Series Title: Going Up with the Psalms of Ascent (chapter 25)
These edited transcripts are taken from Dwight's most loved audio series, Highways in Their Hearts. Click here to see the downloadable audio version in our online store.
Now that we've examined the historical setting of Psalm 132 let's unpack the richness of this psalm verse by verse.
Remember, O LORD, in David's favor, all the hardships he endured, how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob (1-2)
The sages of Israel observe that not many vows are mentioned in the Bible and with good reason. You should be very reluctant to vow to God because it is a matter He takes seriously. Be hesitant to make one, but once you have done so, they say, be eager and go to every length necessary (even if it costs your life) to fulfill your vow—the very thing David is willing to do.
"I will not enter my house or get into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob." (3-5)
An ancient Jewish commentary says the title Mighty One of Jacob is used here because it connects to the first vow in the Bible.
Jacob made it at Bethel when he dreamt of a staircase ascending and descending from heaven. There he made a vow to the LORD: If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you." (Gen 28:20-22)
Jacob is the first vow maker, and in Psalm 132, David references the Mighty God of Jacob, the One who received the first vow. Notice David's passion for the things of God. He cannot be at peace or comfortable until he has made every effort to pursue God's purposes in his life.
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar. "Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool!" Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy. For the sake of your servant David, do not turn away the face of your anointed one. (6-10)
The text changes here from the first person to the third person plural as if a choir is singing amid a liturgical procession—perhaps on the occasion of King Solomon's enthronement and placing the ark in the temple he constructed. The psalm functions as a reenactment of the original events, inviting worshippers to join in the liturgical procession of bringing the ark into the holy temple.
How King David acted on his vow is exemplary.
The prophet Nathan indicated that it was not God's will that David build God a house but rather that his son would. In Psalm 131, David said, in effect, I don't take on matters too great for me; I know the boundaries of my domain, what is my responsibility and what is not.
David does not react negatively to God's message through the prophet, which he would have if he wanted the glory of building the house for the LORD. Instead, he humbly engages in every act of preparation necessary so that when Solomon is ready, the temple can be built according to God's specifications.
David consecrated the site of the future temple, procured the means and materials for its construction, arranged for the future temple service, inspired and excited the people, and gave his son the model to build the temple. In so doing, he imposed on himself several hardships alluded to in Psalm 132:1.
Let's pause here to reflect again on the beauty of reciprocity highlighted in this psalm. In verses 2-9, David makes a vow to God, and in verses 10-18, God makes a vow to David.
Here is what I mean. The temple and the ark within it served as the point of mediation between God and his people. The priests who served in that temple became the mouthpiece for the LORD. So God would anoint them by His Spirit, and they would prophetically speak on His behalf, giving His response to petitions that were made at the temple. I understand verses 10-18 as a Spirit-inspired prophecy given in response to the petition of the preceding verses.
The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: "One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne." (11-12)
The LORD assures them he will not take back His promise. But notice carefully that His unconditional covenant has a conditional aspect. The unbroken lineage of David's sons who sit on the throne will only happen if they are obedient. But as we know from history, they were not (even Solomon was not). That line was broken, but it was not severed because the unconditional part of God's covenant with David is: "Your throne will endure forever."
Human unfaithfulness does not annul God's faithfulness.
Though we are fickle, He remains faithful. If Yahweh makes a vow (an oath, a pledge), you can hold Him to it; God always keeps His Word. What is our confidence that this is so? It is based entirely on His holy character. He is a God of grace (hesed), which means steadfast love and covenant faithfulness.
Some ten centuries later, a son of David was born who indeed established the Davidic throne. And what was his message? Filled with the Holy Spirit, he announced, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15). The one who called himself the Son of Man established, in the words of Daniel, a kingdom which will endure forever (Dan 2:44). And it endures to this day over 2000 years later!
