PSALM 132 COMME TARYWritten and edited by Glenn Pease

PREFACE

The object of this commentary is to bring together the comments of a number ofauthors in one place to make the study of this Psalm easier for the Bible student.Sometimes I do not have the author's name, and if it is known and told to me, I willgive credit where it is due. If there is any author who does not wish his wisdom to beincluded in this study, I will remove it when that author expresses his wish to have itremoved. My e-mail is glenn_p86@yahoo.com

I TRODUCTIO

1. The writer of this Psalm, whoever he may have been, here, in the name of all thefaithful, puts God in remembrance of his promise, that he would never suffer hishouse or kingdom to fail, but support and defend both.”

2. Lightfoot ascribes this Psalm to David, and supposes it to have been composed onthe second removal of the Ark from the house of Obededom. (1 Chronicles 15:4,etc.) But the mention of David's name in the tenth verse in the third person, and theterms there employed, militate against his being the Author. Others ascribe it toSolomon, who, they think, wrote it about the time of the removing of the Ark intothe Temple, which he had built for it. (2 Chronicles 5:2, etc.) Others are of opinion,that it was composed by Solomon for the solemn services that were celebrated at thededication of the Temple. "The whole tenor of this Psalm," says Jebb, "is an exactepitome of the Dedication Prayer of Solomon. (2 Chronicles 6) The topics are thesame the building the house of the Lord the promise to David the inhabitation ofthe Almighty; and the concluding sentences of the Dedication, are identical withthose expressions of the Psalm in verses 8, 9, 10. There can, therefore, be littlequestion that this Psalm was composed by Solomon." Jebb's Literal Translation ofthe Book of Psalms, etc., volume 2. As this forms one of the "Songs of Degrees,"those who conceive that these Psalms were so called beta. use sung by the Jewsabout the time of their return from Babylon, conclude that Ezra selected thisancient song to be sung at the dedication of the second Temple.

3. Barnes, “psalm is simply entitled “A Song of Degrees.” The author of it is notknown, nor can the occasion on which it was written be certainly ascertained. Itwould seem to have been composed in a time of public distress and disaster; whenthe affairs of the nation were in jeopardy, and especially when the line of themonarchy seemed about to fail, and the promises made to David seemed about to

come to nought. It would have been a suitable occasion for such a psalm at the timeimmediately preceding the captivity in Babylon, or on the return from Babylon,when the throne was tottering or had fallen, and when God seemed to be about toforsake his house, the temple - or had forsaken it, and suffered it to fall to ruin. Atsuch a time of national disaster, when it appeared as if the house of God was to bepermanently destroyed, and the government to be overturned forever, it wasnatural and proper thus to make mention of the zeal, the toil, and the sacrifice ofhim who had sought a “habitation” for God; who had planned and labored thatthere might be a permanent dwelling-place for the Most High, and who had receivedgracious promises from God himself in regard to the permanent establishment of hisfamily on the throne. It would be appropriate, also, to recall this as a foundation forthe prayer that God would again visit Zion, and would fulfill the promises which hehad given to David. The psalm therefore consists properly of two parts:

I. A statement of the zeal of David for the ark, in securing a permanent abode for it,Psa_132:1-8; and

II. A reference to the promises made to David and his posterity, and a prayer thatthese promises might be carried out and accomplished, Psa_132:9-18. “

4. Spurgeon, “A Song of Degrees. A joyful song indeed: let all pilgrims to the ewJerusalem sing it often. The degrees or ascents are very visible; the theme ascendsstep by step from, "afflictions" to a "crown", from "remember David", to, "I willmake the horn of David to bud." The latter half is like the over arching sky bendingabove "the fields of the wood" which are found in the resolves and prayers of theformer portion. Our translators have rightly divided this Psalm. It contains astatement of David's anxious care to build a house for the Lord (Psalms 132:1-7); aprayer at the removal of the Ark (Psalms 132:8-10); and a pleading of the divinecovenant and its promises (Psalms 132:11- 18).”

5. “Lightfoot ascribes this Psalm to David, and supposes it to have been composedon the second removal of the ark from the house of Obededom: 1 Chronicles 15:4 ,etc. But the mention of David's name in the tenth verse in the third person, and theterms there employed, militate against his being the author. Others ascribe it toSolomon, who, they think, wrote it about the time of the removing of the ark into theTemple which he had built for it: 2 Chronicles 5:2 , etc. Others are of opinion, that itwas composed by Solomon for the solemn services that were celebrated at thededication of the Temple.” --James Anderson's note to Calvin in loc.

6. “The Psalm is divided into four stanzas of ten lines, each of which contains thename of David. The first part begins with speaking of David's vow to the Lord, thethird with the Lord's promise to David.” --William Kay.

1. O LORD, remember David

and all the hardships he endured.

1. Calvin, “Interpreters are not agreed respecting the penman of this Psalm, thoughthere is little doubt that it was either David or Solomon. At the solemn dedication ofthe Temple, when Solomon prayed, several verses are mentioned in the sacredhistory as having been quoted by him, from which we may infer that the Psalm wassufficiently well known to the people, or that Solomon applied a few words of it foran occasion in reference to which he had written the whole Psalm. The name ofDavid is prominently mentioned, because it was to him that the continuance of thekingdom and Temple was promised, and though dead, this could not affect thetruthfulness of God's word. The Church could very properly pray in the mannerwhich is here done, that God would perform what he had promised to his servantDavid, not as a private individual, but in favor of all his people. It was therefore apreposterous idea of the Papists to argue from this passage that we may bebenefitted by the intercession of the dead. Just as if the faithful were here to beunderstood 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 thecovenant which God had made with David, knowing well that though given to oneman, it was with the understanding that it should be communicated to all. There is apropriety why mention should be made of his affliction or humiliation. Some renderthe word meekness, but there is no reason for this whatsoever. In 2 Chronicles 6:42,it is true we read of Mydox; that is, mercies, which I consider to be there understoodin 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, thenumerous difficulties and struggles which David had to undergo, so long as he waskept by God in suspense. Remember, as if it had been said, the great anxieties, theheavy troubles, which David endured before he came to the kingdom, and howfervently and earnestly he desired to build the Temple, though he was not allowed todo 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 divineoracle, inasmuch as they showed how firmly and certainly he was himself convincedof the truth of what God had spoken. Some insert the copulative reading, rememberDavid and affliction; but of this I do not approve. The particle ta eth, rather denotesthat special respect in which they would have David remembered, viz., as regardedhis afflictions, or that he might come forth before the view of God with hisafflictions, and obtain his desire according to them.”

2. CLARKE, “, remember David - the promises thou hast made to this thy eminentservant, that had respect, not only to him and to his family, but to all the Israelitishpeople.

3. GILL , “Which prayer might be put up by David on his own account, as ehemiah does, eh_13:22; and be considered as a petition to the Lord that hewould remember his mercy and lovingkindness to him, and him with the favour hebears 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 hiskingdom and family. Or, if it is considered as Solomon's, it may be a request thatthe Lord would remember the promise he had made to David, that his son shouldbuild a house for him, which he desired he might be enabled to do; that he wouldremember the covenant of royalty he had made with him, that he should not lack ason to sit upon his throne; and particularly that he would remember the promise ofthe Messiah, that should be of his seed. Also "his afflictions", his toil and labour ofmind, his great anxiety about building a house for God; the pains he took in findingout a place for it, in drawing the pattern of it, in making preparations for it, and inthe charges he gave his son concerning it: the Septuagint and other versions renderit "his humility" (q); which agrees with the subject of the preceding psalm, and mayparticularly respect what he expressed to athan when this affair of building thetemple was much upon his mind, 2Sa_7:2. Moreover, respect in all this may be hadby the authors of this psalm, or those herein represented, to the Messiah, who is theantitype 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 andoffices, and who is often called David, Psa_89:3; see Jer_30:9, Hos_3:5; and so is apetition that God would remember the covenant of grace made with him; thepromise of his coming into the world; his offering and sacrifice, as typified by thelegal 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 theroom and stead of his people, as a satisfaction to his justice. Or, "his humility" inthe 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, Zec_9:9.'

4, HE RY , “In these verses we have Solomon's address to God for his favour tohim and to his government, and his acceptance of his building a house to God'sname. Observe,

I. What he pleads - two things: -

1. That what he had done was in pursuance of the pious vow which his father Davidhad made to build a house for God. Solomon was a wise man, yet pleads not anymerit 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 occasionof,” or his care and concern about the ark, and what an uneasiness it was to himthat the ark was in curtains, 2Sa_7:2. Remember all his humility and meekness (sosome read it), all that pious and devout affection with which he had made thefollowing vow. ote, It is not amiss for us to put God in mind of our predecessors inprofession, of their afflictions, their services, and their sufferings, of God's covenantwith them, the experiences they have had of his goodness, the care they took of, andthe many prayers they put up for, those that should come after them. We may applyit 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 vowthat David had made as soon as ever he was settled in his government, and before hewas 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 tobe made to God, who is a party as well as a witness. The Lord is the Mighty One ofJacob, Jacob's God, and a mighty one, whose power is engaged for Jacob's defenceand deliverance. Jacob is weak, but the God of Jacob is a mighty one. (2.) What hebound himself to do, to find out a place for the Lord, that is, for the ark, the token ofhis 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 hecame to the crown there was no such place; Shiloh was deserted, and no other placewas pitched upon, for want of which the feasts of the Lord were not kept with duesolemnity. “Well,” says David, “I will find out such a place for the generalrendezvous of all the tribes, a place of habitation for the Mighty One of Jacob, aplace for the ark, where there shall be room both for the priests and people toattend upon it.” (3.) How intent he was upon it; he would not settle in his bed, till hehad brought this matter to some head, Psa_132:3, Psa_132:4. The thing had beenlong talked of, and nothing done, till at last David, when he went out one morningabout public business, made a vow that before night he would come to a resolutionin this matter, and would determine the place either where the tent should bepitched for the reception of the ark, at the beginning of his reign, or rather whereSolomon 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(1Ch_22:1, Then David said, This is the house of the Lord); and perhaps it was uponoccasion of that judgment that he made this vow, being apprehensive that one ofGod's controversies with him was for his dilatoriness in this matter. ote, Whenneedful work is to be done for God it is good for us to task ourselves, and tieourselves to a time, because we are apt to put off. It is good in the morning to cut outwork for the day, binding ourselves that we will do it before we sleep, only withsubmission to Providence; for we know not what a day may bring forth. Especially inthe great work of conversion to God we must be thus solicitous, thus zealous; wehave good reason to resolve that we will not enjoy the comforts of this life till wehave 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,1Sa_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 allIsrael fetched it, with great solemnity, in the beginning of David's reign (1Ch_13:6),so that in building his house for the ark Solomon had gratified all Israel. Theyneeded 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 assubjects and suppliants, which we neglected to do, for want of such a place, in the

days of Saul,” 1Ch_13:3.

II. What he prays for, Psa_132:8-10. 1. That God would vouchsafe, not only totake 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, thepledge of thy presence, thy mighty presence. 2. That God would give grace to theministers of the sanctuary to do their duty: Let thy priests be clothed with

righteousness; let them appear righteous both in their administrations and in theirconversations, and let both be according to the rule. ote, Righteousness is the bestornament of a minister. Holiness towards God, and goodness towards all men, arehabits 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 dueadministration of holy ordinances among them: Let thy saints shout for joy. They didso when the ark was brought into the city of David (2Sa_6:15); they will do so whenthe 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,

2Co_1:24. 4. That Solomon's own prayer, upon occasion of the dedicating of thetemple, 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, thegreat anointed, who, in his intercession, urges his designation to his office. He isGod's anointed, and therefore the Father hears him always. (2.) That he was the sonof David: “For his sake do not deny me;” and this is the Christian's plea: “For thesake 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'sservant, whom he upholds, Isa_42:1. “We have no merit of our own to plead, but forhis sake, in whom there is a fulness of merit, let us find favour.” When we pray forthe 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 dotheir duty.”

5. JAMISO , “Psa_132:1-18. The writer, perhaps Solomon (compare Psa_132:8,Psa_132:9), after relating David’s pious zeal for God’s service, pleads for thefulfillment of the promise (2Sa_7:16), which, providing for a perpetuation ofDavid’s kingdom, involved that of God’s right worship and the establishment of thegreater and spiritual kingdom of David’s greater Son. Of Him and His kingdomboth 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. Thisvow is not elsewhere recorded. It expresses, in strong language, David’s intensedesire 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 andanxieties on the matter.

6 KEIL, “One is said to remember anything to another when he requites himsomething that he has done for him, or when he does for him what he has promisedhim. It is the post-Davidic church which here reminds Jahve of the hereinaftermentioned promises (of the “mercies of David,” 2Ch_6:42, cf. Isa_55:3) with which

He has responded to David's ענות. By this verbal substantive of the Pual is meant allthe care and trouble which David had in order to procure a worthy abode for thesanctuary 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 thetedious wars, of long, unsuccessful, and yet never relaxed endeavours (1Ki_5:17).For he had vowed unto God that he would give himself absolutely no rest until hehad obtained a fixed abode for Jahve. What he said to athan (2Sa_7:2) is anindication of this vowed resolve, which was now in a time of triumphant peace, as itseemed, ready for being carried out, after the first step towards it had already beentaken in the removal of the Ark of the covenant to Zion (2 Sam. 6); for 2 Sam 7 isappended to 2 Sam. 6 out of its chronological order and only on account of theinternal connection. After the bringing home of the Ark, which had been longyearned for (Psa_101:2), and did not take place without difficulties and terrors, wasaccomplished, a series of years again passed over, during which David alwayscarried about with him the thought of erecting God a Temple-building. And whenhe had received the tidings through athan that he should not build God a house,but that it should be done by his son and successor, he nevertheless did as muchtowards the carrying out of the desire of his heart as was possible in connection withthis declaration of the will of Jahve. He consecrated the site of the future Temple, heprocured the necessary means and materials for the building of it, he made all thenecessary arrangements for the future Temple-service, he inspirited the people forthe gigantic work of building that was before them, and handed over to his sonthemodel 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 Gen_49:24, as in Isa_1:24; Isa_49:26;Isa_60:16. The Philistines with their Dagon had been made to feel this mighty Rockof Jacob when they took the sacred Ark along with them (1Sa_5:1-12). With אםDavid solemnly declares what he is resolved not to do. The meaning of thehyperbolically expressed vow in the form of an oath is that for so long he will notrejoice at his own dwelling-house, nor give himself up to sleep that is free fromanxiety; in fine, for so long he will not rest.”

7. Spurgeon, “LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions. With David thecovenant 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, willnever forget one of his servants, or fail to keep his covenant; yet for this thing he isto be entreated. That which we are assured the Lord will do must, nevertheless, bemade a matter of prayer. The request is that the Lord would remember, and this isa word full of meaning. We know that the Lord remembered oah, and assuagedthe flood; he remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of Sodom; he rememberedRachel, and Hannah, and gave them children; he remembered his mercy to thehouse of Israel, and delivered his people. That is a choice song wherein we sing, "Heremembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever"; and this is anotable prayer, "Lord remember me." The plea is urged with God that he wouldbless the family of David for the sake of their progenitor; how much stronger is ourmaster 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 Withhim: but Jesus has deserts which are his own, and of boundless merits these we mayurge without hesitation. When the Lord was angry with the reigning prince, thepeople cried, "Lord remember David"; and when they needed any special blessing,again they sang, "Lord, remember David." This was good pleading, but it was notso good as ours, which runs on this wise, "Lord, remember Jesus, and all hisafflictions."

The afflictions of David here meant were those which came upon him as a godlyman his endeavors to maintain the worship of Jehovah, and to provide for its decentand suitable celebration. There was always an ungodly party in the nation, andthese persons were never slow to slander, hinder, and molest the servant of theLord. Whatever were David's faults, he kept true to the one, only, living, and trueGod; and for this he was a speckled bird among monarchs. Since he zealouslydelighted in the worship of Jehovah, his God, he was despised and ridiculed by thosewho could not understand his enthusiasm. God will never forget what his peoplesuffer for his sake. o doubt innumerable blessings descend upon families andnations through the godly lives and patient sufferings of the saints. We cannot besaved by the merits of others, but beyond all question we are benefited by theirvirtues. Paul saith, "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love,which ye have showed toward his name." Under the ew Testament dispensation,as well as under the Old, there is a full reward for the righteous. That rewardfrequently comes upon their descendants rather than upon themselves: they sow,and their successors reap. We may at this day pray -- Lord, remember the martyrsand confessors of our race, who suffered for thy name's sake, and bless our peopleand nation with gospel grace for our fathers' sakes.”

8. “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 moreshall we justly plead our cause in the name of David's son (called David four timesin the prophets), and of all his trouble, all the sorrows of his birth and infancy, hisministry and passion and death, which he bore as a consequence of his selfdedication to his father's will, when his priesthood, foreordained from all eternity,was confirmed with an oath, "for these Levitical priests were made withoutswearing an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord swareand will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek": Heb7:21 Psalms 100:4. --Theodoret and C'assiodorus, in eale and Littledale.

2 He swore an oath to the LORD and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:

1. Calvin, “One affliction of David is particularly mentioned, That he was filled withperplexity on account of the situation of the Ark. Moses had commanded the peopleages before to worship God in the place which he had chosen. (Deuteronomy 12:5.)David knew that the full time had now arrived when the particular place should bemade apparent, and yet was in some hesitation -- a state of things which wasnecessarily attended with much anxiety, especially to one who was so ardentlyattached to the worship of God, and so vehemently desirous to have the fixedpresence of God with the nation, for its defense and government. It is said that heswore to see to the building of the Temple, and to postpone every otherconsideration to the accomplishment of this object.4 The objurgation may seem toassume a somewhat too harsh and severe form, when he declares his resolution torefuse sleep, his food, and the common supports of life, until a place should havebeen set apart for the Temple. To have acted in this way would have been to showan inconsiderate zeal, for it did not become him to prescribe the time to God, norwas it possible for him to endure any number of fasting days or sleepless nights.Then when are we to consider that this vow was taken? I am aware indeed thatsome Hebrew writers judge it to have been at that period when he fell downtrembling at the sight of the angel; but, without denying that the plot of ground waspointed out to him immediately after that circumstance, it is altogether a forced andunsupported conjecture to say, that what had so long been in the thoughts of Davidwas conceived at that exact time. or is there anything which should prevent usfrom supposing that his language is here to be understood as hyperbolical, and thatthis was not a vow in the strict form of it, but to be understood in a qualified sense that he would never enter his house, nor ascend his couch, without feeling a concernupon this subject. He felt persuaded that the settlement of the sanctuary wasintimately connected with the state of the kingdom; and we need not be surprisedthat so long as he was kept in uncertainty regarding the place of the Temple, heshould scarcely have felt assured of his very crown, and have been incapable ofsharing the ordinary comforts of life with any satisfaction. Still, where Scripture hasbeen silent we can say nothing certain; and I may throw out these things as whatseems to me the most probable interpretation. And I think the sense of the passagemay very well bear to be that which I have mentioned, That until informed of theplace of the Ark's destined residence, David was full of concern and anxiety,dwelling in his house, or when he lay upon his bed. As to the vow itself, this andother passages afford no ground for supposing, with the Papists, that God approvesof whatever vows they may utter, without regard to the nature of them. To vow untoGod that which he has himself declared to be agreeable to him, is a commendablepractice; but it is too much presumption on our part to say that we will rush uponsuch vows as suit our carnal inclination. The great thing is that we consider what isagreeable to his will, otherwise we may be found depriving him of that whereinindeed his principal right lies, for with him "to obey is better than sacrifice." (1Samuel 15:22.)

This oath is not mentioned in any of the historical books of the Old Testament.There is, however, allusion in them to his vow on the subject, although he was

forbidden by God to perform it. See 2 Samuel 7:2, 3; and 1 Chronicles 22:7-10.”

2. BAR ES, “ he sware unto the Lord - The solemn oath which he took that hewould make this the first object; that he would give himself no rest until this wasdone; that he would sacrifice his personal ease and comfort in order that he mightthus honor God. This oath or purpose is not recorded in the history. The fairinterpretation of this would be either

(1) that these words properly expressed what was in the mind of David at the time- that is, his acts implied that this purpose was in his heart; or

(2) that this vow was actually made by David, though not elsewhere recorded. Sucha vow might have been made, and the remembrance of it kept up by tradition, or itmight have been suggested to the author of the psalm by direct inspiration.

And vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob - See Gen_49:24. The God whom Jacobworshipped, and who had manifested himself so signally to him as a God of might orpower.”

3. CLARKE, “ How he sware unto the Lord - is only in this place that we areinformed of David’s vow to the Lord, relative to the building of the temple; but wefind he had fully purposed the thing.

4. GILL , “God of Jacob. Whom Jacob called so, Gen_49:24; and to whom he voweda vow, and is the first we read of that did make one, and it was concerning the houseof God, Gen_28:17; and who had an experience of the might and power of God inprotecting and defending him from his brother Esau: of this oath and vow of Davidno mention is made elsewhere, but no doubt they were made; see Psa_119:106; ofthe Messiah's swearing, though upon another account, to whom this may be applied,see Isa_45:23.”

5. Spurgeon, “How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God ofJacob. Moved by intense devotion, David expressed his resolve in the form of asolemn vow, which was sealed with an oath. The fewer of such vows the better undera dispensation whose great Representative has said, "swear not at all." Perhapseven in this case it had been wiser to have left the pious resolve in the hands of Godin the form of a prayer; for the vow was not actually fulfilled as intended, since theLord forbade David to build him a temple. We had better not swear to do anythingbefore we know the Lord's mind about it, and then we shall not need to swear. Theinstance of David's vows shows that vows are allowable, but it does not prove thatthey are desirable. Probably David went too far in his words, and it is well that theLord 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 imitatedJacob, that great maker of vows at Bethel, and upon him rested the blessingpronounced on Jacob by Isaac, "God Almighty bless thee" (Genesis 28:3), whichwas remembered by the patriarch on his death bed, when he spoke of "the mightyGod of Jacob." God is mighty to hear us, and to help us in performing our vow. Weshould 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 bothDavid and Jacob into covenant dealings with the Lord: many vows are made inanguish of soul. We may also remark that, if the votive obligations of David are tobe remembered of the Lord, much more are the suretyship engagements of the LordJesus before the mind of the great Lord, to whom our soul turns in the hour of ourdistress.

ote, 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 Jacobswho 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 heis not the God of unbelievers. So here we have three points concerning our God: --name, Jehovah; attribute, mighty; special relationship, "mighty God of Jacob." Heit is who is asked to remember David and his trials, and there is a plea for thatblessing in each one of the three points.”

