On Thursday afternoon as I was driving home from the office, I decided that I should talk a good look at my lawn before pulling my car into the driveway. So, I drove slowly along the side of my house, looking to see if my dormant grass was really finally growing and becoming green or if it was just that weeds were growing. I continued to drive and look at my backyard, where I found that though the herbicide that I sprayed on my yard lists about 200 weeds that it kills, the weed that is taking over my backyard must not be on that list. And by the time that I had driven far enough to get a view of the whole yard, I had driven past my driveway. Therefore, I pulled into my neighbor’s driveway so that I could turn around and head back toward my driveway.
However, right before I backed out of my neighbor’s driveway, I saw something in my peripheral vision. Someone was falling out of a tree perfectly parallel to the ground. And when I say this person was falling with his body parallel to the ground I mean it. I mean, his stomach and chest had to have been the first thing that hit the ground. It was like a belly-flop out of a tree. So, as I saw this in my peripheral vision, I turned and looked more closely to realize that it was my son, Michael.
Now, Michael was obviously hurt. He’d gotten the breath knocked out of him. But he also had gotten up pretty fast, so I was fairly certain that he hadn’t broken any bones. Therefore, I opened my car door and called him over to me. He told me that he’d tried to jump out of the tree when his jeans got caught, and therefore when he jumped it turned him so that there wasn’t a chance his feet were going to hit the ground first. He sat in my lap and I comforted him until he was able to catch his breath again. And then I let him sit in my lap while I finished backing my car out of my neighbor’s driveway and into ours. It actually ended up being a good father-son moment.
Well, that night Michael wandered downstairs before Lili and I had gone to bed. His brothers and sisters were sleeping (or at least not getting out of bed), and he was a bit bothered by taking that spill out of the tree. Therefore, I called him over to myself and said, “Michael, I know you really got hurt falling out of that tree, but wasn’t it great that I was there? If I hadn’t pulled my car into the neighbor’s driveway, then you might have fallen and no one would have been around to comfort you. I mean, how great was it that I drove my car into the neighbor’s driveway right at the moment that you fell out of the tree.” Then, Michael looked at me (no doubt admiring my wisdom and great gifts of perceiving was is true and right and beautiful in the world) and said, “Daddy, the only reason I tried to jump out of the tree in the first place is because you’d pulled your car into the neighbor’s driveway, so I decided I should jump out of the tree to come see you.” So, I said, “Well, that’s a good point. Head on up to bed.”
You see, there are certain times when we think we understand reality and what’s going on around us only to have something or someone come into the picture and show us that we’ve actually missed it. Perhaps we’re even looking at it exactly the wrong way – much like I had entirely misunderstood the string of events that led to my son sitting in my lap in my neighbor’s driveway. Well, I think Psalm 132 is something of a paradigm shifting psalm. It’s a psalm that teaches us much about God while the first ten verses talk much about David, God’s king over Israel. The first ten verses of the psalm remind us of David’s labors in bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. You’ll remember, the ark of the covenant was a box of wood that had the tablets of the law, Aaron’s rod that budded, and a pot of manna inside of it. But it was much more than a box of wood. It actually represented the presence of God among his people. It was the place where God would manifest his presence among his people.
You see, obviously God is not limited to any space. David himself writes in Psalm 139 that there is nowhere we can go from God’s presence. If we go to the farthest side of the world, up into the sky, or down into the ocean, God is there. We cannot escape his presence. But, the ark of the covenant was a place where God would manifest his presence. He would show in a powerful way that he was there with the ark. Therefore, when the Israelites would move from place to place, they would take up the ark with them from place to place, praying as they moved it, that the Lord would be with them. And he was.
Yet, during the reign of king Saul, the ark had basically been forgotten. It had been captured by Israel’s enemies and ended up away from God’s people and forgotten by them. However, eventually, David wanted to get the ark back with God’s people and up to Jerusalem. He was determined. This is referenced in verses 1-5, as David swore that he would find it, giving himself no sleep until he had. Now, of course, this is an intentional exaggeration as David would sleep, but it displays his determination to get the ark to Jerusalem. And, sure enough, they eventually heard that it was in Keriath-Jearim. This is referenced in verse 6, as we read, “We found it in the fields of Jaar.” Jaar means “wood” or “thicket,” and when you make it plural it becomes “Jearim.” So, Keriath-Jearim was a wooded area where they found the ark, prayed that the Lord would go with them (seen in vv. 7-9), and then took it to Jerusalem. This is all found in 2 Samuel 6, and it’s referenced in the first half of this psalm.
