Bible Commentaries
Psalms 132

Verses 1-18

Psalms 132:0

Psalms 132:1 (A Song of degrees.) LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions:

Psalms 132:1 Word Study on “degrees” - Strong says the Hebrew word “ma’alah” ( מַעֲלָה ) (H4609) literally means, “elevations,” and in book of Psalms it means, “a climatic progression.” Strong says this word is derived from the Hebrew verb “‘alah” ( עָלָה ) (H5927), which means “to ascend.” This noun occurs 45 times in the Old Testament Scriptures and is often translated “steps,” as in 1 Kings 10:19. In 2 Kings 20:9-11 “ma’alah” ( מַעֲלָה ) is translated “degrees,” referring to the ten steps the shadow regressed on the king’s sundial.

Psalms 132:2 How he sware unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;

Psalms 132:3 Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed;

Psalms 132:4 I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids,

Psalms 132:5 Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

Psalms 132:6 Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood.

Psalms 132:6 “Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah” - Comments - David was an Ephrathite from Bethlehemjudah (1 Samuel 17:12).

1 Samuel 17:12, “Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah , whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.”

Another name for Bethlehem was Ephrath (Genesis 35:19).

Genesis 35:19, “And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem .”

Therefore, those from Bethlehem were called Ephrathites (1 Samuel 1:1, 1 Kings 11:26).

1 Samuel 1:1, “Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite :”

1 Kings 11:26, “And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.”

Psalms 132:6 “we found it in the fields of the wood” - Comments - The Hebrew word translated “the wood” in Psalms 132:6 is “Jear” ( יַעַר ) (H3293). It is short for Kiriathiearmin (H7157), which Strong says means “city of forests, city of towns.” Kirjathjearim is the city that kept the Ark of the Covenant for twenty years until David moved the ark to Jerusalem (1 Samuel 7:1-2).

1 Samuel 7:1-2, “And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.”

Psalms 132:7 We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool.

Psalms 132:8 Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength.

Psalms 132:8 “Arise, O LORD” - Comments - This is the same statement that Moses used when he commanded the Ark of the Covenant to move forward in the wilderness journeys of the children of Israel (Numbers 10:35-36). This phrase in the Hebrew text is the same in both passages of Scripture ( קוּם ) (H6965).

Numbers 10:35-36, “And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD , and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel.”

Psalms 132:8 “into thy rest” - Comments - Jerusalem was the final place of rest for the Ark of the Covenant.

Psalms 132:11 The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.

Psalms 132:11 Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament - Peter quotes from Psalms 132:11 in his sermon on the day of Pentecost.

Acts 2:30, “Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;”

Peter says in Acts 2:31 that this verse is a prophecy of the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Acts 2:31, “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.”