6. “And vowed. The history does not record the time nor the occasion of this vow; buthistory does record how it was ever in David's thoughts and on David's heart. David,indeed, in the first verse, asks of God to remember his afflictions, and then records his vow;and you may, perhaps, think that the vow was the consequence of his afflictions, and that hemade it contingent on his deliverance ... It is far more consistent with the character of Davidto look upon the affliction to which he alludes as resulting from the Lord's not permittinghim to carry out his purpose of erecting an earthly habitation for the God of heaven,inasmuch as he had shed blood abundantly. And if, as is more than probable, amid thatblood which he had shed, David's conscience recalled the blood of Uriah as swelling themeasure, he could not but be deeply afflicted, even while he acknowledged the righteousnessof the sentence.

But though not permitted of God to execute his purpose, we cannot but feel and own that itwas a noble resolution which David here makes; and though recorded in all theamplification of Oriental imagery, it expresses the holy determination of the Psalmist toforego every occupation and pursuit, and not to allow a single day to elapse till he had atleast fixed on the site of the future temple. --Barton Bouchier.

7. He vowed. He who is ready to vow on every occasion will break his vow on every occasion.It is a necessary rule, that "we be as sparing in making our vows as may be"; there beingmany great inconveniences attending frequent and multiplied vows. It is very observable,that the Scripture mentions very few examples of vows, compared with the many instancesof very great and wonderful providences; as if it would give us some instances, that wemight know what we have to do, and yet would give us but few, that we might know we arenot to do it often. You read Jacob lived seven score and seven years (Genesis 47:28); but youread, I think, but of one vow that he made. Our extraordinary exigencies are not many;and, I say, our vows should not be more. Let this, then, be the first necessary ingredient of awell ordered vow. Let it be no oftener made than the pressing greatness of an evil to beremoved, or the alluring excellency of a blessing extraordinary to be obtained, will wellwarrant. Jephthah's vow was so far right; he had just occasion; there was a great andpressing danger to be removed; there was an excellent blessing to be obtained: the dangerwas, lest Israel should be enslaved; the blessing was victory over their enemies. Thiswarranted his vow, though his rashness marred it. It was in David's troubles that Davidsware, and vowed a vow to the Most High; and Jacob forbare to vow until his more than

ordinary case bade his vow, and warranted him in so doing: Genesis 28:20. Let us do as hedid, -- spare to vow, until such case puts us on it. --Henry Hurst (1629? -- 1690), in "TheMorning Exercises."

8. Vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. The first holy votary that ever we read of was Jacobhere mentioned in this text, who is therefore called thee father of vows: and upon thisaccount some think David mentions God here under the title of "the mighty God of Jacob",rather than any other, because of his vow. --Abraham Wright.

9. The mighty God of Jacob. The title strong one of Jacob, by which God is here designated,first used by Jacob himself, Genesis 49:24, and thence more generally used as is clear fromIsaiah 1:24 49:26, and other places, here sets forth God both as the most mighty who is ablemost severely to punish perjury, and with whom no one may dare to contend, and also asthe defender and most mighty vindicator of Israel, such as Jacob had proved him, and allhis descendants, in particular David, who frequently rejoiced and gloried in this mighty oneand defender. Such a mighty one of Jacob was worthy to have a temple built for him, andwas so great that he would not suffer perjury. --Hermann Venema.

10. Where the interpreters have translated, "the God of Jacob", it is in the Hebrew, "themighty in Jacob." Which name is sometimes attributed unto the angels, and sometimes it isalso applied to other things wherein are great strength and fortitude; as to a lion, an ox, andsuch like. But here it is a singular word of faith, signifying that God is the power andstrength of his people; for only faith ascribes this unto God. Reason and the flesh doattribute more to riches, and such other worldly helps as man seeth and knoweth. All suchcarnal helps are very idols, which deceive men, and draw them to perdition; but this is thestrength and fortitude of the people, to have God present with them ... So the Scripturesaith in another place: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will rememberthe name of the Lord." Likewise Paul saith: "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of hismight." For this power is eternal, and deceives not. All other powers are not only deceitful,but they are transitory, and continue but for a moment. --Martin Luther.

3 "I will not enter my house or go to my bed-

1. BAR ES, “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house - The tent ofmy dwelling; the place where I abide. or go up into my bed The couch of my bed,or where I sleep. I will make it my first business to find a dwelling-place for theLord; a place where the ark may repose.”

2. CLARKE Surely I will not come - This must refer to the situation of the temple;or, as we would express it, he would not pass another day till he had found out theground on which to build the temple, and projected the plan, and devised ways andmeans to execute it. And we find that he would have acted in all things according tohis oath and vow, had God permitted him. But even after the Lord told him that

Solomon, not he, should build the house he still continued to show his good will bycollecting treasure and materials for the building, all the rest of his life.

3. GILL , “The new house and palace David built for himself after he came to thethrone, made of cedar, 2Sa_5:11; not that he should never enter into it till he hadfound a dwelling for God, but that he should not go into it with pleasure till that wasdone; for this and what follows are hyperboles, as Kimchi observes, and signify thathe should have no peace nor satisfaction of mind till this was accomplished. It maybe applied to our Lord's ascension to heaven, which was not till after he hadpurchased the church with his blood, which is the temple and habitation of God;

nor go up into my bed; or "the bed that made for me" (r); the royal bed, a bed ofdown, with soft pillows, fit for a person of such dignity to lie down on. Ainsworthrenders it "the pallets of my bed"; the phrase of going up agrees with the custom ofthe eastern countries, who have galleries in their chambers where they are set; atone end of each chamber in their houses there is a little gallery raised three, four, orfive feet above the floor, with a balustrade in the front of it, with a few steps likewiseleading up to it; here they place their beds (s); so that when they went to bed theymight with great propriety be said to go up to it; but this David could not do withpleasure, so long as there was no place and habitation for God. “

4. Spurgeon, “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up intomy bed. Our translators give the meaning, though not the literal form, of David'svow, which ran thus, "If I go" -- "If I go up", etc. This was an elliptical form ofimprecation, implying more than it expressed, and having therefore about it amystery which made it all the more solemn. David would not take his ease in hishouse, nor his rest in his bed, till he had determined upon a place for the worship ofJehovah. The ark had been neglected, the Tabernacle had fallen into disrespect; hewould find the ark, and build for it a suitable house; he felt that he could not takepleasure in his own palace till this was done. David meant well, but he spake morethan he could carry out. His language was hyperbolical, and the Lord knew what hemeant: zeal does not always measure its terms, for it is not thoughtful of thecriticisms of men, but is carried away with love to the Lord, who reads the hearts ofhis people. David would not think himself housed till he had built a house for theLord, nor would he reckon himself rested till he had said, "Arise, O Lord, into thyrest." Alas, we have many around us who will never carry their care for the Lord'sworship too far! o fear of their being indiscreet? They are housed and bedded, andas for the Lord, his people may meet in a barn, or never meet at all, it will be all thesame to them. Observe that Jacob in his vow spoke of the stone being God's house,and David's vow also deals with a house for God.”

5. “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, etc. To avoid the absurdityof thinking that David should make such a rash and unwarrantable vow as this

might seem to be, that till he had his desire satisfied in that which is afterwardsexpressed he would abide in the open air, and never go within his doors, nor evertake any rest, either by day or by night, some say that David spake this withreference to his purpose of taking the fort of Zion from the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5:6 ),where by revelation he knew that God meant to have the ark settled, and which hemight probably think would be accomplished within some short time. And thenothers again say, that he meant it only of that stately cedar house, which he hadlately built for himself at Jerusalem (2 Samuel 7:1-2 ), to wit, that he would not gointo that house; and so also that he would not go up unto his bed, nor (Psalms 132:4)give any sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids, to wit, in that house. Butneither of these expositions gives me any satisfaction. I rather take these to behyperbolical expressions of the continual, exceeding great care wherewith he wasperplexed about providing a settled place for the ark to rest in, like that in Proverbs6:4-5: "Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids; deliver thyself as aroe from the hand of the hunter", etc. either is it any more in effect than if he hadsaid, I will never lay by this care to mind myself in anything whatsoever: I shallnever with any content abide in mine own house, nor with any quiet rest in my bed,until, etc. --Arthur Jackson, 1593-1666.

6. Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, etc. When lie had builthimself a palace (1 Chronicles 15:1 ), it appears by the context, that he did not blessit (1Ch 16:43), nor consequently live in it (for that he might not do till it were blest)until he had first prepared a place, and brought up the ark to it. --Henry Hammond.

7. Surely I will not come, etc. Our translation of the verse is justified by Aben Ezra,who remarks that sa is here to be translated not in its usual sense of "if", -- "if Ishall come" -- but as introducing a vow, "I will not come." This idiom, it may beobserved, is more or less missed by our existing translation of Hebrews 4:5: "And inthis place again, If they shall enter into my rest" -- a translation which is the morecurious from the fact that the idiom in the present Psalm is hit off exactly in thepreceding chapter, Hebrews 3:11: "So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enterinto my rest." --H. T. Armfield.

8. I will not come into the tent which is my house. What does this singular form ofexpression denote? Is it "an instance of the way in which the associations of the oldpatriarchal tent life fixed themselves in the language of the people", as Perownesuggests? or does David deliberately select it to imply that even his palace is but atent as compared with the Huse that he will rear for God? --Samuel Cox.

9. 5or go up into my bed. From the expression of the Psalmist it would seem that alofty bed was not only a necessary luxury, but a sign of superior rank. This idea wasvery prevalent in the period of the revival of the arts on the Continent, whole thestate bed, often six feet high, always stood on a dais in an alcove, richly curtained offfrom tile saloon. In the East the same custom still continues, and a verse in theKoran declares it to be one of the delights of the faithful in paradise that "they shallrepose themselves on lofty beds" (Cap. 56, "The Inevitable"). Frequently these state

beds were composed of the most costly and magnificent materials. The prophetAmos speaks of ivory beds (Amos 6:4); ero had a golden one; that of the MogulAurungzeebe was jewelled; and, lastly, in the privy purse expenses of our ownprofligate Charles II., we read of a "silver bedstead for Mrs. Gwynn." And to thisday the state bedsteads in the viceregal palace at Cairo are executed in the samemetal, and are supposed to have cost upwards of 3,000 pounds sterling each. --From"The Biblical Museum", 1879.

10. Verse 3-5. Surely I will not Come, etc. These were all types and figures of Christ,the true David, who, in his desire of raising a living temple, and an everlastingtabernacle to God, spent whole nights in prayer, and truly, neither entered hishouse, nor went up into his bed, nor gave slumber to his eyelids, nor rest to histemples, and presented to himself "a glorious church, not having spot, nor wrinkle,nor any such thing", nor built "with corruptible gold or silver", but with his ownprecious sweat and more precious blood; it was with them he built that city inheaven that was seen by St. John in the Apocalypse, and "was ornamented with allmanner of precious stones." Hecen, we can all understand the amount of care, costand labour we need to erect a becoming temple in our hearts to God. --RobertBellarmine (1542-1621), in "A Commentary on the Book of Psalms."

4. I will allow no sleep to my eyes,4. I will allow no sleep to my eyes,4. I will allow no sleep to my eyes,4. I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids,

1. BAR ESk, “I will not give sleep to mine eyes ... - There is no difference herebetween the words sleep and slumber. The meaning is, that the house of the Lordshould be his first care.”

2. GILL . ot that he never would or did take any sleep till this thing was broughtabout he had so much at heart; but that he could not and would not suffer himself tosleep comfortably and quietly because of it. Aben Ezra interprets it of sleep at noon;the phrases express his great desire and solicitude to have this affair accomplished,and his eager and diligent pursuit of it; see Pro_6:4; of the eager desire of Christ tosuffer and die for his people, that they might be brought near to God, and be hisdwelling place, see Luk_12:50.”

3. Spurgeon, “I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to wine eyelids. He couldnot enjoy sleep till he had done his best to provide a place for the ark. It is a strongexpression, and it is not to be coolly discussed by us. Remember that the man was all

on fire, and he was writing poetry also, and therefore his language is not that whichwe should employ in cold blood. Everybody can see what he means, and howintensely he means it. Oh, that many more were seized with sleeplessness becausethe house of the Lord lies waste? They can slumber fast enough, and not evendisturb themselves with a dream, though the cause of God should be brought to thelowest ebb by their covetousness. What is to become of those who have no careabout divine things, and never give a thought to the claims of their God?”

5. till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."

1. BAR ES, “Until I find out a place for the Lord - A place for the ark of God; aplace where it may constantly and safely remain. The symbol of the divine presencerested on the mercy-seat, the cover of the ark, and hence, this was represented as theseat or the house of God.

An habitation for the mighty God of Jacob - Hebrew, “For the mighty One ofJacob.” The reference is to a permanent dwelling-place for the ark. It had beenmoved from place to place. There was no house appropriated to it, or rearedexpressly for it, and David resolved to provide such a house - at first, a tent ortabernacle on Mount Zion - and then, a more spacious and magnificent structure,the temple. The latter he was not permitted to build, though the purpose was in hisheart.”

2. CLARKE, “ The mighty God of Jacob - עביר יעקב abir yaacob, the Mighty One ofJacob. We have this epithet of God for the first time, Gen_49:24. Hence, perhaps,the abirim of the heathen, the stout ones, the strong beings.”

3. GILL .. To build a house on for the Lord; which it seems was unknown till thetimes of David; for though mention had been made of a place the Lord would chooseto cause his name to dwell in, yet the particular place was not pointed out,Deu_12:11. David was very solicitous to find it out, and did, 1Ch_22:1;

an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob; See Gill on Psa_132:2; or "habitations",or "tabernacles" (t); the temple, which is meant, consisting of three parts, the court,the holy place, and the holy of holies; this was typical of the human nature of Christ,the temple of his body, the tabernacle of God's pitching, Joh_2:19; in which thefulness of the Godhead dwells, the glory of God is seen, and through whom hegrants his presence to his people; and also of the church of God, the temple of theliving God, where he dwells and is worshipped: and that this might be a fithabitation for God was the great desire of the Messiah, and not only the end and

issue of his sufferings and death, but also the design of his preparations andintercession in heaven, Joh_14:2. “

4. SPURGEO , “Until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mightyGod of Jacob. He resolved to find a place where Jehovah would allow his worship tobe celebrated, a house where God would fix the symbol of his presence, andcommune with his people. At that time, in all David's land, there was no properplace for that ark whereon the Lord had placed the mercy seat, where prayer couldbe offered, and where the manifested glory shone forth. All things had fallen intodecay, and the outward forms of public worship were too much disregarded; hencethe King resolves to be first and foremost in establishing a better order of things.

Yet one cannot help remembering that the holy resolve of David gave to a place anda house much more importance than the Lord himself ever attached to suchmatters. This is indicated in athan's message from the Lord to the king -- "Go andtell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me todwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up thechildren of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in atabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israelspake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed mypeople Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?" Stephen in hisinspired speech puts the matter plainly: "Solomon built him an house. Howbeit theMost High dwelleth not in temples made with hands." It is a striking fact that truereligion never flourished more in Israel than before the temple was built, and thatfrom the day of the erection of that magnificent house the spirit of godlinessdeclined. Good men may have on their hearts matters which seem to them of chiefimportance, and it may be acceptable with God that they should seek to carry themout; and yet in his infinite wisdom he may judge it best to prevent their executingtheir designs. God does not measure his people's actions by their wisdom, or want ofwisdom, but by the sincere desire for his glory which has led up to them. David'sresolution, though he was not allowed to fulfil it, brought a blessing upon him: theLord promised to build the house of David, because he had desired to build thehouse of the Lord. Moreover, the King was allowed to prepare the treasure for theerection of the glorious edifice which was built by his son and successor. The Lordshows the acceptance of what we desire to do by permitting us to do something elsewhich his infinite mind judges to be fitter for us, and more honorable to himself.”

6. We heard it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of Jaar [a] : [b]

1. This verse has led to a great deal of struggle among commentators, and there is alengthy attempt to get to the bottom of it. For the average reader it will be acomplex and boring exercise to work their way through all of the reasoning toexplain this verse. If you will take my word for it, you can read this sentence andthe next comment by Dr. Temple, and then move on to the next verse. The essence ofthis verse is that the Ark of the Covenant was heard of by David in a place calledEphrathah, but was actually found in a place called Jaar.

1B. Dr. Joe Temple, "Surely I wouldn't be too far off base to say that some of youhave made a vow to God, that some of you have been moved to do somethingdefinite for God, but you have not fulfilled it. Could it be? God could be speaking toyou. He could be stirring you up. He could be causing this deep distress to come. Hecould be making you restless so that you will determine, by God's grace, to do thething about which he is speaking to your heart. Is it true? You are the only one whohas the answer.

Let us go back to the text and notice that if David was going to keep his vow it wasnecessary for him to make a diligent search. After the Ark of the Covenant left theoriginal Tabernacle, it was cast about from pillar to post. At one time the Philistinestook it and kept it for a while. Then one of their idols fell over in the middle of thenight. They assumed that it happened because they had the Ark there and they said,"Let's get rid of it."One of their priests told them how to send it back to Israel.While they were taking it back to Israel, someone became scared, went off and leftit, and a man took it home. It had no certain dwelling place.At this particular time David was not even sure where the Ark was, so he had tomake a diligent search. That diligent search is described in verse 6........David issaying in so many words, "We heard of it here, we heard of it there, and we finallyfound it out in the woods, not even protected and no one caring anything about it."David, I say, made a diligent search. It was a very difficult search because no oneknew where the Ark was."

1C. CALVI , “This verse is obscure, and we need not wonder at the difficultywhich interpreters have felt in ascertaining its meaning. First, the relative pronounbeing of the feminine gender has no antecedent, and we are forced to suppose that itmust refer to the word habitation in the foregoing sentence, although there it readshabitations, in the plural number. But the principal difficulty lies in the wordEphratha, because the Ark of the Covenant was never placed there. If the referencebe to past time, Shiloh should have been the place mentioned; but as it is plain thePsalmist speaks of its new residence, the question returns, why Ephratha and notZion is specified? Some would get rid of the difficulty by resorting to a frivolousconceit, That the place had two names, and that the plat of ground which was shownto David (2 Samuel 24:18; 1 Chronicles 21:18) was called Ephratha, because it wasfertile, on which account Jerome styles it karpoforian, and yet is not very consistentwith himself, for in another place, when he gets into his allegories, he most absurdly

interprets it to mean frenzy. I have no doubt whatever that the word comes fromhrp parah, which means to bear fruit; just as Bethlehem, which is situated in thesame quarter, was called for its fruitfulness "the house of bread." But anyconjecture founded upon the mere name of the place is necessarily unsatisfactory,and we must seek some more probable explanation. I might begin by mentioningone which is not without force. A rumor had spread that the Ark of the Covenantwas to be deposited in Ephratha, which was the place of David's nativity2, and wemay suppose at least that his native soil would seem to many the most appropriatelocality for the Ark and Sanctuary. We can easily understand how such an opinionshould get abroad. In that case the hearing referred to by the Psalmist alludes to thereport which had been circulated. Should this be taken as the meaning, the verbwould be in the pluperfect tense, we HAD heard that it was in Ephratha, but wefound it in the woods, that is, in a place by no means so attractive or well cultivated.Jerusalem might be said to be woody, because we know that it was surrounded bymountains, and that it was by no means in a part of the country which was noted forfruitfulness. There is another meaning which I would submit to the judgment of thereader. Let us suppose that the faithful here say that they had heard of its being inEphratha, because God had spoken still greater things of Ephratha than of Zion. Itis true that the memorable prediction (Micah 5:2) had not yet been given, yet it mayhave been that God had already issued some very great and signal prophecyregarding Bethlehem. We have heard, as if they had said, of Bethlehem, but it isonly as yet a dim expectation which we have in reference to that place, and in themeantime we must worship God in this place of the woods, looking forward to thefulfillment of the promise regarding Ephratha. This interpretation, however, is farfetched, nor would I venture to adopt it, or at least recommend it to others as theright one. The simpler way seems to be to understand the word Ephratha asapplying to David personally, and not so much to the place of that name, thedeclaration of the Psalmist being to this effect that now when God had chosen aking from Ephratha, the place would necessarily at the same time be marked out forthe Ark of the Covenant. It is said, have heard, for the fixing of the place of theSanctuary depended upon the will of God; nor until this was declared could mendetermine it according to their own fancy. The fact that now upon David's mountingthe throne this illustrious oracle concerning the permanent settlement of the Templewas to take effect, afforded good ground of thanksgiving. We have proof here thatthe people of God did not deposit the Ark at random in any place, but had expressdirections from God himself as to the place where he would be worshipped allproper worship proceeding from faith, while faith cometh by hearing. (Romans10:17.) Mount Zion had no peculiar excellencies almost to recommend it; but havingonce heard that it was the object of God's choice, they show that they consider itwrong to call the matter in question.”

2. BAR ES, “Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah - Most probably this is the language ofthe contemporaries of David; or this is what they might be supposed to say; or thisis what tradition reports that they did say. David’s purpose, as referred to in theprevious verses, is not recorded in the history, and the memory of the wholetransaction may have been handed down by tradition. Or, this may be merely poetic

language, expressing the feelings of those who, when sent out by David, oraccompanying him, found the ark. Much difficulty has been felt in regard to thisverse. There is no mention in the history of the fact that the ark was “heard of” atEphrata, or that it was ever there. The name Ephrata - אפרתה 'ephrâthâh - isapplied

(1) to a region of country to which was subsequently given the name Bethlehem,Gen_35:16-19; Rth_4:11.(2) Properly to Bethlehem, a city of Judah, the full name of which was Bethlehem-Ephratah, Gen_48:7; Mic_5:2.(3) It is a proper name, 1Ch_2:19, 1Ch_2:50; 1Ch_4:4.

(4) It may perhaps be the same as Ephraim.

Compare Jdg_12:5; 1Sa_1:1; 1Ki_11:26. Some have supposed the meaning to be,that they found it within the limits of the tribe of Ephraim, and that the wordEphratah is used here with reference to that; but this is a forced construction. Itmay have been indeed true that the ark was found within the limits of that tribe, butthe word Ephratah would not naturally denote this; and, besides, the tribe ofEphraim was so large, and covered such an extent of territory, that this wouldconvey no distinct information; and it cannot be supposed that the writer meant tosay merely that they found it within the limits of a tribe. or can it mean that theyactually found the ark at Ephrata, or Bethlehem, for this would not be true. Asimple and natural interpretation of the passage has been suggested, which seems tomake it plain: that, in their search for the ark, it was at Ephratah or Bethlehem thatthey first heard of it, but that they actually found it in the fields of the wood. It mayseem strange that there should have been so much uncertainty about the ark as ishere implied; that David did not know where it was; and that none of the priestsknew. But, while it must be admitted that it seems to be strange, and that the fact isnot of easy explanation, it is to he remembered that the ark was at one time in thepossession of the Philistines; that when it was retaken it seems to have had no verypermanent resting place; that it may have been removed from one spot to another ascircumstances required; that it may have been committed now to one, and now toanother, for safe keeping; and thus it might have occurred, in the unsettled andagitated state of affairs, that its exact situation might be unknown, and that asomewhat diligent search was necessary in order to find it We know too little of thetimes to enable us to pronounce upon the subject with much confidence.

