The Songs of Ascents

A Sermon Series

by

Jim Bordwine, ThD

Psalm 132

Introduction

When we think of the great characters of the Bible, when we think of our favorite characters in Scripture, we remember, of course, king David. The study of David's life reveals a man of principle. You can look at David's life and extract a number of convictions which are worthy of imitation. No characteristic of David stands out more, however, than his passion for the worship of God.

The Psalm we are going to consider this morning illustrates this truth. This Psalm refers to David's desire to honor the LORD with a house of worship. This Psalm shows how David became an example to those who came after him; and it highlights that one chief characteristic of his life, which was his zeal for the worship of God.

Our text: Psalm 132 A Song of Ascents. 1 Remember, O LORD, on David's behalf, all his affliction; 2 How he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, 3 “Surely I will not enter my house, nor lie on my bed; 4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, 5 Until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” 6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah, we found it in the field of Jaar. 7 Let us go into His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool. 8 Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. 9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your godly ones sing for joy. 10 For the sake of David Your servant, do not turn away the face of Your anointed. 11 The LORD has sworn to David a truth from which He will not turn back: “Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne. 12 If your sons will keep My covenant and My testimony which I will teach them, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever.” 13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. 14 “This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. 15 I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy with bread. 16 Her priests also I will clothe with salvation, and her godly ones will sing aloud for joy. 17 There I will cause the horn of David to spring forth; I have prepared a lamp for Mine anointed. 18 His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself his crown shall shine.”

Before we begin working out way through this Psalm, I want to say a word about the occasion for this Psalm. It appears that this Psalm is concerned primarily with the LORD's sanctuary. It may have been written at the time when the Temple was dedicated under Solomon. It is also possible, of course, that the Psalm was written after that event, but intended as a memorial to the completion of God's sanctuary-a dream that began with King David and came to fulfillment under his son, Solomon.

01. What does this Psalm teach us about God?

Whereas the last Psalm was an intensely personal reflection of David upon his own character, this Psalm is filled with information about the LORD. It is, by far, the longest of the Songs of Ascents and it tells us much about God's character and God's works and God's promises. Due to the subject matter of this Psalm, we can easily understand why it was included in this particular selection of Psalms which were sung by the worshipers as they made their way to Jerusalem to appear before the LORD.

You'll notice that the writer begins by recalling David's zeal to build a house for Jehovah (vv. 1, 2). The writer calls on the LORD to remember David's affliction, meaning, I would presume, the things that David suffered as a result of walking with the LORD and serving as king over Israel. With that brief word calling to God's attention one of His most cherished servants, the writer further requests that the LORD would recall how David vowed to remain unsatisfied until he found a place for the LORD (vv. 3-5). David's words were of the most serious tone: “Surely I will not enter my house, nor lie on my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the mighty One of Jacob.”

There came a point in David's life when he was consumed with the notion of building a house for God. For a period of time, this was the most important thing in David's heart, as other Scriptures reveal. Not until the LORD revealed to David that he would not be allowed to build such a house did the king relent in his pursuit. What is clear in the relevant texts is that David wished with all of his heart to create a magnificent structure in which Jehovah would dwell. Even before the writer says a word directly related to the LORD, therefore, we learn something about Him from this brief recounting of David's desire. We learn that the LORD is worthy of such a desire. The LORD is worthy of this kind of adoration, this kind of dedication, this kind of dreaming, this kind of longing. He is worthy because He is the true God and He is a God of all power and all knowledge; He is a God whose justice is pure and abiding, and whose mercy leaves the sinner stunned in grateful silence. This is the God for whom David wished to build a house and it was his intention, I believe, that this house honor the God he had known and who had done such wonderful things for him.

The record of David's desire to build a house for the LORD is found in 2 Sam. 7. This is an amazing passage of Scripture. It begins with the statement that David was living in his house and that the LORD had given him rest on every side from all his enemies. With that quick background note, the writer then says that David conceived of the idea of a house for God: “I dwell in a house of cedar; but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.” It was this vivid contrast between his luxury and ease of life, and the fact that the symbol of God's presence, the ark, was dwelling in a tent, that struck David so strongly. “Here I am in my splendid house, free to come and go, free to enjoy all the trappings of wealth and privilege, but the ark of the LORD God sits in a tent.”

