Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 132:8-10

"Arise, O Jehovah, into thy resting-place; Thou, and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priest be clothed with righteousness; And let thy saints shout for joy. For thy servant David`s sake Turn not away the face of thine anointed." — Psalms 132:8-10 (ASV)

These are the words that the chronicler (2 Chronicles 6:41–42) attributes to Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. Some think that they are there only as a quotation from this psalm, but the way the words are introduced here suggests otherwise. The psalmist, from his distant perspective on the events, does not distinguish between David and Solomon. He merges the one who carried out the work with its originator; and in honor of the second Temple, it is as natural for him to use words from the actual dedication of the first as it was to refer to the original purpose in David’s mind. All is blended together in the long perspective of poetry.

Regarding the form of the words, they are, of course, a reminiscence of the ancient battle cry of the nation when the Ark set out on the march (See Psalm 68:1, Note). The mention of the Ark does not definitively refute the Maccabean theory of this psalm, though it undoubtedly weighs against it. The quotation may have been adopted generally without implying literal correspondence between all the circumstances—just as the battle cry had become merely a religious formula—or, as Lightfoot and Prideaux suggest (see Prideaux, Connection, i. 141), an ark may have been made for the second Temple in imitation of the original.