We found it in the fields of the wood - Continuing our search, we found it there.Perhaps Kirjath-jearim, 1Sa_7:1; 1Ch_13:5. It was to Kirjath-jearim that the arkwas carried after it had been taken by the Philistines 1Sa_6:21. The literal meaningof the passage here is, “The fields of the wood” - or of Jear, where the word inHebrew is the same as in Kirjath-jearim. The name Kirjath-jearim means ForestTown, or, city of the woods; and the allusion here is the same as in 1Sa_7:1. Theinterpretation, then, seems to be that they heard of the ark, or learned where it was,when they were at Ephrata or Bethlehem; but that they actually found it in thevicinity of Kirjath-jearim. The ignorance in the case may have been merely inregard to the exact place or house where it was at that time kept. Bethlehem was thehome or city of David, and the idea is, that, when there, and when it wascontemplated to remove the ark to Mount Zion, information or intelligence was

brought there of its exact locality, and they went forth to bring it to its new abode orits permanent resting place.

3. CLARKE, “ Lo, we have heard of it at Ephratah - This may be considered as acontinuation of David’s vow, as if he had said: As I had determined to build atemple for the ark, and heard that it was at Ephratah, I went and found it in thefields of Jaar, יער; - not the wood, but Kirjath Jaar or Jearim, where the ark wasthen lodged; - and having found it, he entered the tabernacle, Psa_132:7; and then,adoring that God whose presence was in it, he invited him to arise and come to theplace which he had prepared for him.”

4, GILL , “Either of the ark which David and others had heard of, that it formerlywas at Shiloh, Jos_18:1; here called Ephratah, as some think; so the Ephraimitesare called Ephrathites, Jdg_12:5; and Elkanah of Ramathaimzophim, of MountEphraim, is said to be an Ephrathite, 1Sa_1:1; but this tribe the Lord chose not, butthe tribe of Judah, for his habitation; and rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, andremoved it from thence, Psa_78:60;

we found it in the fields of the wood; at Kirjathjearim, which signifies the city ofwoods; being built among woods, and surrounded with them: here the ark wastwenty years, and here David found it; and from hence he brought it to the house ofObededom, and from thence to Zion, 1Sa_7:1. Or else the place where the templewas to be built; which was not known till the times of David, who was of Ephratahor Bethlehem: here he was born and brought up; and here he was, as Aramasupposes, when it was revealed to him where the temple should be built. Accordingto R. Moses, the sense is, We have heard of it by the hand of David, who was ofEphratah: but Aben Ezra thinks the meaning is, that in former times men used tosay, We have heard from the mouths of the prophets that the chosen place was nearto Bethlehem Ephratah; only the precise place was not known, whether to the eastor west, or north or south, of Bethlehem. Some think that not any particular city isintended, but a country, even all the neighbourhood of Bethlehem Ephratah; andtook in Jerusalem, where the temple was built, it being but a few miles from theplace; so Adrichomius (u) says, the country round about Ephratah had its namefrom thence; see 1Ki_11:26. ow the place found for the building of the temple was"the fields of the wood", or the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite, and was onMount Moriah; David found by the order he had to build an altar here, and by theacceptance of his sacrifices, that this was the place for the house of God, 1Ch_22:1;and here Solomon built the temple, 2Ch_3:1; and which was formerly a woodyplace, as mountains generally are; and this seems to have been when Abrahamoffered his son on it, who then spied a ram caught in the thickets, Gen_22:2. TheTargum is,

"we found it in the field of the forest of Lebanon, the place where the ancient fathersprayed;''

the temple being built of the wood of Lebanon. But all this is to be understood of the

Lord, the mighty God of Jacob, who was heard of at Ephratah; the Shechinah, ofdivine Majesty; so Kimchi, Arama, and Ben Melech. And indeed the Messiah ismeant, the antitype of the ark and temple; of whom the saints or believers in him, achorus of which is here introduced, had heard that he should be born at Ephratah,which is Bethlehem; see Gen_35:19. And if this psalm was written by the captives inBabylon, they might have heard of this from the prophecy of Micah, Psa_5:2; theshepherds heard from the mouths of the angels that Christ was born there; and weChristians have heard the same, and know and believe it, Luk_2:4. And he has been"found in the fields of the wood"; in a low, mean, abject state, as this phrasesignifies; Eze_16:5. The shepherds found him rejected from being in the inn, therebeing no room for him, and lying in a manger, Luk_2:7; the angels found him in thewilderness, among the wild beasts of the field, Mar_1:13; nor had he theconvenience even of foxes, and birds of the air; had no habitation or place where tolay his head, Mat_8:20; And he is to be found in the field of the Scriptures, wherethis rich treasure and pearl of great price lies hid, Mat_13:44; and being preachedamong the Gentiles, after his incarnation, sufferings, death, resurrection, andascension, who are compared to wildernesses, and desert places, was found by manyof them, Isa_35:1; and which serves to set off with a foil his glory; being like theapple tree among the trees of the wood, Son_2:3.

5. KEIL, “In Psa_132:6 begins the language of the church, which in this Psalmreminds Jahve of His promises and comforts itself with them. Olshausen regardsthis Psa_132:6 as altogether inexplicable. The interpretation nevertheless has somesafe starting-points. (1) Since the subject spoken of is the founding of a fixedsanctuary, and one worthy of Jahve, the suffix of ׁשמענּוה (with Chateph as inHos_8:2, Ew. §60, a) and מצאנּוה refers to the Ark of the covenant, which is fem. alsoin other instances (1Sa_4:17; 2Ch_8:11). (2) The Ark of the covenant, fetched up outof Shiloh by the Israelites to the battle at Ebenezer, fell into the hands of the victors,and remained, having been again given up by them, for twenty years in Kirjath-Jearim (1Sa_7:1.), until David removed it out of this Judaean district to Zion(2Sa_6:2-4; cf. 2Ch_1:4). What is then more natural than that ׂשדי־יער is a poeticalappellation of Kirjath-Jearim (cf. “the field of Zoan” in Psa_78:12)? Kirjath-Jearimhas, as a general thing, very varying names. It is also called Kirjath-ha-jearim inJer_26:20 (Kirjath-'arim in Ezr_2:25, cf. Jos_18:28), Kirjath-ba'al in Jos_16:1-10 :50,Ba'alah in Jos_15:9; 1Ch_13:6 (cf. Har-ha-ba'alah, Jos_15:11, with Har-Jearim inJos_15:10), and, as it seems, even Ba'alê Jehudah in 2Sa_6:2. Why should it not alsohave been called Ja'ar side by side with Kirjath-Jearim, and more especially if themountainous district, to which the mention of a hill and mountain of Jearim points,was, as the name “city of the wood” implies, at the same time a wooded district? Wetherefore fall in with Kühnöl's (1799) rendering: we found it in the meadows ofJaar, and with his remark: “Jaar is a shortened name of the city of Kirjath-Jearim.”

The question now further arises as to what Ephrathah is intended to mean. This isan ancient name of Bethlehem; but the Ark of the covenant never was in Bethlehem.Accordingly Hengstenberg interprets, “We knew of it in Bethlehem (where Davidhad spent his youth) only by hearsay, no one had seen it; we found it in Kirjath-

Jearim, yonder in the wooded environs of the city, where it was as it were buried indarkness and solitude.” But (1) the supposition that David's words are continuedhere does not harmonize with the way in which they are introduced in Psa_132:2,according to which they cannot possibly extend beyond the vow that follows. (2) Ifthe church is speaking, one does not see why Bethlehem is mentioned in particularas the place of the hearsay. (3) We heard it in Ephrathah cannot well mean anythingelse than, per antiptosin (as in Gen_1:4, but without ּכי), we heard that it was inEphrathah. But the Ark was before Kirjath-Jearim in Shiloh. The former lay in thetribe of Judah close to the western borders of Benjamin, the latter in the midst ofthe tribe of Ephraim. ow since אפרתי quite as often means an Ephraimite as it doesa Bethlehemite, it may be asked whether Ephrathah is not intended of theEphraimitish territory (Kühnöl, Gesenius, Maurer, Tholuck, and others). Themeaning would then be: we had heard that the sacred Ark was in Shiloh, but wefound it not there, but in Kirjath-Jearim. And we can easily understand why thepoet has mentioned the two places just in this way. Ephrāth, according to its etymon,is fruitful fields, with which are contrasted the fields of the wood - the sacred Arkhad fallen from its original, more worthy abode, as it were, into the wilderness. Butis it probable, more especially in view of Mic_5:1, that in a connection in which thememory of David is the ruling idea, Ephrathah signifies the land of Ephraim? o,Ephrathah is the name of the district in which Kirjath-Jearim lay. Caleb had, forinstance, by Ephrath, his third wife, a son named Hûr (Chûr), 1Ch_2:19, This Hûr,the first-born of Ephrathah, is the father of the population of Bethlehem (1Ch_4:4),and Shobal, a son of this Hûr, is father of the population of Kirjath-Jearim(1Ch_2:50). Kirjath-Jearim is therefore, so to speak, the daughter of Bethlehem.This was called Ephrathah in ancient times, and this name of Bethlehem became thename of its district (Mic_5:1). Kirjath-Jearim belonged to Caleb-Ephrathah

(1Ch_2:24), as the northern part of this district seems to have been called indistinction from 5egeb-Caleb (1Sa_30:14).But מׁשּכנותיו in Psa_132:7 is now neither a designation of the house of Abinadab inKirjath-Jearim, for the expression would be too grand, and in relation to Psa_132:5even confusing, nor a designation of the Salomonic Temple-building, for theexpression standing thus by itself is not enough alone to designate it. What is meantwill therefore be the tent-temple erected by David for the Ark when removed toZion (2Sa_7:2, יריעה). The church arouses itself to enter this, and to prostrate itselfin adoration towards (vid., Psa_99:5) the footstool of Jahve, i.e., the Ark; and towhat purpose? The ark of the covenant is now to have a place more worthy of it; the1ּבית מנּוחה, i.e., the ,מנּוחה Ch_28:2, in which David's endeavours have throughSolomon reached their goal, is erected: let Jahve and the Ark of His sovereignpower, that may not be touched (see the examples of its inviolable character in1Sa_5:1-12, 1 Sam 6, 2Sa_6:6.), now enter this fixed abode! Let His priests who areto serve Him there clothe themselves in “righteousness,” i.e., in conduct that isaccording to His will and pleasure; let His saints, who shall there seek and findmercy, shout for joy! More especially, however, let Jahve for David's sake, Hisservant, to whose restless longing this place of rest owes its origin, not turn back theface of His anointed one, i.e., not reject his face which there turns towards Him inthe attitude of prayer (cf. Psa_84:10). The chronicler has understood Psa_132:10 as

an intercession on behalf of Solomon, and the situation into which we areintroduced by Psa_132:6-8 seems to require this. It is, however, possible that a morerecent poet here, in Psa_132:7-8, reproduces words taken from the heart of thechurch in Solomon's time, and blends petitions of the church of the present withthem. The subject all through is the church, which is ever identical althoughchanging in the persons of its members. The Israel that brought the sacred Ark outof Kirjath-Jearim to Zion and accompanied it thence to the Temple-hill, and nowworships in the sanctuary raised by David's zeal for the glory of Jahve, is one andthe same. The prayer for the priests, for all the saints, and more especially for thereigning king, that then resounded at the dedication of the Temple, is continued solong as the history of Israel lasts, even in a time when Israel has no king, but has allthe stronger longing for the fulfilment of the Messianic promise.”

6. SPURGEO , “Meanwhile, where was the habitation of God among men? He waswont to shine forth from between the cherubim, but where was the ark? It was likea hidden thing, a stranger in its own land.

Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah. Rumours came that it was somewhere in the land ofEphraim, in a temporary lodging; rather an object of dread than of delight. Is it notwonderful that so renowned a symbol of the presence of the Lord should belingering in neglect -- a neglect so great that it was remarkable that we should haveheard of its whereabouts at all? When a man begins to think upon God and hisservice it is comforting that the gospel is heard of. Considering the opposition whichit has encountered it is marvellous that it should be heard of, and heard of in a placeremote from the central city; but yet we are sorrowful that it is only in connectionwith some poor despised place that we do hear of it. What is Ephratah Who at thistime knows where it was? How could the ark have remained there so long?

David instituted a search for the ark. It had to be hunted for high and low; and atlast at Kirjathjearim, the forest city, he came upon it. How often do souls findChrist and his salvation in out of the way places! What matters where we meet withhim so long as we do behold him, and final life in him? That is a blessed Eurekawhich is embedded in our text -- "we found it." The matter began with hearing, ledon to a search, and concluded in a joyful find. "We found it in the fields of thewood." Alas that there should be no room for the Lord in the palaces of kings, sothat he must needs take to the woods. If Christ be in a wood he will yet be found ofthose who seek for him. He is as near in the rustic home, embowered among thetrees, as in the open streets of the city; yea, he will answer prayer offered from theheart of the black forest where the lone traveller seems out of all hope of hearing.The text presents us with an instance of one whose heart was set upon finding theplace where God would meet with him; this made him quick of hearing, and so thecheering news soon reached him. The tidings renewed his ardour, and led him tostick at no difficulties in his search; and so it came to pass that, where he couldhardly have expected it, he lighted upon the treasure which he so much prized.”

7. “We heard of it at Ephratah. This is commonly understood of Bethlehem, as thatplace had this name. But the ark never was at Bethlehem, at least we read of no suchthing. There was a district called by this name, or one closely resembling it, whereElkanah, Samuel's father, lived, and whence Jeroboam came, both of whom arecalled Ephrathites. 1 Samuel 1:1 1 Kings 11:26 . This was in the tribe of Ephraim,and is probably the place meant by the Psalmist. ow the ark had been for a longseries of years at Shiloh, which is in Ephraim, when it was taken to be present at thebattle with the Philistines, in which Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were slain,and when thirty thousand of the Israelites lost their lives, together with the captureof the ark. The frightful report of this calamity was brought to Eli, and occasionedhis instant death. This appears to be the event referred to in the words, "We heardof it at Ephratah"; and a grievous report it was, not likely to be soon forgotten.

We found it in the fields of Jaar. After the ark had been for some time in the land ofthe Philistines, they sent it away, and it came to Bethshemesh, in the tribe of Judah.1Sa 6:12. In the immediate vicinity of this place was also Kirjathjearim, i.e. the cityof Jaar, to which the ark was removed; for the Bethshemites were afraid to retain it,as many thousands of them had lost their lives, for the violation of the sanctity of theark, by looking into it. As this slaughter took place close by, if not in the fields ofJaar, the Psalmist, with reference to it, says, "We found it in the fields of Jaar."Having glanced at these two afflictive and memorable events, he goes on with hisdirect design, of encouraging the people to perform due honour to the ark, and tothe temple, by contrasting with the sad occurrences to which he had adverted theirpresent joy and prosperity. --William Walford, in "The Book of Psalms. A ewTranslation, with otes." 1837.

8. “We heard of it at Ephratah. The only explanation, equally agreeable to usage andthe context, is that which makes Ephratah the ancient name of Bethlehem (Genesis48:7), here mentioned as the place where David spent his youth, and where he usedto hear of the ark, although he never saw it till long afterwards, when he found it inthe fields of the wood, in the neighbourhood of Kirjathjearim, which name meansForest town, or City of the Woods. Compare 1 Samuel 7:1 with 2 Samuel 6:3-4 .--Joseph Addison Alexander.

9. “We heard of it at Ephratah, etc. Having prepared a sumptuous tabernacle, ortent, for the ark on Mount Zion, in the "City of David", a great national assemblywas summoned, at which all the tribes were invited to attend its removal to this newsanctuary. The excitement spread over all Israel. "We heard men say at EphratahBethlehem, in the south of the land, and we found them repeat it in the woodyLebanon", sings the writer of the 132nd Psalm, according to Ewald's rendering."Let us go into his tabernacle; let us worship at his footstool." The very words of thesummons were fitted to rouse the deepest feelings of the nation, for they were togather at Baalah, of Judah, another name for Kirjathjearim, to "bring up thence"to the mountain capital "the Ark of God, called by the name, the name of Jehovah

of Hosts that dwelleth between the cherubim": 2 Samuel 6:2 . It "had not beenenquired at in the days of Saul": but, when restored, the nation would have theirgreat palladium once more in their midst, and could "appear before God in Zion."and be instructed and taught in the way they should go.” --Cunningham Geikie, in"Hours with the Bible." 1881.

7. "Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool-

1. CALVI , “Here he dictates to all the Lord's people a common form of mutualexhortation to the duty of going up to the place which had been pointed out by theAngel. The clearer the intimation God may have given of his will, the more alacrityshould we show in obeying it. Accordingly, the Psalmist intimates that now when thepeople had ascertained beyond all doubt the place of God's choice, they shouldadmit of no procrastination, and show all the more alacrity as God was calling themmore closely, and with a more privileged familiarity, to himself, now that he hadselected a certain place of rest amongst them. He thus passes a virtual condemnationupon the lukewarmness of those whose zeal does not increase in proportion to themeasure of revelation which they enjoy. Habitations are spoken of in the pluralnumber, and this it may be (though we may doubt whether the Psalmist had suchminute distinctions in his eye) because there was in the temple an inner sanctuary, amiddle apartment, and then the court. It is of more importance to attend to theepithet which follows, where the Psalmist calls the Ark of the Covenant God'sfootstool, to intimate that the sanctuary could never contain the immensity of God'sessence, as men were apt absurdly to imagine. The mere outward temple with all itsmajesty being no more than his foot. stool, his people were called upon to lookupwards to the heavens and fix their contemplations with due reverence upon Godhimself. We know that they were prohibited from forming any low and carnal viewof him. Elsewhere, it is true, we find it called "God's face," (Psalm 28:8,) to confirmthe faith of the people in looking to this divine symbol which was set before them.Both ideas are brought out very distinctly in the passage before us, that, on the onehand, it is mere superstition to suppose God confined to the temple, and that, on theother hand, the external symbols are not without their use in the Church that, inshort, we should improve these as helps to our faith, but not rest in them. While Goddwells in heaven, and is above all heavens, we must avail ourselves of helps in risingto the knowledge of him; and in giving us symbols of his presence, he sets, as it were,his feet upon the earth, and suffers us to touch them. It is thus that the Holy Spiritcondescends for our profit, and in accommodation to our infirmity, raising ourthoughts to heavenly and divine things by these worldly elements. In reference to

this passage, we are called to notice the amazing ignorance of the Second Council of ice, in which these worthy weak Fathers3 of ours wrested it into a proof ofidolatry, as if David or Solomon commanded the people to erect statues to God andworship them. ow, that the Mosiac ceremonies are abolished we worship at thefootstool of God, when we yield a reverential submission to. his word, and rise fromthe sacraments to a true spiritual service of him. Knowing that God has notdescended from heaven directly or in his absolute character, but that. his feet, arewithdrawn from us, being placed on a footstool, we should be careful to rise to himby the intermediate steps. Christ is he not only on whom the feet of God rest, but inwhom the whole fullness of God's essence and glory resides, and in him, therefore,we should seek the Father. With this view he descended, that we might riseheavenward.”

2. BAR ES, “We will go into his tabernacles - His tents, or the fixed resting placeprepared for the ark. This is evidently language supposed to have been used onbringing up the ark into its place in Jerusalem: language such as they may besupposed to have sung or recited on that occasion.

We will worship at his footstool - See the notes at Psa_99:5. The meaning is, thefootstool of God: let us bow humbly at his feet. The language denotes profoundadoration. It expresses the feelings of those who bare the ark to its assigned place.”

3. GILL The tabernacles of him that was heard of at Ephratah; born in Bethlehem,and found in the ministry of the word among the Gentiles: enter into his churches,raised and formed there, which are the tabernacles or dwelling places of Christ;where he has his residence, takes his walks, and dwells; and which are very lovely,amiable, and pleasant, and so desirable by believers to go into; because of thepresence of God in them, the provisions there made for them, the company thereenjoyed; the work there done, prayer, praise, preaching, and hearing the word, andadministration of all ordinances. Some render it as a mutual exhortation, "let us gointo his tabernacles" (w); see Isa_2:2;

we will worship at his footstool; any place of worship on earth may be called thefootstool of God, with respect to heaven his throne, Isa_66:1; particularly the ark isso called, 1Ch_28:2; in which the law was; over which was the mercy seat, and overthat the cherubim of glory, and between them the Majesty of God dwelt; so that theark was properly his footstool: and all this being typical of Christ may direct us toobserve, that all religious, spiritual, and evangelic worship, is to be performed in hisname, and in the faith of him, and by the assistance of his grace and Spirit; seePsa_99:5.

4. SPURGEO , “We will go into his tabernacles. Having found the place where hedwells we will hasten thereto. He has many dwellings in one in the various courts ofhis house, and each of these shall receive the reverence due: in each the priest shalloffer for us the appointed service; and our hearts shall go where our bodies may notenter. David is not alone, he is represented as having sought for the ark with others,for so the word "we" implies; and now they are glad to attend him in his pilgrimage

to the chosen shrine, saying, "We found it, we will go." Because these are the Lord'scourts we will resort to them. We will worship at his footstool. The best orderedearthly house can be no more than the footstool of so great a King. His ark can onlyreveal the glories of his feet, according to his promise that he will make the place ofhis feet glorious: yet thither will we hasten with joy, in glad companionship, andthere will we adorn him. Where Jehovah is, there shall he be worshipped. It is wellnot only to go to the Lord's house, but to worship there: we do but profane histabernacles if we enter them for any other purpose.

Before leaving this verse let us note the ascent of this Psalm of degrees -- "Weheard ... we found ... we will go ... we will worship."

5. “We will go ... we will worship. ote their agreement and joint consent, which isvisible in the pronoun "we": "We will go." "We" taketh in a whole nation, a wholepeople, the whole world, and maketh them one. "We" maketh a commonwealth;and "we" maketh a church. We go up to the house of the Lord together, and wehope to go to heaven together. ote their alacrity and cheerfulness in going. Theirlong absence rendered the object more glorious. For, what we love and want, welove the more and desire the more earnestly. When Hezekiah, having been "sickunto death", had a longer lease of life granted him, he asketh the question, "What isthe sign" (not, that I shall live, but) "that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?"Isaiah 38:1-22. Love is on the wing, cheerful to meet its object; yea, it reacheth it ata distance, arid is united to it while it is afar off ... "We will go." We long to bethere. We will hasten our pace. We will break through all difficulties in the way.--Condensed from Anthony Farinclen.