For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. (13-14)
The confidence of the answer in verses 11 and 12 is based on verses 13 and 14. The Israelites did not set up a committee and say: "LORD, we think Zion should be your dwelling place because it is a lovely city, and the mountain view here in summertime is great." By His mercy and grace, the Lord God Almighty chose Zion. That is why the throne will continue, why the line of David will reign. His promises are the foundation of our hope.
I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread. Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy. There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. (15-17)
The phrase I will bless takes us back to the Abrahamic promise, even back to the original blessing in the Garden of Eden. The presence of the Holy One amidst His people is the source of every blessing.
The word salvation parallels the word righteousness in verse 9 and continues to reveal the intent of His desire to dwell with.
The word "horn" is a symbol of strength and might, and it refers to the king. But more than that, ancient interpreters understood it as a reference to the Messiah. The 15th benediction of the Jewish prayer liturgy reads: "Make the branch of thy servant David to shoot forth speedily, and let his horn rise high by virtue of thy salvation."
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Zechariah says: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (Luke 1:67-68). So that we will get the connection, Zechariah makes it for us: to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant (72).
His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on him his crown will shine! (Psalm 132:18)
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This study is from a professionally produced transcription of the audio recording. It was edited for readability by the team at JC Studies.
Dwight A. Pryor (1945-2011) was a gifted Bible teacher of exceptional clarity and depth who earned the friendship and admiration of both Christian and Jewish scholars—in the United States and Israel—as well as the respect and appreciation of followers of Jesus around the world. His expertise in the language, literature, and culture of Israel during the life and time of Jesus and the early church yield insights that nourish every area of faith and practice.
Dwight founded JC Studies in 1984 to edify the people of God. Click here to explore over fifty of his audio and video seminars.
Series Title: Going Up with the Psalms of Ascent (chapter 24)
These edited transcripts are taken from Dwight's most loved audio series, Highways in Their Hearts. Click here to see the downloadable audio version in our online store.
At the beginning of this study, I offered Psalm 84:5 as a guiding image for our journey together: Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. My premise is this, if we wish to travel more intentionally into God's presence and power, we must set a highway toward spiritual maturity in our hearts. This can be symbolized by a journey to Jerusalem, the place of His dwelling and presence.
We seek ancient wisdom on walking with the living God from this purposeful grouping of Psalms 120-134; spiritual lessons about growing up in our holy faith. In a word, we desire to become more Christ-like.
We just finished reading Psalm 131, the shortest of the collection, which has one of the most challenging lessons: humility. When we pass that threshold of learning to humble ourselves, God reorganizes our thinking by drawing us into His inner chamber and revealing to us His priorities and, conversely, what are to be our preoccupations.
Now we come to Psalm 132, the longest of the Psalms of Ascent, strategically placed near the climactic end of our pilgrimage. I want to explore it from the perspective of David's passion, the fire burning in his heart for his God. Before diving into some useful applications, let's place this psalm in its wonderfully rich historical context so that we can more fully appreciate what is going on.
Structurally, this psalm consists of two movements: first, David's pledge, followed by Yahweh's promise. Said another way, first comes the psalmist's petition, followed by the priest's prophetic response.
Verses 1-5 focus on David's passion for God's presence among His people embodied in the Ark of the Covenant (Ark of YHWH-Josh 4:5). The Ark is a chest made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with cherubim on each side. It was designed according to the LORD's specifications and constructed under the anointing of the Holy Spirit by Bezalel. The Ark was the place (the point) of contact between the infinite God and His finite people.
The word dwelling—used twice in Psalm 132—is crucial for understanding the Hebrew Scriptures.
Dwelling is used as a verb to translate the Hebrew word shakhan. God's manifest presence, shekhinah, comes from shakhan. By divine design, the Tabernacle (Mishkan), which holds the Ark, is the medium of exchange between the holy God and His earthly people. It represents the goal of our salvation: Let them make me a sanctuary so that I may dwell in their midst (Ex 25:8).
