DUNCAN/The LORD swore an oath
If you have your Bible, I’d invite you to turn with me to Psalm 132. This psalm recalls several themes together in one compass. You can imagine the pilgrims singing this on the way up to the heights of Jerusalem. The festival is coming, and their hearts are lifted as they remember the great themes from the history of Israel’s redemption. First, they recall how devoted David was to the praise and worship of the Lord. Next, they would sing of the Lord’s promise to David — That his Descendant would rule and reign over His people. And lastly, they would remember the Lord’s promise to dwell in Zion with His people, not temporarily, but forever.
David’s Desire to Build a Temple for the LORD
Let’s begin at verses 1 to 5. Here, the psalmist speaks of David’s desire to build a temple for the Lord. And you remember how that goes in 2 Samuel 7. The Hebrew word for “house” can mean a palace or a house in which a king lived, or it can mean a dynasty, as in a house of a line of kings. And so, David says to Nathan, “I want to build a house for the Lord,” meaning, “I want to build a temple for the Lord.” And what sparked this in David is the recognition that he is dwelling now in a palace made of expensive wood and he looks out and he notices that the ark of God is still dwelling in a tabernacle. Now the tabernacle was a very expensive, ornate structure, but in the end, it was a big tent.
The Lord responds to David through Nathan and He says, “No, you will not build Me a house,” that is, a temple, “but I will build you a house,” that is, a dynasty. And that’s recounted for us in the first section, this oath of David to the Lord, this desire on his part to build a temple for the Lord. Now when Solomon finally builds the temple and recounts his father’s desire to build the temple, he tells us in the dedicatory prayer that he prayed at the temple ceremony that God was pleased with the desire of his father to build the temple; it was just God’s purpose for Solomon to do it. David had a desire for the Lord to be exalted and he expressed that desire in wanting to build a temple for Him.
David’s Desire to Exalt the LORD
Secondly, let’s look at verses 6 through 8. David’s desire to exalt the Lord is expressed in his bringing the ark up to Jerusalem. And there are two interesting place names that are mentioned — Ephrathah, and you remember that from the passage in Micah which speaks of Bethlehem which was in Ephrathah; and the fields of Jaar. Those are areas that reflect the home turf of David. And so, the words are meant, when it says, “We have heard of it in Ephrathah” — What? “We found it in the fields of Jaar” — What? The ark of the covenant, that’s what they’ve heard of; that’s where it was.
And then the language, “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool” is to remind us that David brought it up to Jerusalem from there. It’s celebrating David’s desire that the Lord would be exalted by the ark of the covenant being brought into the capital of His people, into Jerusalem. And so, the language in verse 8, “Arise, O LORD, and go to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might!”
Next, in verses 9 and 10, it’s as if the new king who is being anointed in this enthronement ceremony says these words, “Let your priests be clothed with righteousness and let your saints shout for joy. For the sake of your servant David, do not turn away the face of your anointed one.” This is David’s son and successor praying for pure worship to be established and for God’s promises to be fulfilled towards him. This is not lackadaisical worship. The saints are not simply ritually arrayed in beautiful, refined garments; they are clothed in righteousness. It’s a picture of the people of God totally focused on worshiping God and worshiping Him consistently inside and out.
The LORD’s Promises to Zion
And then finally, if you look at verses 13 to 18, the Lord goes on to recount His promises to Zion. A glorious picture here — The pilgrims are on their way to Jerusalem and they’re thinking of all those promises of God to David and to Israel, but here’s the twist. This psalm is found in the fifth book of the Psalter, which probably means that even though its language goes all the way back to the time of Solomon, it was put into the Psalter after there was no Davidic king upon the throne. God has promised that David will never lack a man on the throne of Israel and for four hundred years that was true, and then one day there is no longer a Davidic king on the throne. In other words, this psalmist and the people of God who are singing it are having to sing it in faith. And you may be exactly there right now. You know the rich promises that God has made in His Word to you, and you know the desires of your heart that you’ve lifted up to Him in prayer, and you do not see it. You don’t see your prayers answered. What do you do? You walk by faith. Can you imagine what an enormous expression of faith it would have been for hundreds of years for the children of Israel to sing this song while most of their people were in exile and there was no king of David on the throne?
Lastly, when Luke is recounting the birth of John the Baptist in the New Testament, he quotes this psalm, and he says that the coming of the Messiah into this world — The sending of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God exalting the horn of David. Consistently, the New Testament sees Jesus and His people — The Church, as the answer to those two great Old Testament theological crises. Where is David? David has a greater Son and Lord named Jesus, the New Testament answers. What about the exile? God is going to bring the nations of the world to Zion. Not merely a physical patch on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, but the whole world will be filled with people from every tribe and tongue and nation worshipping the Lord. This psalm reminds us that we walk in this world as pilgrims, so often not seeing the prayers of our hearts answered in the way that we would like. Yet, we too can sing this song in faith knowing that God will answer our prayers according to His perfect providence. As we see in this psalm, the promises of God can never fail.
Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III is Chancellor & CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in Jackson.