◄ Psalm 132:8 ►














Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Church The Rest Of The Lord
Psalm 132:8, 9
S. Conway
This is the only place in the Psalms where the ark is mentioned. And it is only described as here in 2 Chronicles 6:41.

I. THE CHURCH THE LORD'S RESTING-PLACE. (See Numbers 10:33-36.) When the ark set forward, it was "to search out a resting-place for them." And where they were, God would be (ver. 13). It is not the magnificence of the shrine, the numbers or the rank or wealth of the attendants, but it is the spiritual character of the people, that God looks at. His Church consists of those who believe, love, and obey him. They are the objects of his love and care and choice. They shall have his presence, and his delight shall be with them.

II. THE CHURCH CANNOT PROSPER WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN CHRIST. This is the meaning of the words, "Thou and the ark of thy strength." For though we had the presence of God, we could not know it apart from Christ. "No man cometh unto the Father but by me;" "This is life eternal, to know thee, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Our knowledge of God is dependent on our knowledge of Christ. The ark was the ark of God's strength. Before it the waters of Jordan parted asunder; the walls of Jericho fell down; the idol-god of the Philistines, Dagon, was shattered. It was the symbol and pledge of strength from God for all Israel's need. Hence the consternation of Eli when he heard that the ark of God was taken. But so is our Lord Jesus Christ the strength of God. For through him God wins us, keeps us, inspires us, strengthens us. God can do anything with us and through us when Christ is our Life. Revealed to our hearts in Christ, we are utterly his.

III. THE CHURCH IS BLESSED INDEED WHEN THIS PRAYER IS ANSWERED.

1. Her priests are clothed with righteousness - endued with the spirit of holiness. The being clothed tells of manifested character, the habit and garment of the soul. And what a joy and a power to the Church is a holy ministry! Nothing can compare with it, nothing can compensate for its absence.

2. Her saints are filled with joy. Gladness and sanctity go together, as they ever should. Let us ever pray, "Endue thy ministers with righteousness, and make thy chosen people joyful."

IV. THE CHURCH, WOULD SHE BE THUS BLESSED, MUST SEEK FOR THE BLESSING IN PRAYER. "Arise, O Lord," etc. Then the Lord will dwell in her; she will be his rest (vers. 14-18). - S.C.

Biblical Illustrator
Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy strength.
Psalm 132:8, 9
Blessings on the sanctuary
W. M. Punshon, LL. D.
I. THE TEMPLE IS HERE CALLED THE PLACE OF REST, OR THE ABIDING PLACE OF GOD.

II. THE TEMPLE, GORGEOUS AS IT WAS, WAS INCOMPLETE AND VALUELESS WITHOUT THE ARK. In all ages the ark in the Temple is its life. Still the quick heart within the man, and you will have the stately skeleton soon. Withdraw the magic vapour, and the wheels whirr no longer, and the most exquisite contrivances are mute and motionless machinery. Take the breath from the great organ's heart, and in vain you bid it discourse its harmonies.

III. LOOK AT THE OTHER BLESSINGS WHICH ARE ASKED FOR, EITHER OBVIOUSLY OR BY DIRECT IMPLICATION IN THE PSALM.

1. The ark of God's strength in the Temple implies that God's power is in the Temple, and He waits to exert it in the Word, in the minister's appeals, in the people's prayers.

2. The prayer proceeds to ask that the priests may be "clothed with righteousness," which is, in fact, a petition for universal purity. It is a prayer not only for us who minister, but for you who hearken, that we may, all of us, be robed always, robed already, in the new linen, clean and white, in which the saints were seen in heaven.

3. The third blessing that is asked for is holy joy in God, which has its foundation in oneness with God, both in favour and feeling, and which has its outlet in the appropriate expressions of praise.

(W. M. Punshon, LL. D.)