6. “The Lord's "footstool" here mentioned was either the Ark of the Testimony itself,or the place at least where it stood, called Debir, or the Holy of Holies, towardswhich the Jews in their temple used to worship. The very next words argue so much:"Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength"; and it is plainout of 1 Chronicles 28:2 , where David saith concerning his purpose to have builtGod an house, "I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of thecovenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God", where the conjunction andis exegetical, and the same with that is. According to this expression the prophetJeremy also, in the beginning of the second of his Lamentations, bewaileth that "theLord had cast down the beauty of Israel" (that is, his glorious Temple), "andremembered not his footstool" (that is, the Ark of the Covenant), "in the day of hiswrath"; as Isa 60:7 64:11 Psalms 96:6.

That this is the true and genuine meaning of this phrase of worshipping the Lordtowards his footstool, besides the confessed custom of the time, is evidentlyconfirmed by a parallel expression of this worshipping posture (Psalms 28:2): "Hearthe voice of my supplications when I cry unto thee, when I lift up mine hands $fdqrybdÄla towards thy holy oracle": that is, towards the Most Holy place where the

ark stood, and from whence God gave his answers. For that rybd Debir, which ishere translated "oracle" was the Sanctum Sanctorum or Most Holy place, is clearout of the sixth and eighth chapters of the First Book of Kings; where in the formerwe read (Psalms 132:19) that "Solomon prepared the oracle or Debir, to set the arkof the covenant of the Lord there": in the latter (Psalms 132:6), that "the priestsbrought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of thehouse, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims." Whereforethe authors of the translation used in our Liturgy rendered this passage of thePsalm, "When I hold up my hands toward the mercy seat of thy holy temple";namely, having respect to the meaning thereof. Thus you see that one of the twomust needs be this scabellum pedum, or "footstool" of God, either the ark or mercyseat itself, or the adytum Templi, the Most Holy place, where it stood. For that it isnot the whole Temple at large (though it might be so called), but some thing or partof those that are within it the first Words of my text ("We will go into histabernacles") do argue. If, then, it be the ark (whose cover was that which we callthe mercy seat), it seems to have been so called in respect of God's sitting upon thecherubims, under which the ark lay, as it were his footstool: whence sometimes it isdescribed, "The ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, which sitteth upon thecherubims": 1 Samuel 4:4 . If the ark, with the cover thereof (the mercyseat), beconsidered as God's throne, then the place thereof, the Debir, may not unfitly betermed his "footstool." Or, lastly, if we consider heaven to be the throne of God, asindeed it is, then whatsoever place or monument of presence he hath here on earth isin true esteem no more than his "footstool." --Joseph Mede, 1586-1638.

7. Jim Bordwine, “This Psalm, as I noted, contains much information about God.But this Psalm also tells us a few important facts about those who worshiped Godnot only when this Psalm was sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, but alsomuch earlier during the time recounted in this Psalm-the time when the Temple wasdedicated. So, we really have two groups of worshipers represented in thisparticular song.

Those who worshiped God at the time of the Temple's dedication-at least thosewhose perspective is revealed in this Psalm-were people who believed that theLORD should be exalted, that He should receive glory and honor, and that Hispresence among them, symbolized in the Temple, was a thing to be celebrated.When considering how these people viewed God, the tone of this Psalm tells us thatthey adored Him. They wanted nothing more than to have the Temple in theirmidst, to have a permanent structure in their capitol city which declared thatJehovah dwells here and we are His people and we serve Him with glad hearts.

Moreover, these were people who were quick to recall the pious example of kingDavid as they honored the LORD. They believed that the LORD is pleased when Hispeople seek His glory and they were aligning themselves with the heritage of David,a heritage of humbly petitioning God and a heritage of earnestly desiring to honorHim. They quickly echoed the words and desires of David, but did so as if thosewords and desires were their own. They were in the spiritual line of David, a line of

true worshipers of Jehovah, a line of devout longing for the glory of God. ThisPsalm stands out as an example of selfless yearning for that which will magnify thename of the LORD. The construction and the dedication of the Temple werespiritual highpoints in the history of Israel. This Psalm reflects the worshipers ofGod at their best-celebrating His presence among them, calling upon Him to glorifyHimself by manifesting His righteousness and prompting joyful singing in Hisservants.”

8. arise, O LORD, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.

1.CALVI , “Such language as this, inviting the great God who fills heaven andearth to come into a new place of residence, might seem strange and harsh, but theexternal symbols of religion which God had appointed are spoken of in these exaltedterms to put honor upon them, and the better to ensure to them the regard of God'speople. Should God institute no medium of intercourse, and call us to a directcommunication with heaven, the great distance at which we stand from him wouldstrike us with dismay, and paralyze invocation. Although, therefore, he does notthereby change place himself, he is felt by us to draw sensibly nearer. It was thusthat he descended amongst his ancient people by the Ark of the Covenant, which hedesigned to be a visible emblem of his power and grace being present amongst them.Accordingly, the second clause of the verse is of an exegetical character, informingthe Church that God was to be understood as having come in the sense of making aconspicuous display of his power in connection with the Ark. Hence it is called theArk of his strength, not a mere dead idle shadow to look upon, but what certainlydeclared God's nearness to his Church. By the rest spoken of we are to understandMount Zion, because, as we shall see afterwards, God was ever afterwards to beworshiped only in that place.

2. BAR ES, “Arise, O Lord, into thy rest - Into that which is appointed for itspermanent place of repose, that it may no longer be removed from spot to spot. Thisis spoken of the ark, considered as the place where God, by an appropriate symbol,abode. That symbol - the Shechinah - rested on the cover of the ark. The samelanguage was used by Solomon at the dedication of the temple: “ ow, therefore,arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength,”2Ch_6:41.

Thou, and the ark of thy strength - The ark, the symbol of the divine power, as if thepower of God resided there, or as if the Almighty had his abode there. Perhaps thelanguage was derived from the fact that the ark, in the wars of the Hebrews againsttheir foes, was a symbol of the divine presence and protection - that by which thedivine power was put forth.”

3. CLARKE, “Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; thou and the ark of thy strength - Usingthe same expressions which Solomon used when he dedicated the temple, 2Ch_6:41,2Ch_6:42. There are several difficulties in these passages. Ephratah may mean thetribe of Ephraim; and then we may understand the place thus: “I have learned thatthe ark had been in the tribe of Ephraim, and I have seen it at Kirjath-jearim, orField of the woods, but this is not a proper place for it, for the Lord hath chosenJerusalem.” It is true that the ark did remain in that tribe from the days of Joshuato Samuel, during three hundred and twenty-eight years; and thence it was broughtto Kirjath-jearim, where it continued seventy years, till the commencement of thereign of David over all Israel.

But if we take Psa_132:6-8, not as the continuation of David’s vow, but as the wordsof the captives in Babylon, the explanation will be more plain and easy: “We haveheard, O Lord, from our fathers, that thy tabernacle was formerly a long time atShiloh, in the tribe of Ephraim. And our history informs us that it has been also atKirjath-jearim, the fields of the wood; and afterwards it was brought to Jerusalem,and there established: but Jerusalem is now ruined, the temple destroyed, and thypeople in captivity. Arise, O Lord, and reestablish thy dwelling-place in thy holycity!” See Calmet and others on this place.”

4. GILL, “Which words, and what follow, were used by Solomon at the dedicationof the temple; and with which he concluded his prayer, 2Ch_6:41; and so may be arequest to the Lord, that he would take up his residence in the temple built for him,where he would have a firm and stable place of rest; who, from the time of Israel'scoming out of Egypt, had not dwelt in a house; but had walked in a tent ortabernacle from place to place, 2Sa_6:6; and that he would take up his abode in hischurch, the antitype of the temple, and rest in his love there, and cause his people torest also; see Psa_132:13;

thou, and the ark of thy strength; the Targum is,

"thou, and the ark in which is thy law.''

This is sometimes called the strength of the Lord; because by it he showed his greatstrength in destroying the enemies of his people, the Philistines and others; seePsa_78:61. It was a type of Christ, who is the power of God, and the mighty God;and, as man, made strong by the Lord; and, as Mediator, has all strength in him forhis people. And so the words may be considered as a request to him, either to ariseand enter into his rest in heaven, having done his work of redemption and salvationhere on earth, for which he became incarnate; or to grant his presence with hischurch, and take up his rest there, and give them spiritual peace and rest for theirsouls.”

5. SPURGEO , “In these three verses we see the finders of the ark removing it to its

appointed place, using a formula somewhat like to that used by Moses when he said,

"Rise up, Lord", and again, "Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel."The ark had been long upon the move, and no fit place had been found for it inCanaan, but now devout men have prepared a temple, and they sing, Arise, O Lord,into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength. They hoped that now the covenantsymbol had found a permanent abode -- a rest, and they trusted that Jehovah wouldnow abide with it for ever. Vain would it be for the ark to be settled if the Lord didnot continue with it, and perpetually shine forth from between the cherubim. Unlessthe Lord shall rest with us there is no rest for us; unless the ark of his strength abidewith us we are ourselves without strength. The ark of the covenant is herementioned by a name which it well deserved; for in its captivity it smote its captors,and broke their gods, and when it was brought back it guarded its own honour bythe death of those who dared to treat it with disrespect. The power of God was thusconnected with the sacred chest. Reverently, therefore, did Solomon prayconcerning it as he besought the living God to consecrate the temple by his presence.It is the Lord and the covenant, or rather say the covenant Jehovah whose presencewe desire in our assemblies, and this presence is the strength of his people. Oh thatthe Lord would indeed abide in all the churches, and cause his power to be revealedin Zion.

6. Thou, and the ark of thy strength. "Both he that sanctifieth and they who aresanctified are all of one" Hebrews 2:11. ow Christ, our Great High Priest, is goneup into the holy resting place. Of him it is said, "Arise": for he arose from the dead,and ascended into heaven. And to his "ark", the church, it is said, "Arise": becausehe lives, all in him shall live also. --Edward Simms, in "A Spiritual Commentary onthe Book of Psalms", 1882.

7. The ark of thy strength. The historical records of the ark are numerous, anddeeply interesting. Miracles were often wrought at its presence. At the passage ofthe Jordan, no sooner were the feet of the priests which bare this holy vessel dippedin the brim of the river, than the waters rose up upon an heap, and the people ofGod passed over on dry ground -- "clean over Jordan": Joshua 3:14-17. At the siegeof Jericho, the ark occupied a most prominent position in the daily procession of thetribes around the doomed city ... It was, however, captured by the Philistines, andHophni and Phineas, Eli's wicked sons, in whose care it was placed, slain. Thus theLord "delivered his strength into captivity and his glory into the enemy's hand":Psalms 78:61. --Frank H. White, in "Christ in the Tabernacle", 1877.

8. Jim lBordwine, “The idea communicated here is that of stability and maturity.The worship place for the people of Israel was being fixed and this spoke of theirgrowth as a nation. This is all implied by the Hebrew word translated “restingplace” (menookhaw). It refers to a location characterized by quietness and comfort,a place where one may be at ease. This word is used in two primary ways in the OldTestament. First, it is used to describe the place where a traveler stops to rest andregain his strength after a journey; second, it is used to describe the spiritual restwhich God promises to His people at some future point. The idea, once again, is thatof reaching a place where you may relax because previous factors which prevented

your rest have been overcome. In our present context, the writer means toemphasize that Israel had reached a point of safety as a nation; now, the LORDcould come and “rest” in the midst of His people.

Here, then, is something else taught to us about God in this Psalm. God is One tocome and dwell with His people. This is a distinguishing characteristic of OldTestament revelation. In the very beginning of time, the Creator is seen dwellingwith His creatures. One of the glaring consequences of Adam's disobedience was theinterruption of this communion between God and His people. But from that pointon, God revealed His intention to restore that level of communion. It had to takeplace in a mediated form, due to sin, but this intention of God is clearly portrayed inIsrael's history. At the time of the dedication of the Temple, therefore, the piousJews recognized that something extraordinary was taking place. A structurerepresenting God's ongoing communion with the nation had been built. It was, to besure, a type of the eternal and perfect communion which is to come for God and Hispeople, but it still was a monumentally significant event when the Temple wascompleted and God was “invited” to come and dwell therein.”

9. May your priests be clothed withrighteousness; may your saints sing for joy."

1. One of the most common aspects of joy in the Old Testament is the singing of thesaints. It is a part of celebration. To have a celebration without singing would be likeAmericans trying to have a Forth of July celebration without fireworks. They gotogether, and cannot be imagined without each other. Song is the way humansexpress joy and thanksgiving to God. It is a part of our worship to express ourgratitude for the blessings we receive by his providence and grace. There is a reasonwhy the Psalms comprise the most chapters of any book in the Bible. They are thesongs for the saints to convey their feelings on just about any conceivable occasion.We need songs for every feeling and situation of life, for it is by means of singingthat we share our inner life with God.

1B. Jim Bordwine, “This short sentence tells us even more about God. It tells us oftwo essential qualities that are often mentioned in contexts having to do with theworship of the LORD. Those two qualities are righteousness and joy. Anycontemplation of God requires contemplation of His righteous character; and anycontemplation of God, if rightly directed, produces joy. Meditation on Godinevitably contains these two elements-an appreciation for His righteousness and anoverflowing joy as the heart tries to comprehend God's greatness and God's

goodness.

The standing Temple was a declaration from God that these were His people and Hewould dwell in their midst. It symbolized the restored communion of God and fallenman. All of the Temple rituals pointed to forgiveness as a result of mediation andsubstitution. The writer continues and repeats a few of the promises which Godmade concerning His resting place and those who would dwell with Him (cf. vv. 13-18). God would care for the needy and clothe His servants with salvation and givethem reason to sing aloud for joy. God would honor the house of David even as theenemies of the throne are left in shame. Overall, this event was most encouragingand must have been one of the highlights of Israel's history.”

2. CALVI , “He now prays in general for the prosperity of the Church, as whatstood intimately connected with the previous statement, the promotion of our bestinterests being the great end for which God dwells amongst us. Some construe thewords into a wish that the worship of God might be maintained in its purity, andthink that the Psalmist prays that the priests might be clothed with holiness inallusion to their sacred garments. Upon a closer view of the words and the wholecontext, I am rather inclined to be of another opinion, and to consider this a prayerthat the righteousness of God might be displayed amongst the people, being as anornament upon the priests, and communicating joy to all the people. Thus I takerighteousness to mean the fruit or effects of righteousness, and this therighteousness of God, not of men. The priests are of course mentioned first, asholding a higher place in the appointed order of the Church; while they have theirdue place assigned to them, it is still the Church collectively to which the prayerrefers as though the Psalmist requested that the glory of this righteousness shouldbe reflected from the priests upon the people generally. God:is said to clothe us withhis righteousness when he appears as our Savior and help, defends us by his power,and shows in his government of us that we are the objects of his care. The rejoicingwhich is spoken of must have reference to a life of happiness. And these two thingsbeing joined together may convince us that by righteousness nothing else is meantthan God's guardianship and government. Consistently with this we find it saidafterwards " Thy priests shall be clothed with salvation;" and I may add, thatSolomon:. in the solemn prayer already referred to, (2 Chronicles 6:41,) makes nomention of righteousness, but of salvation. I have repeatedly given the reason whythe saints of God are called Mydyox chasidim, or merciful ones, because mercy orbeneficence is that grace which assimilates us most to God.

3. “Arise, O Jehovah! were the words which Moses used ( umbers 10:35) wheneverin the journey through the wilderness the Ark moved forward; and this and the twofollowing verses form a part of the prayer which Solomon offered at the dedicationof the Temple, (2 Chronicles 6:41, 42,) which might be considered as the resting-place of God and of the Ark. The Ark is here called "the Ark of thy strength" thatis, the symbol of thy power and majesty. This phrase is found only in this place andin the passage above cited.” author unknown

4. BAR ES, “Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness - This is alsosubstantially the same language that was used by Solomon at the dedication of thetemple. See again 2Ch_6:41. The idea is, that in the service of such a God, thepriests, the ministers of religion, should be holy. The honor of religion demanded it.It was the first qualification of those who “served the altar;” a qualification withoutwhich all other endowments would be valueless. On the word clothed, see the notesat Psa_35:26; compare Psa_65:13; Psa_93:1; Psa_104:1; Isa_61:10; 1Pe_5:5.

And let thy saints shout for joy - Thy holy ones; all who truly worship and honorthee. Let them be happy in such a God; in thy presence; in thy service. The fact thatthere is a God, and such a God, and that this God is ours - that we may serve him,glorify him, enjoy him - is suited to fill the mind with joy.

5. GILL , “In 2Ch_6:41; it is, "with salvation", as in Psa_132:16. Either theministers of the word; who may be said to be clothed with righteousness when theyperform their work righteously, and faithfully dispense the word, keep back nothingthat is profitable, and administer the ordinances according to the rules of Christ;and when their lives and conversations are agreeable to the Gospel they preach; seeJob_29:14; or else all true believers; who are priests as well as kings unto God; andwho are clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness; and with the internal gracesof the Spirit, the new man created in righteousness and true holiness; and withconversation garments, becoming the Gospel, and their profession of it;

and let thy saints shout for joy; the Levites; thy Holy Ones, as the Targum; soKimchi, Arama, and others; the singers in the temple: but rather the Lord'ssanctified ones, true believers under the Gospel dispensation, are meant; who shoutfor joy, and have reason so to do, at the incarnation of Christ, at his ascension toheaven, at the Gospel preached by his ministers, and at the robe of righteousnesswith which they are clothed. In 2Ch_6:41 it is, "rejoice in goodness"; in thegoodness of the Lord; in the good things bestowed on them, or promised to them.

6. SPURGEO5, “Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness. o garment is soresplendent as that of a holy character. In this glorious robe our great High priest isevermore strayed, and he would have all his people adorned in the same manner.Then only are priests fit to appear before the Lord, and to minister for the profit ofthe people, when their lives are dignified with goodness. They must ever rememberthat they are God's priests, and should therefore wear the livery of their Lord,which is holiness: they are not only to have righteousness, but to bc clothed with it,so that upon every part of them righteousness shall be conspicuous. Whoever looksupon God's servants should see holiness if they see nothing else. ow, thisrighteousness of the ministers of the temple is prayed for in connection with thepresence of the Lord; and this instructs us that holiness is only to be found amongthose who commune with God, and only comes to them through his visitation oftheir spirits. God will dwell among a holy people; and on the other hand, where God

is the people become holy.

And let thy saints shout for joy. Holiness and happiness go together; where the oneis found, the other ought never to be far away. Holy persons have a right to greatand demonstrative joy: they may shout because of it. Since they are saints, and thysaints, and thou hast come to dwell with them, O Lord, thou hast made it their dutyto rejoice, and to let others know of their joy. The sentence, while it may read as apermit, is also a precept: saints are commanded to rejoice in the Lord. Happyreligion which makes it a duty to be glad! Where righteousness is the clothing, joymay well be the occupation.

7. “The prayer asks in behalf of the priests righteousness: the answer is, "I willclothe her priests with salvation", i.e., with what shows forth God's graciouscharacter. Caring for the interest of God, the worshiper finds his own interest fullycared for. And now, after spreading the Lord's pledged word (Psalms 132:11-12)before him, the worshiper hears the Lord himself utter the reply, q.d., "I will do allthat has been sought." --A. A. Bonar.

10. For the sake of David your servant, do not reject your anointed one.

1. CALVI , “Some would connect the first part of the verse with the preceding.without adducing reasons against this, it must at once strike the reader that thisverse must be taken together. Before entering upon an explanation of the Psalmist'smeaning I may just say that it would be to put a forced sense upon the words werewe to understand by turning away the face of thy Christ depriving us of a view ofthe Redeemer. We may infer with certainty from Solomon's prayer, that they are arequest that God would show favor to the king. The same expression is employed byBathsheba in the request which she made to her son Solomon, "Turn not away thyface," meaning that he would not cast her out of his sight. (1 Kings 2:20.) It is anexpression tantamount to shewing displeasure; and we might say a word or two inreference to it because the other idea of referring the words to our Redeemer isplausible, and might mislead persons of little discernment. othing more, then, ishere asked than that God would not despise and reject the prayers which David hadpreferred in the name of all the people. The favor is asked for David's sake, onlybecause God had made a covenant with him. So far as that privilege was concerned,he did not stand exactly upon the footing of any other ordinary man. The prayer, inshort, is to the effect that God in remembrance of his promise would show favor tothe posterity of David, for though this prayer for the Church must be considered as

dictated to each of the kings, the foundation was in the person of David. The Churchwas thus taught figuratively that Christ, as Mediator, would make intercession forall his people. As yet he had not appeared in the flesh, nor entered by the sacrifice ofhimself into the Holiest of all, and in the meantime the people had a figurativeMediator to embolden them in their supplications.”

2. BAR ES, “For thy servant David’s sake - Because of the promise made to him;because of the zeal which he has shown in securing a place for the ark. Let it not bein vain that he has shown such a regard to the honor of God; let not the promisesmade to him fail. Such a prayer is proper now. There is nothing wrong in ourbeseeching God to carry out and accomplish the purposes cherished by his churchfor promoting the honor of his name; or for a child to pray that the purposes of apious parent in regard to himself may not fail. It is an expression of nature - a desirethat the labor and sacrifices of those who have gone before us should not be lost.This is the language of the author of the psalm, and of those for whom the psalmwas composed. See Psa_132:1. In view of all that David has done, do thou now showfavor and mercy.

Turn not away the face of thine anointed - As if in displeasure, or in forgetfulness.The word anointed would refer to one who was set apart as a king, a priest, or aprophet. See the notes at Mat_1:1. The word would be applicable to David himself,as the anointed king; in a higher sense it is applicable to the Messiah, the Christ.The reference here is probably to David himself, as if a failure to carry out hispurposes in regard to the sanctuary, or to fulfill the promises made to him, would bea turning away the face from him; would be a mark of the divine displeasure againsthim. The prayer is, that God would carry out those purposes as if his face wascontinually turned with benignity and favor toward David.”

3. GILL , “ ot for any virtues, or excellencies or merits, of David, literallyunderstood; rather for the sake of the covenant and promises made with him: butfor the sake of the antitypical David, the Messiah, the son of David according to theflesh, and the servant of the Lord as Mediator; for whose sake, and in whose name,prayers and supplications are made and presented;

turn not away the face of thine anointed; not David; rather Solomon, as theTargum expresses it; so Jarchi: but any of the Lord's anointed, every Christian, orbeliever in Christ, is an anointed one; and has received the unction from the HolyOne, the oil of true grace. And the request is, that God would not turn such awayfrom him, and cause them to depart from his throne of grace, ashamed anddisappointed; but hear and answer their petitions, for his Son's sake. In 2Ch_6:42;it is added, "remember the mercies of David thy servant"; the kind and good thingspromised to him, and perform them.”

