For Jehovah hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his dwelling
Psalm 132 opens with David searching for a place for the LORD. At verse 13 the speaker changes: God Himself answers, and names the place He had already chosen. Everything the psalm goes on to promise — God's rest and His blessing — hangs on this one sentence about Zion.
One writer puts the obvious question, then answers it:
It was not merely David's choice. Verse 5 might make us think it was. We might say, "Well, can we not find a place for the Lord ourselves? Are we not free to choose any place that seems nice and convenient to us?" No, no! David found the place that was God's place — you will see that clearly in verse 13.
The psalm runs as a dialogue. David asks, and God replies:
In Psalm 132, there is a similar change; in verse 5, David seeks a habitation for God; in verse 13, God answers by choosing Zion. In verse 8, David says, "Arise, O LORD, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength"; in verse 14, God answers, "This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it."
The same writer notes that this pattern runs through the psalm. Each answer goes past what David asked: verses 14-15 answer verse 8, verse 16 answers verse 9, and verses 17-18 answer verse 10.
God chose Zion after Israel's failure had run its full course, not at some high point in its history:
The psalm rests on David bringing the ark up to Zion... This was grace acting in power. Israel had failed so completely that the tie between the people and God — so far as it rested on the people's responsibility — was wholly broken, and the ark had gone into captivity... But now, in a fuller and more lasting way, a dwelling place was found for the mighty God of Jacob, where the godly would bow low in worship before His footstool.
The same writer draws a contrast. Earlier, when the ark set out, God rose to scatter His enemies. Here His enemies lie scattered already, and He rises to take His rest.
God gives no cause outside Himself for choosing Zion. His own heart is the reason:
"For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place." Here we see how God rests in His love — because His heart is satisfied.
Some readers take Zion here as a symbol of something spiritual. One writer rejects that reading and holds to the hill itself:
He will dwell in Zion, the mountain of glory. The glory from above will find a resting place on that holy hill. There He will sit enthroned as King... It is the literal Zion and not something spiritual. Even good expositors of the Bible have missed the mark.
The verse also explains why the psalms that follow keep tying blessing to Zion:
There is a place of blessing, and in this case it is Zion. The reason lies in what we saw in the psalm before... So we learn again that God's blessing is found where He dwells, in His own home... In a future day Zion will be Jehovah's dwelling place, and for that reason it will be the place of blessing; but now the Church is the house of God. In both cases alike it is God's presence in His dwelling that secures the blessing.
One writer carries the principle over to today:
The same principle holds for the believer today. When the Lord has His rightful place in the affections, the soul reaches a rest it would otherwise never know.
- Chosen — David hunted for a place. Verse 13 shows he only found the site God had already picked. The choice was never man's to make.
- Desired — God gives no reason beyond His own heart. He rests in Zion because He wanted to, and His heart is satisfied there.
- Answered — every prayer in verses 8-10 comes back enlarged in verses 14-18. God gives more than David asked for.
- Occupied — blessing follows the dwelling place. Where God lives, He secures the blessing: Zion in a coming day, the church now.
- Rested — the same rest shows up in a person. When the Lord holds His rightful place in the affections, the soul finds rest it would never know otherwise.
This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.
God speaks in this verse. Earlier David prays that the LORD would go to His resting place; from verse 13 the LORD Himself answers. He names Zion as the place He has chosen, and His only reason is His own desire.
Read the psalm in two halves and a pattern appears. God answers every prayer of the first half in the second — and gives more than David asked.
In Psalm 132, there is a similar change; in verse 5, David seeks a habitation for God; in verse 13, God answers by choosing Zion. In verse 8, David says, "Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might." In verse 14, God answers, "This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it."
What makes the answer more than a polite yes is that the asking itself came from God.
The desire is right according to man; the answer is according to God. The desire is right according to the divine nature and ways, but the blessing is according to the riches of grace... It is more than asked, clearly more. The heart led by God has been brought to desire what is God's desire and the object of His election.
The word "rest" marks a change. Under Moses the ark kept moving. At Zion it stops.
In Numbers 10 Moses said, "Arise, O LORD." He did not add, "and go to your resting place." The tabernacle in the wilderness could not be the rest of God. But Zion is the place that the LORD chose for His rest. He desired it for His habitation (v. 13). And David enters into the mind of God.