Shekhinah is the dwelling presence of the Holy God; it is the tangible effulgence of the ineffable that comes down and hovers over the Holy Ark between the cherubim. The tent of meeting (the tabernacle) holding the Ark was where the Shekinah most vividly manifested itself, where God's presence was tangible, clear, and powerful.
This Ark, the holiest and most sacred of all objects, was captured by the Philistines in a battle with Israel. In 1 Samuel 4-5, the story is told of how, under the guidance of the priest Eli, the Israelites went out against the Philistines at Ebenezer and were routed. The elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the Ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies."
Again, the Israelites go out to battle, and again, they are defeated, but this time, the Ark is captured by the Philistines. A messenger returns to the priest with this report:
"Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the Ark of God has been captured." As soon as he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
After the Philistines suffered a series of unexplainable negative events for about seven months, they devised a plan to see if the God of Israel was doing these things to them. They placed the Ark upon a cart pulled by two cows with nursing calves. Typically, such cows would not want to leave their calves, but under God's influence, they went directly to Bethshemesh and returned the Ark to Israel.
Saul became king, and the Ark dwelled at Kiryat Je'arim for some twenty years—referred to in Psalm 132 as Ja'ar. David, under God's anointing and appointment, succeeded Saul as king. One of his top priorities was to bring the Ark of the Covenant from Kiryat Je'arim to the holy city of Jerusalem. Why? Because he grasped what we have been talking about. He desired the Ark to rest in its proper place, the place of God's choosing.
David wanted what God wanted, to dwell in the midst of His people.
As the Ark enters the city, David leads the celebration. Showing no concern for his position or prestige, he humbles himself in the sight of the people by dancing before the LORD with all his might. David's heart for the divine will pleases God. I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will (Acts 13:22).
David's passion is further expressed in 2 Samuel 7 as he reflects, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells in a tent. Psalm 132 expounds upon this: I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.
The prophet Nathan then relates God's striking response to David: The LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house (2 Sam 7:11). The LORD God covenants Himself with David: Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me (2 Sam 7:16). The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: "One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne" (Ps 132:11).
This divine promise would inspire Israel's prophetic imagination for centuries giving rise to messianic expectations. Its glorious fullness is hinted at in the opening lines of Matthew's inspired Gospel, The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David [...].
Want to go deeper? Click here to explore audio seminars by Dwight A. Pryor.
Interested in taking one of our dynamic online courses? Click here.
This study is from a professionally produced transcription of the audio recording. It was edited for readability by the team at JC Studies.
Dwight A. Pryor (1945-2011) was a gifted Bible teacher of exceptional clarity and depth who earned the friendship and admiration of both Christian and Jewish scholars—in the United States and Israel—as well as the respect and appreciation of followers of Jesus around the world. His expertise in the language, literature, and culture of Israel during the life and time of Jesus and the early church yield insights that nourish every area of faith and practice.
Dwight founded JC Studies in 1984 to edify the people of God. Click here to explore over fifty of his audio and video seminars.
All four canonical Gospels describe Jesus' dramatic arrival in Jerusalem about five days before Passover in the year of his crucifixion and resurrection (Jn 12:1-12). As Jesus rode from Bethphage on a donkey, a crowd of pilgrims spread cloaks and leafy branches on the road and hailed his coming with joyful shouts. This event, traditionally known as the Triumphal Entry, is commemorated by Christians each year on Palm Sunday.
Each Gospel account contributes to our understanding of what happened.
From John we learn that Jesus had been in Bethany, two miles from Jerusalem, visiting his friends Mary and Martha. There he raised their brother Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, back to life (Jn 11). News of this miracle spread quickly, attracting people who wanted to see Jesus and Lazarus (Jn 12:17-18).