But this psalm wasn’t written by David during this time because in talks about David and in verse 10 makes reference to another king after David (“your anointed one”). Therefore, it was written sometime after David (perhaps Solomon, since Solomon quotes a portion of this psalm at the dedication of the temple), and it would have been sung by the Israelites as they made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was on a hill, and so this psalm is listed as one of the songs of ascent. That is, one of the songs sung as the people went up (or ascended) to Jerusalem.
So, what are we supposed to see from this psalm? Why was it written? Why was it included among those psalms that would have been sung during the ascent to Jerusalem? Well, as mentioned, the first ten verses would have reminded them of when the ark was first brought to Jerusalem, and these verses are basically a prayer, asking God for blessing. We see this in verse 10 as the psalmist writes, “For the sake of your servant David, do not turn away the face of your anointed one.” That is to say, for the sake of what David did,1 allow your king to be turned toward you and receive blessing, as your face shines on his.
This is why the psalm begins, “Remember, O LORD, in David’s favor, all the hardships he endured, how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob . . .” (vv. 1-2). The psalmist is saying, “Remember what David did? Now, could you show favor to me – one of David’s descendants – because of what David did?”
And certainly there are some lessons we can learn from the recounting of David’s actions in verses 1-10. It’s a good chance for us to ask ourselves what we really treasure in life, what we’re willing to sacrifice for in life. After all, David determines that he will not sleep until the ark comes to Jerusalem. Why? Because he wants God’s manifest presence to be with his people. I find it to be a good test in my own heart to ask, “If someone asked my kids what I treasure most in life, what would they say?” After all, most of you see me only here and there, and most of the times you see me, I’m standing in front of you teaching Scripture. Your answers here might be skewed a bit if you were asked that question about me. My kids, though, see me often. They see me in my good times and dark times. They see me sin often and repent often. They see what I devote myself to. So, what would they say? If they had to complete the line, “Your dad is willing to sacrifice (of his time, money, and personal gain) for ______________,” what would they say? It’s a good chance for us to be reminded of David’s desire for God’s presence and be challenged there to ask what we treasure, what we desire most in life, what we’re willing to sacrifice for.
It’s also a good reminder that it is good and right to ask God to bless us, care for us, and provide for us. Perhaps we look at this psalm wherein they ask for their priests to be clothed with righteousness, the saints to shout for joy, and the face of the Lord to shine on the king and say, “O, how selfish they are in their prayers.” But that is not the picture we are to see. Rather, they recognize that they need God. That is, if God isn’t to give the priests righteousness, they would have none. If God didn’t allow the saints reason for joy, then there would be no reason. If God didn’t shine his face on their king, then it didn’t matter if the king was the smartest and strongest man in the world, he’d be hopeless and doomed to fail. So, the psalm reminds us of the good in asking God for his blessings. The book of James tells us that if we need wisdom, we should ask God because he gives generously. When Lili and I started the adoption process to get Nick, we knew we were committing to something financially that we couldn’t do. So, I expressed to the Lord that I knew he owned the cattle on a thousand hills, and I was going to be asking him for my fair share – and more. And if the past two years shows anything, it reveals that God was pleased to provide. He was pleased to supply and multiply our seed for sowing, if you will, so that we might be able to bring our son home.
So, this psalm reminds us that God himself tells us to come to him with requests and needs, casting our cares upon him because he cares for us. It is actually not in making requests that we show that we do not think we need God.
And, we might even point to this psalm to remind ourselves that it is good to remember and honor the labors that have come before us. Indeed, the king is blessed because of David’s labors, even as we are blessed because of the sacrifices of men like Martin Luther, William Tyndale, and others – and lesser known men like my grandfather who wasn’t educated and never made much money and never gained any portion of prestige, Coy Tankersley. Indeed, it’s good to remember and honor such men, remembering that the labors of those who come before benefit us.
