Read the Psalm

In this psalm, we pause to ask God to remember the passion of David. David made a vow that he would not sleep until He established a permanent place for God’s presence to dwell. Before Jesus, the people of God built a tabernacle where God would dwell: “and let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” (Exodus 25:8) It was a tabernacle that could move with the people while they journeyed through the wilderness to the promised land. It would later contain the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Ten Commandments on stone tablets, the rod of Aaron, and a jar of manna … all remembrances of the journey. While God interacted with His people through Moses, He desired for all His people to have a physical reminder as well as a place to go where He could be sought.

Even after the people made it to the land of promise after 40 years, the tabernacle and the ark continued to bounce from place to place. David vowed that he would find a permanent place so that people could “go to His dwelling place … [and] worship at His footstool.” (132:7) The promise of David was a desire for all people to have access to worship. The city chosen was Jerusalem (v. 13). In the final verses of the psalm, the prayer shifts to remembering the vow (promise) that God made to David for his ancestors to sit on the kingly throne of Israel. With a promise of a king as well as priests for a place of worship, the people prayed for the anointed one (v. 10) who would be both king and priest. The word anointed is the word “meshiach” or Messiah.

As the pilgrims approached Jerusalem and Mount Zion … singing and praying these psalms … they invoked this story in prayer because of a desire to be equally passionate about God and the experience of His presence. Much was promised in the gift of a place to worship (provision, salvation, joy – vv. 15-16) and it was tied together with the promised anointed one, or Messiah.

As we come to Psalm 132, we might consider how Jesus would have understood and prayed this psalm. First, He likely saw Himself in this psalm. The idea of a tabernacle was fulfilled in Jesus: “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The word “dwelt” is literally “pitched a tent” which is the concept of tabernacle. We read of a future fulfillment of this idea in Revelation 21:3: “and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’”

Second, Jesus would likely have identified with the passion of not being satisfied until God’s presence (through Himself) was accessible to all. He was passionately focused on getting to Jerusalem where the promise of salvation for all peoples would be fulfilled. Consider Luke 9:51 where it is said that Jesus “intently set his face toward Jerusalem.” The idiom of setting one’s face communicated intense passion for a desired objective. Jesus knew what He was about.

Twice in this psalm, the people are described as shouting for joy. “In your presence, there is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11) Is our joy tied to God’s presence? If it is, we will be passionate about experiencing and knowing God’s presence. We tend to be passionate about what brings us joy. Many joys in life are fleeting and not a “fullness of joy.” However, when our passion meets God’s passion of finding joy in God’s presence, we are now in dwelling the realm of deep, lasting, full joy.

The promise of the New Covenant (fulfilled in Jesus) is described in Jeremiah 31:33-34: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Reflect for a few moments on the reality of God dwelling with us and implications described in Jeremiah 31. We have access to God. His presence is available to us. This is our joy. Our passion. Indeed, the dwelling place of God is us.

Reflection questions: where is your joy? Are there lesser joys you are being invited to release? Are you passionate about God’s presence? What might it look like to develop your passion?

Prayer: Lord, in Your mercy, may I find my joy in You alone and may that be the passion of my life. Knowing You and offering the experience of Your presence to others. Amen.