On the Sabbath day, God’s people around the world sing hymns —the words of which are largely taken from the book of Psalms. These hymns mean so much to us. Their importance and the value of using them in praising God is reinforced every Sabbath day.
God wants us to be praising Him. If we are not constantly praising God in our mind, then we are not doing it enough. We certainly all need to grow in that area.
One of the best ways you can grow in your praising of God is to study the book of Psalms. Many of the psalms are dedicated to praising and thanking God for His greatness, for His plan, for His name.
I have written a new book titled The Psalms of David and the Psalter of Tara. We are distributing it to Church members at this Feast of Tabernacles. If you don’t receive one, I hope you will request a free copy and study it deeply. It teaches you how to be a man or woman after God’s own heart by looking into some of King David’s most intimate thoughts as recorded in his psalms.
Many of the psalms in the Bible, David did not write. We need to work to understand these psalms as well.
To really understand them, God must reveal them to us. And He tells us to stop and think about these psalms—really ponder what He is giving to us.
Sometimes to gain the most possible from a given psalm, you have to look outside that psalm. Sometimes God inspired a great “advertisement” within a psalm—telling you to go somewhere else in the Bible to deepen your understanding. Not that David’s psalms don’t point you to other Bible passages, but it seems more a feature of the non-David psalms.
You can read more about this in my reprint article “Selah—Stop and Think!” If you want a really wonderful, rich, rewarding Bible study, stop and think. Then do something about what you are studying. That is how you grow spiritually, and that is why we are here. Especially in this terrible time we are living in, we truly need to grow.
In this article, we will study two non-Davidic psalms that have excellent “Selah” moments that advertise other biblical passages: Psalm 132 and 113.
Psalm 132
Psalm 132 is about the temple of God. It hearkens back to the temple dedication, and was probably written by Solomon.
It is one of the “Songs of Degrees”—Psalm 120-134—or songs of “ascents,” as the Hebrew reads. These were for people to sing when they would go up to Jerusalem, likely for the holy days. The 15 “Psalms of Ascents” may coincide with singing one per day for the 15 days from the Day of Trumpets and the start of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Psalm 132 clearly foreshadows the World Tomorrow.
“Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions: How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob” (verses 1-5). When David brought the ark back to Jerusalem, he knew it needed a house. This ark is a type of the throne of God and was the place from which God spoke to Israel. David was passionate about making this happen!
The ark dwelled in a tent. David’s desire to build a temple was first inspired by the fact that he wanted a more permanent and illustrious place for the ark to rest (1 Chronicles 17:1-2).
We have a house of God on Earth today. This royal house is where He dwells in Spirit. It is His house on His campus. He built it! It is very important to Him because of all that is being done in it.
The Philadelphia Church of God is His Church. He accomplishes everything through this Work by living in us. Without God, we can do nothing, but we have to work very hard to do our part.
Even if a building were made completely of gold, it is worthless—unless God built it. It wouldn’t even compare to what we have on God’s campus.
And this building was all made possible by God’s people. In the lobby of Armstrong Auditorium, we have the inscription that Herbert W. Armstrong had installed within Ambassador Auditorium. It reads: “Armstrong Auditorium, made possible by gifts from the Philadelphia Church of God, dedicated to the honor and glory of the great God.” All of God’s people have invested in this house. That is how it was built! We spent $25 million on it. And what a blessing this house is!
God really is concerned about our attitude toward this house. What does it mean to you? Are we doing in this house what we should be doing?
The Laodiceans turned their backs on God’s house. Joseph Tkach told the Church members after Mr. Armstrong died, We shouldn’t call it God’s house—just call it the auditorium. I heard that with my own ears! And look what happened in his life and his son’s life. They were ashamed about God and what He is doing, and they began to lose God in their lives. What a crisis! What terrible curses happened to them. We must remember that example so we never make the same mistake.
Temple Dedication
“Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests 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” (Psalm 132:8-10).
These verses are almost identical to 2 Chronicles 6:41-42. Why would this author (probably Solomon) repeat what is recorded in 2 Chronicles? What is written in Psalm 132 is a great advertisement for 2 Chronicles 6. It points you to that chapter in a powerful way.
Consider how this can amplify your personal Bible study. When verses like this are repeated, you have to stop and think and ask why the author did that. To truly expand this, you must reach beyond the psalms.
Going to 2 Chronicles 6 will expand Psalm 132 in your mind. It will enrich your spiritual life and help you grow.
2 Chronicles 6 records the dedication of the temple. In a public ceremony, Solomon told God, “I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever” (verse 2). He recounted God’s promises to his father, David, including His saying, “Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name” (verse 9). “The Lord therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel” (verse 10).
