Israel had been restored from exile. The Temple had been rebuilt. Jehovah had returned to dwell in Zion according to His promise. But was His other promise of an eternal dominion to the house of David to be annulled? Was David’s zeal in establishing the worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem to be forgotten? Were the prayers and hopes of that memorable occasion to be doomed to final disappointment? Surely it could not be. Such seem to have been the circumstances under which this Psalm was written, and the thoughts to which it was designed to give expression. It is a prayer of the congregation, thrown with a singular boldness of poetic imagination into a vividly dramatic form. It consists of two main divisions, (i) the prayer of the congregation that Jehovah will remember David, (1) reciting his oath, and (2) describing the cooperation of the people with him; and (ii) the answer to the prayer.

i. (1) The congregation prays Jehovah to remember the pains which David took to prepare Him a sanctuary in Zion (Psalm 132:1-2); and recites his resolution in the words which he might be supposed to have used on the occasion (Psalm 132:3-5).

(2) David’s people are introduced as speakers, describing the enthusiasm with which they joined in his plan for bringing the Ark to Zion (Psalm 132:6-7), and praying that Jehovah will take possession of His sanctuary, and bless people, priests, and the royal house (Psalm 132:8-10).

ii. The answer to the congregation’s prayer is a recital of Jehovah’s oath to David (Psalm 132:11-12). That oath is grounded on Jehovah’s choice of Zion as His earthly abode (Psalm 132:13). He declares His purpose to bless her people and her priests, and to restore the fortunes of the house of David (Psalm 132:14-18).

The abruptness of the transitions has led some commentators to suggest that fragments of an older poem are incorporated in the Psalm; but the homogeneousness of its style militates against such a theory, and if once the dramatic principle of the Psalm, expressing ideas not by narrative but by the direct speech of those concerned, is grasped, the difficulties disappear.

The Psalm then is an encouragement to Israel of the Restoration to believe that Jehovah will not fail to perform His promises to the house of David. Those promises rested upon the choice of Zion as Jehovah’s earthly abode. The Restoration had proved that Jehovah had not abandoned Jerusalem; it was a pledge that He would not leave His promise to David unfulfilled. The re-establishment of the worship which David founded in Jerusalem would be incomplete without the fulfilment of those promises. The Psalm is then a truly Messianic Psalm. It looks forward boldly to that fulfilment of the promises to David which was realised in Christ, and reaffirms the hope of Israel at a time when nothing but the strongest faith in the immutability of a Divine promise could have ventured to do so. Such an expression of Messianic hopes was most natural for the pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for the Feasts, and recalling all the memories connected with the “city of David.”

To what period of the post-exilic period the Psalm belongs is doubtful. It is certainly earlier than Chronicles, for the Chronicler’s addition to Solomon’s prayer (2 Chronicles 6:40-42) is a free reproduction of Psalm 130:2, Psalm 132:8-9; Psalm 132:16; Psalm 132:10 b, 1, with a reminiscence of Isaiah 55:3. Some commentators have referred it to the age of Zerubbabel, and have even supposed that he is referred to in Psalm 132:10. But more probably it belongs, like most of the Psalms of Ascent, to the age of Nehemiah. It is at any rate noteworthy how strongly men’s thoughts turned back to David as the originator of the Temple ritual and worship, at the time when the services of the Temple were being reorganised by Nehemiah. See Nehemiah 12:24; Nehemiah 12:36; Nehemiah 12:45-46.

Some have thought that the language of the Psalm implies the existence of the monarchy, and that it may have been written in the time of David or Solomon, for the Translation of the Ark or the Dedication of the Temple. But the prayer that David should be ‘remembered’ implies that his work lay in a distant past; and the language of the Psalm points rather to a time when the great promises to David seemed to have been forgotten. In many respects it resembles Psalms 89, with which it should be carefully compared; but while the historical background of Psalms 89 is evidently the Exile, without one ray of hope in the immediate present, Psalms 132 breathes a spirit of hopefulness which presumes the Restoration and the re-establishment of the Temple worship.

Psalms 132 differs from the other Psalms of Ascent not only in length, but in rhythm. We miss the rhetorical repetition and the elegiac measure which mark so many of them. On the other hand the introduction of different speakers, though more boldly employed here, is found in 124, 129.

As a Messianic Psalm it is fitly appointed for use on Christmas Day.

