Psalms 132:2

How he sware unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; THE MIGHTY GOD OF JACOB - from ....

2._Who sware to Jehovah. _One affliction of David is particularly mentioned, That he was filled with perplexity on account of the situation of the Ark. Moses had commanded the people ages 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 be made apparent, and yet was in some hesitation — a state of things which was necessarily attended with much anxiety, especially to one who was so ardently attached to the worship of God, and so vehemently desirous to have the fixed presence of God with the nation, for its defense and government. It is said that he swore to see to the building of the Temple, and to postpone every other consideration to the accomplishment of this object. (130) The objurgation may seem to assume a somewhat too harsh and severe form

1-10 David bound himself to find a place for the Lord, for the ark, the token of God's presence. When work is to be done for the Lord, it is good to tie ourselves to a time. It is good in the morning to fix upon work for the day, with submission to Providence, for we know not what a day may bring forth. And we should first, and without delay, seek to have our own hearts made a habitation of God through the Spirit. He prays that God would take up his dwelling in the habitation he had built; that he would give grace to the ministers of the sanctuary to do their duty. David pleads that he was the anointed of the Lord, and this he pleads as a type of Christ, the great Anointed. We have no merit of our own to plead; but, for His sake, in whom there is a fulness of merit, let us find favour. And every true believer in Christ, is an anointed one, and has received from the Holy One the oil of t...

Verse Psalms 132:2. _HOW HE SWARE UNTO THE LORD_] It is only in this place that we are informed of David's vow to the Lord, relative to the building of the temple; but we find he had fully purposed the thing....

HOW HE SWARE UNTO THE LORD - The solemn oath which he took that he would make this the first object; that he would give himself no rest until this was done; that he would sacrifice his personal ease and comfort in order that he might thus honor God. This oath or purpose is not recorded in the history. The fair interpretation 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. Such a vow might have been made, and the remembrance of it kept up by tradition, or it might have been suggested to the author of the psalm by direct inspiration. AND VOWED UNTO THE MIGHTY GOD OF JACOB - See...

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

HOW HE SWARE UNTO THE LORD, [AND] VOWED UNTO THE MIGHTY [GOD] OF JACOB. Whom Jacob called so, Genesis 49:24; and to whom he vowed a vow, and is the first we read of that did make one, and it was concerning the house of God, Genesis 28:17; and who had an experience of the might and power of God in protecting and defending him from his brother Esau: of this oath and vow of David no mention is made elsewhere, but no doubt they were made; see Psalms 119:106; of the Messiah's swearing, though upon another account, to whom this may be applied, see Isaiah 45:23....

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...