The gracious presence of God in His own ordinances
John Young, D. D.
I. THE GLORIOUS OBJECT TO WHOM THE PEOPLE OF GOD PRESENT THEIR SUPPLICATION, IN THE VIEW OF A SOLEMN APPEARANCE BEFORE GOD IN THE ORDINANCES OF HIS WORSHIP — JEHOVAH HIMSELF.

1. He, to whom this great name belongs, is the independent, self-existent God, whose being is in and of Himself; and who gives being to all His words and works.

2. He is the eternal, and, consequently, the unchangeable God.

3. He is the fountain of all blessedness, as well as of all being. Indeed, if He is the one, he must needs be the other. If He is independent, He cannot but be all-sufficient.

4. He is Israel's own God. In our applications to Him, therefore, on this and on every other occasion, we ought still to view Him as Jehovah, our God: our God by His own gracious grant and promise; our God by virtue of that everlasting covenant, which is sealed to every worthy communicant at the sacramental table. This will encourage us both to be fervent in our supplications for His presence, and confident in our expectations of it.

II. THE PLACE INTO WHICH GOD IS HERE INVITED, OR WHERE HIS PRESENCE IS DESIRED; CALLED, IN THE TEXT, HIS REST. The Church of Christ may be called God's rest on a twofold account.

1. On account of His Divine pleasure and satisfaction in her, much beyond the pleasure that a weary or burdened person has in a place or state of rest.

2. On account of His constant and perpetual residence in her.

III. THE INVITATION WHICH THEY HUMBLY, YET CONFIDENTLY, ADDRESS TO HIM. "Arise." The manner of expression here used, especially when applied to the Church, intimates the following things.

1. That, in taking possession of His rest, it is necessary that God should make signal displays of His power.

2. That there may be times when God seems, in human reckoning, inactive and negligent about the affairs of His Church.

3. That though Zion is God's rest, there is, and always will be, much work for Him to accomplish in her.

IV. THE MANNER IN WHICH HE WAS DESIRED AND EXPECTED TO ACCEPT THE INVITATION. They did not ask Him to be present, unless in a manner adapted to the dispensation under which they lived, and under those symbols by which His presence among them was always exhibited and secured. They only wished Him to be present, along with the ark of His strength. This imports —

1. That the people of God had an earnest desire after the symbol itself, and expected not to enjoy the presence of God, in the same comfortable manner, without it.

2. That they could not be satisfied with the symbol, without the thing signified and represented by it.

3. But the principal thing to be attended to about this ark of God's strength was its being the most lively type of Christ. This intimates —

(1)That they desired the presence of Christ as Mediator, and the benefit of His mediation, as well as the presence of God Himself. Indeed, these two can never be separated.

(2)That they neither expected the presence of God, nor desired it, otherwise than through Christ. Out of Christ God is a consuming fire.

V. IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUBJECT. It affords us —

1. Matter of wonder, gratitude, and praise; in that we enjoy the symbols of God's presence, and have access to worship Him according to His own appointment.

2. Matter of reproof to all who satisfy themselves with outward privileges, and matter of warning to all who enjoy them, against such a fatal mistake.

3. Matter of encouragement to all in this company who have business with God to-day.

4. Matter of consolation to all those who mourn for the low state of the Church in our day, and for the very low state of the work of God in her.

5. Matter of trial to all present; particularly to those who intend to eat the sacramental bread and drink the sacramental cup.

(John Young, D. D.)

People
David, Ephratah, Ephrath, Jacob, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Arise, Ark, O, Rest, Resting, Resting-place, Strength
Outline
1. David in his prayer commends unto God the reverent care he had for the ark
8. His prayer at the removing of the ark
11. With a repetition of God's promises

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 132:8

     1105   God, power of
     7306   ark of the covenant

Psalm 132:6-9

     8288   joy, of Israel

Psalm 132:8-12

     1351   covenant, with David

Library
An Examination of Post-Millennialism.
Post-millennialists teach that the only Kingdom over which Christ will ever reign is a spiritual and celestial one. They say that those Jews who expected their Messiah to set up a visible and material Kingdom on the earth were mistaken, that they erred in the interpretation of their prophetic Scriptures and cherished a carnal and unworthy hope. Let us examine this assertion in the light of God's Word. In Psalm 132:11 we read "The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it: Of the …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

