Growing Horns, Glowing Lamps, And Gleaming Crowns

Psalm 132:10-18

10For the sake of your servant David,

do not reject the king you chose for your people.

11The LORD swore to David

a promise he will never take back:

“I will place one of your descendants on your throne.

12If your descendants obey the terms of my covenant

and follow the decrees that I teach them,

then your royal line will never end.”

13For the LORD has chosen Jerusalem;

he has desired it as his home.

14“This is my home where I will live forever,” he said.

“I will live here, for this is the place I desired.

15I will make this city prosperous

and satisfy its poor with food.

16I will make its priests the agents of salvation;

its godly people will sing for joy.

17Here I will increase the power of David;

my anointed one will be a light for my people.

18I will clothe his enemies with shame,

but he will be a glorious king.”

It’s no secret that poets often use concrete images to describe deeper, abstract concepts. The poets of the Psalms do this as well in order to communicate important messages to God’s people.

For instance, the first line of verse 17 literally reads: “I will make a horn sprout for David.” To the Israelites, an animal horn symbolized strength and power. Spurgeon draws the comparison: “As the stag is made noble and strong by the development of his horns, so the house of David shall advance from strength to strength.”

Verse 17 also says that God’s anointed one will be a light to the world—literally, “a glowing lamp.” The same symbol is used elsewhere for King David (2 Samuel 21:17) and for Jesus (Luke 2:32; John 9:5).

The third symbol is somewhat veiled in our translation. God promises to place a “gleaming crown” on the head of David (and his descendants). The word for “crown” is the same as that used for the high priest’s miter. Thus, this Kingdom would be a glorious one characterized by holiness.

And when you put it all together—the horn, the lamp, and the crown—you get the symbols for power, illumination, and holy authority. Jesus Christ turns out to be a striking image of all three, don’t you think?

Crown him with many crowns, the Lamb upon his throne;

Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own;

Awake, my soul, and sing of him who died for thee,

And hail him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

MATTHEW BRIDGES

A Word on Words

There are messianic implications in verses 17-18 you don’t want to miss. “Anointed one” in Hebrew is messiah. Thus, it refers to both David and to God’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus.

Bible Networking

Zechariah, referred to this psalm in his prayer about the birth of his son, John the Baptist (Luke 1:69).

Notable Quotable

“The psalm is saying . . . that the hope of Israel rested, not on any particular pious acts of the sinner, King David, but on the . . . promise of God.”

GEORGE A. F. KNIGHT