4. SPURGEO , “For thy servant David's sake turn not away the face of thine

anointed. King Solomon was praying, and here the people pray for him that his facemay not be turned away, or that he may not be refused an audience. It is a dreadfulthing to have our face turned away from God, or to have his face turned away fromus. If we are anointed of the Spirit the Lord will look upon us with favour. Speciallyis this true of Him who represents us, and is on our behalf the Christ -- the trulyanointed of the Lord. Jesus is both our David and God's anointed; in him is found infulness that which David received in measure. For his sake all those who areanointed in him are accepted. God blessed Solomon and succeeding kings, forDavid's sake; and he will bless us for Jesus' sake. How condescending was the Son ofthe Highest to take upon himself the form of a servant, to be anointed for us, and togo in before the mercyseat to plead on our behalf! The Psalm sings of the ark, and itmay well remind us of the going in of the anointed priest within the veil: alldepended upon his acceptance, and therefore well do the people pray, "Turn notaway the face of thine anointed."

Thus, in these three verses, we have a prayer for the temple, the ark, the priests, theLevites, the people, and the king: in each petition there is a fulness of meaning wellworthy of careful thought. We cannot plead too much in detail; the fault of mostprayers is their indefiniteness. In God's house and worship everything needs ablessing, and every person connected therewith needs it continually. As Davidvowed and prayed when he was minded to house the ark, so now the prayer iscontinued when the temple is consecrated, and the Lord deigns to fill it with hisglory. We shall never have done praying till we have done needing.”

5. “For thy servant David's sake. Solomon's plea for the divine blessing to rest uponhim as king, "For thy servant David's sake", was justified in its use by God: Isaiah37:35. It gives no countenance to the idea of intercession on the part of deceasedsaints; for it is not a prayer to David, but a pleading with God for the sake of David. or does it support the idea of works of supererogation on the part of David; it onlyimplies a special divine delight in David, on account of which God was pleased tohonour David's name during succeeding generations; and if the delight itself is puregrace, the expression of it, in any way, must be grace. or does it even givecountenance to the idea that God's converting and saving grace may be expected byany man because his parents or ancestors were delighted in by God; for a plea ofthis character is in Scripture strictly confined to two instances, Abraham and David,with both of whom a special covenant was made, including their descendants, and itwas just this covenant that authorised the use of the plea by those who by promisewere specially interested, and by none others, and for the ends contemplated by thecovenant. But it did prefigure the great Christian plea, "For Christ Jesus' sake";just as God's selection of individual men and making them centres of revelation andreligion, in the old time; prefigured "The man Christ Jesus" as the centre and basisof religion for all time. Hence in the plea, "For Christ's sake", the old pleas referredto are abolished, as the Jewish ritual is abolished. Christ bids us use His name: John16:13-14,20, etc. To believe the false notions mentioned above, or to trust in anyother name for divine, gracious favour, is to dishonour the name of Christ. "ForChrist's sake" is effective on account of the great covenant, the merits of Christ, andhis session in heaven. --John Field (of Sevenoaks), 1883.

6. For thy servant David's sake. The frequency with which God is urged to hear andanswer prayer for David's sake (1 Kings 11:12-13 15:4 2 Kings 8:19 , etc.), is not tobe explained by making David mean the promise to David, nor from the personalfavour of which he was the object, but for his historical position as the greattheocratic model, in whom it pleased God that the old economy should reach itsculminating point, and who is always held up as the type and representative of theMessiah, so that all the intervening kings are mere connecting links, and their reignsmere repetitions and continuations of the reign of David, with more or lessresemblance as they happened to be good or bad. Hence the frequency with whichhis name appears in the later Scriptures, compared with even the last of hissuccessors, and the otherwise inexplicable transfer of that name to the Messiahhimself. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

7. “For thy servant David's sake. When Sennacherib's army lay around Jerusalembesieging it, God brought deliverance for Israel partly out of regard to the prayer ofthe devout Hezekiah, but partly also out of respect for the pious memory of David,the hero king, the man after God's own heart. The message sent through Isaiah tothe king concluded thus: "Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king ofAssyria, he shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come beforeit with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shallhe return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend thiscity, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake": 2 Kings 19:32- 34. What a respect is shown to David's name by its being thus put on a level withGod! Mine own sake, and David's sake. --Alexander Balmain Bruce, in "TheGalilean Gospel", 1882.

8. Thine anointed. What is meant by "thine anointed"? Is it David himself; or somedefinite king among his merely human descendants; or does it apply to each or anyof them as they come into office to bear the responsibilities of this line of anointedkings? I incline to the latter construction, under which the petition is applicable toany one or to all the anointed successors of David. For David's sake let every one ofthem be admitted to free audience before thee, and his prayer be evermore availing.The context contemplates a long line of kings descended from David. It waspertinent to make them all the subjects of this prayer.” --Henry Cowles.

11. The LORD swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: "One of your own descendants I will place on your throne-

1. CALVI , “Here he brings out the idea still more clearly, that the only thing hehad respect to in David was the free promise which God had made to him. He takesnotice of the fact, as confirmatory to his faith, that God had ratified the promise byoath. As to the particular words used, he speaks of God having sworn in truth, thatis, not fallaciously, but in good faith, so that no doubt could be entertained of hisdeparting from his word. The thing promised was a successor to David of his ownseed; for though he did not want children, he had already almost despaired of theregular succession, from the fatal confusions which prevailed in his family, and thediscord which internally rent his household, and might eventually ruin it. Solomonwas particularly marked out, but the promise extended to a continuous line ofsuccessors. This arrangement affected the welfare of the whole Church, and not ofDavid only, and the people of Godare encouraged by the assurance, that thekingdom which he had established amongst them was possessed of a sacred andenduring stability. Both king and people needed to be reminded of this divinefoundation upon which it rested. We see how insolently the sovereigns of this worldoften deport themselves filled with pride, though in words they may acknowledgethat they reign by the grace of God. How often, besides, do they violently usurp thethrone; how rarely do they come to it in a regular manner. A distinction is thereforedrawn between the kingdoms of this world and that which David held by the sacredtenure of God's own oracle.

2. BAR ES, “The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David - He has made a graciouspromise, confirmed by an oath, which we may plead in our present necessities. Thatpromise was made “in truth,” that is, sincerely - so that it will certainly be carriedout - so that we may appeal to God, on the ground of his faithfulness, to keep hisword. He will not turn from it - We may be certain that he will carry it out. We mayappeal to him on the basis of that promise with the utmost confidence.

Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne - Margin, as in Hebrew, “of thybelly.” The throne would descend to his posterity, 2Sa_7:12; see the notes atPsa_89:3-4.

3. CLARKE , “The Lord hath sworn - As David sware to the Lord, so the Lordswears to David that he will establish his throne, and place his posterity on it: andthat he had respect to David’s Antitype, we learn from St. Peter, Act_2:30 (note),where see the note. This verse with the following refers to the spiritual David, andthe Christian Church.

4. GILL , “By athan the prophet; when he assured him that his house, kingdom,and throne, should be established for ever, 2Sa_7:5; and though there is no mentionmade of the oath of God, no doubt there was one; or however his word was his oath,as Kimchi observes: besides, the Apostle Peter is express for it that there was one,which was added to his word for the confirmation of it; who is said to swear byhimself, because there is no greater; and sometimes by one or other of hisperfections, as by his holiness elsewhere; so here in or by his truth, his faithfulness,being the God of truth that cannot lie. Or it may be rendered, "the Lord hath sworntruth unto David" (x); that which is truth: and we may be assured he could not

possibly assert or swear anything else; see Psa_89:3;

he will not turn from it; change his mind, repent of his oath; make it void, or notfulfil it; for he is unchangeable in his perfections, purposes, and promises; whateverhe says and swears to he will certainly perform;

of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne; a king upon thy throne, as theTargum: meaning not Solomon; though it is true that the Lord chose him, above allthe sons of David, to be his successor in the kingdom, and did place him upon histhrone before his death; but a greater than Solomon is here, even the Messiah; as isclear from the testimony of the Apostle Peter, Act_2:30, by which it appears notonly that this promise and oath relate to the Messiah; but that David knew they did,and so understood them; and which have been fulfilled in Jesus of azareth: who, ashe was notoriously the fruit of David's body according to the flesh, or his humannature; or was of his seed, being born of the Virgin Mary, who lineally descendedfrom him; so he was set upon the throne of David, as it was foretold both by theprophet Isaiah, and by the angel to the virgin, he should, Isa_9:6, Luk_1:32; not in aliteral sense; for though he was no doubt right heir to the throne of David sounderstood, yet his kingdom was not of this world; but he was set as King overGod's holy hill of Zion, the church; and reigned over the house of Jacob, the wholeIsrael of God; the mystical and spiritual Israel, consisting of Jews and Gentiles: histhrone, or the seat of his kingdom, is the church; his sceptre the Gospel; his crownthe glory true believers in him give him; his laws, by which he rules, are its his word,and written in the hearts of his subjects; and his kingdom shall continue for ever.”

5. HE RY , “These are precious promises, confirmed by an oath, that the heirs ofthem might have strong consolation, Heb_6:17, Heb_6:18. It is all one whether wetake them as pleas urged in the prayer or as answers returned to the prayer;believers know how to make use of the promises both ways, with them to speak toGod and in them to hear what God the Lord will speak to us. These promises relateto the establishment both in church and state, both to the throne of the house ofDavid and to the testimony of Israel fixed on Mount Zion. The promises concerningZion's hill are as applicable to the gospel-church as these concerning David's seedare to Christ, and therefore both pleadable by us and very comfortable to us. Hereis,I. The choice God made of David's house and Zion hill. Both were of divineappointment.1. God chose David's family for the royal family and confirmed his choice by anoath, Psa_132:11, Psa_132:12. David, being a type of Christ, was made king with anoath: The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, will not turn from it. Did David swearto the Lord (Psa_132:2) that he would find him a house? The Lord swore to Davidthat he would build him a house; for God will be behind with none of his people inaffections or assurances. The promise made to David refers, (1.) To a longsuccession of kings that should descend from his loins: Of the fruit of thy body will I

set upon thy throne, which was fulfilled in Solomon; David himself lived to see it with

great satisfaction, 1Ki_1:48. The crown was also entailed conditionally upon hisheirs for ever: If thy children, in following ages, will keep my covenant and my

testimony that I shall teach them. God himself engaged to teach them, and he did hispart; they had Moses and the prophets, and all he expects is that they should keepwhat he taught them, and keep to it, and then their children shall sit upon thy throne

for evermore. Kings are before God upon their good behaviour, and theircommission from him runs quamdiu se bene gesserint - during good behaviour. Theissue of this was that they did not keep God's covenant, and so the entail was atlength cut off, and the sceptre departed from Judah by degrees. (2.) To an everlastingsuccessor, a king that should descend from his loins of the increase of whose

government and peace there shall be no end. St. Peter applies this to Christ, nay, hetells us that David himself so understood it. Act_2:30, He knew that God had sworn

with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise

up Christ to sit on his throne; and in the fulness of time he did so, and gave him the

throne of his father David, Luk_1:32. He did fulfill the condition of the promise; hekept God's covenant and his testimony, did his Father's will, and in all thingspleased him; and therefore to him, and his spiritual seed, the promise shall be madegood. He, and the children God has given him, all believers, shall sit upon the throne

for evermore, Rev_3:21.

6. SPURGEO5, “Here we come to a grand covenant pleading of the kind which isalways prevalent with the Lord. The LORD hath sworn in truth unto, David. Wecannot urge anything with God which is equal to his own word and oath. Jehovahswears that our faith may have strong confidence in it: he cannot forswear himself.He swears in truth, for he means every word that he utters; men may be perjured,but none will be so profane as to imagine this of the God of truth. By athan thiscovenant of Jehovah was conveyed to David, and there was no delusion in it. He willnot turn from it. Jehovah is not a changeable being. He never turns from hispurpose, much less from his promise solemnly ratified by oath. He turneth never.He is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. What arock they stand upon who have an immutable oath of God for their foundation! Weknow that this covenant was really made with Christ, the spiritual seed of David, forPeter quotes it at Pentecost, saying, "Men and brethren, let me freely speak untoyou of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre iswith us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had swornwith an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he wouldraise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection ofChrist." Christ therefore sits on a sure throne for ever and ever, seeing that he haskept the covenant, and through him the blessing comes upon Zion, whose poor areblessed in him. Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. Jesus sprang fromthe race of David, as the evangelists are careful to record; he was "of the house andlineage of David": at this day he is the King of the Jews, and the Lord has also givenhim the heathen for his inheritance. He must reign, and of his kingdom there shallbe no end. God himself has set him on the throne, and no rebellion of men or devilscan shake his dominion. The honour of Jehovah is concerned in his reign, and

therefore it is never in danger; for the Lord will not suffer his oath to bedishonored.”

7. The LORD hath sworn. The most potent weapon with God is his own word. Theyremind him, therefore, as did Ethan in Psalms 89:20, etc., of the solemn wordswhich he had spoken by athan, and which must at that time have been still fresh inthe memory of all. Solomon, too, made mention of those glorious words of comfortin his prayer at the dedication of the temple. --Augustus F. Theluck.

8. This Psalm is one of those fifteen which are called Psalms of Degrees; of which title

whatsoever reason can be given fitting the rest, surely if we consider the argument ofthis, it may well import the excellency thereof, and why? It is nothing else but asacred emulation, wherein God and a king contend; the king in piety, God inbounty. The king declares himself to be a most eminent pattern of zeal, and Godhimself to be a most magnificent rewarder of his servants. The king debars himselfof all worldly content, while he is busily providing to entertain God; and God, whofills heaven and earth, vouchsafes to lodge in that place which was provided by theking. The king presents his supplication not only for himself, but also for his charge,the priests, the people; and God restrains not his blessing to the king, but also at hissuit enlargeth it to church and commonweal. Finally, the king bindeth himself tomake good his duty with a votive oath, and God stipulates again with an oath thatwhich he promised both to king and kingdom: to the kingdom in the words thatfollow; but to the king in those that I have now read to you.

This speech, then, is directed unto the king, unto David; but it containeth a blessingwhich redounds unto his issue, "the fruit of his body." This blessing is no less than aroyal succession in the throne of David: David's sons shall inherit it, but it is Godthat states them in it. They shall sit, but I will set them, yea, so set them that theyshall never fall; they shall sit for ever; the succession shall be perpetual. Andhitherto the promise runs absolute: it is qualified in that which followeth.

The king was busy to build God's house; and see how God answers him, promisingthe building of the king's house! God requites a building with a building. There is avery apt illusion in the word, upon which the son of Syrach also plays, when hesaith, that children and the building of a city make a perpetual name; how muchmore if they be a royal offspring, that are destined to sit upon a throne? And Godpromises David sons for this honourable end -- "to sit upon his throne." -- ArthurLake, --1626.

9. Dr. Joe Temple, “This particular psalm does not reveal what happened betweenverses 11 and 12. Between verses 11 and 12, the Bible records that God visited Davidand said to him, "David, I want you to know something. I appreciate your desire. Iappreciate your determination, but I am not going to let you do what you want todo. As far as the reward is concerned, it is just the same as if you did it because youwanted to. You would if I would let you, but I am not going to let you. I have otherplans." David might have bowed his head, tears might have come to his eyes, and hemight have said, "But, Lord, I have wanted to do this for you." God answers, "Youare not going to lose anything by it." That is the reason why I suggest that, in the

paragraph which begins with verse 11 and concludes with verse 18, we find a divinereciprocation. (You want to do something for God and God does something inreturn.) Give God a chance and you will find it is true. When you want to dosomething for God, He always wants to and He always does do something better foryou.”

10. Warren Wiersbe, “What is the consuming ambition of your life? What is thedream that fills your mind and heart? King David's dream was to build a temple forthe Lord. He tells us about it in this psalm. I wish more people had this samewonderful ambition--to be builders, not destroyers.

During much of his life, David was a soldier. He defended Israel from her enemiesand brought about peace in the land. But then he wanted to turn from battling tobuilding. He wanted to exchange the sword for a trowel. He said, "I am not going tohave any sleep until I find a place for God to dwell."

But God did not allow David to fulfill this high and holy ambition. Solomon, his son,built the temple instead. David was disappointed at first but then said, "If this is thewill of God, I'll accept it." Then he did the most wonderful thing: he helped the nextgeneration build the temple. David provided the plans and millions of dollars ingold, silver, precious stones, bronze and iron.

We may not fulfill all of our plans and ambitions, but we can do the next best thing.If God doesn't let us accomplish our goals, let's help somebody else meet his goals.Let's pay the bill. Let's give our wisdom. Let's encourage. We can't do everything,but we can do something.”

12 if your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever."

1. CALVI , “More distinct. notice is now taken of the descending line, by which theperpetuity of the succession, as I have already shown, is pointed out. Sons of princescommonly succeed them in this world by right of inheritance, but there was thisundoubted peculiarity of privilege in the case of David's kingdom, that Godexpressly declared that he would always have a descendant from his body upon thethrone, not for one age merely, but for ever. For though that kingdom was for a

time destroyed, it was restored again, and had its everlasting establishment inChrist. Here the question occurs Did the continuance of the kingdom rest upongood conduct, or human merit? for the terms of this agreement would seem tosuggest that God's covenant would not be made good, unless men faithfullyperformed their part, and that thus the effect of the grace promised was suspendedupon obedience. We must remember, in the first place, that the covenant wasperfectly gratuitous, so far as related to God's promise of sending a Savior andRedeemer, because this stood connected with the original adoption of those to whomthe promise was made, which was itself free. Indeed the treachery and rebellion ofthe nation did not prevent God from sending forth his Son, and this was a publicproof that he was not influenced by the consideration of their good conduct. HencePaul says, (Romans 3:3,)

"What if some did not believeis therefore the truth of God of none effect?"

intimating that God had not withdrawn his favor from the Jews, having chosenthem freely of his grace. We know, too, that notwithstanding their efforts, as if ithad been of set purpose, to destroy the promises, God met their malicious oppositionwith displays of his marvellous love, made his truth and faithfulness to emerge in amost triumphant manner, and showed that he stood firm to his own purpose,independently of any merit of theirs. This may serve to show in what sense thecovenant was not conditional; but as there were other things which were accessoriesto the covenant,2 a condition was appended, to the effect that God would bless themif they obeyed his commandments. The Jews, for declining from this obedience,were removed into exile. God seemed at that time "to make void or profane hiscovenant," as we have seen elsewhere. The dispersion was a kind of breaking of thecovenant, but only in part and to appearance. This will be brought out more clearlyby reference to what we learn, from sacred history, to have occurred shortly afterDavid's death. By the defection of the ten tribes the kingdom suffered a severe blow,only a small portion of it being left. Afterwards it was reduced by fresh disasters, tillat length it was torn up by the root. And although their return from the captivitygave some hope of restoration, there was no one bearing the name of king, and anydignity that attached to Zerubbabel was but obscure, till kings sprung up who werespurious, and not of the right line. In this case would we not have said that thecovenant of God was abolished? and yet, as the Redeemer came forth from the verysource predicted, it is plain that it stood firm and stable. In this sense it is said byEzekiel of the crown, (Ezekiel 21:26,)

"Remove the diadem; reversed, reversed, reversed shall it be,till he come whose it is;"

where the Prophet might seem to cancel what God had written with his own hand,and nullify his promise, for the safety of the people stood intimately connected withthe throne, according to the expression we find in the Lamentations,

"The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord,was taken in their pits." (Lamentations 4:20)

The Prophet, we say, might seem to strike directly against the covenant made byGod, when he speaks of the crown being taken away, and yet what he adds in thesubsequent part of the sentence, proves that covenant, in so far as it was gratuitous,to have been everlasting and inviolable, since he holds out the promise of theRedeemer, notwithstanding the conduct of the Jews, which was such as to excludethem temporarily from the divine, favor. God, on the one hand, took vengeanceupon the people for their ingratitude, so as to show that the terms of the covenantdid not run conditionally to no purpose; while on the other, at the coming of Christthere was a free performance of what had been freely promised, the crown being setupon Christ's head. The obedience which God demands is particularly stated to bethe obedience of his covenant, to teach us that we must not serve him by humaninventions, but confine ourselves within the prescription of his word.”

1B. John Schmidt, “Here is a promise that God makes, a very serious promise thathe will bless Israel abundantly. He will bless them materially. He will take David'ssons and his grandchildren and keep them on the throne. This will be a lineage, adynasty, and their enemies will be conquered and there will be this sense that God ispresent here, and there will be blessing that bubbles up and overflows because ofGod's promise. But here there is a big if, and it comes in Verse 12. "If your sonskeep my covenant and statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throneforever and ever." David you've been faithful, your son is going to sit on the throneand then if he is faithful and his sons are faithful then that will continue out thereand what is not absolutely said, but is clearly said in other places of scriptures isthat if they don't do that the blessing won't come. And indeed, that's whathappened. By the second generation after David disobedience had become sosignificant that the nation began to fracture and within generations they were takenover by their enemies and they were in exile. It's all because of an if; if they obey.”

1C. Schmidt goes on to quote another “if” by Jesus, and it was not fulfilled, and theresult was judgment rather than blessing. "If you, even you, had only known onthis day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The daywill come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you andencircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, youand the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another,because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." God's blessingsalways come with a hugh “if” attached, and if we are not conscious of our role infulfilling that if, we will lose out on God's best.

2. BAR ES, “If thy children will keep my covenant ... - This was the conditionimplied in the promise - that they were to keep the law of God, and to serve andobey him. If they did not, they could not, of course, plead the promise. Thisprinciple is universal. We cannot plead any promise of God in our behalf, or inbehalf of our children, unless we obey his commands, and are ourselves faithful tohim. See the sentiment in this verse illustrated in the notes at Psa_89:30-37.

3. CLARKE, “If thy children will keep my covenant - This was conditional withrespect to the posterity of David. They have been driven from the throne, becausethey did not keep the Lord’s covenant, but the true David is on the throne, and hisposterity forms the genuine Israelites.

4. GILL, “ The former part of the promise and oath is absolute, respecting theMessiah; but this is conditional, and relates to the seed of David, both immediate,and in succeeding generations; proposing their observance of the law of God, as thecondition of their enjoying the kingdom after him. By the "covenant" and"testimony" are meant the same thing; the law, which was given to the people ofIsrael in the form of a covenant, and was a testimony of the will of God to them: inthis the kings of Israel were to read continually, and conduct according to it in theirpersonal walk and conversation, and by it to rule the people they were set over; andwhich the Lord promises to teach them by his prophets, whose business it was not topromulgate new laws, but to explain what were given. ow in case this was attendedto, and the instructions of prophets observed, then thus it would be,

their children also shall sit upon thy throne for evermore; but, the condition notbeing fulfilled, this did not take place: Solomon, his immediate successor, fell intoidolatry in the latter part of his life; and Rehoboam, his son, slighted the advice ofthe old men, founded upon the laws of God, and ten tribes revolted from him:several succeeding kings of Judah, of the house of David, were very wicked princes;and the race of them ended in Zedekiah, who was carried captive into Babylon.Indeed all this is true of Christ and his spiritual offspring; he kept the covenant ofgrace made with his divine Father; and the law or testimony; and fulfilled it in theroom and stead of his people; and did the whole will and work of his Father, and inall things pleased him: and his children also lay hold by faith on the covenant andthe promises of it; and receive, observe, and retain the testimony of the Gospel; andshall reign with Christ, on the same throne with him, for ever and ever.

