How often do you make a promise? Was it this week? A month ago? A year ago? The 1st January every year? Did you keep it? Promises feel binding and what we promise to keep says something about ourselves in bunch of ways – the things we obey. Today in Psalm 132 we meet a pilgrims song about a promise. As we read in verse 1-2 of Psalm 132
O Lord, remember, David and all the hardship he endured. He swore an oath to the Lord and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
So what does Psalm 132 have to teach us?
King David is mentioned as the Psalmist writes about him, the focus is found in verse 8
8 arise, O LORD, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.
This is a Psalm all about the Ark of the Covenant anchored in Israel’s history remembering the past to somehow help them be obedient in the present. I don’t know how big the Ark of the covenant is in your mind but the Ark of the Covenant was simply a box that stood approximately 1.14m long, 70cs broad and 68cm deep inlaid with gold. Its lid was solid cast gold was called the mercy seat where two cherub angel like figures adorned the top. The mercy seat on top was reminded them that God sat above them as King. The box itself contained some important things like some of the manna that were to remind them of God’s provision from their time in the desert like Aarons staff , and the 10 commandments given to Moses by God at Mt Sinai. This Ark represented in a sense all that was wrapped up in the relationship, of God’s promises to his people. It was a visible reminder of God’s faithfulness that God was with his people, God was over and above his people. The Psalmist writes about the ark in this Psalm pointing to something much bigger than Israel itself. As a Psalm it seems to break into 2 halves itself. The first half verses 1-10 are all about King David’s resolve to find and build a place for God for God’s people to have a place to gather to worship him. The second half of the Psalm verses 11-18 looks more at the response of God’s oath to David that from David’s family a Messiah would come. So here the Psalmist writes verses 1-5
1 O LORD, remember David and all the hardships he endured. 2 He swore an oath to the LORD and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3 "I will not enter my house or go to my bed-- 4 I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, 5 till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."
Remember David is what the Psalmist prays, also remember all those promises he made
the determination he had to find a place for God’s people to come together for worship of God. These first few verses of this Psalm are images of unceasing activity: Verse 3 not going home or going to bed; verse 4 no sleep until a place is found. King David longed for God to be worshipped by all the people. He longed to be able to establish God’s people as the worshipping community who’s praise of God was revered. In verses 6-9 it’s all about having a right desire for God
6 We heard it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of Jaar: 7 "Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool-- 8 arise, O LORD, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. 9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy."
The news travels Fast that the Ark of the Covenant had been found while they were at Ephrathah which is Bethlehem in the fields of Jaar. Here David makes a vow a promise to get the Ark and bring it into Jerusalem. Then as it were the psalmist jumps forward in time
as verses 8-10 come straight from Solomon’s prayer of dedication. At the newly built temple in Jerusalem from 2 Chronicles 6:41-42. This is a prayer for God not to reject his people “Help those who minister, to do so in joyful worship.” We get pointed in the direction of our worship and our walk to the why and the how for us as people of God. Our worship is not a disconnected act of appeasement to the distant God. It is as the community drawn together in praise of the one who is the joy of our souls, just as our walk in how we go at our relationships together. What we learn is that obedience is as much about doing what God tells us, not just hearing about it. Just like the Psalmists prays in verses 13-16
13 For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: 14 "This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it—15 I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food. 16 I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will ever sing for joy.
It is a promise of choice from God that he chooses for that temple Solomon builds to be the place for God’s people to gather to worship him. Please look again at verse 15 I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food. God’s promises are not just of the past they are also about the future as Jesus will say we are like fields ready for the harvest; or how we are like various types of soil that seed may fall upon & be talking about our receptiveness to the gospel. Obedience is always fulfilled by hope. Hope is not something we detach from history as it reminds us of God’s faithfulness in the past. Hope in Jesus is that he takes our motives and our lifestyles and he challenges us to answer how we live and what we do that gives glory to God, that in Christ Jesus we are new creations the old is gone the new has come. This is where we see how our motives show up where we run to when things aren’t going as we want them to. God chooses his people to worship him with joy. It is his salvation we are clothed with
So how does Psalm 132 fit into the Psalms of Ascents?
The Psalms of Ascents were sung by the pilgrims as they journeyed to the temple for one of the annual feast weeks in Jerusalem. These were travelling songs to keep weary pilgrim on the roads and remind them why they were making this journey. They were songs people also sang as they came up the steps of the temple to gather with God’s people in praise and worship of God together. As a song this could have been sung with the leader singing verses 1-5 and the people responding with verses 6-10. As a song we are asked what are we seeking in worship today when we gather with God’s people here as a household of believers? As a song that was sung when the pilgrims took each step up those temple precents they were being reminded that there was a vast, rich reality of obedience beneath the feet of these disciples[1]. These people were not the first to climb these steps, that as they trod on that same path they were treading in obedience to God so also had the Ark of the Covenant passed
What does that mean for me as a pilgrim following Jesus today?
Psalms like this one might make us think that history is great but what does it have to do with me, that answer starts with reminding ourselves, with over 2, 000 years of discipleship in following Jesus the question is “What draws us deeper in obedience to following Christ?” We don’t have to go to temple to praise and we don’t have to practice laws or attend sacrifices for our sins to be forgive, as all that is fulfilled in Christ’s death on the cross. For us obedience takes shape when we meet with one another to worship Jesus in what are our steps like when we come to gather here? Are we a joyful gathered family of faith here to praise the name of Jesus together with joy in our hearts? Also relationally are we here to let God deal with our motives and our lifestyles to be amongst the mess of our how we sin and are sinned against of where we give up and give in? Is this a time for us where we praise and glorify his name and confess that only by his grace is change even possible this Psalm speaks all about the nurturing of faith that starts with obedience as David swears an oath like we see back in verse 2 where obedience to God reminds us of God’s promises from Hebrews 12:22-24
22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
We needs sign posts of the past to point us to obedience in God’s mercy today; just as we need the strength to stand. Faith tells us we also need a willingness to leap[2] to put those promises of Christ into practice each day. Obedience is all about trusting God’s promises to us and then do something about it.
David Hassan @ Tamworth Community Presbyterian Church 9-7-17
[1] Idea taken from Eugene Peterson A long obedience in the same direction p 166
[2] Idea taken from Eugene Peterson A long obedience in the same direction p 170