Psalm 132:1

A Song of degrees. LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(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”.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 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.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

132:1-10 David bound himself to find a place for the Lord, for the ark, the token of God's presence. When work is to be done for the Lord, it is good to tie ourselves to a time. It is good in the morning to fix upon work for the day, with submission to Providence, for we know not what a day may bring forth. And we should first, and without delay, seek to have our own hearts made a habitation of God through the Spirit. He prays that God would take up his dwelling in the habitation he had built; that he would give grace to the ministers of the sanctuary to do their duty. David pleads that he was the anointed of the Lord, and this he pleads as a type of Christ, the great Anointed. 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. And every true believer in Christ, is an anointed one, and has received from the Holy One the oil of true grace. The request is, that God would not turn away, but hear and answer their petitions for his Son's sake.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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, 1 Kings 5:3; 1 Chronicles 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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 132

Ps 132:1-18. The writer, perhaps Solomon (compare Ps 132:8, 9), after relating David's pious zeal for God's service, pleads for the fulfilment of the promise (2Sa 7:16), which, providing for a perpetuation of David's kingdom, involved that of God's right worship and the establishment of the greater and spiritual kingdom of David's greater Son. Of Him and His kingdom both the temple and its worship, and the kings and kingdom of Judah, were types. The congruity of such a topic with the tenor of this series of Psalms is obvious.

1-5. This vow is not elsewhere recorded. It expresses, in strong language, David's intense desire to see the establishment of God's worship as well as of His kingdom.

remember David—literally, "remember for David," that is, all his troubles and anxieties on the matter.

The Treasury of David

1 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, an 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.

Psalm 132:1

"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 that 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 merit - 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 in 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 pray - Lord, 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.

Psalm 132:2

"How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob." Moved by intense devotion, David expressed his resolve in the form of a solemn vow, which was sealed with an oath. The fewer of such vows the better under a dispensation whose great Representative has said, "swear not at all." Perhaps even in this case it had been wiser to have left the pious resolve in the hands of God in the form of a prayer; for the vow was not actually fulfilled as intended, since the Lord forbade David to build him a temple. We had better not swear to do anything before we know the Lord's mind about it, and then we shall not need to swear. The instance of David's vow shows that vows are allowable, but it does not prove that they are desirable. Probably David went too far in his words, and it is Well that the Lord did not hold him to the letter of his bond, but accepted the will for the deed, and the meaning of his promise instead of the literal sense of it. David imitated Jacob, that great maker of vows at Bethel, and upon him rested the blessing pronounced on Jacob by Isaac, "God Almighty bless thee" (Genesis 28:3), which was remembered by the patriarch on his death-bed, when he spoke of "the mighty God of Jacob." God is mighty to hear us, and to help us in performing our vow. We should be full of awe at the idea of making any promise to the Mighty God: to dare to trifle with him would be grievous indeed. It is observable that affliction led both David and Jacob into covenant dealings with the Lord, many vows are made in anguish of soul. We may also remark that if the votive obligations of David are to be remembered of the Lord, much more are the suretiship engagements of the Lord Jesus before the mind of the great Lord, to whom our soul turns in the hour of our distress.

Note, upon this verse, that Jehovah was the God of Jacob, the same God evermore; that he had this for his attribute, that he is mighty - mighty to succour his Jacobs who put their trust in him, though their afflictions be many. He is, moreover, specially the Mighty One of his people; he is the God of Jacob in a sense in which he is not the God of unbelievers. So here we have three points concerning our God: - name, Jehovah; attribute, mighty; special relationship, "mighty God of Jacob." He it is who is asked to remember David and his trials, and there is a plea for that blessing in each one of the three points.

Psalm 132:3

continued...THE ARGUMENT

The penman of this Psalm was either,

1. David, when God had graciously declared his acceptance of David’s desire to build a house for God. and his purpose of establishing the kingdom to David and his seed for ever: or,

2. Solomon, as may be gathered from the whole matter of the Psalm, which seems better to agree to him than to David; and particularly from Psalm 132:8-10, compared with 2 Chronicles 6:41,42, where we have the same words with no great alteration.