5. SPURGEO , “If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that Ishall teach them. There is a condition to the covenant so far as it concerned kings ofDavid's line before the coming of the true Seed; but he has fulfilled that condition,and made the covenant indefeasible henceforth and for ever as to himself and thespiritual seed in him. Considered as it related to temporal things it was no smallblessing for David's dynasty to be secured the throne upon good behaviour. Thesemonarchs held their crowns from God upon the terms of loyalty to their superiorSovereign, the Lord who had elevated them to their high position. They were to befaithful to the covenant by obedience to the divine law, and by belief of divine truth,they were to accept Jehovah as their Lord and their Teacher, regarding him in bothrelations as in covenant with them. What a condescension on God's part to be theirteacher! How gladly ought they to render intelligent obedience! What a proper,righteous, and needful stipulation for God to make that they should be true to himwhen the reward was the promise, Their children shall also sit upon thy throne for

evermore. If they will sit at his feet God will make them sit on a throne; if they willkeep the covenant they shall keep the crown from generation to generation.

The kingdom of Judah might have stood to this day had its kings been faithful to theLord. o internal revolt or external attack could have overthrown the royal houseof David: it fell by its own sin, and by nothing else. The Lord was continuallyprovoked, but he was amazingly long suffering, for long after seceding Israel hadgone into captivity, Judah still remained. Miracles of mercy were shown to her.Divine patience exceeded all limits, for the Lord's regard for David was exceedinggreat. The princes of David's house seemed set on ruining themselves, and nothingcould save them; justice waited long, but it was bound at last to unsheathe the swordand strike. Still, if in the letter man's breach of promise caused the covenant to fail,yet in spirit and essence the Lord has been true to it, for Jesus reigns, and holds thethrone for ever. David's seed is still royal, for he was the progenitor according to theflesh of him who is King of kings and Lord of lords.

This verse shows us the need of family piety. Parents must see to it that theirchildren know the fear of the Lord, and they must beg the Lord himself to teachthem his truth. We have no hereditary right to the divine favour: the Lord keeps uphis friendship to families from generation to generation, for he is loath to leave thedescendants of his servants, and never does so except under grievous and longcontinued provocation. As believers, we are all in a measure under some suchcovenant as that of David: certain of us can look backward for four generations ofsaintly ancestors, and we are now glad to look forward and to see our children, andour children's children, walking in the truth. Yet we know that grace does not runin the blood, and we are filled with holy fear lest in any of our seed there should bean evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

6. “If thy children will keep my covenant, etc. Lest David's sons, if they be left withoutlaw, should live without care, they must know that the succession shall be perpetual;but the promise is conditional; if David's sons conform themselves to God, "if theykeep my covenant", whereof they cannot pretend ignorance. And they have anauthentic record: the record, "my testimonies"; authentic, "I myself will teachthem." You see the king's blessing, it is rely great; but lest the promise thereof bethought too good to be true, God secures the king with a most unchangeablewarrant. The warrant is his oath, "The Lord sware"; and this warrant is,

1. Unchangeable, because sincere; he swore in truth.

Stable, he will not turn from it. And what could king David desire more for his ownhouse than a promise of such a blessing, and such a warrant of that promise? Yes hemight, and no doubt he did desire more; and God also intended to him more thanthe letter of this promise doth express, even the accomplishment of the truthwhereof this was but a type. And what is that? The establishment of the kingdom ofJesus Christ. -- Arthur Lake.

7. That I shall teach them. Here is to be noted that he addeth, "which I will teachthem"; for he will be the teacher and will be heard. He wills not that churchcouncils should be heard, or such as teach that which he hath not taught ... Godgiveth no authority unto man above the word. So should he set man, that is to say,dust and dung, above himself; for what is the word, but God himself? This wordthey that honor, obey, and keep, are the true church indeed, be they never socontemptible in the world; but they which do not, are the church of Satan, andaccursed of God. And this is the cause why it is expressly set down in the text, "Thetestimonies which I will teach them." For so will God use the ministry of teachersand pastors in the church, that he notwithstanding will be their chief Pastor, and allother ministers and pastors whatsoever, yea, the church itself, shall be ruled andgoverned by the word. --Martin Luther.

8. Their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. As if he had said, thispromise as touching Christ will I accomplish, and will undoubtedly establish thethrone unto my servant David; but do not ye, which in the meantime sit on thisthrone, and govern this kingdom, presume upon the promise, and think that youcannot err, or that I will wink at your errors, and not rather condemn and severelypunish them. Therefore either govern your kingdom according to my word, or else Iwill root you out and destroy you for ever. This promise he now amplifies, andsetteth forth more at large. -- Martin Luther.

9. Wayne Shih, “But Solomon, David’s son, and all the kings who came after himwere sinners. Each, in some way, disobeyed and rebelled against God. o imperfectking could ever meet the condition. Yet God had promised an eternal throne to ason of David. How would that ever come about? Only one way. ot only would Godhave to raise up a righteous, obedient son of David to take the throne, but Godhimself would be that king. As it’s been said, “when a covenant is conditional andyet is also certain, you can be sure God himself will intervene to fulfill theconditions” (Piper).

This is part of the significance of Christmas. Isaiah said of the birth of Jesus Christ,“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on hisshoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, EverlastingFather, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will beno end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing andupholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zealof the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Jesus Christ is the perfect Son of David who will rule forever. The promise to Davidis fulfilled in Jesus. As the angel Gabriel said to Mary, “You will be with child andgive birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and willbe called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of hisfather David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; his kingdom willnever end” (Luke 1:31-33). Jesus is the King. He reigns right now in heaven. Oneday he will return to rule over all the earth and every one of his enemies will bedefeated. Meanwhile, we participate in the rule of King Jesus by faith in him.”

10. One of the major mistakes believers make is in forgetting the if's in the promisesof God. It is, “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, andto cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This, and many other promises areconditional on our free choice to obey or not obey the commands and will of God asrevealed in Scripture. That is why knowing the Word of God is so vital to theChristian life, for how can we obey the conditions if we do not know what they are?In ignorance of them we will suffer the loss of God's blessing, and so it is animportant part of the believer's life to be ever studying the Bible. Many goes foryears and no longer read or study it, and they do not grow in grace and knowledge,and they miss out on God's best for their lives. Wake up and realize that God hasthings for you to do and avoid to reap the harvest he wants to give you.

13. For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling:

1. CALVI , “By coupling the kingdom with the priesthood and sanctuary service,he declares it still more emphatically to have been of divine and not humanappointment. The connection is not to be overlooked, on another account. The truestrength and stability of that kingdom were in Christ, and Christ's kingdom isinseparable from his priesthood. This may explain why mention is made of Zionbeing chosen. God decreed nothing in relation to the kingdom, but what had acertain connection with the sanctuary, the more perfectly to prefigure the Mediatorwho was to come, and who was both priest and king, after the order of Melchizedek.The kingdom and tabernacle were, therefore, closely allied. otice is taken of thereason upon which the choice proceeded that mount Zion was not chosen for anyexcellency belonging to it, as we have seen, (Psalm 68:16,) but because such was thewill of God. His good pleasure is specified in contrast with any merit in the placeitself. This is another proof of what we have already stated that the covenant madeby God with David proceeded from his mere goodness.

2. BAR ES, “For the Lord hath chosen Zion - He has selected it as the place wherehe will abide; the seat of his religion. This is a new plea or argument, and shows thatthe psalm had reference to Zion or Jerusalem, as then in danger, or as having beenin danger. See the notes at Psa_48:1-2.

He hath desired it for his habitation - A place where to abide. Its had selected this asthe permanent place of his worship.”

3. GILL, “ ot only to build upon it the temple in a literal sense, and for the place ofhis worship; but also for the seat of his majesty, and over which he has set his Son asKing; and all this from the love he bears to Zion, which, in a figurative and spiritualsense, is his church; whom he has chosen to privileges, to grace and glory, and for

his service and honour; see Psa_78:67;

he hath desired it for his habitation; heaven is the habitation of his holiness andglory; Christ is his dwelling place, in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwellsbodily: yet his desire is to his church and people; his heart is set upon them, andupon their salvation; his delight is in them, and he takes pleasure in walking withthem, and dwelling among them; they being built up an habitation for God throughthe Spirit; see Psa_68:16.

4. SPURGEO , “For the LORD hath chosen Zion. It was no more than any otherCanaanite town till God chose it, David captured it, Solomon built it, and the Lorddwelt in it. So was the church a mere Jebusite stronghold till grace chose it,conquered it, rebuilt it, and dwelt in it. Jehovah has chosen his people, and hencethey are his people. He has chosen the church, and hence it is what it is. Thus in thecovenant David and Zion, Christ and his people, go together. David is for Zion, andZion for David: the interests of Christ and his people are mutual. He hath desired itfor his habitation. David's question is answered. The Lord has spoken: the site ofthe temple is fixed: the place of the divine manifestation is determined. Indwellingfollows upon election, and arises out of it: Zion is chosen, chosen for a habitation ofGod. The desire of God to dwell among the people whom he has chosen for himselfis very gracious and yet very natural: his love will not rest apart from those uponwhom he has placed it. God desires to abide with those whom he has loved with aneverlasting love; and we do not wonder that it should be so, for we also desire thecompany of our beloved ones. It is a double marvel, that the Lord should choose anddesire such poor creatures as we are: the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in believers isa wonder of grace parallel to the incarnation of the Son of God. God in the church isthe wonder of heaven, the miracle of eternity, the glory of infinite love.

5. For the LORD hath chosen Zion, etc. The Lord's pitching upon any place to dwellthere cometh not of the worthiness of the place, or persons, but from God's goodpleasure alone. The Lord having chosen his church, resteth in his love to her: hesmelleth a sweet savour of Christ, and this maketh his seat among his peoplesteadfast. -- David Dickson.

6. For the LORD hath chosen Zion. Here, of a singular purpose, he useth the sameword which Moses used (Deuteronomy 16:6): "As the place which the Lord thy Godshall choose to place his name in." For at the beginning there was no certain placeappointed wherein the tabernacle should remain; but it wandered, not only fromplace to place, but also from tribe to tribe, as Ephraim, Manasseh, Dan, etc.

Moreover, by the word, "hath chosen", he overthroweth all kinds of worship andreligion of men's own devising and choosing, whereof there was an infinite numberamong the Jews. Election or choice belongeth not unto us; but we must yieldobedience to the voice of the Lord. Else shall that happen unto us which Jeremiahthreatens: "That they have chosen will I reject." These things destroy and confoundthe inventions, the devices and devotions, the false and counterfeit religions, which

we have seen in the papacy ... God is not served but when that is done which he hathcommanded. Wherefore election or choice pertaineth not to us, so that what Godhath commanded, that we must do. --Martin Luther.

7.HE RY, “God chose Zion hill for the holy hill, and confirmed his choice by thedelight he took in it, Psa_132:13, Psa_132:14. He chose the Mount Zion which he

loved (Psa_78:68); he chose it for the habitation of his ark, and said of it, This is my

rest for ever, and not merely my residence for a time, as Shiloh was. Zion was thecity of David; he chose it for the royal city because God chose it for the holy city.God said, Here will I dwell, and therefore David said, Here will I dwell, for here headhered to his principle, It is good for me to be near to God. Zion must be herelooked upon as a type of the gospel-church, which is called Mount Zion (Heb_12:22),and in it what is here said of Zion has its full accomplishment. Zion was long sinceploughed as a field, but the church of Christ is the house of the living God

(1Ti_3:15), and it is his rest for ever, and shall be blessed with his presence always,even to the end of the world. The delight God takes in his church, and thecontinuance of his presence with his church, are the comfort and joy of all itsmembers.II. The choice blessings God has in store for David's house and Zion hill. WhomGod chooses he will bless.1. God, having chosen Zion hill, promises to bless that,(1.) With the blessings of the life that now is; for godliness has the promise of them,Psa_132:15. The earth shall yield her increase; where religion is set up there shall beprovision, and in blessing God will bless it (Psa_67:6); he will surely and abundantlybless it. And a little provision, with an abundant blessing upon it, will be moreserviceable, as well as more comfortable, than a great deal without that blessing.God's people have a special blessing upon common enjoyments, and that blessingputs a peculiar sweetness into them. ay, the promise goes further: I will satisfy her

poor with bread. Zion has her own poor to keep; and it is promised that God willtake care even of them. [1.] By his providence they shall be kept from wanting; theyshall have provision enough. If there be scarcity, the poor are the first that feel it, sothat it is a sure sign of plenty if they have sufficient. Zion's poor shall not want, forGod has obliged all the sons of Zion to be charitable to the poor, according to theirability, and the church must take care that they be not neglected, Act_6:1. [2.] By hisgrace they shall be kept from complaining; though they have but dry bread, yet theyshall be satisfied. Zion's poor have, of all others, reason to be content with a little ofthis world, because they have better things prepared for them. And this may beunderstood spiritually of the provision that is made for the soul in the word andordinances; God will abundantly bless that for the nourishment of the new man,and satisfy the poor in spirit with the bread of life. What God sanctifies to us weshall and may be satisfied with.”

14. "This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it-

1. CALVI , “This is my rest for ever. The same truth is here put into the mouth ofGod, to give it additional weight; and it is declared not to have been in vain that theTemple had been erected, since God would show effectually and by practicaltestimonies the delight which he had in the worship of his own appointment. God'sresting, or talking up his habitation, are expressions which denote his being presentwith men in the manifestation of his power. Thus he dwelt in Zion, in the sense thatthere his people worshipped him according to the prescription of his law, and foundbesides the benefit of the service in his favorable answer to their requests. It waseventually seen, in a very striking manner, that this was the promise of an infallibleGod, whet, after the Temple had been overthrown, the altar cast down, and thewhole frame of legal service interrupted, the glory of the Lord afterwards returnedto it once more, and remained there up to the advent of Christ. We all know in whata wicked and shameful manner the Jews abused the divine promise which is heremade, under the impression that it necessarily laid God under an obligation to favorthem, taking occasion from if, in the pride of their hearts, to despise, and evencruelly persecute the Prophets. Luther on this account calls it "the bloody promise;"for, like all hypocrites who make God's holy name a covert for iniquity, they did nothesitate, when charged with the, worst, crimes, to insist that it was beyond thepower of the Prophets to take from them privileges which God had bestowed. Withthem to assert that the Temple could be stripped of its glory, was equivalent tocharging God with falsehood, and impeaching his faithfulness. Under the influenceof this spirit of vain confidence they proceeded such inconceivable lengths inshedding innocent blood. Were the Devil of Rome armed with pretensions assplendid, what bounds would be set to its audacity? As it is, we see how fiercely, andwith what bloody pride it arrogates the name of the Church, while outraging allreligion, in open contempt of God and flagrant violation of humanity. But what ofthat? the hierarchy would otherwise fall, and this must stand, if Christ would notdesert his spouse the Church! The refutation of such a plea is not far to seek. TheChurch is limited to no one place: now that the glory of the Lord shines through allthe earth, his rest is where Christ and his members are. It is necessary that werightly understand what the Psalmist says of the everlasting continuance of theTemple. The advent of Christ was "the time of reformation," and the figures of theformer Testament, instead of being then proved or rendered vain, weresubstantiated, and received their fulfillment in him. If it be still objected that mountZion is here spoken of as the everlasting residence of God, it is sufficient to answerthat the whole world became an enlarged mount Zion upon the advent of Christ.

2. BAR ES “This is my rest for ever - My home; my permanent abode. I will nomore remove from place to place - as when the ark was carried in the wilderness,and as it has been since; but Zion shall now be the fixed seat of religion. See the

notes at Psa_68:16. Here will I dwell ... - Permanently; constantly.

3. CLARKE, “This is my rest for ever - Here the Christian Church is mostindubitably meant. This is God’s place for ever. After this there never will beanother dispensation; Christianity closes and completes all communications fromheaven to earth. God has nothing greater to give to mankind on this side heaven;nor does man need any thing better; nor is his nature capable of any thing moreexcellent.

4. GILL , “The rest of my majesty, as the Targum; the place of his rest: and thisbeing for ever shows that not Mount Zion literally, nor the temple, are meant; butthe church and people of God, in whom he rests in his love, and rejoices over withjoy; who are the objects of his delight, and with whom he abides for ever; for thisphrase is expressive of pleasure and delight, and of permanency and perpetuity;

here will I dwell, for I have desired it; not merely by his omnipresence, in whichsense he dwells everywhere, both in heaven and in earth; nor only by hisomnipotence, by which he upholds all creatures in their being, and so is present withthem all; and they all live and move, and have their being, in him: but by his Spiritand grace reviving and refreshing the hearts of his people with his graciouspresence; which is enjoyed in his house and ordinances, and makes them lovely anddelightful; and may be expected there, since he has promised it, and it is so desirableand agreeable to himself to dwell there.

5. KEIL, “Shiloh has been rejected (Psa_78:60), for a time only was the sacred Arkin Bethel (Jdg_20:27) and Mizpah (Jdg_21:5), only somewhat over twenty years wasit sheltered by the house of Abinadab in Kirjath-Jearim (1Sa_7:2), only threemonths by the house of Obed-Edom in Perez-uzzah (2Sa_6:11) - but Zion is Jahve'sabiding dwelling-place, His own proper settlement, מנּוחה (as in Isa_11:10; Isa_66:1,and besides 1Ch_28:2). In Zion, His chosen and beloved dwelling-place, Jahveblesses everything that belongs to her temporal need ( צידּה for זידתּה, vid., onPsa_27:5, note); so that her poor do not suffer want, for divine love loves the poormost especially. His second blessing refers to the priests, for by means of these Hewill keep up His intercourse with His people. He makes the priesthood of Zion a realinstitution of salvation: He clothes her priests with salvation, so that they do notmerely bring it about instrumentally, but personally possess it, and their wholeoutward appearance is one which proclaims salvation. And to all her saints He givescause and matter for high and lasting joy, by making Himself known also to thechurch, in which He has taken up His abode, in deeds of mercy (loving-kindness orgrace). There (ׁשם, Psa_133:3) in Zion is indeed the kingship of promise, whichcannot fail of fulfilment. He will cause a horn to shoot forth, He will prepare a lamp,for the house of David, which David here represents as being its ancestor and theanointed one of God reigning at that time; and all who hostilely rise up againstDavid in his seed, He will cover with shame as with a garment (Job_8:22), and thecrown consecrated by promise, which the seed of David wears, shall blossom like an

unfading wreath. The horn is an emblem of defensive might and victoriousdominion, and the lamp ( 2נר, Sa_21:17, cf. ,2ניר Ch_21:7, lxx λύχνον) an emblem ofbrilliant dignity and joyfulness. In view of Eze_29:21, of the predictions concerningthe Branch (zemach) in Isa_4:2; Jer_23:5; Jer_33:15; Zec_3:8; Zec_6:12 (cf.Heb_7:14), and of the fifteenth Beracha of the Shemone-Esre (the daily Jewishprayer consisting of eighteen benedictions): “make the branch (zemach) of DavidThy servant to shoot forth speedily, and let his horn rise high by virtue of Thysalvation,” - it is hardly to be doubted that the poet attached a Messianic meaning tothis promise. With reference to our Psalm, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist,changes that supplicatory beracha of his nation (Luk_1:68-70) into a praiseful one,joyfully anticipating the fulfilment that is at hand in Jesus.”

6. SPURGEO , “This is my rest for ever. Oh, glorious words! It is God himself whohere speaks. Think of rest for God! A Sabbath for the Eternal and a place of abidingfor the Infinite. He calls Zion my rest. Here his love remains and displays itself withdelight. "He shall rest in his love." And this forever. He will not seek another placeof repose, nor grow weary of his saints. In Christ the heart of Deity is filled withcontent, and for his sake he is satisfied with his people, and will be so world withoutend. These august words declare a distinctive choice -- this and no other; a certainchoice -- this which is well known to me; a present choice -- this which is here at thismoment. God has made his election of old, he has not changed it, and he never willrepent of it: his church was his rest and is his rest still. As he will not turn from hisoath, so he will never turn from his choice. Oh, that we may enter into his rest, maybe part and parcel of his church, and yield by our loving faith a delight to the mindof him who taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope in his mercy.Here will I dwell; for I have desired it. Again are we filled with wonder that he whofills all things should dwell in Zion -- should dwell in his church. God does notunwillingly visit his chosen; he desires to dwell with them; he desires them. He isalready in Zion, for he says here, as one upon the spot. ot only will he occasionallycome to his church, but he will dwell in it, as his fixed abode. He cared not for themagnificence of Solomon's temple, but he determined that at the mercy seat hewould be found by suppliants, and that thence he would shine forth in brightness ofgrace among the favoured nation. All this, however, was but a type of the spiritualhouse, of which Jesus is foundation and cornerstone, upon which all the living stonesare builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Oh, the sweetnessof the thought that God desires to dwell in his people and rest among them! Surely ifit be his desire he will cause it to be so. If the desire of the righteous shall be grantedmuch more shall the desire of the righteous God be accomplished. This is the joy ofour souls, for surely we shall rest in God, and certainly our desire is to dwell in him.This also is the end of our fears for the church of God; for if the Lord dwell in her,she shall not be moved; if the Lord desire her, the devil cannot destroy her.”

6B. Spurgeon says elsewhere, “THESE are the words of Jehovah himself concerningthe hill of Zion, but it is clear that he did not intend us to understand them merely in

their literal reference to Zion, because Zion could not be a fitting place for hiseternal rest. or has he made it literally his rest for ever, for Zion has been troddendown of the Gentiles for all these centuries. I have no doubt that the Lord had in hismind the greater Zion, “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, .. thegeneral assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven.” Theeternal God, looking down from his throne of glory upon all the creatures he hasmade, selects his Church, elect, blood bought, called, preserved, a sanctified, and hesays concerning this Church, “This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I havedesired it.”

7. “This is my rest for ever. Of the Christian church we may affirm with undoubtedcertainty, that it is God's rest for ever: after this dispensation of his will, there willnever succeed another; Christianity closes and completes the Divine communicationfrom God to man; nothing greater, nothing better can or will be imparted to him onthis side eternity; and even in heaven itself we shall, through an everlastingduration, be employed in contemplating and adoring the riches of that grace, thebrightest glories of which have been realized in the consummations of Calvary, theascension of the Messiah, the breaking down of all national peculiarity, and the giftand mission of the Divine Spirit. Let the argument of the apostle to the Hebrews befully weighed, and the conclusion of every mind must be, that God has "removedthose things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things whichcannot be shaken may remain:" Heb 12:27. --John Morison, in "An Exposition ofthe Book of Psalms", 1829.

