Psalm 132 Overview
David's house, YHWH's house
Psalm 132
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 132
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 132 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Introduction to Psalm 132
Author:
Purpose:
- To petition YHWH to keep his covenant with David and his royal line.
Content:
- "Do not rebuff your anointed one!" David made a vow to YHWH, and he kept it. And YHWH made a vow to DAvid, and he will keep it.
Message:
- YHWH will keep his vow to bless his king's reign in Zion.
Psalm 132 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
Background Orientation for Psalm 132
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- David's "afflictions" associated with bringing the ark to Jerusalem are known elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible (see 1 Kgs 2:26).
- "The place where YHWH chooses to make his name dwell" is a repeated motif in the book of Deuteronomy. God promised to reveal that place after he gave the Israelites victory over their enemies (Deut 12:10–11).
- The ark was moved from place to place before being located permanently in Jerusalem. It had been in Shiloh, then in the possession of the Philistines, then in Kiriath-jearim for 20 years (1 Sam 7:1–2; 1 Chron 13:5), and briefly in the care of Obed-edom (after Uzzah died from touching it; 2 Sam 6:1–12).
- The ark of the covenant was considered the footstool of God’s invisible throne. Bowing down toward it was a sign of reverence.
- Both "horn" and "lamp" are associated with kingship, especially God's promise to David. "Horn" emphasises royal authority, and "lamp" refers to the continuation of the dynasty.
Background Situation for Psalm 132
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Participants in Psalm 132