1. Lord, remember David &c.] A possible rendering (cp. Psalm 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. 1 Chronicles 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. Exodus 32:13; Deuteronomy 9:27; Leviticus 26:42; Leviticus 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. Micah 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 (Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 13:14; Nehemiah 13:22; Nehemiah 13:31).

1–5. A prayer that Jehovah will remember David’s zeal in bringing the Ark to Jerusalem.

2. How he sware] Or, Who sware: a poetical mode of expressing the earnestness of his resolution. There is no mention of any oath or vow in the historical narrative. The fact of the translation of the Ark to Zion is recorded in 2 Samuel 6, David’s desire to build a Temple in 2 Samuel 7.

the Mighty One of Jacob] Cp. Psalm 132:5. This title, derived from Genesis 49:24, is a reminder that it was to Jehovah that David owed his victories (2 Samuel 5:12; 2 Samuel 7:1). It is used in Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 60:16; cp. Isaiah 1:24.

3. the tabernacle of my house … my bed] Lit. the tent of my house … the couch of my bed.

3–5. David’s oath not to rest till he had found a resting-place for the Ark after all its wanderings in form of course is poetical hyperbole.

4. A proverbial expression. Cp. Proverbs 6:4. The addition in P.B.V. “I will not suffer mine eyes to sleep, nor mine eyelids to slumber, neither the temples of my head to take any rest” comes through the Vulg. from the LXX, where it is a second rendering of the preceding words, added from the version of Theodotion.

5. a place] Cp. 1 Chronicles 15:1.

a habitation &c.] A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob, where His presence might ‘dwell’ among His people (Exodus 25:8-9). The word for dwelling place, or tabernacle, is in the ‘amplificative’ plural, expressing the dignity of the house of Jehovah. Cp. Psalm 43:3; Psalm 84:1.

6. The abruptness of the transition is at first sight perplexing; but instead of giving a prosaic account of the transportation of the Ark to Zion, the Psalmist introduces the people of David’s time as speakers, proclaiming the eagerness and joy with which they welcomed David’s proposal, and their resolve to worship Jehovah in His new sanctuary. The removal of the Ark was a national movement. See 2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Samuel 6:15; 1 Chronicles 13:1 ff; 1 Chronicles 15:28.

It may best be explained to mean the Ark, as the great object which the poet has in mind, though it is not actually mentioned till Psalm 132:8. It might mean the tidings or the plan, but this sense does not suit the verb found, nor is it easy to connect it with the designations of place.

But what is meant by we heard of it in Ephrathah, we found it in the fields of the forest? (1) Elsewhere Ephrathah is a name for Bethlehem (Genesis 35:16; Genesis 35:19; Genesis 48:7; Ruth 4:11 : cp. Micah 5:2; 1 Samuel 17:12). But the Ark never had any connexion with Bethlehem. To refer we to David, and to explain, ‘I heard of it while I was still in my home in Bethlehem,’ is forced, and leaves the transition from the sing. in Psalm 132:3-5 to the plural unexplained. (2) It has been thought that Ephrathah may mean Ephraim, as Ephrathite means Ephraimite (1 Samuel 1:1), and that the reference is to the sojourn of the Ark at Shiloh. ‘We heard that the Ark was in Shiloh in the days of old, but when we sought it, it was no longer there, but in an obscure refuge in the fields of the forest.’ (3) Delitzsch ingeniously argues that Ephrathah was a name for the district in which Kiriath-jearim was situated. The firstborn son of Caleb’s wife Ephrath was Hur (1 Chronicles 2:19), who is called ‘the father’ of Bethlehem (1 Chronicles 4:4). Hur’s son Shobal was ‘the father’ of Kiriath-jearim, and his son Salma the ‘father’ of Bethlehem (1 Chronicles 2:50-51). May not the district of Kiriath-jearim have been called Ephrathah, as well as that of Bethlehem? This is perhaps the best explanation; for there can be little doubt that the fields of the forest (jaar) mean the neighbourhood of Kiriath-jearim, ‘the city of forests,’ where the Ark had rested for many years in the house of Abinadab (1 Samuel 7:1-2), and still was, when David resolved to remove it to Zion (1 Chronicles 13:5-6). It should be noticed that the narrative in 1 Samuel 7:1 ff. implies that the Ark was not actually in the town, but in its neighbourhood.

