9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let
Your saints shout for joy.
16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation, And her
saints shall shout aloud for joy.
Psalm 132 is the thirteenth of the fifteen “Ascent Songs” or
“Pilgrim Psalms”. Solomon was the most like writer of this psalm as he
fulfilled the desire of his father David to bring the ark to Jerusalem and
build the temple as a “resting place” for it. After his dedication prayer the
glory of the LORD came down and filled the temple and now the visible presence
of God was in the midst of the people and nation (2 Chronicles 6-7). Solomon
begins the psalm in verses 1-5 asking the LORD to remember David’s desire and
promise to give God His rightful place among His people.
In verses 6-8, he continues by describing how they found
the ark and the people were encouraged to come to Jerusalem to worship. We get
the impression that the ark was almost forgotten during the years it was in the
house of Abinadab in Kirjath Jearim ("city of woods"). The city was
only eight miles northwest of Jerusalem, so distance was no problem. Possibly
some of the people in David's hometown of Bethlehem (Ephrathah—"fruitful
land") were involved in bringing the ark to Jerusalem. And now, the people
felt drawn to go on pilgrimage to the city. When Solomon put the ark into the
Holy of Holies, the glory of God moved in, just as when Moses dedicated the
tabernacle (1 Kings 8:1-11; Ex. 40). The Lord could now "rest" in His
house after many years of wandering from place to place (2 Sam. 7:6; 1 Chron.
28:2).
In verses 10-12, Solomon reminded God of the covenant He
made with his father David. God's covenant with David (2 Sam. 7) assured Israel
that one of David's descendants would sit on the throne, and now Solomon was
king, "God's anointed." So it was for David's sake, not Solomon's,
that God blessed the king and the people. Ultimately, this promise was
fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Son of David, whose throne and kingdom are
forever (2 Sam. 7:11-17; Acts 13:26-39; Luke 1:30-33). If David's successors
wanted the blessing of God, they needed to obey the law of God. Believers today
are united with the Lord in a new covenant that Jesus made in His own blood
(Matt. 26:26-30; Heb. 12:24), and He will never break that covenant. The Father
is faithful to His Son, and the Son is faithful to the covenant He made in His
own blood.
In verses 13, Solomon reminds the people that God not only chose
Israel to be His people and David and his descendants to be His kings, but He
chose Zion to be the site of His temple and His throne (the ark). Other nations
had temples, but none of those temples had the glory of the true and living God
dwelling in them. Now in verses 14-18, God speaks and reaffirmed His covenant
with Israel (Lev. 26; Deut. 27-30). God promised to dwell with Israel, provide
their food, bless their worship, and defeat their enemies.
A “horn” (v. 17), is a symbol of power and strength,
and the “growth” of the horn of David is a picture of the coming of the
promised Messiah. So, the psalm ends by pointing to Jesus Christ. The psalm
concerns itself with David and God's covenant with him, but it points to
David's greater Son, Jesus Christ, and His covenant with His church. The
psalmist was concerned about the ark of the covenant, but the ark points to
Jesus Christ who today is enthroned in the Holy of Holies in heaven. We see,
not the earthly Zion, but the heavenly Zion (Heb. 12:22-24), and we rejoice
that we are "a kingdom of priests" because of the grace of God (Rev.
1:5-6).
Today, let us give God His rightful place, worship Him
joyfully, rest on His faithful covenant, and trust Him for the promised
blessings for those who willingly obey His will. And then His “saints shall
shout for joy”! (vv. 9, 16)
God bless!
