Psalm 132: Remember Your Promise!

Psalm 132 memorializes David’s desire to build a house for the Lord (2 Samuel 7:1–13) and rejoices in God’s promise to establish David’s line upon an everlasting throne. David asks the Lord to remember the afflictions he has dealt with during his life (Psalm 132:1).

Through it all, David’s fondest wish had been to find a permanent resting place for the ark (vv. 3–5). He wanted to bring the ark to Jerusalem from Kirjath-jearim, where it had rested for twenty years (1 Samuel 7:2; 1 Chronicles 13:5, 6).

He wanted the Lord to inhabit a temple prepared specifically for the ark (Psalm 132:8). Jerusalem—Zion—was to be God’s earthly capitol (vv. 13–16).

“Had Israel as a nation preserved her allegiance to Heaven, Jerusalem would have stood forever, the elect of God.” “Temporal prosperity would have been the lot of Israel if she had followed the divine plan (see Deut. 18:1–14). “. . . Israel tragically failed in her mission.” David also wanted God to remember the promise He made years before: “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever” (2 Samuel 7:12, 13).

The promise of an eternal throne was contingent upon David’s descendants keeping God’s covenant and testimonies (Psalm 132:12).

While the history of Israel’s rulers is sad indeed, a “Branch” would arise out of the house of David to fulfill God’s promise (Zechariah 3:8; 6:12; Jeremiah 33:15, 16).

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5, 6).

“The Lord in Zion reigneth, / These hours to Him belong; / O enter now His temple gates, / And fill His courts with song; / Beneath His royal banner / Let every creature fall, / Exalt the King of heaven and earth, / And crown Him Lord of all.”