David in prayer commendeth unto God the care he had for the ark, Psalm 132:1-7; with his prayer over it, Psalm 132:8-10. A rehearsal of God’s oath and promises of the everlasting kingdom of Christ, Psalm 132:11-18.

Remember David; either,

1. Thy covenant made with David; or rather,

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.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions. Which prayer might be put up by David on his own account, as Nehemiah does, Nehemiah 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, 2 Samuel 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, Psalm 89:3; see Jeremiah 30:9, Hosea 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 Psalm 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, Zechariah 9:9.

(q) , Sept. "mansuetudinis ejus", V. L. so Syr. Arab. Ethiop.

Geneva Study Bible

A Song of degrees. LORD, remember David, and all his {a} afflictions:

(a) That is, with great difficulty he came to the kingdom, and with great zeal and care he went about to build your temple.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 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 (1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 9:29; 2 Chronicles 16:11, etc.). Verse 1. - 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 (2 Samuel 7:2). Psalm 132:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

One is said to remember anything to another when he requites him something that he has done for him, or when he does for him what he has promised him. It is the post-Davidic church which here reminds Jahve of the hereinafter mentioned promises (of the "mercies of David," 2 Chronicles 6:42, cf. Isaiah 55:3) with which He has responded to David's ענות. By this verbal substantive of the Pual is meant all the care and trouble which David had in order to procure a worthy abode for the sanctuary of Jahve. ענה ב signifies to trouble or harass one's self about anything, afflictari (as frequently in the Book of Ecclesiastes); the Pual here denotes the self-imposed trouble, or even that imposed by outward circumsntaces, such as the tedious wars, of long, unsuccessful, and yet never relaxed endeavours (1 Kings 5:17). For he had vowed unto God that he would give himself absolutely no rest until he had obtained a fixed abode for Jahve. What he said to Nathan (2 Samuel 7:2) is an indication of this vowed resolve, which was now in a time of triumphant peace, as it seemed, ready for being carried out, after the first step towards it had already been taken in the removal of the Ark of the covenant to Zion (2 Samuel 6); for 2 Samuel 7 is appended to 2 Samuel 6 out of its chronological order and only on account of the internal connection. After the bringing home of the Ark, which had been long yearned for (Psalm 101:2), and did not take place without difficulties and terrors, was accomplished, a series of years again passed over, during which David always carried about with him the thought of erecting God a Temple-building. And when he had received the tidings through Nathan that he should not build God a house, but that it should be done by his son and successor, he nevertheless did as much towards the carrying out of the desire of his heart as was possible in connection with this declaration of the will of Jahve. He consecrated the site of the future Temple, he procured the necessary means and materials for the building of it, he made all the necessary arrangements for the future Temple-service, he inspirited the people for the gigantic work of building that was before them, and handed over to his son the model for it, as it is all related to us in detail by the chronicler. The divine name "the mighty One of Jacob" is taken from Genesis 49:24, as in Isaiah 1:24; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 60:16. The Philistines with their Dagon had been made to feel this mighty Rock of Jacob when they took the sacred Ark along with them (1 Samuel 5:1-12). With אם David solemnly declares what he is resolved not to do. The meaning of the hyperbolically expressed vow in the form of an oath is that for so long he will not rejoice at his own dwelling-house, nor give himself up to sleep that is free from anxiety; in fine, for so long he will not rest. The genitives after אהל and ערשׂ are appositional genitives; Psalm 44 delights in similar combinations of synonyms. יצוּעי (Latin strata mea) is a poetical plural, as also is משׁכּנות. With תּנוּמה (which is always said of the eyelids, Genesis 31:40; Proverbs 6:4; Ecclesiastes 8:16, not of the eyes) alternates שׁנת (according to another reading שׁנת) for שׁנה. The āth is the same as in נחלת in Psalm 16:6, cf. 60:13, Exodus 15:2, and frequently. This Aramaizing rejection of the syllable before the tone is, however, without example elsewhere. The lxx adds to Psalm 132:4, καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν τοῖς κροτάφοις μου (וּמנוּחה לרקּותי), but this is a disagreeable overloading of the verse.