Psalm 132 – The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion:
A Song of Ascents.
“Lord, remember David and all his afflictions; 2 How he swore to the Lord, and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3 “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, or go up to the comfort of 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 fields of the woods (Jaar). 7 Let us go into His tabernacle; 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 saints shout for joy. 10 For Your servant David’s sake, do not turn away the face of Your
Anointed (Commissioned One; Messiah). 11 The Lord has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: “I will set upon your throne the fruit (offspring) of your body. 12 If your sons will keep My covenant and My testimony which I shall teach them, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.” 13 For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His
dwelling place (home): 14 “This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. 15 I will abundantly bless her provision (supply of food); I will satisfy her poor with bread. 16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. 17 There I will make the horn of David (Government) grow; I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed (Messiah). 18 His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”
Of the 15 psalms of ascent, this psalm is the longest; 17 verses that foretell of and describe the eternal dwelling place of God Almighty, Zion. While this psalmist is not David, whoever he was, he talked about David from a place of informality; he was possibly a close friend or contemporary. This psalm is written as a prayer to the Lord, reminded God (as if He needs any reminding) of how David swore to him that he would not rest until he found a dwelling place for the ‘Mighty One of Jacob;’ which is another title given to the God of Israel. While this psalm speaks of what happened in the past pertaining to the temple, I believe it also speaks to the future coming millennial reign of Christ and the millennial temple that will be built in Jerusalem at that time. The prophet Ezekiel gives us a more detailed description of that temple (Ezekiel 44-48) in his writings.
The phrase, ‘going to God’s tabernacle and worshipping at His footstool’ speaks to the established reign of Jesus, one this earth, during that time, the seventh dispensation of time, the millennial era. The Lord is in command, and the ‘ark of His strength (the ark of the covenant) is displayed in its proper place. The priests who have been trained to work the temple are doing so, not for the purpose of providing atonement for the millennial people, but to commemorate what Christ has already done in the past, once for all, for the forgiveness of sin. Remember, only Jesus can save, and He will if we receive it. The phrase, ‘let Your saints shout for joy’ I believe is us, the resurrected saints from the OT, and the raptured Church from the NT, who are all worshipping the Lord together in His temple, along with the multitude of mortals who have been given access into the millennial kingdom or who are born into it.
In verse 10 we read how ‘the Lord will NOT turn away Your face from Your Anointed One’ which speaks of the Messiah Jesus and a time after the crucifixion, but during a time when Jesus is ruling. This could only be the millennial reign of Christ. The name David can also be translated Israel, the people of David, the people of Abraham. The promise contained therein is to David’s offspring, which includes the NT saints, and all of those who will follow after the Lord, and for those mortals who are born into the millennial kingdom, who are trained in the ways of the Lord. God is promising them a place of co-leadership in His kingdom.
The capital city of this millennial kingdom is Zion, the temple mount, in Jerusalem, Israel. While the third temple will need some serious renovations done to it to meet what Ezekiel saw in his vision, it will be built according to those specs during the beginning of the millennial era. It will be a much larger temple complex in order to facilitate the men who will be required to make a pilgrimage there three times each year. While the logistics of this is covered in another blog, let’s just say that traveling long distances during the millennial era will be provided by angels and resurrected saints who can help any mortal get to where they are going in ‘a flash.’ The ‘forever; part of God’s ‘resting place’ won’t occur until after the earth is renovated with fire and a new heavens and earth are created, making a place for the celestial city to land in the place where Zion is. Again, that’s in another blog.
In verse 15 the Lord gives us another description of the millennial era where he is taking care of this world with an abundance of provision, for the poor, for the priests, and for the saints, who will all be shouting for joy during this time. The Lord’s global government will grow during this time and any enemies of the Christ will be shamed. Their final fate won’t happen until after the devil is released from the bottomless pit at the end of the millennial era. While they will attempt to subvert this government in the final battle, the Lord will cause His crown to flourish. It’s hard to believe that even when the Lord is in command, their will be people who will still want to rebel against Him. Of course they won’t do so until they are prompted by the devil and his demonic horde after he is temporarily freed from his place of sequester in the earth. That’s another story.
This psalm, if read through the lens of Bible prophecy, will give us a snap shot of what has happened in the past, from the perspective of this psalmist, and what will happen in the millennial kingdom, which is beyond the last days as we know them. There is more prophesied about the millennial reign of Jesus than any other event or era in the Bible; it must be important to the Lord as it certainly was important to this psalmist. While I am sure that there are many other scholars who can articulate from their viewpoint what this psalm means to them, I have shared my viewpoint with you as it relates to the future, our very near future.
There are so many people, so many believers, who are a little anxious about the end times and how they are playing out in our day to day lives. In reality, Jesus told us that when we see all these things begin to happen, we are to lift our heads and look up, for our redemption draws near. The seven-year tribulation coincides with the seven-year Marriage Supper of the Lamb; we just have to decide now which event we want to partake in. As for me and my house, we’re going to dinner with the Christ and all those who have loved His appearing.
Maranatha!
Encouragemen is a blog written by Pastor Rob Lee, recently relocated to Northern Missouri. He lives with his wife of 33-years, near their three adult children, their spouses, and children (their grandchildren). Pastor Rob is an Ordained Assemblies of God minister, a former Lead Pastor (25 years), police chaplain, and community advocate. He continues to serve, consult, and disciple men of God, including those who are in the ministry.
Encourage Men 