The reason God gives is not Zion's merit but His own wish. That joins two things which might have stayed apart — His settled purpose and His pleasure.
David's heart could have no rest till the LORD found His own rest... It is God's desire too. He has chosen Zion, so His counsel is secure. But He has also desired it for His habitation. His delight, as well as His counsel, is in it. This is immense blessing... Then God reveals that His desire is there, not only His counsel that glorifies Him in this way, but His delight too. He desires Zion for His habitation. So His habitation and His rest become one (v. 14).
Desire explains what kind of rest this is.
Here we see, indeed, how God rests in His love — because His heart is satisfied.
Zion was not Israel's high point of obedience. God took it up after everything else had collapsed.
They were taken up from the depth of ruin, and Zion was won only after that state of ruin... it is not only great activity of goodness; it is perfect goodness shown after everything had been lost. This is grace... not only was David an object of divine choice, but Zion as well! Nor need we wonder, because God in this too was thinking of Christ as King. There had He anointed His Son.
A small change of pronoun in the answer shows how completely God ties His people into what is His own.
In the desire they are the LORD's priests and the LORD's saints — "your priests," "your saints." The same holds for "the rest": the answer repeats it (compare verses 8 and 14). But as to Zion, This is my resting place. And this is what we want: nothing else will do or would be rest. But as to the priests and saints the answer does not say "your," but "her," that is, Zion's... so perfectly does God own the complete association of His people with Him in rest and blessing.
The order matters: God's rest comes first, and the blessings follow.
All the blessing promised in answer to the prayer in verses 8-10 flows from, or is tied to, God carrying out His purpose about Zion, finding His rest, and dwelling there... whatever the age, it is still true that all blessing depends on God's rest and His dwelling among His people.
The verse still waits for its full answer. That answer reaches past Zion.
Zion is the election of God's sovereign grace; and... there, when Christ is King, will be His full earthly rest. Believers today know that there is another and a higher rest... Whether in Zion or in heaven, that rest is connected with Christ. In Him God has found His infinite satisfaction and delight. In Him He will rest for ever, and we also, through His grace, shall share in His rest.
- Desire. God's reason for choosing Zion is His own desire — not Zion's worth, and not David's effort.
- Choice. Election stands behind that desire: His purpose is secure, and His delight rests in the same place.
- Rest. The wilderness tabernacle could never be His rest; Zion is where the ark stops moving and God settles.
- Dwelling. He does not rest alone — "your priests" become "her priests," and He shares His rest with His people.
- Blessing. Every promise that follows flows from God dwelling among His own, and the answer always runs past the prayer.
I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy ones with bread;
Psalm 132 begins as a prayer: the people ask the Lord to rise up and enter His resting place. From verse 13 on God answers them, and verse 15 gives more than they asked for.
God answers every request in the psalm, and each time He gives more than the prayer asked for.
The Psalmist prays, "Let your priests be clothed with righteousness." The answer is, "I will also clothe her priests with salvation." He prays again, "Let your saints shout for joy." The answer goes out, "Her saints shall shout aloud for joy." Then God adds more: "I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread." That recalls the apostle's words, "far more abundantly than all that we ask or think."
Nobody had asked for food. The prayer was about God's rest, His priests, His anointed one. God adds the bread Himself.
The promise has a starting point. Writers link it to the day the ark was carried up to Zion and set in its place.
As soon as the ark is set on Zion, the blessing flows out to the people: "I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread." Here again we have the thought of sovereign choice connected with Zion. This time the choice is also connected with the ark. The ark, with its mercy seat, speaks of Christ. So we learn that the full meaning of Mount Zion is the power of God's sovereign grace, working for the blessing of man through Christ. When everything has been lost through man's failure, all blessing is secured by the sovereign grace of God, flowing to us righteously on the ground of all that Christ is and has done.
God living among His people is why nothing runs short. The verse also names who receives the food.
With God living among them, His people could not lack, for it is in His heart to bless them at all times beyond their greatest desires. So the Lord, when He was on earth, challenged His disciples: "When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing." His presence secured everything for them, as it always does when we grasp it and count on it. We can understand, then, this generous promise of Jehovah's grace. At the same time we confess with sorrow that we, like Israel of old, often limit our God by our unbelief. Think much, then, on the words: "I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread." And remember that it is the poor who are so satisfied.