The suggestion that Ephrathah means the fertile plains, and the fields of the forest the uncultivated jungle, and that the meaning is, ‘the news of David’s plan spread through field and forest,’ i.e. all over the country, is far-fetched and improbable.

6–10. The enthusiasm of Israel at the establishment of the sanctuary in Jerusalem (6, 7); their prayer that Jehovah will deign to occupy it, and will bless priests, people, and king (8–10).

7. Let us go into his dwelling place,

Let us worship at the footstool of his feet.

This is the mutual exhortation of the Israelites to come and worship in the ‘dwelling place’ (Psalm 132:5) which David had resolved to prepare, before the Ark. Jehovah’s footstool may mean His sanctuary, as in Psalm 99:5; but here more probably, as in 1 Chronicles 28:2, the Ark is meant. As He is enthroned upon the Cherubim, the Ark beneath them is His footstool. This verse anticipates, for the next verse implies that the translation of the Ark has not yet been effected.

8. The people’s prayer that Jehovah will occupy the resting-place (1 Chronicles 28:2) prepared for Him; that His Presence may accompany the symbol of it. The first line is an adaptation of the watchword used when the Ark started to find a resting-place for the Israelites in their wanderings. See Numbers 10:33; Numbers 10:35. In 2 Chronicles 6:41-42 the words of the Psalm are quoted at the close of Solomon’s prayer at the Dedication of the Temple, and some commentators suppose that in Psalm 132:8 ff. the Psalmist carries us on into the Solomonic period; but it is simpler and more natural to suppose that he is still describing David’s translation of the Ark to Zion.

the ark of thy strength] See 1 Samuel 5:7; 1 Samuel 6:19 ff.; Psalm 78:61.

9. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness] May those who minister in the sanctuary be worthy servants of a righteous God, fit representatives of a righteous nation (Isaiah 26:2)! The white priestly garments were intended to be symbolical of purity of character (Revelation 19:8). For the metaphor cp. Job 29:14.

let thy saints &c.] May thy chosen people worship there with jubilant rejoicing! For the meaning of thy saints, i.e. thy beloved, or thy godly ones, see Appendix, Note I.

10. This verse is still part of the people’s prayer, though its language is coloured by the feeling of the Psalmist’s own age, and expresses the perplexity of a time in which Jehovah seemed to have disowned His anointed. The people pray for a blessing on each successive king for David’s sake. Thine anointed is not David only, but David and his successors, Jehovah’s anointed king for the time being. For him the people pray that Jehovah will not ‘turn away his face,’ i.e. repulse his requests or banish him from His favour and presence. For the phrase cp. 1 Kings 2:16; 2 Kings 18:24; Psalm 84:9. The thought corresponds to the promise so prominent in 2 Samuel 7, that David’s house should be established ‘before Jehovah’ (2 Samuel 7:16, read ‘before me’ 2 Samuel 7:26; 2Sa 7:29). Cp. Psalm 61:7.

11. The Lord hath sworn &c.] The answer to the prayer of Psalm 132:1 is given by recalling the promise to David which Jehovah has solemnly pledged Himself to fulfil. The narrative of 2 Samuel 7 does not speak of God’s promise to David as confirmed by an oath; but, as in Psalm 89:3; Psalm 89:35; Psalm 89:49, it is the poet’s mode of emphasising the solemnity and immutability of the Divine promise. Cp. Psalm 110:4; Isaiah 45:23.

in truth] Or perhaps, truth, i.e. a promise which will surely be fulfilled, from which he will not swerve. Cp. 2 Samuel 7:28, “Thy words are truth.”

Of the fruit &c.] The contents of the oath. Cp. 2 Samuel 7:12.

11–18. Jehovah’s answer to the prayer with which the Psalm begins. He will remember David, for He has chosen Zion to be His abode, and He will bless her people and her priests, and restore the power and prosperity of David’s house.

12. If thy sons will keep] The condition of the literal fulfilment of the promise is implied in 2 Samuel 7:14, and explicitly stated in 1 Kings 8:25. In Psalm 89:30 ff. the thought is developed, that man’s faithlessness cannot finally defeat God’s purpose.

my testimony] Or, as P.B.V., my testimonies. See p. 704.

their children &c.] Their sons also for ever shall sit upon thy throne, lit. upon a throne for thee, as thy representatives.