Beginning in verse 13 is Solomon’s dedication prayer. This was a momentous occasion that surely those who witnessed never forgot! Solomon really did something spectacular spiritually.
In verse 20, Solomon prayed, “That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.” The same is true today: God’s eyes are upon His house, Armstrong Auditorium, night and day! God really looks on this house. He wants to know what we are doing, and He keeps track!
Solomon continued, “Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive” (verse 21). This is the way we should think about God’s house today. He hears the prayers of His people!
“Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest …” (verse 30). God knows the heart of every member in His Church—and of every person on Earth.
In his dedication prayer for Ambassador Auditorium, Mr. Armstrong prayed: “I ask you to bless those who come into it.” This was for God’s house in the Philadelphian era, but God will still honor Mr. Armstrong’s words for us today. We reread his dedication prayer every six months in Armstrong Auditorium.
Mr. Armstrong continued, “I ask you to bless everyone who will speak sermons or in Bible studies from this platform. I ask you to bless all the people as they come, and to open their ears and their minds to do what will be preached to them in this building. May it be an inspiration to all who come in.” We make this same prayer for those who come into Armstrong Auditorium today.
The last half of verse 33 reads, “[T]hat all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.” That house is called by God’s name! What kind of a sin it is to call it a different name, or not call it God’s house! What a terrible attitude that shows. This is God’s house! And He has His eyes on it night and day.
David wanted to build that temple for the ark, the very type of God’s throne in heaven. God’s Spirit dwells in His house today. I hope that if you have not received a tour, that you will take a tour of that building because it is fascinating. There is so much more to that royal house than you realize. God has truly blessed us!
Look Beyond the Psalms
2 Chronicles 6 concludes with those verses reproduced in Psalm 132: “Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant” (verses 40-42).
Verse 41 illustrates what we are going to be doing in the future. We will be “clothed with salvation.” And when we are born into the Family of God, we will truly “rejoice in goodness”! God already sees the fulfillment of that glorious time.
Psalm 132:16 expresses it this way: “I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.” When we are glorified and made spirit beings, how we will shout for joy! Imagine what that time of everlasting joy will be like. We experience a taste of that every year at the Feast of Tabernacles.
“There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed” (verse 17). This refers to the seven-branched lamp in the temple. The seven eras of God’s Church have light because God gives it to them. And we in turn give this light to the world. It all comes from God’s royal house.
God is such a master at teaching us! He really wants to educate His people. We see that throughout the year, and especially at the Feast of Tabernacles, where we all assemble together to be taught. God prepares many hours of messages for us. We come to add to our understanding, to grow in the mind of God and let Him guide us. If you come to the Feast with a thimble, God will fill it. But if you come with a barrel or a bathtub, He will fill that too! Whatever you bring, to whatever degree you are hungering and thirsting, God will fill it!
Studying 2 Chronicles 6:40-42 alongside Psalm 132 will have an impact on you that you couldn’t achieve if you didn’t step outside of the psalm. So much is contained in 2 Chronicles 6, and it adds considerably to what Solomon recorded in Psalm 132. You will always remember that psalm and be moved and stirred by it. Put those passages together, and both of them will probably never be the same in your life.
When scriptures are repeated, that is God saying, Hey! Look into this more deeply! It’s cross-advertising! When you do that, this psalm, or any psalm you are studying, will mean more to you than ever before! That is what we want from these psalms.
This “advertisement” in Psalm 132 can help people avoid the Great Tribulation, the worst time of suffering ever. That time is coming soon—but also, the pinnacle of our reward is right before us!
Psalm 113
“Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord” (Psalm 113:1). Three times in one verse, praise is mentioned—and five times in this short nine-verse psalm. Oh, how God loves that!
The better we know God and understand who and what He is, the more we will be praising and thanking Him. God wants us to praise Him for our own happiness! Understanding that really helps us grow spiritually. The great men of the Bible really knew how to praise God.
“Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised” (verses 2-3). From sunrise to sunset, you ought to be praising God. That’s not natural. You don’t see much of it in the world. It’s a way of thinking—a way of life! It is taking on the very mind of God.
These verses can really teach us how to praise God. “The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!” (verses 4-6). Who is like unto our God? Think about how mighty He is—the Creator and Sustainer of the universe! Yet He is aware not only of all the majesties of heaven but also of everything on Earth. He is high above all nations—yet is deeply concerned about everything taking place here.
“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people” (verses 7-8). The margin of the King James Version here points you back to 1 Samuel 2:8. Even carnal-minded people can see that the psalmist here is taking us back to the extraordinary prayer and prophecy of Samuel’s mother, Hannah.
