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Psalm 132:13
For the LORD has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation.
11The LORD has sworn to David in truth. He will not turn from it: “I will set the fruit of your body on your throne.
12If your children will keep my covenant, my testimony that I will teach them, their children also will sit on your throne forever more.”
13For the LORD has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation.
14“This is my resting place forever. I will live here, for I have desired it.
15I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread.
Notice
Zion is named as the place God chose to dwell, making his own desire the reason this place matters in the psalm.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do the words “chosen” and “desired” tell you about God's relationship to Zion?
Write on thisWhat do you notice when God's choice of Zion leads into his promise of bread?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
2 Chronicles 6:6but now I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’God's choice of Zion as his dwelling corresponds to his choice of Jerusalem as the place for his name.
Hebrews 12:22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels,Both name Zion in relation to God's presence; Hebrews speaks of Mount Zion as the city of the living God.
Psalm 78:68–69But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.Both passages name Zion as God's choice and describe his affection for it through desire or love.
Psalm 68:16Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, the LORD will dwell there forever.Both describe a dwelling God chooses for himself, with Psalm 68 declaring that he will dwell there forever.
Psalm 87:2The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.God's desire for Zion in Psalm 132 shares the affection expressed by his love for Zion's gates in Psalm 87.
Psalm 76:1–2For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm by Asaph. A song. In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel.Psalm 132 names God's dwelling in Zion; Psalm 76 speaks of God being known in Judah and his great name in Israel.
Isaiah 14:32What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people will take refuge.Zion is the place God chooses in the psalm and the place he has founded for his afflicted people's refuge in Isaiah.
1 Kings 8:16‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but …Both passages speak of God's choice, with Kings naming David and the psalm naming Zion as his dwelling.
1 Chronicles 11:5The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here!” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. The same is David’s city.Zion, named as God's desired dwelling in the psalm, is the stronghold David captures and makes his city in Chronicles.
2 Samuel 5:7Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. This is David’s city.Both name Zion: Samuel identifies it as David's captured stronghold and city, while the psalm declares it God's chosen dwelling.
Isaiah 65:11“But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;The psalm names Zion as God's desired dwelling; Isaiah rebukes those who forsake the LORD and forget his holy mountain.
John 4:20Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”The psalm names Zion as God's chosen dwelling; the speaker in John raises Jerusalem's place in a dispute about worship.
Where this verse fits
Praise and worship. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
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Encouragement
YHWH’s choice of Zion has his own desire behind it. In the surrounding lines, his chosen dwelling is also a place where he promises bread for the poor.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).