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132. Psalm 132

¹ LORD, remember David
and all his self-denial.

    ² He swore an oath to the LORD,
   he made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
³ “I will not enter my house
   or go to my bed,
⁴ I will allow no sleep to my eyes
   or slumber to my eyelids,
⁵ till I find a place for the LORD,
   a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

    ⁶ We heard it in Ephrathah,
   we came upon it in the fields of Jaar: Or heard of it in Ephrathah, / we found it in the fields of Jearim. (See 1 Chron. 13:5,6) (And no quotation marks around verses 7-9)
⁷ “Let us go to his dwelling place,
   let us worship at his footstool, saying,
⁸ ‘Arise, LORD, and come to your resting place,
   you and the ark of your might.
⁹ May your priests be clothed with your righteousness;
   may your faithful people sing for joy.’”

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

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

    ¹³ For the LORD has chosen Zion,
   he has desired it for his dwelling, saying,
¹⁴ “This is my resting place for ever and ever;
   here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.
¹⁵ I will bless her with abundant provisions;
   her poor I will satisfy with food.
¹⁶ I will clothe her priests with salvation,
   and her faithful people will ever sing for joy.

    ¹⁷ “Here I will make a horn Horn here symbolizes strong one, that is, king. grow for David
   and set up a lamp for my anointed one.
¹⁸ I will clothe his enemies with shame,
   but his head will be adorned with a radiant crown.”

10. For thy servant David’s sake, etc. 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 this verse must be taken together. Before entering upon an explanation of the Psalmist’s meaning I may just say that it would be to put a forced sense upon the words were we to understand by turning away the face of thy Christ  depriving us of a view of the Redeemer. We may infer with certainty from Solomon’s prayer, that they are a request that God would show favor to the king. The same expression is employed by Bathsheba in the request which she made to her son Solomon, “Turn not away thy face,” meaning that he would not cast her out of his sight. (1 Kings 2:20.) It is an expression tantamount to shewing displeasure; and we might say a word or two in reference to it because the other idea of referring the words to our Redeemer is plausible, and might mislead persons of little discernment. Nothing more, then, is here asked than that God would not despise and reject the prayers which David had preferred in the name of all the people. The favor is asked for David’s sake, only because 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, in short, is to the effect that God in remembrance of his promise would show favor to the 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 Church was thus taught figuratively that Christ, as Mediator, would make intercession for all his people. As yet he had not appeared in the flesh, nor entered by the sacrifice of himself into the Holiest of all, and in the meantime the people had a figurative Mediator to embolden them in their supplications.