8. Verse 14-18. 5ow that he might apparently see how near the Lord is to all them that

call upon him in faithfulness and truth, he waiteth not long for an answer, but carriesit away with him before he departs. For to David's petition, "Return, O LORD, untothy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength"; God's answer is this, - - "Thisshall be my resting place, here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein. I will blessher victuals with increase, and will satisfy her poor with bread." To David'spetition, "Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints sing withjoyfulness", God's answer is this: "I will clothe her priests with salvation: and hersaints shall rejoice and sing." Lastly, to David's petition, "For thy servant David'ssake turn not away the face of thine anointed", God's answer is this: "There will Imake the horn of David to flourish: I have ordained a light for mine anointed. Asfor his enemies, I will clothe them with shame; but upon himself shall his crownflourish." As if he should have said, -- Turn away the face of mine anointed ay,that will I never do; I will indeed turn away the face of the enemies of mineanointed; their face shall be covered with confusion, and clothed with shame. Butcontrariwise, I have ordained a light for mine anointed. He shall even have a light inhis face and a crown upon his head. "As for his enemies, I will clothe them withshame; but upon himself shall his crown flourish." --Thomas Playfere, 1633.

15. I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food.

1. CALVI , “God's dwelling in the midst of the people was what constituted thegreat source of their blessedness; and now some of the proofs are mentioned whichhe would give of his fatherly regard, such as preparing and administering theirordinary food, relieving their wants, clothing their priests with salvation, and fillingall his people with joy and gladness. This it was necessary should be added, forunless we have ocular demonstration of the divine goodness, we are not spiritualenough to rise upwards to the apprehension of it. We have a twofold demonstrationof it in the matter of our daily food; first in the earth's being enriched so as tofurnish us with corn, and wine, and oil; and again in the earth's produce beingmultiplied, through a secret power, so as to provide us with sufficient nourishment.There is here a promise that God would exert a special care over his own people tosupply them with food, and that though they might not have a great abundance, yetthe poor would be satisfied. We must not omit mentioning the remarkable andludicrous mistake which the Papists have made upon this passage, and which showsthe judicial stupidity they lie under to be such, that there is nothing so absurd theywill not swallow. By confounding two letters into one, for victus they read vidus, andthen conjectured that this must be a mutilation for viduas blessing I will bless herwidows! Thus they made "widows" out of "food" an extraordinary blunder, whichwe would scarcely credit, were it not a fact that they sing the word out in theirtemples to this present day.3 But God, who blesses the food of his own people, hasinfatuated their minds, and left them to confound everything in their absurdreveries and triflings. The inspired penman goes on to repeat what he had alreadysaid of other blessings, only the term salvation is used instead of righteousness, butin the same sense I already mentioned. Some understand it to have reference topurity of doctrine and holiness of life; but this seems a forced interpretation, and hemeans simply that they would be safe and happy under the divine protection.

2. “Solomon's Temple was built on mount Moriah, and not on mount Zion. But asMoriah was just at the end of Zion, it was sometimes reckoned a part of that mount,and was called by its name. Even the Temple and its courts are so designated,(Psalm 65:1; and Psalm 84:7.) Zion may, however, be here put for Jerusalem ingeneral.”

3. “In Psalm 132:9, the prayer of the Psalmist to God is, that the priests may beclothed with righteousness; and in this. concluding portion of the Psalm, where Godis declaring what he will do to the king and city of his people, he promises to granteven more than was asked for in this petition; for, says he, 'I will clothe her priestswith salvation;' not with righteousness only, but with what is the consequence or

reward of righteousness, viz., salvation." Phillips.

"hdyu, her provision. The word dyu signifies food which is taken in hunting, andthen it is used to express food of. any kind -- provision generally. The Septuagint hasqh>ran, which denotes provision that has been hunted, and so obtained; but anotherreading of the Greek version th<n ch>ran aujth~v, which has been followed by theVulgate, Arabic, and Ethiopic; the rendering of the Vulgate being viduam ejus. Thiscorrupt reading is noticed by Jerome." Phillips.

4. BAR ES, “I will abundantly bless her provision - Margin, surely. Hebrew,“Blessing I will bless,” a strong affirmation, meaning that he would certainly do it;that he would do it in every way; that every needed blessing would be imparted. Theword rendered provision is a cognate form of the word in Psa_78:25, translatedmeat: “He sent them meat to the full.” It properly refers to food for a journey, but itis applicable to any kind of food. The original idea is that of food obtained byhunting - as game, venison: Gen_25:28; Job_38:41. The meaning here is, that Godwould provide abundantly for their support.

I will satisfy her poor with bread - I will give them what they need. See the notes atPsa_37:25.

5. CLARKE I will abundantly bless her provision - There shall be an abundantprovision of salvation made for mankind in the Christian Church. Our Lord’smultiplication of the loaves was a type and proof of it.

6. GILL , “The provision of Zion, the church of God, the word and ordinances, ofwhich Christ is the sum and substance; the Gospel is milk for babes, and meat forstrong men; the ordinances are a feast of fat things; Christ's flesh is meat indeed,and his blood drink deed; the whole provision is spiritual, savoury, salutary,strengthening, satisfying, and nourishing, when the Lord blesses it; as he does tothose who hunger and thirst after it, and feed upon it by faith; so that their soulsgrow thereby, and they become fat and flourishing; grace increases in them, andthey are fruitful in every good work: and this the Lord promises to do"abundantly", in a very large way and manner; or "certainly", for it is, in theoriginal text, (y) "in blessing I will bless", that is, will surely bless, as this phrase issometimes rendered. Arama observes that the second blessing is because of thegreatness of it; and says, that their Rabbin's understand it of the fertility of the landof Israel in the time to come, when there will be no poor in it; but all is to beunderstood spiritually of the church in Gospel times;

I will satisfy her poor with bread; Zion has her poor; persons may be poor and yetbelong to Zion, belong to Zion and yet be poor; there are poor in all the churches ofChrist: our Lord told his disciples that they had the poor, and might expect to havethem always with them; and particular directions are given to take care of Zion'spoor under the Gospel dispensation, that they may not want bread in a literal sense:though by the "poor" are chiefly designed the Lord's afflicted and distressed ones;or who in a spiritual sense are poor, and sensible of their spiritual poverty, and seek

after the true riches; or are poor in spirit, to whom the kingdom of heaven belongs:these the Lord promises to satisfy, to fill them to the full with the bread of theGospel, made of the finest of the wheat, of which there is enough and to spare in hishouse; and with Christ the bread of life, of which those that eat shall never die, butlive for ever.

7. SPURGEO , “I will abundantly bless her provision. It must be so. How can webe without a blessing when the Lord is among us? We live upon his word, we areclothed by his charity, we are armed by his power: all sorts of provision are in him,and how can they be otherwise than blessed? The provision is to be abundantlyblessed; then it will be abundant and blessed. Daily provision, royal pie vision,satisfying provision, overflowingly joyful provision the church shall receive; and thedivine benediction shall cause us to receive it with faith, to feed upon it byexperience, to grow upon it by sanctification, to be strengthened by it to labour,cheered by it to patience, and built up by it to perfection. I will satisfy her poor withbread. The citizens of Zion are poor in themselves, poor in spirit, and often poor inpocket, but their hearts and souls shall dwell in such abundance that they shallneither need more nor desire more. Satisfaction is the crown of experience. WhereGod rests his people shall be satisfied. They are to be satisfied with what the Lordhimself calls "bread", and we may be sure that he knows what is really bread forsouls. He will not give us a stone. The Lord's poor shall "have food convenient forthem": that which will suit their palate, remove their hunger, fill their desire, buildup their frame, and perfect their growth. The breadth of earth is "the bread thatperisheth", but the bread of God endureth to life eternal. In the church where Godrests his people shall not starve; the Lord would never rest if they did. He did nottake rest for six days till he had prepared the world for the first man to live in; hewould not stay his hand till all things were ready; therefore, we may be sure if theLord rests it is because "it is finished", and the Lord hath prepared of his goodnessfor the poor. Where God finds his desire his people shall find theirs; if he issatisfied, they shall be.

Taking the two clauses together, we see that nothing but an abundant blessing in thechurch will satisfy the Lord's poor people: they are naked and miserable till thatcomes. All the provision that Solomon himself could make would not have satisfiedthe saints of his day: they looked higher, and longed for the Lord's own boundlessblessing, and hungered for the bread which came down from heaven. Blessed be theLord, they had in this verse two of the "I wills" of God to rest upon, and nothingcould be a better support to their faith.

8. “I will abundantly bless her provision. Believe it, a saint hath rare fare, gallantcheer, and rich diet, and all at free cost. He is feasted all the day long; he is broughtoft into the banqueting house, and hath the rarest, the costliest, the most wholesomediet, that which is most hearty and strengthening, which is most dainty andpleasant, and the greatest variety, and nothing is wanting that may make his statehappy, except a full enjoyment of glory itself. The Lord gives him all the experiences

of his power and goodness to his Church in former ages to feed his hopes upon; nay,many choice providences, many of prayer, many foretastes of glory, manyordinances, especially that great one the Lord's Supper, at which Christ and all hisbenefits are served up in a royal dish to refresh and feast the faith, hope, and love ofthe saints. And that which sweetens all this -- he knows that all this is but a little towhat he shall shortly live upon when he comes to the marriage supper; then he shallalways be feasted and never surfeited. And beside all this, he hath the sweet andrefreshing incomes of the Spirit, filling him with such true pleasure, that he caneasily spare the most sumptuous banquet, the noblest feast, and highest worldlydelights, as infinitely short of one hour's treatment in his Friend's chamber. And, ifthis be his entertainment in the inn, what shall he have at the court? If this heavenlymanna be his food in the wilderness, at what rate is he like to live when he comesinto Canaan? If this be the provision of the way, what is that of the country? -- JohnJaneway, about 1670.

9. I will satisfy her poor with bread. Christ is a satisfying good. A wooden loaf, asilver loaf, a golden loaf will not satisfy a hungry man; the man must have bread.The dainties and dignities of the world, the grandeur and glory of the world, theplenty and prosperity of the world, the puff and popularity of the world, will notsatisfy a soul sailing by the gates of hell, and crying out of the depths; it must be aChrist. "Children, or I die", was the cry of the woman; a Christ, or I die -- a Christ,or I am damned, is the doleful ditty and doleful dialect of a despairing ordesponding soul. "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied therewith; nor he thatloveth abundance with increase:" Ecclesiastes 5:10. It is a good observation, that theworld is round, but the heart of man is triangular. ow, all the globe of the worldwill not fill the triangular heart of man. What of the world and in the world can givequietness, when Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, goes down upon the soul? Theheart is a three square, and nothing but a trinity in unity and a unity in trinity willsatisfy this. ot riches, nor relations, nor barns, nor bags, will satisfy a convincedand deserted soul. This person can say concerning his bags as a great person upon asick, if not a dying, bed, did concerning his bags, -- Away, and away for ever.Though there be bag upon bag, yet they are altogether insignificant in a dying hour;these bags, they are but as so many ciphers before a figure. This is the cry ofdespairing and desponding souls: "O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we mayrejoice and be glad all our days:" Psalms 90:14. -- Richard Mayhew, 1679.

10. “I will satisfy her poor with bread. Dainties I will not promise them; a sufficiency,but not, a superfluity: poor they may be, but not destitute; bread they shall have,and of that God's plenty, as they say; enough to bring them to their Father's house,"where there is bread enough." Let not, therefore, the poor Israelite fear to bringhis offerings, or to disfurnish himself for God's worship, etc. -- John Trapp.

16. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will ever sing for joy.

1. BAR ES, “I will also clothe her priests with salvation - See the notes atPsa_132:9, where - instead of the word which in 2Ch_6:41, as here, is “salvation,”we find the word “righteousness.” The promise here corresponds to the prayer inPsa_132:9. It is a reason why God should interpose. What they prayed forPsa_132:9, had been expressly promised, and that promise is now urged as a pleawhy the prayer should be granted.

And her saints shall shout aloud for joy - See Psa_132:9. In 2Ch_6:41 the prayer is,“And let thy saints rejoice in goodness.” The sense is not materially varied. TheHebrew is, “And let thy saints rejoicing rejoice;” that is, let them shout, shout; letthem be full of joy.”

2. CLARKE, “I will also clothe her priests - All Christian ministers, with salvation;this shall appear in all their conduct. Salvation - redemption from all sin throughthe blood of the Lamb shall be their great and universal message.

3. GILL, “With the garments of salvation, as the Targum; in answer to the petition,Psa_132:9; but more is promised than prayed for, "salvation" including"righteousness" and all other blessings; and may be interpreted, as there, either ofthe ministers of the Gospel clothed with the doctrine of salvation by Christ, comingforth full fraught with it, openly publishing and proclaiming it; salvation beingmade public and manifest by them as a garment, as Aben Ezra observes: moreoverGospel ministers are instruments of saving others; the Gospel preached by thembeing the power of God unto salvation, as well as they themselves are saved in thesame way, 1Ti_4:16; besides, they are kept by the power of God, and in the hands ofChrist, who protects them, and as it were covers them with the garment of salvation,while they are publishing it to the world, to whose reproaches and insults they areexposed: or else this may be interpreted of the people of God in common, who areall kings and priests to God, and are all clothed with the garments of salvation,Isa_61:10. Salvation by Christ is brought near to them, is applied to them, and putupon them as a garment; it is from Christ, and without them, though upon them; itis their clothing and their ornament, as well as their security from sin, law, death,and hell; see Psa_149:4;

and her saints shall shout aloud for joy; not only "shout", as is entreated,Psa_132:9; but "shout aloud"; it shall be a jubilee time with them on account of theGospel of salvation, the joyful sound sounded in their ears by the ministers of itclothed with it; and on account of the salvation itself, so great, so suitable, so free, socomplete and full, and in which the glory of God is so much displayed; and onaccount of the application of it to themselves, being clothed with it and possessed ofthe joys of it. These the Jewish writers generally understand of the Levites.

4. SPURGEO , “More is promised than was prayed for. See how the ninth verseasks for the priests to be clad in righteousness, and the answer is, I will also clotheher priests with salvation. God is wont to do exceeding abundantly, above all thatwe ask or even think. Righteousness is but one feature of blessing, salvation is thewhole of it. What cloth of gold is this! What more than regal array! Garments ofsalvation! we know who has woven them, who has dyed them, and who has giventhem to his people. These are the best robes for priests and preachers, for princesand people; there is none like them; give them me. ot every priest shall be thusclothed, but only her priests, those who truly belong to Zion by faith which is inChrist Jesus who hath made them priests unto God. These, are clothed by the Lordhimself, and none can clothe as he does. It even the grass of the field is so clothed bythe Creator as to out do Solomon in all his glory, how must his own children beclad? Truly he shall be admired in his saints; the liveries of his servants shall be thewonder of heaven. And her saints shall shout aloud for joy. Again we have a goldenanswer to a silver prayer. The Psalmist would have the "saints shout for joy." "Thatthey shall do", saith the Lord, "and aloud too"; they shall be exceedingly full ofdelight; their songs and shouts shall be so hearty that they shall sound as the noiseof many waters, and as great thunders. These joyful ones are not, however, themimic saints of superstition, but her saints, saints of the Most High, "sanctified inChrist Jesus." These shall be so abundantly blessed and so satisfied, and soapparelled that they can do no otherwise than shout to show their astonishment,their triumph, their gratitude, their exultation, their enthusiasm, their joy in theLord. Zion has no dumb saints. The sight of God at rest among his chosen is enoughto make the most silent shout. If the morning stars sang together when the earth andheavens were made, much more will all the sons of God shout for joy when the newheavens and the new earth are finished, and the ew Jerusalem comes down out ofheaven from God, prepared as a bride for her husband. Meanwhile, even now thedwelling of the Lord among us is a perennial fountain of sparkling delight to all holyminds. This shouting for joy is guaranteed to Zion's holy ones: God says they shallshout aloud, and depend upon it they will: who shall stop them of this glorying? TheLord hath said by his Spirit, "let them shout aloud": who is he that shall make themhold their peace? The Bridegroom is with them, and shall the children of the bridechamber fast?: ay, verily, we rejoice, yea and will rejoice.

5. God's presence is an earnest of all good; for all this follows upon "here will I

dwell." By it he giveth meat to the hungry, and comfort to the poor, even the Breadof Life to the believing and repenting soul; by it he himself is the sanctification of hispriests, and his righteousness and salvation is their most glorious vesture; and by hispresence he maketh his elect ever glad, filling their hearts with joy and their mouthswith songs. --J. W. Burgon.

6. “Her saints shall shout aloud for joy. It would astonish and amuse a Europeanstranger to hear these natives sing. They have not the least idea either of harmonyor melody; noise is what they best understand, and he that sings the loudest is

considered to sing the best. I have occasionally remonstrated with them on thesubject; but the reply I once received silenced me for ever after. "Sing softly,brother", I said to one of the principal members. "Sing softly!" he replied, "is ityou, our father, who tells us to sing softly? Did you ever hear us sing the praises ofour Hindu gods? how we threw our heads backward, and with all our might shoutedout the praises of those who are no gods I and now do you tell us to whisper thepraises of Jesus? o, sir, we cannot -- we must express in loud tones our gratitude tohim who loved us, and died for us!" And so they continued to sing with all theirmight, and without further remonstrance. --G. Gogerly, in "The Pioneers: a arrative of the Bengal Mission," 1870

7. HE RY, “With the blessings of the life that is to come, things pertaining togodliness (Psa_132:16), which is an answer to the prayer, Psa_132:9. [1.] It wasdesired that the priests might be clothed with righteousness; it is here promised thatGod will clothe them with salvation, not only save them, but make them and theiradministrations instrumental for the salvation of his people; they shall both save

themselves and those that hear them, and add those to the church that shall be saved.

ote, Whom God clothes with righteousness he will clothe with salvation; we mustpray for righteousness and then with it God will give salvation. [2.] It was desiredthat 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 abundantjoy.”

8. Eugene Peterson writes,

“Christians who master Psalm 132 will be protected from onedanger, at least, that is ever a threat to obedience: the dangerthat we should reduce Christian existence to ritually obeyinga few commandments that are congenial to our temperamentand convenient to our standard of living. It gives us, instead, avision into the future so that we can see what is right beforeus. If we define the nature of our lives by the mistake of themoment or the defeat of the hour or the boredom of the day,we will define it wrongly. We need roots in the past to giveobedience ballast and breadth [that ,according to Peterson, iswhat the first part of Psalm 132 offers]; we need a vision ofthe future to give obedience direction and goal…. If we neverlearn to do this, extend the boundaries of our lives beyond thedates enclosed by our birth and death and acquire anunderstanding of God’s ways as something larger and morecomplete than the anecdotes in our private diaries, we willforever be missing the point of things by making headlines outof something that ought to be tucked away on page 37 insection C of the newspaper, or putting into the classified adssomething that should be getting a full-page coloradvertisement…. For Christian faith cannot be

comprehended by examining an instamatic flash picturewhich has caught a pose of beauty or absurdity, ecstasy orterror; it is a full revelation of a vast creation and a grandlyconsummated redemption.” (A Long Obedience in the Same

Direction, 165-166).

9. Wayne Shih, “One of the reasons I like the song “He Reigns” by the 5ewsboys isbecause it paints a grand word-picture showing all God’s people in submission toKing Jesus.

It’s the song of the redeemed rising from the African plain.

It’s the song of the forgiven drowning out the Amazon rain.

The song of Asian believers filled with God’s holy fire.

It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation, a love song born of a grateful choir.

It’s all God’s children singing,Glory, glory, hallelujah,He reigns, He reigns.

Let it rise about the four winds caught up in the heavenly sound.

Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals to the faithful gatheredunderground.

Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation, some were meant to persist.

Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples, none rings truer than this.

And all the powers of darkness tremble at what they’ve just heard.

‘Cause all the powers of darkness can’t drown out a single word.

When all God’s children sing out,Glory, glory, hallelujah,He reigns, He reigns.

17. "Here I will make a horn [c] grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one.

1. CALVI , “He reverts to the state of the kingdom, which God had promised totake under his care and protection. It is necessary that we should attend to thepeculiar force of the words employed I will make the horn of David to bud. owthere can be no doubt as to the meaning of the term horn, which in Hebrew is verycommonly used to signify force or power; but we are to mark that by the hornbudding there is an allusion to the humble original of the kingdom, and the singularrestorations which it underwent. David was taken from the menial drudgery of thesheepfold, and from the lowly cottage where he dwelt, the youngest son of his father,who was no more than an ordinary shepherd, and was advanced to the throne, androse by a series of unlooked for successes. Under Jeroboam the kingdom was at anearly period so effectually cut down again, that it was only by budding forth fromtime to time that it maintained itself in a moderate degree of advancement.Afterwards it underwent various shocks, which must have issued in its destruction,had it not still budded anew. And when the people were dispersed in the captivity,what must have become of them, had not God made the broken and trampled hornof David. again to bud? Isaiah accordingly seems to have had this in his eye when hecompared Christ to a rod which should spring not from tree in full growth, butfrom a trunk or stem. (Isaiah 11:1.) To the prophecy now before us Zechariahperhaps refers when he says, "Behold the man whose name is the Branch,"(Zechariah 6:12,) intimating that in this way only could the power and dignity of thekingdom be restored after the dismemberment and ravages to which it had beenexposed. In 2 Samuel 23:5, David makes use of the word employed in the versebefore us, but in somewhat a different sense, referring to the continual advancementof the kingdom unto further measures of prosperity. Here the inspired penmanrather refers to the singular manner in which God would cause the horn of David torevive again, when at any time it might. seem broken and withered. The figure ofthe lamp is much to the same effect, and occurs in many other places of Scripture,being a prophecy very generally in the mouths of the people. The meaning is, thatthe kingdom, though it underwent occasional obscurations, would never be whollyextinguished under the calamities which overtook it, being as the lamp of Godconstantly burning, and pointing out safety to the Lord's people, though not shiningto a great distance. At that time all the illumination enjoyed was but the feeble lampwhich shone in Jerusalem; now Christ, the sun of righteousness, sheds a fullradiance all over the world.”

2. BAR ES, “There will I make thy horn of David to bud - The horn was anemblem of power; and then, of success or prosperity. See the notes at Luk_1:69. Theword rendered “to bud” means to grow, or to shoot forth as a plant, or as grassgrows; and then it may be applied to anything which shoots forth or grows. The

allusion here would seem to be to a horn as it shoots forth on the head of an animal.So David would be endowed with growing strength; would have the means ofdefending himself against his enemies, and of securing victory. The language had nooriginal reference to the Messiah, but it is not improperly applied to him (asspringing from David) in Luk_1:69. On the word horn, see the notes at Psa_75:4.Compare Psa_89:17, Psa_89:24; Psa_92:10; Psa_112:9; Dan_7:8; Dan_8:5.