13. For the Lord hath chosen Zion] The permanence of the Davidic kingdom is based upon the Divine choice of Zion. Here, as in Psalm 78:67 ff., the choice of Zion is regarded as antecedent to the choice of David. To the community of the Restoration this thought must have been a comfort: they felt that Jehovah had returned to dwell in Zion, and this was a pledge to them that He would in some way fulfil His promises to the house of David. Cp. Zechariah 2:12.

14. Jehovah speaks. The expression of His Will in the facts of history is translated into the form of an utterance. Observe the stress laid on the Divine choice: in making Jerusalem the religious centre of the nation (and ultimately of the world) David was fulfilling Jehovah’s purpose. This verse corresponds to the prayer of Psalm 132:8, as Psalm 132:16 to that of Psalm 132:9.

my rest] My resting-place, as in Psalm 132:8. Cp. 1 Chronicles 28:2; Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 66:1.

15. I will abundantly bless &c.] Or, I will surely bless. The Divine blessing will rest upon people, priests (16), and rulers (17f.). Even the poor shall not want. Cp. Deuteronomy 15:4. Palestine was liable to famines, and in the early days of the Restoration the community had suffered severely from scarcity (Haggai 1:6 ff.), but this was not God’s Will[83].

[83] The word for provision (צידה) means also prey, and was rendered literally by the LXX, θήραν (אaT); but in some MSS (e.g. אAR) this was changed to χήραν widow(s) either through a scribe’s mistake, or because prey seemed unintelligible and widows might naturally be classed with the poor. Cp. Deuteronomy 14:29. Hence the Vulg. viduam, Douay, her widow.

16. Her priests also will I clothe with salvation] The correlative of righteousness in Psalm 132:9. He will prosper those who minister faithfully. Cp. Isaiah 61:10. Health in P.B.V. is an archaism for healing, deliverance, salvation. Cp. Psalm 67:2.

17. There] In Jerusalem.

will I make the horn of David to bud] More exactly, will I make a horn sprout forth for David. The figure may mean simply, that Jehovah will restore the prosperity and victorious might of the house of David (cp. Psalm 89:17; Psalm 89:24; Ezekiel 29:21). The verb sprout however suggests a reference to the prophecies of Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15; Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 6:12, where tsemach, ‘sprout,’ is used as a title of the Messianic king, while in Daniel 7:7-8; Daniel 7:24; Daniel 8:5, ‘horn’ is a symbol for ‘king,’ so that the words may be intended to have a personal reference and point to the Messianic king. Zacharias appears to have had this passage in mind, Luke 1:69; and the fifteenth of the “eighteen Benedictions” in the Jewish Liturgy incorporates it. “Cause the sprout of David thy servant to sprout forth speedily, and let his horn be exalted in Thy salvation.”

17. I have prepared a lamp for mine anointed] The burning lamp is a natural metaphor for the preservation of the dynasty (Psalm 18:28; 1 Kings 11:36; 1 Kings 15:4; 2 Samuel 21:17). The use of the verb prepared, as in Exodus 27:20-21; Leviticus 24:2-4, suggests that there may be an allusion here to the lamp kept burning perpetually in the sanctuary. Mine anointed is here David himself (Psalm 18:50), rather than his successors.

18. will I clothe with shame] The opposite of salvation, Psalm 132:16. Cp. Psalm 35:26; Job 8:22.

upon himself] Upon David in the person of his representative, who is called David in Ezekiel 34:23-24.

shall his crown flourish] The expression is a peculiar one. (1) The word for ‘crown’ (nçzer) used here as in Psalm 89:39, means (a) ‘consecration,’ (b) ‘a crown’ or ‘diadem,’ as the mark of consecration to an office. It is used not only of a king’s crown, but of the high-priest’s diadem (Exodus 29:6). (2) The verb yâtsîts, ‘flourish,’ or rather ‘sparkle,’ ‘glitter,’ is cognate to the word tsîts, which denotes the glittering plate of gold bearing the inscription “Holiness to Jehovah” which the High-priest wore on his turban, and which is called in Exodus 29:30, “the plate of the holy diadem.” This phraseology seems intended to suggest that David’s representative will have high-priestly as well as royal dignity. Cp. Jeremiah 30:21; Zechariah 6:11-13.