The Treasury of David — Charles H. Spurgeon
TITLE. A Song of Degrees. A joyful song indeed: let all pilgrims to the New Jerusalem sing it often. The degrees or ascents are very visible; the theme ascends step by step from, “afflictions” to a “crown”, from “remember David”, to, “I will make the horn of David to bud.” The latter half is like the over arching sky bending above “the fields of the wood” which are found in the resolves and prayers of the former portion.
DIVISION. Our translators have rightly divided this Psalm. It contains a statement of David’s anxious care to build a house for the Lord (Ps 132:1-7); a prayer at the removal of the Ark (Ps 132:8-10); and a pleading of the divine covenant and its promises (Ps 132:11-18).
Exposition
Verse 1. LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions. With David the covenant was made, and therefore his name is pleaded on behalf of his descendants, and the people who would be blessed by his dynasty. Jehovah, who changes not, will never forget one of his servants, or fail to keep his covenant; yet for this thing he is to be entreated. That which we are assured the Lord will do must, nevertheless, be made a matter of prayer. The request is that the Lord would remember, and this is a word full of meaning. We know that the Lord remembered Noah, and assuaged the flood; he remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of Sodom; he remembered Rachel, and Hannah, and gave them children; he remembered his mercy to the house of Israel, and delivered his people. That is a choice song wherein we sing, “He remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever”; and this is a notable prayer, “Lord remember me.” The plea is urged with God that he would bless the family of David for the sake of their progenitor; how much stronger is our master argument in prayer that God would deal well with us for Jesus’ sake! David had no personal merit; the plea is based upon the covenant graciously made With him: but Jesus has deserts which are his own, and of boundless merits these we may urge without hesitation. When the Lord was angry with the reigning prince, the people cried, “Lord remember David”; and when they needed any special blessing, again they sang, “Lord, remember David.” This was good pleading, but it was not so good as ours, which runs on this wise, “Lord, remember Jesus, and all his afflictions.”
The afflictions of David here meant were those which came upon him as a godly man his endeavours to maintain the worship of Jehovah, and to provide for its decent and suitable celebration. There was always an ungodly party in the nation, and these persons were never slow to slander, hinder, and molest the servant of the Lord. Whatever were David’s faults, he kept true to the one, only, living, and true God; and for this he was a speckled bird among monarchs. Since he zealously delighted in the worship of Jehovah, his God, he was despised and ridiculed by those who could not understand his enthusiasm. God will never forget what his people suffer for his sake. No doubt innumerable blessings descend upon families and nations through the godly lives and patient sufferings of the saints. We cannot be saved by the merits of others, but beyond all question we are benefited by their virtues. Paul saith, “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name.” Under the New Testament dispensation, as well as under the Old, there is a full reward for the righteous. That reward frequently comes upon their descendants rather than upon themselves: they sow, and their successors reap. We may at this day pray—Lord, remember the martyrs and confessors of our race, who suffered for thy name’s sake, and bless our people and nation with gospel grace for our fathers’ sakes.
Verse 2. How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. Moved by intense devotion, David expressed his resolve in the form of a solemn vow, which was sealed with an oath. The fewer of such vows the better under a dispensation whose great Representative has said, “swear not at all.” Perhaps even in this case it had been wiser to have left the pious resolve in the hands of God in the form of a prayer; for the vow was not actually fulfilled as intended, since the Lord forbade David to build him a temple. We had better not swear to do anything before we know the Lord’s mind about it, and then we shall not need to swear. The instance of David’s vows shows that vows are allowable, but it does not prove that they are desirable. Probably David went too far in his words, and it is well that the Lord did not hold him to the letter of his bond, but accepted the will for the deed, and the meaning of his promise instead of the literal sense of it. David imitated Jacob, that great maker of vows at Bethel, and upon him rested the blessing pronounced on Jacob by Isaac, “God Almighty bless thee” (Ge 28:3), which was remembered by the patriarch on his death bed, when he spoke of “the mighty God of Jacob.” God is mighty to hear us, and to help us in performing our vow. We should be full of awe at the idea of making any promise to the Mighty God: to dare to trifle with him would be grievous indeed. It is observable that affliction led both David and Jacob into covenant dealings with the Lord: many vows are made in anguish of soul. We may also remark that, if the votive obligations of David are to be remembered of the Lord, much more are the suretyship engagements of the Lord Jesus before the mind of the great Lord, to whom our soul turns in the hour of our distress. Note, upon this verse, that Jehovah was the God of Jacob, the same God evermore; that he had this for his attribute, that he is mighty—mighty to succour his Jacobs who put their trust in him, though their afflictions be many. He is, moreover, specially the Mighty One of his people; he is the God of Jacob in a sense in which he is not the God of unbelievers. So here we have three points concerning our God:—name, Jehovah; attribute, mighty; special relationship, “mighty God of Jacob.” He it is who is asked to remember David and his trials, and there is a plea for that blessing in each one of the three points.