John Calvin Commentary Psalms 132:8

"Arise, O Jehovah, into thy resting-place; Thou, and the ark of thy strength." — Psalms 132:8 (ASV)

Arise, O Jehovah? Such language as this, inviting the great God who fills heaven and earth to come into a new place of residence, might seem strange and harsh; but the external symbols of religion which God had appointed are spoken of in these exalted terms to honor them, and to better ensure for them the regard of God’s people.

Should God institute no medium of communication, and call us to a direct communication with heaven, the great distance at which we stand from him would strike us with dismay, and paralyze invocation. Although, therefore, he does not thereby change place himself, he is felt by us to draw perceptibly nearer.

It was in this way that he descended among his ancient people by the Ark of the Covenant, which he designed to be a visible emblem of his power and grace being present among them. Accordingly, the second clause of the verse is of an exegetical character, informing the Church that God was to be understood as having come in the sense of making a conspicuous display of his power in connection with the Ark.

Hence it is called the Ark of his strength, not a mere dead, idle shadow to look upon, but what certainly declared God’s nearness to his Church. By the rest spoken of, we are to understand Mount Zion, because, as we shall see later, God was always afterwards to be worshiped only in that place.