What Hannah said there is identical! The King James Version renders “needy” as “beggar,” but it is the exact same Hebrew word. He takes the lowliest people on Earth and brings them right into the upper echelons of His transcendent plan! Hannah went on to say that He will “set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he has set the world upon them.” Wow!
Those pillars are God’s people today. God is going to put the world on our shoulders! How exciting! We need to stand together, the way pillars in a building do, and work together with God, or we cannot do much at all.
Hannah delivered an extremely impressive prophecy! I believe Chapter 4 of my book The Former Prophets, “Hannah: The Origin of Samuel’s Colleges,” is one of the best and most interesting chapters I have ever written. It is revelation we really need. Study it closely; it shows where God’s Work is today.
The author of Psalm 113 is advertising Hannah’s prophecy! If you want to gain greater depth in praising God, the author of Psalm 113 tells you where to go to learn how. Actually, it is God telling us to go there for an exceptional example of praising God! Compare and study these verses in Psalm 113 and 1 Samuel 2. Hannah really knew how to praise God, and we need to learn from her.
‘Joyful Mother of Children’
Psalm 113:9 also points back to 1 Samuel 2: “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.” You read similar language in verse 5 of Hannah’s prophecy.
What is God talking about here? He is giving us the big picture: God’s firstfruit saints are to become a joyful mother of children by the billions! How can you wrap your mind around that? It takes a lot of study and a lot of prayer. You must be diligently seeking and searching for God.
Realize: This verse is about God’s people today. It is about us getting prepared to be the mother of billions of children.
How could we fill such a role unless God has educated us? To fulfill this calling takes an education beyond our imagination. This is why we are called now: to be educated. This is why we attend the Feast of Tabernacles every year.
This is what Herbert W. Armstrong tried so hard to get the members of the Worldwide Church of God to understand. They thought they were there simply to get into God’s Kingdom. That is not the reason we are called at all! We are here to prepare to be a mother—a loving mother to all those children whom God is going to call and bring into His Family!
Those people are going to need profound reeducation. It will take a long time just to unlearn what they have learned in Satan’s world; in so many cases they have become unimaginably corrupt and evil. And we are going to have to be a loving mother who wants to serve all of them. What a wondrous vision this is.
Hannah said, “They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble” (1 Samuel 2:5). This is a prophecy. Hannah foresaw the seven eras of God’s Church, but many of the children are feeble and unteachable. That really upset her.
All this is found in the former prophets, prophetic books of the Old Testament that are specifically for our day today (request my free book The Former Prophets: How to Become a King.)
Hannah’s Example
What an example Hannah set for us! It is one of the best in the Bible.
Israel had just come out of the Judges period, the bloodiest time ever in Israel. “[E]very man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25)—just as Israel is doing, and the Laodiceans are doing, today. Eli the priest was corrupt, his sons were corrupt, and they were taking advantage of people. That is a horror show.
Then came a lady who saw the crisis in Israel—she was in horror about what was happening—and looked for a way to help turn things around!
So she asked God for a son. She desperately wanted a child, as women do if they’re still sound-minded. But she specifically wanted a man-child whom she could dedicate to God.
God made her wait quite a long time before she could even have a child. He personally shut up her womb. This was a difficult situation, but He did that because He saw the potential in this woman. He tried her more than other women were tried.
She was barren like a lot of the Church eras she prophesied about. Some of them were weak and barren. They were not serving God and producing the Family they ought to. That concerns God, and it should concern us too. Look at the terrible things happening in this last era of God’s Church!
Hannah went to the tabernacle in Shiloh and prayed there, imploring God. She told God, If you grant me a son, then I will give him to you all the days of his life (1 Samuel 1:11). That was her goal!
God heard that prayer and gave her a son. Hannah then trained that boy the best she could. She knew how to teach a child. She set a marvelous example for her son of praising God. She had a lot to do with him becoming a prophet!
She told her husband that she was going to leave their son at the tabernacle “that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever” (verse 22). That is spiritual depth! How profound that woman was. She truly wanted to dedicate her son to God. She realized that Israel had gone through spiritual poverty, and she wanted so much to help change that. That was a critical motivation in how she reared Samuel.
Hannah’s example is one of the greatest examples in the Bible of a person who praised God and then showed action that praised God. It wasn’t just in her mind. She dedicated her son to God and then followed through on her promise.
Hannah took Samuel to the tabernacle at Shiloh and left him there. Even then, she visited that special location time and again. She remained very aware of what he was learning. She checked in on Samuel to make sure she was continually fulfilling her job of child rearing. She wanted to make this son so special that he could help turn Israel back to God. It is all recorded in the former prophets, and it is mainly for us in the last hour.
