The mighty God of Jacob - יעקב עביר abir yaacob , the Mighty One of Jacob. We have this epithet of God for the first time, Genesis 49:24 . Hence, perhaps, the abirim of the heathen, the stout ones, the strong beings. read more
Lo, we have heard of it at Ephratah - This may be considered as a continuation of David's vow, as if he had said: As I had determined to build a temple for the ark, and heard that it was at Ephratah, I went and found it in the fields of Jaar, יער ; - not the wood, but Kirjath Jaar or Jearim, where the ark was then lodged; - and having found it, he entered the tabernacle, Psalm 132:7 ; and then, adoring that God whose presence was in it, he invited him to arise and come to the place which... read more
Verse 1 1.O Jehovah! remember David. Interpreters are not agreed respecting the penman of this Psalm, though there is little doubt that it was either David or Solomon. At the solemn dedication of the Temple, when Solomon prayed, several verses are mentioned in the sacred history as having been quoted by him, from which we may infer that the Psalm was sufficiently well known to the people, or that Solomon applied a few words of it for an occasion in reference to which he had written the whole... read more
Verse 2 2.Who sware to Jehovah. One affliction of David is particularly mentioned, That he was filled with perplexity on account of the situation of the Ark. Moses had commanded the people ages before to worship God in the place which he had chosen. (Deuteronomy 12:5.) David knew that the full time had now arrived when the particular place should be made apparent, and yet was in some hesitation — a state of things which was necessarily attended with much anxiety, especially to one who was so... read more
Verse 6 6.Lo! we heard of it at Ephratha. This verse is obscure, and we need not wonder at the difficulty which interpreters have felt in ascertaining its meaning. First, the relative pronoun (131) being of the feminine gender has no antecedent, and we are forced to suppose that it must refer to the word habitation in the foregoing sentence, although there it reads habitations, in the plural number. But the principal difficulty lies in the word Ephratha, because the Ark of the Covenant was... read more
Verse 7 7.We will go into his habitations. Here he dictates to all the Lord’s people a common form of mutual exhortation to the duty of going up to the place which had been pointed out by the Angel. The clearer the intimation God may have given of his will, the more alacrity should we show in obeying it. Accordingly, the Psalmist intimates that now when the people had ascertained beyond all doubt the place of God’s choice, they should admit of no procrastination, and show all the more alacrity... read more
Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions ; rather, remember to David all his affliction ; i . e . reckon it to him, and reward him for it. The "affliction" intended is the distress that David felt at the thought that, while he dwelt in a house of cedar, the ark of God was only lodged within curtains ( 2 Samuel 7:2 ). read more
Anxious purpose delayed may prove afflictive. "Remember for David [i.e. so as to fulfill the promise made to him] all his trouble" (see 2 Samuel 6:8-15 ; 1 Chronicles 22:1-19 .). This psalm may belong to the period of Solomon, but it is better to read it in the light of the memories and feelings and hopes of the restored exiles. It is a plea for the fulfillment of the promises made to David in the experiences of the restored nation; and it is a poetical way of saying that the anxieties... read more
David's abasement and vow to God. The historical books give no account of this vow, which, however, may have been recorded in one or other of the lost compositions spoken of so frequently in Chronicles ( 1 Chronicles 29:29 ; 2 Chronicles 9:29 ; 2 Chronicles 16:11 , etc.). read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 132:3
Surely I will not come - This must refer to the situation of the temple; or, as we would express it, he would not pass another day till he had found out the ground on which to build the temple, and projected the plan, and devised ways and means to execute it. And we find that he would have acted in all things according to his oath and vow, had God permitted him. But even after the Lord told him that Solomon, not he, should build the house he still continued to show his good will by... read more