Mark 11:1-11 and Luke 19:28-35 explain that when Jesus began the walk from Bethany to Jerusalem, he sent two disciples to Bethphage, where they would find a young colt that had never been ridden. They were to untie the colt and bring it to Jesus. Matthew 21:1-7 adds the information that the colt was a donkey, that it would be with its mother, and that the disciples were to bring both animals. All three Synoptic Gospels agree that Jesus sat on the colt after his disciples draped it with cloaks. (1)
Seeing Jesus on the colt may have reminded onlookers of the reference to a donkey and a donkey's colt in Genesis 49:11, or to Solomon's riding King David's mule when he was anointed king (1 Ki 1:38-40). More importantly, as Matthew 21:5 and John 12:15 point out, Jesus' actions evoked the messianic prophecy of Zechariah 9:9: "Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
The symbolism of the donkey was not lost on the crowd.
They waved and scattered leafy branches, and they expressed their messianic hopes by shouting words from Psalm 118:25-26: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" (Mk 11:9-10)
These are actions associated with the Feast of Tabernacles, and more broadly with hailing a conquering ruler. Judas Maccabeus received similar acclamation in 164 BC when his victories led to the rededication of the Temple (2 Macc 10:6-8). So did Judas' brother Simon when he expelled the Syrian forces from the Akra citadel in 141 BC (1 Macc 13:49-52).
This rejoicing may have continued for some time. In those days, whenever someone in a group of Jews shouted, "Blessed is he who comes," it was customary for the others to automatically add, "in the name of the Lord!" Scholar David Instone-Brewer has suggested that children in the crowd may have enjoyed starting this cheer repeatedly in order to get others to respond in the usual way. (Matthew 21:15 mentions children cheering in the Temple area the next day.) (2)
Not everyone in the crowd was comfortable with the celebration.
Some Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke his disciples. He responded, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out" (Lk 19:40). His reference to stones reminds us of some previous verses in Psalm 118: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes" (vv 22-23).
After coming to Jerusalem, Jesus visited the Temple area before returning to Bethany that night (Mk 11:11) Supporters of Jesus may have been disappointed that he made no move to gather troops or call for the overthrow of Roman rule. However, we should not conclude, as some have, that the crowd cheering Jesus during the Triumphal Entry became the crowd that called for his crucifixion a few days later. This second crowd was likely composed of an entirely different group of people-e.g., Temple authorities who saw Jesus as a threat to their status quo.
At first, Jesus' disciples did not comprehend the full meaning of the Triumphal entry, but their understanding grew in light of subsequent events (Jn 12:16). This fuller understanding is reflected in the Gospel accounts. In riding a donkey's colt that had never had a rider, Jesus demonstrated his authority over creation and hinted at the coming of the "peaceable kingdom" described in Isaiah 11:6-9.
His actions pointed to the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9-11, which pictures the Messiah as one who brings salvation and peace to the nations and whose rule will extend "to the ends of the earth." Significantly, God declares in Zechariah 9:11, "Because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free ...." This prophecy reminds us of Jesus' intention to lay down his life for the sins of mankind on this trip to Jerusalem (Lk 9:22, 51; Mt 26:28).
Both Matthew and John link Zechariah 9:9 with prophecies from Isaiah. Matthew 21:5 connects the Zechariah passage with Isaiah 62:11: "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your salvation comes...'" John 12:15 connects the passage with Isaiah 40:9: "...Fear not; say to the cities of Judah, `Behold your God!'" These verses from Isaiah complement Zechariah 9, speaking of the Messiah's deity and mission.
All four Gospels portray Jesus as the promised Messiah. They also emphasize Jesus' detailed foreknowledge and control over the course of events.
One has the sense that he was orchestrating everything that happened during Passion Week, from the Triumphal Entry to his arrest and crucifixion. All of these things were carried out according to a predetermined plan. When we, like Jesus' first disciples, find life hard to comprehend, we can take comfort in the fact he is in charge as that plan continues to unfold according to the divine will.
(1) When Matthew 21:7 says that Jesus "sat on them," it means that he sat on the cloaks spread on the colt, not on both animals.
(2) See The Jesus Scandals, Monarch Books, 2012, pp 43-48.
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