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Psalms

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Psalm 132

1 A song of ascents. O Lord, for David’s sake remember all his strenuous effort 2 and how he made a vow to the Lord, and swore an oath to the Powerful One of Jacob. 3 He said, “I will not enter my own home, or get into my bed. 4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep or my eyelids to slumber, 5 until I find a place for the Lord, a fine dwelling place for the Powerful One of Jacob.” 6 Look, we heard about it in Ephrathah; we found it in the territory of Jaar. 7 Let us go to his dwelling place. Let us worship before his footstool. 8 Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,⁠ you and the ark of your strength.⁠ 9 May your priests be clothed with integrity. May your loyal followers shout for joy. 10 For the sake of David, your servant, do not reject your chosen king. 11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David; he will not go back on his word.⁠ He said, “I will place one of your descendants on your throne.⁠ 12 If your sons keep my covenant and the rules I teach them, their sons will also sit on your throne forever.” 13 Certainly the Lord has chosen Zion; he decided to make it his home. 14 He said, “This will be my resting place forever; I will live here, for I have chosen it. 15 I will abundantly supply what she needs; I will give her poor all the food they need. 16 I will protect her priests, and her godly people will shout exuberantly. 17 There I will make David strong; I have arranged a lamp for my anointed one.28⁠ 18 I will humiliate his enemies, and his crown will shine.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 2:2 and Psalms 132:8

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Genesis ends the creation narrative with God resting on the seventh day. Psalm 132 calls the temple God’s resting place, where he sits enthroned, describing divine rest as ruling from the temple rather than literal rest.

Passages

Genesis 2:2

Hebrew Bible
1 The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them. 2 By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Psalms 132:8

Hebrew Bible
6 Look, we heard about it in Ephrathah; we found it in the territory of Jaar. 7 Let us go to his dwelling place. Let us worship before his footstool. 8 Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength. 9 May your priests be clothed with integrity. May your loyal followers shout for joy.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"… In fact, however, although the idea of divine rest in the ancient Near Eastern includes retirement as one possibility, other texts examined above showed rest as the freedom to rule. In the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 132 provides a key passage, in which not only is the temple identified as the resting place of Yahweh but we also find rest identified with rule, for in the temple he sits enthroned. In this sense, divine rest is not primarily an act of disengagement but an act of engagement. No other divine rest occurs in the Hebrew Bible than the rest that is associated with his presence in his temple. This, combined with the data that were presented concerning divine rest in temples in the ancient Near East, confirms that the idea of deity resting, as on the seventh day in Genesis 1, is a clear indication to the reader that a temple metaphor underlies the understanding of the deity’s status. …"
John H. Walton, Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011), 180.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 2:2 and Psalms 132:8

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