Psalms 132:12

If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. IF THY CHILDREN WILL KEEP MY COVENANT AND MY TESTIMONY THAT I SHALL TEACH THEM, THEIR CHILDREN SHALL ALSO SIT UPON THY THRONE FOR EVERMORE. This condition, which David's descendants had not kept, explains why the state of David's race and people was now, as a matter of fact, so different from what the Lord's gracious promise had contemplated. Still, though the non-fulfillment of the condition caused a suspension, it did not abrogate forever the promise. When the condition shall be fulfilled through the repentance and obedience of Israel, the promise resumes its unabated force. So . The teaching of the Lord's testimony here is that internally imparted by God's Holy Spirit ...

12._If thy sons keep my covenant. _More distinct notice is now taken of the descending line, by which the perpetuity of the succession, as I have already shown, is pointed out. Sons of princes commonly succeed them in this world by right of inheritance, but there was this undoubted peculiarity of privilege in the case of David’s kingdom, that God expressly declared that he would always have a descendant from his body upon the throne, 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 in Christ. Here the question occurs ­ Did the continuance of the kingdom rest upon good conduct, or human merit? for the terms of this agreement would seem to suggest that God’s covenant would not be made good, unless men faithfully performed their part, and that thus the effect of the grace promised was suspend...

11-18 The Lord never turns from us when we plead the covenant with his anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. How vast is the love of God to man, that he should speak thus concerning his church! It is his desire to dwell with us; yet how little do we desire to dwell with him! He abode in Zion till the sins of Israel caused him to give them up to the spoilers. Forsake us not, O God, and deliver us not in like manner, sinful though we are. God's people have a special blessing on common enjoyments, and that blessing puts peculiar sweetness into them. Zion's poor have reason to be content with a little of this world, because they have better things prepared for them. God will abundantly bless the nourishment of the new man, and satisfy the poor in spirit with the bread of life. He gives more than we ask, and when he gives salvation, he will give abundant joy. God would bring to nothing every d...

Verse Psalms 132:12. _IF THY CHILDREN WILL KEEP MY COVENANT_] This was conditional with respect to the posterity of David. They have been driven from the throne, because they did not keep the Lord's covenant, but the true David is on the throne, and his posterity forms the genuine Israelites....

IF THY CHILDREN WILL KEEP MY COVENANT ... - This was the condition implied in the promise - that they were to keep the law of God, and to serve and obey him. If they did not, they could not, of course, plead the promise. This principle is universal. We cannot plead any promise of God in our behalf, or in behalf of our children, unless we obey his commands, and are ourselves faithful to him. See the sentiment in this verse illustrated in the notes at Psalms 89:30....

EXPOSITION This present "Song of Ascents" is well suited to be a "pilgrim-song"—sung by those who went up to Jerusalem to visit the temple, and revivify their faith in the God who had chosen Zion for his dwelling-place. It is concerned almost entirely with the temple, which it sets before the faithful from the first conception of it in the mind of David to its final glory when visited by the Redeemer. Psalms 132:1 are concerned with the birth of the idea in David's mind; Psalms 132:6, with its realization under Solomon; while Psalms 132:11 point to the time when David's true Son would be set upon David's throne, and the Lord himself would suddenly come to his temple, and make the glory of the se

IF THY CHILDREN WILL KEEP MY COVENANT, AND MY TESTIMONY THAT I SHALL TEACH THEM,.... The former part of the promise and oath is absolute, respecting the Messiah; 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 the condition 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 of Israel in the form of a covenant, and was a testimony of the will of God to them: in this the kings of Israel were to read continually, and conduct according to it in their personal walk and conversation, and by it to rule the people they were set over; and which the Lord promises to teach them by his prophets, whose business it was not to promulgate new laws, but to explain what were given. Now in case this was attended t...

This Psalm is a prayer and pleading of the covenant, such a prayer as might have been offered by Solomon at the opening of the Temple, or by any of the descendants of David, either in their times of joy or in their seasons of affliction. It divides itself into three parts. In the first seven verses, mention is made of David's zeal for the ark and for the house of the Lord. Then, in three more verses, there follows the prayer at the moving of the ark; and then the last verses mention the covenant which God made with his servant David, which is pleaded by David's descendants in after years. The Psalm begins thus:- Psalms 132:1. _LORD, (or, Jehovah), remember David, and all his afflictions;_ We cannot come before God in our own name; so what a mercy it is that we have a good name to plead! You and I do not approach the Lord in the name of any saint or holy man; we plead

PSALM 120-134 The Psalms of Degrees Fifteen brief Psalms follow, called songs of degrees, or, ascents. They were in all probability used by Israel going up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate the feasts of the Lord--”Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.” They are indeed Psalms of “the goings-up” for we rise higher and higher as we read through them. Prophetically they give us again the steps from trial and suffering to the glorious consummation. As they are so simple in language and construction no lengthy annotations are needed. Psalms 120:1 begins with distress, picturing again the suffering of the righteous godly remnant. In Psalms 121:1 the Keeper of Israel, the Covenant Keeping God, is revealed

CXXXII. DAVID'S ZEAL AND ITS REWARD. Psalms 132:1. David's oath to find a worthy abode for the Ark in which Yahweh dwelt. Psalms 132:1_ b_. AFFLICTION: rather pains, _i.e._ the pains he took to find a dwelling for Yahweh. He had (1 Chronicles 21) made elaborate provision for the material of the Temple buildings and had desired himself to erect them. The oath mentioned here is an addition to the sacred legend. PSALMS 132:6. The finding and translation of the Ark. Psalms 132:6. The exegesis is the merest guesswork. EPHRATHAH may mean Bethlehem (see...