As this portion of Scripture continues, David is informed through Nathan the prophet that he will not be the one to build a house for the LORD. God states, in essence, that He could have commanded the sons of Israel to build a house for Him at any time, had He so desired. He also reminds David that He had taken him “from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel.” Moreover, the LORD adds, “I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth.” So, David's desire to build a house for the LORD results in God declaring that He was not yet finished blessing the king. Finally, the LORD announces: “The LORD will make a house for you. When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name...”

As I said, this is an amazing passage of Scripture. It begins with David's expressed hope that he could build a permanent dwelling for Jehovah, but ends with the LORD promising to establish David's son as king over Israel and promising to give that son the privilege of carrying out his father's longing to build a house for God. Once again, the first thing this Psalm teaches us about God is that the God of the Bible is worthy of such aspirations in the hearts of His people.

This Psalm also reminds us that it is God's nature to bless and to do good to His people. It's not that buildings erected in honor of Him are wrong; it's that He is such a wonderful God that He loves us and blesses us and continues to pour out His favor on us whether or not we ever even give a thought to what spectacular things we might do to honor Him. David recognized the irony of the fact that he was dwelling in peace and he was living in a fine house, while the ark of God, that symbol of God's power and presence, was kept in a structure that spoke not of permanence, but of movement.

Having recounted David's desire to build a house for the LORD, the writer of this Psalm returns to his present time. David's longing formed the perfect context for what I suggested earlier was the occasion for this Psalm-the dedication of the Temple or a reverent reflection if, in fact, the dedication had already taken place. God had kept His word to David and David's son had, indeed, built a house for the LORD. The Psalmist, speaking on behalf of those who were remembering David's zeal for the LORD, refers to Ephrathah and “the field of Jaar.” (v. 6) These are locations mentioned in the Scriptures in connection with the time that the ark was hidden away in the house of Abinadad. David and some friends retrieved the ark when they heard that it was not in Jerusalem where it belonged. This is yet another testimony to David's zeal for the LORD. This section concludes with v. 7, which appears to be a summary statement of what David and his companions thought when they set out to recover the ark.

With that inspiring rehearsal of David's desire to honor the LORD, the writer speaks on behalf of the worshipers and calls upon the LORD to “arise to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.” (v. 8) These words support the notion that this Psalm was written at the time the Temple was dedicated. God is being invited, as it were, to come and inhabit the structure prepared for Him. Notice that it is called His “resting place.” Israel's early history, in particular, was one of near-constant movement as the people wandered from place to place during those first forty years. Since that time, the place of God's worship had been the Tabernacle, a structure whose very design revolved around portability. Now that a permanent building had been erected, the LORD is asked to come and dwell there permanently.

The idea communicated here is that of stability and maturity. The worship place for the people of Israel was being fixed and this spoke of their growth as a nation. This is all implied by the Hebrew word translated “resting place” (menookhaw). It refers to a location characterized by quietness and comfort, a place where one may be at ease. This word is used in two primary ways in the Old Testament. First, it is used to describe the place where a traveler stops to rest and regain his strength after a journey; second, it is used to describe the spiritual rest which God promises to His people at some future point. The idea, once again, is that of reaching a place where you may relax because previous factors which prevented your rest have been overcome. In our present context, the writer means to emphasize that Israel had reached a point of safety as a nation; now, the LORD could come and “rest” in the midst of His people.

Here, then, is something else taught to us about God in this Psalm. God is One to come and dwell with His people. This is a distinguishing characteristic of Old Testament revelation. In the very beginning of time, the Creator is seen dwelling with His creatures. One of the glaring consequences of Adam's disobedience was the interruption of this communion between God and His people. But from that point on, God revealed His intention to restore that level of communion. It had to take place in a mediated form, due to sin, but this intention of God is clearly portrayed in Israel's history. At the time of the dedication of the Temple, therefore, the pious Jews recognized that something extraordinary was taking place. A structure representing God's ongoing communion with the nation had been built. It was, to be sure, a type of the eternal and perfect communion which is to come for God and His people, but it still was a monumentally significant event when the Temple was completed and God was “invited” to come and dwell therein.

The desires of the writer are further expressed as he speaks of the priests who would serve God (v. 9). They were to be “clothed with righteousness” and were to “sing for joy.” This is probably a Hebrew parallelism, meaning that both phrases are meant in reference to the same subjects, namely, the priests who would function in the newly-completed Temple of God. This short sentence tells us even more about God. It tells us of two essential qualities that are often mentioned in contexts having to do with the worship of the LORD. Those two qualities are righteousness and joy. Any contemplation of God requires contemplation of His righteous character; and any contemplation of God, if rightly directed, produces joy. Meditation on God inevitably contains these two elements-an appreciation for His righteousness and an overflowing joy as the heart tries to comprehend God's greatness and God's goodness.

