Lord, Remember David

The psalmist recalls the exemplary way which David approached God. David is famously described as "after God's own heart". Here it mentions that David would not sleep until he finds God. So the psalmist encourages all to seek out the LORD in His tabernacle and the priests to be prepared. It establishes the LORD as the God of Israel who has a special relation with them, enabling them to be accessible to Him.

In the last part, God answers that He is in His resting place. He will bless his people with provision, especially the poor, give salvation to His people. The final verses may be a reference to the Messiah with words like "horn of David", "the Anointed" and "His crown shall flourish".


Psalm 132
The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion
A Song of Ascents.

1 Lord, remember David
And all his afflictions;

2 How he swore to the Lord,
And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

3 “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the comfort of my bed;

4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,

5 Until I find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
We found it in the fields of the woods.[a]

7 Let us go into His tabernacle;
Let us worship at His footstool.

8 Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.

9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your saints shout for joy.

10 For Your servant David’s sake,
Do not turn away the face of Your Anointed.

11 The Lord has sworn in truth to David;
He will not turn from it:
“I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body.

12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I shall teach them,
Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”

13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling place:

14 “This is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

15 I will abundantly bless her provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.

16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation,
And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

17 There I will make the horn of David grow;
I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed.

18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”

Families of Judah and Simeon

The descendants of Judah and Simeon, giving rise to subsequent families were given here. The people of note from Judah were Ephrathah the father of Bethlehem from where the phrase Bethlehem Ephrathah come from. The other person of note was Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were one of the 12 spies and one of the two (the other was Joshua) who came out of Egypt and managed to enter the Promised Land.

The families of Simeon was noted not to have as many children as that of Judah. Some of these families in later generation, which were part of the divided nation of Israel, were involved in attacking the kingdom of Judah during the reign of king Hezekiah. They also defeated the Amalekites and some settled in Mount Seir.



1 Chronicles 4

The Family of Judah

 1 The sons of Judah were Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. 2 And Reaiah the son of Shobal begot Jahath, and Jahath begot Ahumai and Lahad. These were the families of the Zorathites. 3 These were the sons of the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi; 4 and Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah.
These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah the father of Bethlehem.
5 And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. 6 Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. 7 The sons of Helah were Zereth, Zohar, and Ethnan; 8 and Koz begot Anub, Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez,[a] saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
11 Chelub the brother of Shuhah begot Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. 12 And Eshton begot Beth-Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-Nahash. These were the men of Rechah.
13 The sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel were Hathath,[b] 14 and Meonothai who begot Ophrah. Seraiah begot Joab the father of Ge Harashim,[c] for they were craftsmen. 15 The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh were Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah was Kenaz. 16 The sons of Jehallelel were Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. 17 The sons of Ezrah were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. And Mered’s wife[d]bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. 18 (His wife Jehudijah[e] bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Sochoh, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.) And these were the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.
19 The sons of Hodiah’s wife, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and of Eshtemoa the Maachathite. 20 And the sons of Shimon were Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-Hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth.
21 The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of the linen workers of the house of Ashbea; 22 also Jokim, the men of Chozeba, and Joash; Saraph, who ruled in Moab, and Jashubi-Lehem. Now the records are ancient. 23 These were the potters and those who dwell at Netaim[f] and Gederah;[g] there they dwelt with the king for his work.

The Family of Simeon
 
24 The sons of Simeon were Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib,[h] Zerah,[i]and Shaul, 25 Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, and Mishma his son. 26 And the sons of Mishma were Hamuel his son, Zacchur his son, and Shimei his son. 27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many children, nor did any of their families multiply as much as the children of Judah.
28 They dwelt at Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar Shual, 29 Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30 Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31 Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susim, Beth Biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David. 32 And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five cities— 33 and all the villages that were around these cities as far as Baal.[j] These were their dwelling places, and they maintained their genealogy: 34 Meshobab, Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah; 35 Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel; 36 Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, and Benaiah; 37 Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of JedaiahShimri, the son of Shemaiah— 38 these mentioned by name were leaders in their families, and their father’s house increased greatly.
39 So they went to the entrance of Gedor, as far as the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. 40 And they found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, quiet, and peaceful; for some Hamites formerly lived there.
41 These recorded by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and they attacked their tents and the Meunites who were found there, and utterly destroyed them, as it is to this day. So they dwelt in their place, because there was pasture for their flocks there. 42 Now some of them, five hundred men of the sons of Simeon, went to Mount Seir, having as their captains Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. 43 And they defeated the rest of the Amalekites who had escaped. They have dwelt there to this day.