One writer sees Jesus doing this very thing when He fed the crowd.
He shows Himself as the Jehovah of Psalm 132: "I will satisfy her poor with bread." He shows that here, and they own Him as a prophet. Then they are going to take Him by force and make Him a king. That gives two of Christ's titles. But He will not be king in this worldly way. He goes up into the mountain and takes the place of priest. Here is Christ, who would not be king, was a prophet, and intercedes on high, while His people toil below.
That feeding was a sample, not the full promise. One writer sees the verse pointing on to a coming day for Zion.
Then the feeding time will come. No longer will there be famine in the land; never again will there be "death in the pot." Of Zion it is written: "I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread" (Ps. 132:15). The Lord Jesus gave a foretaste of this when He fed the five thousand.
The end of the psalm sounds one note. One writer brings it home to the individual heart.
The characteristic note of the latter part of Psalm 132 is blessing. "I will abundantly bless her provisions… her saints shall shout aloud for joy." There is no blessing, no satisfaction, like that known by the soul in which Christ has His proper place of supremacy.
- Asked — the psalm prays for God's rest, His priests, His anointed one; no one asks for bread.
- Answered — God's reply goes past every request, adding food nobody thought to ask for.
- Anchored — the blessing flows from His chosen dwelling and the ark set on Zion, which speaks of Christ.
- Aimed — the promise lands on the poor; they are the ones God satisfies.
- Acted — Jesus fed the crowds and showed the promise at work; its full measure still lies ahead for Zion.
And I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
In verse 9 the people pray for two things: that the priests may wear righteousness, and that God's people may shout for joy. Verse 16 is God's reply, and it gives far more than the prayer asked for.
The promises of verses 13–18 belong to a day still to come. One writer ties them to Zechariah's picture of that day.
Zechariah 14 shows that the kingdom will be established after the deliverance of Jerusalem. It will not begin at the same moment, but when the glory of the Lord appears on the Mount of Olives. Then all the hindrances that kept Him from taking up His reign will have vanished... Zechariah's prophetic vision agrees with what we read in Psalm 132:13-18.
Verse 16 is not the only promise of its kind. A pattern runs through the psalm: each thing the people ask for comes back enlarged.
Nothing can be more striking than the goodness of God throughout this Psalm. God goes beyond all that is asked of Him. The prayer is, "Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness; and let Your saints shout for joy" (v. 9). But the answer is, "I will also clothe her priests with salvation; and her saints shall shout aloud for joy" (v. 16)... In every case the answer largely surpasses the request.
The prayer of verse 9 was about the priests' daily conduct.
Then they pray that the priests may be clothed with righteousness — that their daily ways may match their holy office. Thirdly, they pray that the Lord's people may shout for joy.
God does not refuse that prayer. His answer swaps righteousness for something else: salvation.
In verse 9 the desire is that Jehovah's priests be clothed with righteousness, as John the Baptist's father was. The answer in verse 16 is, "I will also clothe her priests with salvation" — the full, final deliverance of God. The desire is right: righteousness suits them. The answer is from God, and it suits Him in the power of His grace. The desire again is that His saints may shout for joy. That is right too: the renewed heart must desire the prosperity and joy of God's chosen. And God will give it abundantly: "her saints shall shout aloud for joy."
One writer compares the two coverings and explains who these shouting people are.
Grace more than answers the desire for its tender care: "I will also clothe her priests with salvation." That is a security greater than any personal righteousness of man. "And her pious ones" — not holy ones, in the sense of set apart from evil, but godly, with a heart for God — "shall shout." Yes, they shall shout aloud for joy.
One word changes between the prayer and the answer: "Your" becomes "her."
Faith had said "Your priests" and "Your saints," and they really were Jehovah's. But in His answer He says "her" (Zion's) priests and "her" saints. So Jehovah identifies Himself with Zion, and counts as hers what belonged to Him... The Christian will understand this. He knows how closely he is joined to Christ in every way and relationship. He knows that the Lord shares with His own all that He Himself has gained through redemption.
The ESV ends the verse with "shout for joy." Older translations read "shout aloud for joy." One writer first doubted that extra word, then took it back.
