Ki_11:36; Pro_20:20.
18. Flourish] i.e. sparkle.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain A Song of degrees
A Song of degrees
See title note; (See Scofield "Psa 120:1").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Prayer for the House of God and the House…
Prayer for the House of God and the House of David.
A song of degrees, showing that the mercies of God, so richly promised to David, 2Sa 7:12-29, would find their real fulfilment in the Messiah, the blessings of the Gospel thereby being dispensed to all believers.
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v. 1. Lord, remember David and all his afflictions, the troubles, anxieties, and vexations which attended his efforts for the welfare of the Church;
v. 2. how he sware unto the Lord and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, Cf Gen 49:24:
v. 3. Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed, himself enjoying good fortune and taking his ease;
v. 4. I will not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to mine eyelids, denying himself all rest,
v. 5. until I find out a place for the Lord, a permanent sanctuary, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob, that is, a place where God might dwell in the midst of Israel. The historical reference is the following: The Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant, 1Sa 4:17, but had been glad to get rid of it again. Since the time of Samuel it had been in the house of Abinadab at Kirjath-jearim, 1Sa 7:1. During the time of Saul it had not been missed, but David felt differently about it. He wanted to provide a permanent resting-place for the ark, a sanctuary for all Israel. He erected a tabernacle on Mount Zion and brought the Ark of the Covenant to this tabernacle, 2 Samuel 6. But when he proposed to build a Temple to Jehovah he was told that this boon would not be granted him, but that his son would be given permission to erect the Temple. The psalmist now continues in the name of the congregation:
v. 6. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah, that is, at Bethlehem, where David had grown up; we found it in the fields of the wood, at Kirjath-jearim, for there the ark had been stored all these years, until David took it up to the capital.
v. 7. We will go into His tabernacles, to the Sanctuary, or Temple, now completed; we will worship at His footstool, that is, facing the place where the Ark of the Covenant was resting, since on its lid the Lord revealed Himself to His servants, Exo 25:22; Num 7:89. Their summons to worship is now seconded by the cry of Moses, Num 10:35:
v. 8. Arise, O Lord. into Thy rest, to occupy the finished Temple as His Sanctuary, Thou and the ark of Thy strength, as the central object of His worship.
v. 9. Let Thy priests, who were ordinarily clothed in white linen, to typify the purity which should characterize their office, be clothed with righteousness, that imputed to them by virtue of their faith in the Messiah; and let Thy saints shout for joy, singing hymns of praise to the Lord for the blessings of grace imparted to them through the work of the priests.
v. 10. For Thy servant David’s sake, who was the servant of the Lord, to whom the Lord had pledged the Messianic promise, 2Sa 7:12-16, turn not away the face of Thine anointed, by continuing the house and throne of David till the coming of the great Son of David.
v. 11. The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David, in that same great Messianic prophecy; He will not turn from it, since faithfulness and truth are His attributes: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.
v. 12. If thy children will keep My covenant and My testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne forevermore, the culmination of his dynasty coming in Jesus, the Messiah, David’s Son and David’s Lord. Cf 2Sa 7:12-16; Psa 89:3-5; Act 2:30. With this Messianic promise is connected the special mercy whereby the Lord had selected Jerusalem as His Sanctuary.
v. 13. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation, for the prosperity of the kingdom was closely connected with that of the Church, the capital and the Sanctuary therefore being in the same city.
v. 14. This is My rest forever, Jerusalem the Lord’s permanent Sanctuary, not like Shiloh, which He had rejected; here will I dwell, for I have desired it. From this Sanctuary the Lord dispenses His blessings,
v. 15. I will abundantly bless her provision, by supplying her temporal needs in rich measure; I will satisfy her poor with bread. This may refer also to spiritual blessings, as the next verse does with express words,
v. 16. I will also clothe her priests with salvation, not only imputing it to them, but also making them instruments and bearers of the message of redemption, and her saints, to whom the same message of salvation would be communicated, shall shout aloud for joy, in being assured of their redemption.
v. 17. There will I make the horn of David, symbol of aggressive power, to bud, thus enlarging his power; I have ordained a lamp for Mine anointed, David himself being the light of Israel, 2Sa 21:17.
v. 18. His enemies will I clothe with shame, heap disgrace upon them; but upon himself shall his crown flourish, for the Son of David, the Messiah, will have an eternal kingdom, Luk 1:32-33, This is truly also a New Testament psalm, and faith may now freely take the righteousness; and salvation obtained through the work of the Messiah, Rom 10:10-13, for the King of Grace is ever mindful of His own.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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song of ascents
Possible meanings are 1) "song people sang while going up to Jerusalem for a celebration" or 2) "song people sang while going up the steps into the temple" or 3) "song whose words are like steps." See how you translated this in Psalms 120:1
for David's sake
"because of what happened to David"
call to mind
"remember" or "think about"
the Mighty One of Jacob
This refers to God.
translationWords
Yahweh
David
call
mind
afflicted
oath
vow
might
Jacob
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Ps 132 This psalm celebrates the Lord’s faithfulness to…
Ps 132 This psalm celebrates the Lord’s faithfulness to David. When David wanted to bring the Ark into Jerusalem (132:1-5), the Lord granted the request and made Jerusalem his earthly home (132:6-10). The choice of Jerusalem marked God’s election of David’s line (132:11-13), of Zion (132:14-17), and of the priesthood (132:9, 16).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.