However, I think this psalm is written to deflect our attention off of David onto another – David’s God (and our God). And the reason I say this is because if the first half of the psalm leads you to think that God’s people are blessed with his presence, the priests clothed with righteousness, their enemies defeated, and their hearts filled with joy because of David’s good works, they could not be more wrong. Rather, as Michael corrected my misunderstanding of the events Thursday afternoon, so the second half of this psalm corrects the temptation God’s people might have to tie their blessings back to David and shows them instead that they are blessed because of David’s God. And it is David’s God – the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ – who is the real focus of this psalm and the one who should grab our attention. Therefore, I want to remind us of three truths concerning our God this morning from this psalm. First . . .
You see, the first half of the psalm, as David’s descendant asks for blessing, is a reminder of the events of 2 Samuel 6. But the second half of the psalm reminds us of the events of 2 Samuel 7. You see, after David brought the ark to Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 6, he decided that he wanted to build a temple in which to house the ark. After all, he as living in this majestic house, and the only house that God had (i.e., the only house the ark had) was a tent. So, David decided that he would build a temple for the Lord, and Nathan the prophet said that would be a great idea.
But Nathan apparently did not consult with the Lord on this. Again, it seemed like such an obviously good thing. However, that night the Lord spoke to Nathan, telling him to make clear to David that he should not build the temple. The Lord said, “I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day. . . . In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’” (2 Samuel 7:6-7). It was simply not in the Lord’s plans for David to build the Lord a house. Rather, God was going to build a house for David. So, we read in 2 Samuel 7:11, “The Lord declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.” Here, of course, the Lord means a dynasty. God says that he will be the one giving blessing here. History will not look back and say, “Isn’t David the reason we are so blessed?” but rather, “Our God and his grace is the root of our blessing” because God will share his glory with no man.
So, in a world where dynasties come and go, where sometimes they last no more than a generation, as a king is assassinated and another family of kings is set up in his place (as happened with Saul, and again and again in the northern kingdom), God promises David that he will keep his line on the throne. He is going to make David a house, meaning, a dynasty.
Thus, the reason David’s sons might be blessed is not chiefly due to the fact that David had merited the Lord’s blessings for them, but rather because God had made a promise to David to set his sons on the throne. We read it in verses 11-12, “The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: ‘One of the sons of your body I will set on the throne. If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne.”
Furthermore, the reason God was willing to dwell in Jerusalem, among his people, is not because David had gone through great efforts and convinced the holy God to dwell among an unholy people. Rather, the Lord reminds us that he came to be among his people because he desired it. We read in verses 13-14, “For the LORD has chosen Zion he has desired it for his dwelling place: ‘This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.”
There is nothing David could have done to make God dwell among his people if God did not desire to do so. The reason God blessed the people with his presence was ultimately due to God’s gracious willingness to come among an unholy people, even providing them a means of atoning for their sins so that he might dwell among them without destroying them.
Indeed, God is the source of our blessings. Even when men do good and benefit us, it is good and right for us to acknowledge that God is the one who has blessed us through them. Perhaps this is why Paul so often in his letters doesn’t simply thank someone but tells them that he thanks God for them. That is, he wants to honor men and thank them while simultaneously recognizing that they are simply vessels for God’s mercy.
So, it’s good for us as a church to recognize that God is the source of our blessing. Should the pastors of Cornerstone Community Church all die tomorrow, all is not doomed. For God is the source of our blessing and hope. And we as your pastors are often merely stumbling along, yes laboring but even more often finding ourselves incredibly thankful that God works even our stupidity and ignorance together for the good of his people.
What David learned in 2 Samuel 7, we need to remember as well. Even our great desires to honor God only reveal that he has first been gracious to us, and that he is the source of all blessing and grace in our lives. Let this, then, move us to pray more, praise him more, and trust more in the God who is gracious to his people.
Second, we’re reminded that . . .
Again, verse 11 reminds us that David had a plan. He would build a house for God. How great would that be? David could have the privilege of being the one who built the temple. God’s plan, however, was to make one of David’s sons sit on the throne forever. God’s plan was better.
