Chapter One Hundred Thirty-One

The mentioned psalm can be considered as written by Solomon during the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant from the tent of David into the temple newly constructed by him. This event is indicated, for example, by Ps 131:8, where the writer addresses the Lord with a prayer to stand with the Ark at a “place of rest,” by which the Lord would show favor to his anointed one “for the sake of David” (Ps 131:10). The verses Ps 131:8-10, moreover, are cited in the content of Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple (2 Chr 6:41-42). And indeed, the entire content of the psalm presents a solemn song, which corresponds most of all to the indicated time.

Lord, remember all the distress of David, who was concerned about building the tent of God, which then stood in the fields of Jearim (1–6). Now let us all go to the footstool of the place of God’s constant dwelling and let all rejoice (7–9). Do not turn away, Lord, Your face from Your anointed one, from the line of David, to whom You promised Your favor, if he is faithful to You (10–12). Behold, the Lord has chosen Zion as His dwelling place forever and will pour out His favor on all people. He will cause the horn of David to grow and will put to shame all his enemies (13–18).

Psalm 131:1. Remember, Lord, David and all his distress. “Distress” – David’s lamentation over the fact that he did not see the Ark of the Covenant, that greatest treasure of the Hebrew people, in a dwelling worthy of it, and over the establishment of a place suitable for God he was indeed distressed.

Psalm 131:3. “I will not enter the tent of my house, I will not go up onto my bed; Psalm 131:4. I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, Psalm 131:5. until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob”. These indicate David’s unwavering determination in seeking a place worthy of God for the construction of a tent for Him.

Psalm 131:6. Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah, we found it in the fields of Jearim. Ephrathah is the name of a city in the region of Kiriath-jearim, and Jearim, from the Hebrew Jachir, which means “forest,” is a place near Kiriath-jearim, from which David transferred the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

Psalm 131:7. Let us go to His dwelling place, let us worship at the footstool of His feet. “The footstool of His feet” – the Ark of the Covenant, upon which the Lord Himself was invisibly present and which therefore served as the footstool of His feet.

Psalm 131:8. Arise, Lord, to Your place of rest – You and the ark of Your strength. “Place of rest” – the place of God’s constant dwelling (see verse 14). – “Ark of Your strength” – the Ark of the Covenant, with which the Hebrews went out to battle and from which the Lord granted the Hebrews miraculous help.

Psalm 131:9. Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your holy ones rejoice. Let Your priests always be preachers of truth, steadfastly following Your commandments, and let them teach this truth, this knowledge of the law to all the people by explaining it, and by their life let them show an example of worthy fulfillment of the law. – “Holy ones” – the entire Hebrew people, called to be a holy nation. They “shall rejoice” because, being taught by their shepherds the knowledge of the law and living their lives in accordance with the commandments of the Lord, they will call forth from His side an outpouring of abundant mercies upon themselves.

Psalm 131:10. For the sake of David, Your servant, do not turn away the face of Your anointed one. “Your anointed one...” – Solomon. The expression that the Lord should not turn away His mercies from him “for the sake of David” shows the extraordinary humility of Solomon, by which he does not consider himself so valuable before God as to be able to claim any merits before Him and ask for reward as payment; for himself he asks these mercies for the sake of the merits of his father.

Psalm 131:11. The Lord has sworn to David in truth, and will not break it: “Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne. Psalm 131:12. If your sons will keep My covenant and the revelations of Me, which I will teach them, then their sons also forever shall sit upon your throne”. The oath of the Lord “in truth, which He will not break,” consists in the promise to David of a continuous succession of kings descending from him. But this promise of God is conditioned on the constancy and firmness of the devotion of David’s descendants to the Lord, that is, the obligation of God rests not on external faithfulness to His promise, but on the moral worth of those to whom it is given. The history of the Hebrew people illustrates this promise beautifully, showing that the Lord rewarded all faithful descendants of David and sustained them on the throne, but afterward, when they turned away from Him, the royal line of David came to an end.

Psalm 131:14. “This is My place of rest forever: here I will dwell, for I have desired it. Jerusalem is “God’s place of rest forever,” for all the time of the faithfulness to Him of the Hebrew people, to whom He will pour out His mercies. The expression “forever” has another meaning as well. With the rejection of ancient Israel and its replacement by the new covenant, Jerusalem has become a sacred city in the eyes of all Christians and, as long as Christianity lives and is active, and according to Christ’s promise it is eternal, this city remains a sacred place for all the world, the place of the manifestation and birth of new life, the place glorified by the works, teaching, and death of the Savior of the world.

Psalm 131:16. I will clothe his priests with salvation, and his holy ones will rejoice with joy. See verse 9.

Psalm 131:17. There I will cause the horn of David to grow, I will set in place a lamp for My anointed one. “Horn” – a symbol of strength and power. The horn of David consisted, of course, not in the military victories by which he made his people powerful and awesome to the neighboring nations, and not in internal reforms that brought order and peace to the life of the people, since both of these had only temporary significance and fleeting value, but by “horn” we must understand his eternal power and eternal value. The latter consisted in the descent from him of the Messiah, the founder of a new kingdom, unshakeable by any powers of hell and human schemes, and one that brought new light into life, drawing the whole world to itself. In this sense, Apostle Peter applies the words of the mentioned psalm directly to Christ (Acts 2:30).