We had said that the word is the same as in the last clause of verse 9, so we thought the addition "aloud" was hardly justified. The word is the same, but its repetition was overlooked. In Hebrew, repeating a word intensifies its meaning. For example, Psalm 40:1 says, "I waited patiently for the Lord." Translated exactly, it would read, "In waiting I waited for the Lord." The repeated word gives a deeper and more lasting sense... It is beautiful to see how very far beyond the desires of His people God's heart answers their prayers.
- Asked — In verse 9 the people pray for priests clothed with righteousness and for saints who shout. The desire is right.
- Exceeded — He answers with salvation instead of righteousness and a louder shout than was asked for; the pattern holds through the whole psalm, where "in every case the answer largely surpasses the request."
- Secured — Salvation as clothing means "full, final deliverance." It is safer than any righteousness a person could produce.
- Shared — "Your priests" becomes "her priests." The Lord counts as Zion's what was His, just as He shares with His own all He has won.
- Sung — The repeated Hebrew word turns the shout into a shout aloud. God's reply runs further than the prayer that asked for it.
There will I cause the horn of David to bud forth; I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.
Psalm 132 pairs prayers with God's answers, and verse 17 is one of the answers. It raises two questions: what are the horn and the lamp, and when will they shine?
The psalm sets prayers beside God's answers. Each answer gives more than the prayer asked for. One writer lines up the pairs, and this verse answers a plea for God's anointed. He quotes an older translation of the psalm.
The prayer is, "Let your priests be clothed with righteousness; and let your saints shout for joy." But the answer is, "I will also clothe her priests with salvation; and her saints will shout aloud for joy." Again the prayer is, "For your servant David's sake, do not turn away the face of your anointed." God answers, "There I will make the horn of David sprout." In every case God's answer goes far beyond the request.
The word "there" ties the promise to a place. God chose Zion for His rest, and there the horn will bud.
Zion is God's rest for ever. This is what He has chosen, and there He will make the horn of David sprout. The person of David's Son, royal grace in Zion, marks out the blessing. Whatever house is built, God remembers David and his trouble, not Solomon — a picture of David's son — and his house.
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, praised God for a deliverer raised up in David's house. One writer ties that praise to this verse, and follows the story to its end.
In Scripture, horns stand for power. Zacharias, speaking as a prophet by the Holy Spirit, praised the Lord God of Israel for raising up a horn of deliverance, or salvation, in the house of David His servant. No doubt Psalm 132:17-18 was in his mind as he said this. Zacharias expected that this prophecy, and many more like it, were about to be fulfilled in the baby soon to be born in David's house. That was not to be. The envy of Israel's leaders and the blindness of the unrepentant nation refused to acknowledge the rightful claims of the Messiah, and in the end they crucified Him. Israel's deliverance, so vividly described in the prophetic Scriptures, was put on hold. It waits for the great day when its all-powerful Deliverer will come from Zion. He will deal with their ungodliness and set them free from their enemies.
The lamp is linked to the anointing, and the light runs on through David's line to Christ.
In the Old Testament, anointing and the lamp appear together: "There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed" (Ps. 132:17); "that David My servant may always have a lamp before Me" (1 Kings 11:36). Scripture calls David himself "the lamp of Israel" (2 Sam. 21:17), and in a far higher sense our Lord Jesus declares Himself "the light of the world" (John 8:12). So we see that oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit, that the anointing was by Him, and that the power for light or testimony comes from Him too.
God has prepared this lamp. So where does it burn today?
Where does this lamp shine now? Not on earth. Jerusalem, the place of its display on earth, is "trampled underfoot by the Gentiles." But faith can see it shining with undimmed brightness "in the true tabernacle," where it will keep shining "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in."
When will the horn bud and the lamp shine in full?
Even the simplest reader will see at once that these words can only come true when God's King is set up on His holy hill of Zion. Then all God's purposes for His Anointed, for His chosen people, and for the nations of the earth will reach their full accomplishment.
Abraham saw this lamp from far off. The Lord will light it in His own time.
