Psalms 132:13
in Psalms 132For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Jehovah hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for his habitation.
KJV
For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
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This verse in Psalms 132
Commentary
10 notes on this verseFor the Lord hath chosen Zion. It was no more than any other Canaanite town till God chose it, David captured it, Solomon built it, and the Lord dwelt in it. So was the church a mere Jebusite stronghold till grace chose it, conquered it, rebuilt it, and dwelt in it. Jehovah has chosen his people, and hence they are his people. He has chosen the church, and hence it is what it is. Thus in the covenant David and Zion, Christ and his people, go together.
This site's exposition
the LORD has chosen Zion
on Psalms 132:13-14
The search of verses 6 to 8 is answered by the LORD's own choice of Zion for His home. The word desired stands twice, in verse 13 and in the LORD's speech at verse 14, where Zion is His resting place forever. Spurgeon marks that God Himself speaks here.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"For the Lord has chosen Sion to be an habitation for Himself" [Psalm 132:13]. Sion is the Church Herself; She is also that Jerusalem unto whose peace we are running, who is in pilgrimage not in the Angels, but in us, who in her better part waits for the part that will return; whence letters have come unto us, which are every day read. This city is that very Sion, whom the Lord has chosen.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Zion must be here looked upon as a type of the gospel-church, which is called Mount Zion ( Heb. xii. 22 ), and in it what is here said of Zion has its full accomplishment. Zion was long since ploughed as a field, but the church of Christ is the house of the living God ( 1 Tim. iii.
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For the Lord hath chosen Zion,....
The former introduces his petition: the latter follows it as an answer to it. In singing this psalm we must have a concern for the gospel church as the temple of God, and a dependence upon Christ as David our King, in whom the mercies of God are sure mercies. Solomon's Prayer for Divine Favour.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
is made on the ground of God's choice of Zion (here used for Jerusalem) as His dwelling, inasmuch as the prosperity of the kingdom was connected with that of the Church (Ps 122:8, 9).
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3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
For the Lord hath chosen Zion. It was no more than any other Canaanite town till God chose it, David captured it, Solomon built it, and the Lord dwelt in it. So was the church a mere Jebusite stronghold till grace chose it, conquered it, rebuilt it, and dwelt in it. Jehovah has chosen his people, and hence they are his people. He has chosen the church, and hence it is what it is. Thus in the covenant David and Zion, Christ and his people, go together. David is for Zion, and Zion for David: the interests of Christ and his people are mutual. He hath desired it for his habitation. David's question is answered. The Lord has spoken: the site of the temple is fixed: the place of the divine manifestation is determined. Indwelling follows upon election, and arises out of it: Zion is chosen, chosen for a habitation of God. The desire of God to dwell among the people whom he has chosen for himself is very gracious and yet very natural: his love will not rest apart from those upon whom he has placed it. God desires to abide with those whom he has loved with an everlasting love; and we do not wonder that it should be so, for we also desire the company of our beloved ones. It is a double marvel, that the Lord should choose and desire such poor creatures as we are: the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in believers is a wonder of grace parallel to the incarnation of the Son of God. God in the church is the wonder of heaven, the miracle of eternity, the glory of infinite love.
The Lord hath chosen Zion - Therefore neither Shiloh nor Kirjath-jearim is the place of his rest.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the Lord hath chosen Zion - He has selected it as the place where he will abide; the seat of his religion. This is a new plea or argument, and shows that the psalm had reference to Zion or Jerusalem, as then in danger, or as having been in danger. See the notes at Psa 48:1-2. He hath desired it for his habitation - A place where to abide. Its had selected this as the permanent place of his worship.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בָחַ֣ר | vachar | he has chosen | H977 → | 171 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּצִיּ֑וֹן | betziyon | <in> Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| אִ֝וָּ֗הּ | ʾivah | he has desired it | H183 → | 26 times |
| לְמוֹשָׁ֥ב | lemoshav | to a dwelling place | H4186 → | 44 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | of him |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
בָחַ֣רhe has chosen
vacharH977 →171 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּצִיּ֑וֹן<in> Zion
betziyonH6726 →154 times
אִ֝וָּ֗הּhe has desired it
ʾivahH183 →26 times
לְמוֹשָׁ֥בto a dwelling place
lemoshavH4186 →44 times
לֽוֹ׃of him
lo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 68:16Why do you gaze in envy, O mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain God chose for His dwelling, where the LORD will surely dwell forever.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:5
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 12:5
Through
Psalms 87:2The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
it leads to
- Psalms 132:13–14
For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 78:67–69
He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.
- Psalms 132:13–14
Through
Hebrews 12:22Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels
it leads to
- Philippians 3:20
But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
- Galatians 4:26
But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
- Psalms 48:2
Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.
- Revelation 14:1
Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
- Isaiah 51:11
So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.
- Philippians 3:20
Where this verse is studied
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This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 132; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.