Vive Jesus. Preface.
THE Holy Ghost teaches that the lips of the heavenly Spouse, that is The Church, resemble scarlet and the dropping honeycomb, [15] to let every one know that all the doctrine which she announces consists in sacred love; of a more resplendent red than scarlet on account of the blood of the spouse whose love inflames her, sweeter than honey on account of the sweetness of the beloved who crowns her with delights. So this heavenly spouse when he thought good to begin the promulgation of his law, cast …
St. Francis de Sales—Treatise on the Love of God

Promises and Threatenings
'And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do. 2. That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3. And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before Me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put My name there for ever; and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible Bespeak the Omniscience of Its Author
In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably the most remarkable challenge to be found in the Bible. "Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." This Scripture has both a negative …
Arthur W. Pink—The Divine Inspiration of the Bible

Emmaus. Kiriath-Jearim.
"From Beth-horon to Emmaus it was hilly."--It was sixty furlongs distant from Jerusalem.--"To eight hundred only, dismissed the army, (Vespasian) gave a place, called Ammaus, for them to inhabit: it is sixty furlongs distant from Jerusalem." I inquire, whether this word hath the same etymology with Emmaus near Tiberias, which, from the 'warm baths,' was called Chammath. The Jews certainly do write this otherwise... "The family (say they) of Beth-Pegarim, and Beth Zipperia was out of Emmaus."--The …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Manner of Covenanting.
Previous to an examination of the manner of engaging in the exercise of Covenanting, the consideration of God's procedure towards his people while performing the service seems to claim regard. Of the manner in which the great Supreme as God acts, as well as of Himself, our knowledge is limited. Yet though even of the effects on creatures of His doings we know little, we have reason to rejoice that, in His word He has informed us, and in His providence illustrated by that word, he has given us to …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Promise in 2 Samuel, Chap. vii.
The Messianic prophecy, as we have seen, began at a time long anterior to that of David. Even in Genesis, we perceived [Pg 131] it, increasing more and more in distinctness. There is at first only the general promise that the seed of the woman should obtain the victory over the kingdom of the evil one;--then, that the salvation should come through the descendants of Shem;--then, from among them Abraham is marked out,--of his sons, Isaac,--from among his sons, Jacob,--and from among the twelve sons …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Nature of Covenanting.
A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and nation, …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Covenanting Confers Obligation.
As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the duties …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Introduction. Chapter i. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers.
St. Hilary of Poitiers is one of the greatest, yet least studied, of the Fathers of the Western Church. He has suffered thus, partly from a certain obscurity in his style of writing, partly from the difficulty of the thoughts which he attempted to convey. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. He learnt his theology, as we shall see, from Eastern authorities, and was not content to carry on and develop the traditional teaching of the West; and the disciple …
St. Hilary of Poitiers—The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers

Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus.
(at Nazareth, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke I. 26-38. ^c 26 Now in the sixth month [this is the passage from which we learn that John was six months older than Jesus] the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth [Luke alone tells us where Mary lived before the birth of Jesus. That Nazareth was an unimportant town is shown by the fact that it is mentioned nowhere in the Old Testament, nor in the Talmud, nor in Josephus, who mentions two hundred four towns and cities of Galilee. The …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Departure from Ireland. Death and Burial at Clairvaux.
[Sidenote: 1148, May (?)] 67. (30). Being asked once, in what place, if a choice were given him, he would prefer to spend his last day--for on this subject the brothers used to ask one another what place each would select for himself--he hesitated, and made no reply. But when they insisted, he said, "If I take my departure hence[821] I shall do so nowhere more gladly than whence I may rise together with our Apostle"[822]--he referred to St. Patrick; "but if it behoves me to make a pilgrimage, and …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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