The "lamp" promised here will shine in the kingdom of the Son of David in a coming day. Abraham saw it from far off (Gen. 15:17), and so he saw Christ's "day" and "was glad." Both Christ and His people have longed for it all through the night-time of this present world (Isa. 62:1). In answer to that longing, the Lord Himself will light it up at the right time.
- Asked — David prayed that God would not turn away the face of His anointed. Verse 17 is the reply. Like every reply in this psalm, it gives more than the prayer asked.
- Placed — God chose Zion for His own rest. There the horn buds, and the person of David's Son marks out the blessing.
- Power — the horn means power. Zacharias saw it in the child born in David's house. Israel's leaders refused the deliverer God raised up, so the deliverance waits.
- Light — the lamp goes with the anointing. Scripture calls David Israel's lamp, and Christ calls Himself the light of the world. For now faith sees that light, not the city trampled underfoot.
- Coming — the full answer waits for God's King on His holy hill. Then the Lord will light the lamp Abraham saw from far off.
His enemies will I clothe with shame; but upon himself shall his crown flourish.
Psalm 132 is a prayer for the throne of David, and this last verse is God's answer. Who is the king it speaks of, and what does it mean for a crown to shine on him?
Verse 10 asked God not to turn away the face of His anointed. Verses 17 and 18 give back more than the prayer asked for, and that pattern runs through the whole psalm.
It is interesting to see how God deals with us. His explanations, His answers to prayer, all His replies to us, go beyond the occasion of the request. So in Psalm 132, the reply in each case goes beyond what is asked. Compare verses 13-15 with verse 8, verse 16 with verse 9, and verses 17, 18 with verse 10.
Three images close the psalm: a horn, a lamp, and a crown. One writer traces them back to the prayer in verse 10 and explains what each one stands for.
The prayer in verse 10 was that God would not turn away "the face of Your anointed." In answer, God makes the horn of David bud; He appoints a lamp for His anointed, and upon Himself shall His crown flourish. A lamp is a picture of something that bears witness to a thing and shows that it is true and real. Here it refers, no doubt, to 2 Chronicles 21:7; 1 Kings 11:36, 15:4. The horn is, of course, a symbol of power, and a crown the sign of rule.
Older translations end the verse with "his crown shall flourish," where the ESV has "his crown will shine." "Flourish" is the word used for growing things: a crown that buds and blossoms instead of fading. The same picture of a new season covers the kingdom and its people:
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The half-open flowers are the emblem of a new season, of the beginning of spring. Thus these emblems are not only those of the kingdom, but also emblems of those who belong there. There will be perfect harmony between the glories of the kingdom and those who will have part in it... He is the true Son of David, and upon Himself shall His crown flourish.
The wording is exact. The crown is not just promised to David's children — it flourishes on one head.
Then the horn of David is "to bud," and God appoints "a lamp" for His Anointed — "On himself shall his crown flourish." It is not merely "their children." This shows us who David is in the prophets.
The two halves of the verse happen together. Shame covers the enemies as the crown buds, and nothing after that breaks it off.
And here, in the everlasting city, the horn of David's power will bud at last, with nothing to check or interrupt it. "I will set in order a lamp for My Anointed." Now there is final triumph: "His enemies will I clothe with shame; but upon Himself shall His crown flourish."
Shame is all that is left of the opposition. One writer puts it plainly:
And in the Psalm, there are no more enemies left; they are all clothed with shame.
Verse 17 begins with "there." That small word fixes where all of this happens.
The answer in verses 17, 18 is also more: the horn of David is to bud; God appoints a lamp there for Him, and His crown shall flourish on Him. That is, He goes beyond the wish. But note it is "there" — in Zion. Christ literally is King there, as in Psalm 2.
Love for Christ makes His crowning something we want for Him.
For do we not "love Him because He first loved us"? Then, truly, we shall desire earnestly that "upon Himself shall His crown flourish."
- Asked — David prayed that God would not turn away the face of His anointed. Every reply in this psalm gives more than the prayer asked for.
- Granted — the horn is power, the lamp is testimony, the crown is rule. God gives all three to His anointed.
- Personal — the crown flourishes "upon himself," not on his children. That points past David to the true Son of David.
- Final — one moment clothes His enemies with shame and sets the crown budding. Nothing checks it after that.
- Located — it happens "there," in Zion. Until then, love for Christ makes us long to see Him crowned.