The writer next refers again to God's previous promises to David-this time, he refers, in particular, to those promises connected with the present event (cf. vv. 10 ff.). God had sworn to David that one of the king's descendants would build the Temple and would, in fact, sit upon the throne of his father. He also promised that faithfulness from David's descendants would be met with God's favor. This, too, was a wonderfully encouraging matter to bring before the people at this specific time. The establishment of the Temple was more than the mere completion of a building and more than the mere fulfillment of David's longing. It was the sign of God's covenant faithfulness and the sign of pending blessing for the people of God.

The standing Temple was a declaration from God that these were His people and He would dwell in their midst. It symbolized the restored communion of God and fallen man. All of the Temple rituals pointed to forgiveness as a result of mediation and substitution. The writer continues and repeats a few of the promises which God made concerning His resting place and those who would dwell with Him (cf. vv. 13-18). God would care for the needy and clothe His servants with salvation and give them reason to sing aloud for joy. God would honor the house of David even as the enemies of the throne are left in shame. Overall, this event was most encouraging and must have been one of the highlights of Israel's history.

02. What does this Psalm teach us about those who worshiped God?

This Psalm, as I noted, contains much information about God. But this Psalm also tells us a few important facts about those who worshiped God not only when this Psalm was sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, but also much earlier during the time recounted in this Psalm-the time when the Temple was dedicated. So, we really have two groups of worshipers represented in this particular song.

Those who worshiped God at the time of the Temple's dedication-at least those whose perspective is revealed in this Psalm-were people who believed that the LORD should be exalted, that He should receive glory and honor, and that His presence among them, symbolized in the Temple, was a thing to be celebrated. When considering how these people viewed God, the tone of this Psalm tells us that they adored Him. They wanted nothing more than to have the Temple in their midst, to have a permanent structure in their capitol city which declared that Jehovah dwells here and we are His people and we serve Him with glad hearts.

Moreover, these were people who were quick to recall the pious example of king David as they honored the LORD. They believed that the LORD is pleased when His people seek His glory and they were aligning themselves with the heritage of David, a heritage of humbly petitioning God and a heritage of earnestly desiring to honor Him. They quickly echoed the words and desires of David, but did so as if those words and desires were their own. They were in the spiritual line of David, a line of true worshipers of Jehovah, a line of devout longing for the glory of God. This Psalm stands out as an example of selfless yearning for that which will magnify the name of the LORD. The construction and the dedication of the Temple were spiritual highpoints in the history of Israel. This Psalm reflects the worshipers of God at their best-celebrating His presence among them, calling upon Him to glorify Himself by manifesting His righteousness and prompting joyful singing in His servants.

The second group of worshipers represented in this Psalm, as I said, are those who sang this Psalm much later during those pilgrimages to Jerusalem. By then, if these were, in fact, worshipers who had returned from exile, the glory of Solomon's Temple was only a distant memory. They were, therefore, in need of encouragement and they found it in the example of king David. This was a time in the nation's history when first principles needed to be rediscovered and implemented. One of the first principles, of course, is the primacy of God's glory as the only true God, and as the Provider for His people. Those who used this Psalm as they prepared to appear before the LORD obviously were reminded of what is truly important, which is honoring God. They were reminded of what matters first and foremost, which is rightly relating to the LORD. Those who sang this song, therefore, were people who were seeking to do what was right and that meant exalting God and remembering His promises and calling upon Him to bless them.

These were worshipers who wanted to restore a nation under God, a nation which existed to praise and serve Him. They were people who wanted to see God's righteousness recognized and who wanted to sing His praises with gladness. They were people who counted on God's words-those words He spoke long before about maintaining the line of David and resting in Zion forever. These were people who wanted to walk with the LORD and so they contemplated with much somberness, no doubt, the dedication of the Temple which had taken place long ago. And they desired that kind of enthusiasm for Jehovah. They desired to pour out before Him their own desires to see His house of worship honored and to see the servants of that House clothed with righteousness and to hear that House filled with songs of joy.

03. What does this Psalm teach us about our worship of God?

As I've indicated, this Psalm is unique in that it refers to the occasion when Solomon's Temple was being dedicated. It may have been written for that event or it may have been written as a reflection on that event. What is clear is that this Psalm exalts the LORD as the One to be worshiped and served; and it expresses a number of principles which should bear on our view of worship and our view of our relationship to God as His people.