I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed - Margin, a candle. I have appointed; thatis, I have given him that which will always be as a lamp or guide to him; that bywhich he will see to walk. I have given him true and precious promises, which willbe to him as a lamp, a candle, a lantern is to one walking in the night. SeePsa_18:28, note; Psa_119:105, note.

3. CLARKE, “There will I make the horn of David to bud - There, in the ChristianChurch, the power and authority of the spiritual David shall appear.

I have ordained a lamp - I have taken care to secure a posterity, to which thepromises shall be expressly fulfilled.

4. GILL, “Which the Targum interprets "a glorious" King; and both Kimchi andBen Melech, and also Arama, understand it of the Messiah, and very rightly; calledthe horn of the Lord's Anointed, and the horn of salvation, 1Sa_2:10, Luk_1:69;expressive of his power and strength, in allusion to the horns of cattle, with whichthey push their enemies and defend themselves; so horns are interpreted kings,Dan_7:24; and is fitly applied to Christ, raised up of the seed of David, the man ofGod's right hand, made strong for himself, who is a mighty King and an ableSaviour; as appears by what he has done and suffered, by the deliverance andsalvation of his people, and by the destruction of all their enemies: and it is herepromised that God would make this horn to "bud" or branch out, in allusion toanother name of the Messiah, the "branch"; and it is the same as raising up toDavid a righteous branch, or causing the Messiah to spring forth as a branch out ofhis roots, for which reason he is called the Lord's servant, the branch, and the manthe branch; see Jer_23:5; and it should be further observed that the Lord says,"there" will I do it; that is, either at Ephratah, which is Bethlehem, the place wherethe Messiah was to be born, and was born; or else at Zion or Jerusalem, where heappeared and showed himself, where he taught his doctrines and wrought many ofhis miracles, and near to which he suffered and died; and this shows that theMessiah must be come, that this horn of David must have budded, or the man thebranch brought forth, since Bethlehem and Jerusalem are long ago demolished;

I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed; which Jerom understands of John theBaptist, the forerunner of Christ, who was a burning and shining light, but was not"that light", that famous light, that was to come, but was sent to bear witness of it;he being but as a candle, as the word here used signifies, in comparison of the sun ofrighteousness; but rather it means a son and successor of David, the Lord'sanointed; in which sense the phrase is often used, 1Ki_11:36; and here the famousand illustrious Son and successor of his, the Messiah, the light which lightens everyman with the light of reason; and who is the light of the world of his people,

enlightening them with the light of grace, and will be the light of the ew Jerusalemstate, and of the ultimate glory; him God has "ordained" as such, even foreordainedhim before the foundation of the world; this lamp, or light, he prepared in eternity,and it dwelt with him, and therefore was desired to be sent out from him, Dan_2:22;which places are to be understood of the Messiah; See Gill on Dan_2:22 and See Gillon Psa_43:3.

5. SPURGEO , “There will I make the horn of David to bud. In Zion David'sdynasty shall develop power and glory. In our notes from other authors we haveincluded a description of the growth of the horns of stags, which is the natural factfrom which we conceive the expression in the text to be borrowed. As the stag ismade noble and strong by the development of his horns, so the house of David shalladvance from strength to strength. This was to be by the work of the Lord -- "therewill I make", and therefore it would be sure and solid growth. When God makes usto bud none can cause us to fade. When David's descendants left the Lord and theworship of his house, they declined in all respects, for it was only through the Lord,and in connection will his worship that their horn would bud.

I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. David's name was to be illustrious, andbrilliant as a lamp; it was to continue shining like a lamp in the sanctuary; it wasthus to be a comfort to the people, and an enlightenment to the nations. God wouldnot suffer the light of David to go out by the extinction of his race: his holyordinances had decreed that the house of his servant should remain in the midst ofIsrael. What a lamp is our Lord Jesus! A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the gloryof his people Israel. As the anointed -- the true Christ, he shall be the light of heavenitself. Oh for grace to receive our illumination and our consolation from JesusChrist alone.

6. The horn of David. This image of a horn is frequent in the Old Testament ... Theexplanation must be found neither in the horns of the altar on which criminalssought to lay hold, nor in the horns with which they ornamented their helmets; thefigure is taken from the horns of the bull, in which the power of this animal resides.It is a natural image among an agricultural people ... Just as the strength of theanimal is concentrated in its horn, so all the delivering power granted to the familyof David for the advantage of the people will be concentrated in the Messiah. --F.Godet, in "A Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke." 1875.

7. Make the horn to bud. In the beginning of the month of March the common stag,or red deer, is lurking in the sequestered spots of his forest home, harmless as hismate, and as timorous. Soon a pair of prominences make their appearance on hisforehead, covered with a velvety skin. In a few days these little prominences haveattained some length, and give the first indication of their true form. Grasp one ofthese in the hand and it will be found burning hot to the touch, for the blood runsfiercely through the velvety skin, depositing at every touch a minute portion of bonymatter. More and more rapidly grow the horns, the carotid arteries enlarging inorder to supply a sufficiency of nourishment, and in the short period of ten weeksthe enormous mass of bony matter has been completed. Such a process is almost, if

not entirely, without parallel in the history of the animal kingdom. --J. G. Wood, in"The Illustrated atural History," 1861.

8. The horn. My friend, Mr. Graham, of Damascus, says, concerning the horns wornby eastern women, "This head dress is of dough, tin, silver, or gold, according to thewealth of the different classes. The rank is also indicated by the length of it. Thenobler the lady, the longer the horn. Some of them are more than an English yard."I procured at Damascus an ancient gem, representing a man wearing the horn. Inthe present day, its use is confined to the women. --John Wilson, in "The Lands ofthe Bible," 1847.

9. I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. This clause contains an allusion to thelaw, which cannot be preserved in any version. The word translated "lamp" is usedto designate the several burners of the golden candlestick (Exodus 25:37 35:14 37:2339:87), and the verb here joined with it is the one applied to the ordering or tendingof the sacred lights by the priests (Exodus 27:21 Leviticus 27:3). The meaning of thewhole verse is, that the promise of old made to David and to Zion should be yetfulfilled, however dark and inauspicious present appearances. --Joseph AddisonAlexander.

10. I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. We remark,

1. The designation given unto Christ by God his Father; he is "mine anointed."Though he be despised and rejected of men; though an unbelieving world seeno form or comeliness in him, why he should be desired, yet I own him, andchallenge him as mine Anointed, the Prophet, Priest, and King of my church."I have found David my servant: with my holy oil have I anointed him: withwhom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him": Ps89:20-21.

1. The great means of God's appointment for manifesting the glory of Christ toa lost world; he has provided "a lamp" for his Anointed. The use of a lamp isto give light to people in the darkness of the night; so the word of God,particularly the gospel, is a light shining in a dark place, until the day ofglory dawn, when the Lord God and the Lamb will be the light of theransomed for endless evermore.

2. The authority by which this lamp is lighted and carried through this darkworld; it is "ordained" of God; and by his commandment it is that we preachand spread the light of the gospel (Mark 16:15,20). --Ebenezer Erskine,1680--.

11. “I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. That is, I have ordained prosperityand blessings for him; blessings upon his person, and especially the blessing ofposterity. Children are as a lamp or candle in their father's house, making the nameof their ancestors conspicuous; hence in Scripture a Child given to succeed hisfather is called a lamp. When God by Ahijah the prophet told Jeroboam that Godwould take the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon's son, and give it unto him, eventen tribes; he yet adds (1 Kings 11:86 ), "And unto his son will I give one tribe, that

David my servant may have a light (lamp or candle) alway before me in Jerusalem,the city which I have chosen me to put my name there." And again (1 Kings 15:4 ),when Abijam the son of Rehoboam proved wicked, the text saith, " evertheless forDavid's sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp (or candle) in Jerusalem, to setup his son after him." -- Joseph Caryl.

12. HE RY, “God, having chosen David's family, here promises to bless that alsowith suitable blessings. (1.) Growing power: There, in Zion, will I make the horn of

David to bud, Psa_132:17. The royal dignity shall increase more and more, andconstant additions he made to the lustre of it. Christ is the horn of salvation

(denoting a plentiful and powerful salvation) which God has raised up, and made tobud, in the house of his servant David. David had promised to use his power forGod's glory, to cut off the horns of the wicked, and to exalt the horns of therighteous (Psa_75:10); in recompence for it God here promises to make his horn tobud, for to those that have power, and use it well, more shall be given. (2.) Lastinghonour: I have ordained a lamp for my anointed. Thou wilt light my candle,

Psa_18:28. That lamp is likely to burn brightly which God ordains. A lamp is asuccessor, for, when a lamp is almost out, another may be lighted by it; it is asuccession, for by this means David shall not want a man to stand before God.Christ is the lamp and the light of the world. (3.) Complete victory: “His enemies,

who have formed designs against him, will I clothe with shame, when they shall seetheir designs baffled.” Let the enemies of all good governors expect to be clothedwith shame, and especially the enemies of the Lord Jesus and his government, whoshall rise, in the great day, to everlasting shame and contempt. (4.) Universalprosperity: Upon himself shall his crown flourish, that is, his government shall bemore and more his honour. This was to have its full accomplishment in Jesus Christ,whose crown of honour and power shall never fade, nor the flowers of it wither. Thecrowns of earthly princes endure not to all generations (Pro_27:24), but Christ'scrown shall endure to all eternity and the crowns reserved for his faithful subjectsare such as fade not away.”

13. ARTHUR W. PI K, “The first part of this Psalm records a series of prayer-petitions; from verse 11 to the close are a number of great and precious promisesrelating to David and his family in the type, but mainly and ultimately to Christ andHis ew Testament church in the antitype. Let the reader constantly bear in mindthis important principle and fact, namely, that everything in the Old TestamentScriptures typified or represented Gospel or Eternal realities. First, God herepromises to fix His residence in the church (vv. 13-14). Then, to bless the provisionHe makes for her (v. 15). To give her faithful and successful ministers (v. 16). That,however low the interests of Christ on earth may be brought, even though (likeHimself) it may appear a root in a dry place, yet, like a tree well planted in theground, but sore lopt and hacked by man and Satan, it will sprout again (v. 16).In our present verse three things are before us. First, the designation which is givenunto the Saviour of sinners by the Father: He calls Him "Mine Anointed." Thoughdespised and rejected of men, though an unbelieving world see no form nor

comeliness in Him, God owns Him as the Prophet, Priest, and King of His church:compare Psalm 89:20-21. Second, the chief agency of God’s ordering for themanifestation of Christ to a lost world: "I have ordained a lamp for MineAnointed." This is the Gospel. The use of a lamp is to give light to people in thedarkness of the night: so the proclamation of Christ’s glorious person, offices, andwork, is a light shining in a dark place, until the day of glory dawns. Third, thesovereign authority by which this Gospel "lamp" is lighted and carried through thisdark world: it is "ordained" of God: it is by Divine command that His servantspreach and spread the light of the Gospel: compare Mark 16:15, 20.

This Gospel "lamp" was first set up in the purpose of God from eternity, in the"counsel of peace" (Zech. 6:13 and cf. Prov. 8:22-23, 31), when the whole plan ofsalvation through Christ was laid. Second, this "lamp" was first lighted in this lowerworld immediately after the fall in paradise: when a dark and dismal night of woehad spread itself over our first parents, a gleam of hope then shone out through thepromise of Genesis 3:15. Third, the lamp of the Gospel shone prophetically (Gal.3:8) and typically (Heb. 4:2) during all the Old Testament period. It shone, as itwere, through a veil. Fourth, after the coming of Christ in the flesh, and Hisresurrection and ascension into Heaven, the lamp of Gospel light was brightenedand its blessed rays were more widely diffused, but even then (and now) accordingto the sovereign pleasure of God. To show how much God is concerned about this"lamp" of the everlasting Gospel, we mention several things which He had ordainedconcerning it.

1. God has appointed those places and parts of the world where the Gospel lampshall be set up and shine: "The wind bloweth where it listeth ....so is every one thatis born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). It was so in Old Testament times: "He showeth HisWord unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt sowith any nation: and as for His judgments, they have not known them" (Ps. 147:19-20). It was so when Christ was upon Earth: to His apostles He said, "Go not into theway of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go ratherto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:5-6). It was so after Hisascension: " ow when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the regions ofGalatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia. Afterthey were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit sufferedthem not" (Acts 16:6-7).

That which regulates God in His providential dealings concerning the Gospel—opening doors or shutting them, sending one of His ministers to a place orwithdrawing him—is whether or not there be some of those for whom Christ died inthat particular locality: for the "sheep" shall hear His voice (John 10:16). Wherethere is no Gospel preaching for a protracted period, it is an indication that none ofGod’s elect are there. "Also I have withholden the rain from you, when there wereyet three months to the harvests: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused itnot to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereuponit rained not withered" (Amos 4:7). So it is spiritually, and for the reason thus given.

2. God has appointed how long the Gospel lamp shall remain in each place, before itbe sent to another part of the earth. He ordered how long it should shine among the

Jews, namely, until Christ came. He ordained how long it should shine in each of theseven churches in Asia before He came and removed His candlestick. So He hasdecreed where and when the Gospel shall continue in this country. There isprobably more real Gospel preaching in China today, than there is in the U.S.A.Many a church which was once a bright testimony for Christ is so no longer, nordoes it know that "Ichabod" ("the glory is departed") has been written over it.Many a town which formerly was blest with the ministry of a true servant of God isnow left desolate.

3. God has appointed which persons should be converted and edified under theGospel, when He sends it to any nation or congregation. The Most High has not leftit to the caprice of His servants nor to the whims of their hearers, what measure ofsuccess the proclamation of His truth shall enjoy. o, the Lord holds in His ownright hand the instruments which He employs (Rev. 1:16), and causes His Word tobe either a "savor of death unto death" or "a savor of life unto life." Paul wasbidden by the Lord to remain at Corinth, for, said He, "I have much people in thiscity" (Acts 18:10). On the other hand, God suffered him not to go into Bithynia(Acts 16:7).

When a servant of God settles in a new place he knows not who are the particularones that he has been ordained a blessing unto. His business is to preach the Wordto all who will hear him, leaving it with the Spirit to make whatever application Hepleases. The election of grace shall obtain eternal life, the rest will be blinded (Rom.11:7). Some will prove to be wayside hearers, others stony-ground hearers, and yetothers thorny-ground hearers: only a few will give evidence that they are good-ground hearers; but that is all in the hands of "the Lord of the harvest." or shouldwe desire it to be otherwise. God is working out His own eternal purpose, andabsolute subjection to the Master’s will is what is required of servants. A beam ofthe Gospel lamp will shine into one heart, when many others are left in nature’sdarkness.

"Why was I made to hear His voiceAnd enter while there’s room?

While others make a wretched choice,And rather starve than come.

‘Twas the same love that spread the feast,Which sweetly forced me in;

Else I had still refused to taste,And perished in my sin."

4. God has ordained by what instrument or minister the Gospel lamp shall bebrought unto a people or a particular person. Paul was ordained for the Gentiles,Peter for the Jews; but every one of Christ’s servants is guided by the hand of thesovereign Lord to labour in this, or that, or the other part of His vineyard. The starsare held in His right hand (Rev. 1:16), and He causes them to shine in this or thatorb of His church; and, when he pleases, He removes them from one place toanother in His kingdom, where He has other work for them; and when He takesthem to heaven, then they that "turn many to righteousness" shall shine "as thestars forever and ever" (Dan. 12:3).

It is not by chance of "good luck" (horrible expression for any child of God to use!)that any one is privileged to sit under the ministry of a man of God to whom theSpirit blesses such to his conversion. o, when God works, He works at both ends ofthe line, making "all things work together for good" unto His own. It was sovereigngrace which selected the Lord of glory to be the one who should preach the Word oflife to the Samaritan adulteress (John 4). It was sovereign grace which appointedPhilip to be the Spirit’s mouthpiece to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8). It wassovereign grace which determined that Peter should give forth the word of salvationto Cornelius and his household (Acts 10): Cornelius was a Roman, and Paul(already then saved) was the apostle to the Gentiles, yet Peter (the apostle to thecircumcision) was the one sent to him!

5. God has ordained the measure of fruit which each servant of His shall reap fromhis labours, the degree of success which each Gospel lamp-bearer shall have. He hasdetermined what number of souls should be edified, and which shall be hardened byhis light. "So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth;but God that giveth the increase" (1 Cor. 3:7). It is not always the most giftedministers, nor the most godly, who are the most successful. So far as we canascertain from the Gospel records, fewer souls were saved under the preaching ofChrist Himself than under Peter’s on the day of Pentecost! Why? "Even so, Father:for so it seemed good in Thy sight" (Matthew 11:26) must be the answer.”

18. I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown on his head will be resplendent."

1. CALVI , “The priests were said above "to be clothed with righteousness andsalvation," now the enemies of David are represented as "clothed with shame." It isnot enough that all go well within. God must keep us from the various harms andevils which come upon us from without, and hence we have this second promiseadded, which is one wherein we recognize often the goodness of God even more thanin the blessings which he may shower upon us in the day of prosperity. The greaterthat fear which seizes upon us when exposed to aggression from enemies, the moreare we sensibly awakened to take hold of divine help. The passage teaches us thatthe Church and people of God will never enjoy such peace on earth as altogether toescape being assaulted by the variety of enemies which Satan stirs up for theirdestruction. It is enough to have it declared, upon divine authority, that theirattempts shall be unsuccessful, and that they will retire eventually with ignominyand disgrace. The, clause which follows has been variously interpreted. The verbwhich we have translated to flourish, in the Hiphil conjugation means sometimes tosee, so that some have explained the words In that place shall the crown of David beseen, when the horn shall have been made to bud. Some derive the word from Pyu,

tsits, a plate, as if it had been said that the crown of the king would be resplendentwith plates of gold. But I consider that the crown is here said to flourish, just asformerly the allusion was to budding or germinating. Isaiah, on the other hand,speaks (Isaiah 28:5)of the crown of drunkenness of Ephraim as being a fadingflower. Thus we have it here declared that however frail to appearance the crown ofDavid might be in his posterity, it would be invigorated by some secret virtue, andflourish for ever.

2. BAR ES, “His enemies will I clothe with shame - They shall be so confoundedthat shame shall seem to cover them as a garment. See the notes at Psa_109:29. Thatis, David would be triumphant.

But upon himself shall his crown flourish - His crown shall be as a fresh, bloominggarland. The Hebrew word used here may mean either to glitter, or to flower, tofiourish or bloom. As applied to a crown, it may mean either that it would sparkleor glitter, as set with precious stones - or (under the idea of a garland) it may meanthat it would appear to bloom or blossom. In either case it denotes success, joy,triumph - and is a promise of prosperity to David as a king. This was a part of thepromise referred to by the psalmist, and a ground of the plea in the psalm. God hadmade these precious promises to David and his posterity; and now, in a time ofsorrow and disaster, when the glory of the crown seemed about to pass away, thepsalmist, in the name of the people, and in language to be used by the people, praysthat those ancient promises might be remembered and fulfilled. So, in a time ofgeneral religious declension, we may plead the promises, so rich and so abundant,which God has made to his church, as a reason for his gracious interposition, for hiscoming to revive his work.

3. CLARKE, “His enemies will I clothe with shame - Every opponent of theChristian cause shall be confounded.

But upon himself shall his crown flourish - There shall be no end of the governmentof Christ’s kingdom. From Psa_132:11-18, the spiritual David and his posterity arethe subjects of which the Psalm treats.

4. GILL, “With the garments of shame, as the Targum; very different from theclothing of Zion's priests; all that are incensed against Christ as a King and Saviourshall sooner or later be ashamed; either here, when brought to a sense of their evil,to repentance for it, and faith in him; or hereafter, at the resurrection, when theywill rise to shame and everlasting contempt, and when they shall see him come inthe clouds of heaven, in power and great glory, to judge the world in righteousness,Isa_45:24;

but upon himself shall his crown flourish; being crowned with glory and honour, ashe now is at the right hand of God, he reigns, and will reign, till all his enemiesbecome his footstool; his throne is for ever and ever, and his kingdom an everlastingone; and will be very flourishing in the latter day, when his subjects shall be many,and when there shall be an abundance of peace and prosperity, and of that no end;

the crown of the Messiah shall flourish on him as a king, shine out and be veryconspicuous, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi interpret the word used; and so his crown asa priest; the same word is used of the holy crown of the priests put upon the mitre,on which Holiness to the Lord was inscribed; and the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin,Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, render it, "my holiness"; and, as his owncrown is a never-fading one, such an one he will give to his ministers, and all thatlove him appearing, 1Pe_5:4.

5. SPURGEO , “His enemies will I clothe with shame. They shall be utterlydefeated, they shall loathe their evil design, they shall be despised for having hatedthe Ever Blessed One. Their shame they will be unable to hide, it shall cover them:God will array them in it for ever, and it shall be their convict dress to all eternity.But upon himself shall his crown flourish. Green shall be his laurels of victory. Heshall win and wear the crown of honour, and his inherited diadem shall increase insplendour. Is it not so to this hour with Jesus? His kingdom cannot fail, his imperialglories cannot fade. It is himself that we delight to honour; it is to himself that thehonour comes, and upon himself that it flourishes. If others snatch at his crowntheir traitorous aims are defeated; but he in his own person reigns with evergrowing splendour.

"Crown him, crown him,Crowns become the victor's brow."

6. “His enemies will I clothe with shame. That is, shame shall so inseparably coverthem, that as wheresoever a man goeth, he carrieth his clothes with him; sowheresoever they go they shall carry their shame with them. And that which isstrangest of all, they which are ashamed use to clothe or cover their shame, and thenthink themselves well enough; but David's enemies shall be so ashamed, that eventhe very covering of their shame shall be a discovering of it; and the clothing orcloaking of their ignominy shall be nothing else but a girding of it more closely andmore inseparably unto them. -- Thomas Playfere.

7. “Upon himself shall the crown flourish. This idea seems to be taken from thenature of the ancient crowns bestowed upon conquerors. From the earliest periodsof history, the laurel, olive, ivy, etc., furnished crowns to adorn the heads of heroes,who had conquered in the field of battle, gained the prize in the race, or performedsome other important service to the public. These were the dear bought rewards ofthe most heroic exploits of antiquity. This sets the propriety of the phrase in fullview. The idea of a crown of gold and jewels flourishing, is at least unnatural;whereas, flourishing is natural to laurels, oaks, etc. These were put upon the headsof the victors ill full verdure, and their merit seemed to make them flourish on theirheads, in fresher green. The literal crown which Jesus wore was also of the vegetablekind, and the thorn of sorrow never flourished in such rigour as on his head. owhe has got the crown of life, which shall not fade away, like the perishing verdure ofthe crowns of other heroes. It shall flourish for ever, with all the rigour ofimmortality, and bring forth all the olive fruits of peace for his people. Its branchesshall spread, and furnish crowns for all the victors in the spiritual warfare.”

--Alexander Pirie, --1804.