In fact, even in this psalm, the psalmist asks for certain things, like God going to his resting place with them (v. 8), allowing the priests to be clothed with righteousness and the saints to shout for joy (9), and for God to bless the king because of what David did (v. 10).
However, note that God’s answers in verses 14-18 are greater than the requests. He will not only make this his resting place, but his resting place “forever.” And though they didn’t ask for it, he will “abundantly bless her provisions” and “satisfy her poor with bread” (v. 15). They asked for the priests to be clothed with righteousness, and God will clothe them with salvation. And, finally, they asked all of this on the basis of what David had done. But God promised that he would make one greater than David. He says in verse 17, “I will make a horn sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.”
You see, God’s promise to set one of David’s sons on the throne was dependent upon the sons obeying, wasn’t it? He said in verse 12, “If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne.” But we know the history of Judah. David’s sons, in large measure, were wicked men.
So, if the blessings of God’s people were dependent on the obedience of David’s sons, we would only merit God’s judgment, not his blessing. Even David himself fell short here. If the Israelites were to stand before God and say, “Judge us on the basis of David’s perfect obedience to you,” they would be in trouble because David was definitely not a picture of perfect obedience. Sure, he didn’t bow down and worship idols, but he was responsible for a man being murdered and committed adultery. So, instead of God saying, “Yes, I’ll base your blessing on what David did, he instead tells them that he will raise up a horn from David’s line.”
What is he talking about? Well, a horn was a symbol of power and might. So, God is saying that he would raise up someone great David’s line, even greater than David himself. That is, this is pointing us to Jesus, who was born of David’s line and yet obeyed perfectly before God. It is a reminder to us that God demands not the obedience that David could give but perfect obedience, and that he has raised up one to perfectly obey for us. God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. We ask him to do good to us based on David’s obedience, and his plans are to do good to us because of Christ’s perfect obedience.
Isn’t this a reminder to us to trust God, who gives more than we could ask our think? Don’t we sometimes instead think that if God would only take his cues from us all would be well? Imagine our audacity to say, “God (the creator and upholder of the universe), I don’t know why you’re doing this. Don’t you know what would be best for me?” Even our good desires pale in comparison to God’s purposes and plans. So we ask and pray, and we keep in mind that God is able to do exceedingly more than we ask or imagine, even as he has done in raising up a horn from the line of David to be perfectly obedient for us – Jesus, the son of David.
Finally, this psalm reminds us that . . .
You see, when God promised David that he would make a house for him (a dynasty), he actually promised, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Now, this was not only odd in a world where dynasties are constantly being replaced, but actually seems impossible. After all, as D. A. Carson has so often pointed out, there are only two things this promise could mean. Either David would keep having descendants born, be appointed as king, and reign – one after another, world without end. Or, one of David’s sons could be born, reign as king, and live forever. So, how was God going to fulfill this promise?
Well, the answer was made clear on Easter Sunday morning. As David’s great Son, Jesus of Nazareth had died on the cross to pay for our sins on that Friday, all seemed hopeless. How would David ever have a son who would reign forever? The answer came as God raised Jesus from the dead. We know this because Peter quotes this verse, “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne” (Psalm 132:11) on the day of Pentecost.
On the day that the Holy Spirit was poured out on God’s people, Peter stood and proclaimed, “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, 'The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”' Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:29-36).
You see, David understood when God promised him that he would have a son reigning on the throne forever, that he would indeed raise up one of his sons to live forever and reign. That is what happened on Easter Sunday. God not only raised Jesus from the dead, but he declared that Christ was king and had all authority in heaven and earth. Easter Sunday is a reminder to us that our blessings come from God, that his purposes and plans are greater than anything we could ask or imagine, and that God not only makes promises but fulfills them as well. And one of the promises he has made is that if we place our faith in the crucified and risen Christ, not only will our sins be forgiven and Christ’s perfect obedience be credited to us, but we will one day be raised from the dead to live forever with our Lord. So, let us proclaim our faith in the crucified, risen, and exalted Lord today as we come to the table. Amen.