To answer the question I just posed, I want us to consider what is, I believe, the most obvious and the most important principle found in this Psalm. This principle is at the heart of this Psalm; it is the explanation for David's desire and for the tone of this Psalm, which is one of extolling the LORD. The principle is that the exaltation of God is of paramount importance in this life. This is a principle which brings order to our lives and which causes everything else to fall into place, as it were.

This Psalm and other portions of the Bible reveal the degree to which this principle influenced the mind of David. He is a model in so many of the fundamental issues related to living before the LORD; and in no area of concern is David a more appropriate example than in his zeal for God's worship. When you think of David and compare him to all the greatest figures of the Bible, you see that they all shared at least one characteristic and that was their longing to see God treated as God, to see God's people respond to Him as grateful servants, and to see the name of the LORD magnified in various ways. This is true of every noteworthy patriarch, every pious king, and every faithful prophet. This is a characteristic of a mature faith-a mature faith is one which manifests a driving desire to exalt God, especially in worship.

This is because the more our faith matures, that is, the more we come to understand what God has revealed to us, the more we realize that His exaltation and His glory and His honor should be the ultimate aims of life. This is not true of every Christian you meet, but it is true of every well-grounded, discerning Christian you meet. The time came when David was prepared to direct all of his energy and resources toward the accomplishment of a goal-that of building a house of worship for the LORD. When you see that kind of desire and that kind of hope in a man, you know where his heart is and you know what is important to him. You know that he has reached the point where he has a proper view of his existence and he has reached that place where he understands the balance that is to be maintained between the various components of his life. And inevitably, such a man has as one of the most important concerns in his heart the worship of God.

I want to ask you: how zealous are you for the worship of God? In answering this question, you will reveal the character of your faith. If you are a person who sincerely desires to walk with the LORD and who really understands who He is and what He has done for us, then the most important activity in which you engage will be His worship. His worship will be edifying to you, it will be something you look forward to, and something around which your life will revolve. So, how zealous are you for the worship of God? How important is this activity? What place does it hold in your weekly routine? What model are you setting before your children? Do they see in dad, for example, a man who obviously considers the worship of God not just one of many weekly activities, but as the most important weekly activity?

I'm not asking you if you long to build a house of worship, I'm asking if the exaltation of God, which was David's ultimate desire and which takes place in Biblical worship, is a primary desire in your heart and a leading goal in your life. If zeal for the worship of God, if a longing for God's adoration is not the primary desire of your heart, then what is? And why is that other thing there? Why is it that something other than God's glory occupies first place in your heart? What has happened to your life or what has failed to happen in your life that would make it possible for something other than God's exaltation to be the fundamental principle which informs your life day by day?

These are important questions. They are questions which get to the core of our faith and reveal the character of our faith. In the matter of exalting God, you just cannot claim that you are too busy; and you just cannot claim that something else, some other concern, is more important. When it comes to rank of importance, when it comes to separating that which is critical from that which is non-critical, the matter of exalting God, especially in the worship of God in which we all participate each week, must stand alone as our very first priority. Everything that we are is defined by our relationship to God and everything we do will be seen in light of our relationship with Him when we are dead and gone.

There is nothing more important in your week than this activity of worship. This is when you get reminded of who God is and who you are; it is when you get reminded of all that He has done for you and given to you. It is when you have the opportunity to join with His people and raise your voice in thankful praise. It is when you get to set before your children the fundamental importance of humbling yourself before your Creator. You don't do anything which is more important than worship and you cannot conceive of anything that is more significant than worship. The worship of God is primary and, in terms of consequence, it comes before every other pursuit and every other activity. A life full of goals and full of activities and full of accomplishments is an empty life if the worship of God is not the core principle around which all those things revolve.

All of these truths are emphasized at the conclusion of every service when we turn our attention to the Table. Here, in this sacrament, we have illustrated God's greatness-His greatness, which prompts our worship of Him, is revealed in the fact that, though we offended Him in a manner worthy of eternal damnation, He forgave us. His greatness, which prompts our worship of Him, is revealed in the fact that, though we are merely creatures, He became one of us to secure our rescue. God's greatness, which prompts our worship of Him, is revealed in the fact that, though we sin hourly, He abides with us and will lead us to His glorious presence. This is what this sacrament means. God is great-He is kind, He is loving, He is forgiving, He is merciful-and He is to be worshiped by those with humble and thankful hearts.

Let's pray...

The sacrament is given...

Conclusion