A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.
1 LORD, remember David and all that he suffered.
2 He took an oath before the LORD. He vowed to the Mighty One of Israel,
3 "I will not go home; I will not let myself rest.
4 I will not let my eyes sleep nor close my eyelids in slumber
5 until I find a place to build a house for the LORD, a sanctuary for the Mighty One of Israel."
6 We heard that the Ark was in Ephrathah; then we found it in the distant countryside of Jaar.
7 Let us go to the dwelling place of the LORD; let us bow low before him.
8 Arise, O LORD, and enter your sanctuary, along with the Ark, the symbol of your power.
9 Your priests will be agents of salvation; may your loyal servants sing for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David, do not reject the king you chose for your people.
11 The LORD swore to David a promise he will never take back: "I will place one of your descendants on your throne.
12 If your descendants obey the terms of my covenant and follow the decrees that I teach them, then your royal line will never end."
13 For 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.
15 I will make this city prosperous and satisfy its poor with food.
16 I will make its priests the agents of salvation; its godly people will sing for joy.
17 Here I will increase the power of David; my anointed one will be a light for my people.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but he will be a glorious king."
David desired to go to the dwelling place of the LORD and to worship Him there. He asked God to enter His sanctuary.
Jesus, through His work on the cross, so fully fulfilled all of the Old Testament pictures of God's plans that we learn in I Peter 2:5a "And you [believers] are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple." Now we are the temple that God's Holy Spirit inhabits!
I Peter 2:5b goes on to say, " What's more, you are His holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God." Dear believers, you are the priests spoken of in verse 16 as "agents of salvation."
What a miracle!