Far too often we don’t realize the potential our children have. We cannot afford to make that mistake. We all need to work to teach our children to be the best they can possibly be. Now, we cannot make them go God’s way; if they choose another way, ultimately we cannot stop them. But we can certainly learn from Hannah’s diligence in training up Samuel and her example in child rearing. Hers is one of the best child-rearing examples in the Bible!
Great nations are made by rearing children well and doing all we can to dedicate them to God.
Tradition says Samuel was just 13 years old when God first appeared to him. Samuel had to grow up fast. Soon he was able to bring some spiritual life and prophetic vision back to the tabernacle. Our teenagers can learn a great lesson from this.
What a mother to prepare a child for that! She reared a prophet!
Yes, this was a special case, and we cannot all quite measure up to that, but we can certainly let God give us all the power He will to do our very best to produce children that really do look to God.
Samuel had a very good father, but you have to say his mother was the one who really shines in this example. What a woman! What she did should get our attention.
Hannah had a lot to do with Samuel later raising up three colleges. Many people call Samuel the father of prophecy because he institutionalized prophecy. That is what God’s Work does today. We institutionalize prophecy and tell the world exactly what is coming and give them an opportunity to repent and give themselves to God.
When Hannah understood what God was doing, she prayed a remarkable prayer. She must have been a prophetess since God reveals only truth to His apostles and prophets. Right there in Shiloh, Hannah delivered a prayerful psalm of prophecy. I believe it is one of the most profound prophecies in the Bible. And it is filled with praise! Let’s study 1 Samuel 2 in greater detail.
Hannah’s Prayer
Hannah’s prayer takes up just 10 verses. If you want to get into this subject of praising God, it has much to teach! We all want that!
“And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:1-2). What praise! What an example Samuel had in his home and in the tabernacle.
“Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength” (verses 3-4).
The Jews still read this passage on the day of Trumpets. It is a good Trumpets message! And God revealed it to Hannah. You just don’t find many examples like this in the Bible. We need to learn more about it and realize how much it can add to Psalm 113.
“They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble” (verse 5). Hannah saw what would happen to the seven Church eras in the New Testament (Zechariah 3-4; Revelation 2-3). She specifically mentioned the last era, just before Christ returns.
Hannah had a tremendous overview of history and prophecy. She saw through the seven Church eras all the way into the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. She understood what the day of Trumpets is all about. And she saw this all the way back at the end of the period of the judges, when the high priest and his family were corrupt and abusing people with God’s authority! That is truly remarkable!
“The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up” (verse 6). God brings people to the grave. But as Hannah said, He resurrects as well. When Jesus Christ was with the Jews, He wept because they didn’t understand this (John 11). They couldn’t understand that He was going to resurrect somebody. But Christ is the resurrection. He does raise up the dead; He has already proved that. He is going to raise up billions of people!
“The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich; he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raised up the poor out of the dust, and lifted up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them” (1 Samuel 2:7-8). Hannah is talking about God’s people today! We were the lowly of the world. But God is changing that.
You are royalty—God sets you among princes! How majestic! He is talking to His kings and priests in embryo. You are pillars. The Feast of Tabernacles is all about God taking those pillars and setting the world on their shoulders—and we must be ready. That is a job we must prepare for! We are in training, and God brings us to His Feast each year to become teachers and leaders of this world!
The world is sorely lacking in godly leadership. Those in positions of leadership know nothing! That must change, or the whole Earth and all of mankind will be destroyed.
What a beautiful prophecy this is. What praise this woman had for God! Where can you find better praise?
Vision and Prophecy
Hannah, like most women, yearned for a family. God created that desire in her—and that was only a type of the Bride of Christ. Christ wants His Bride to yearn to have a Family that includes everyone who has ever lived.
This vision and prophecy that Hannah delivered is colossal and mind-expanding. How wonderful that this is what our job is!
“The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed” (1 Samuel 2:10). Those who oppose God are going to be broken to pieces. That is their future if they don’t repent, and we have to tell them that.
This verse contains a great vision. It’s about the Feast of Trumpets and Second Coming—but Hannah was also prophesying about David and the throne of David. He hadn’t even come on the scene yet, but she knew all about it. She talked about it and taught her son about it as well. Samuel prepared the way for King David.
A Message for Today
During Hannah’s day, the high priest’s sons had become sons of the devil! (1 Samuel 2:12). In our day, Satan is on the attack, and the families of Israel and those of the Laodiceans have had serious problems.
In God’s Church, we have to work very hard to build families God’s way. That is a serious responsibility and a real battle. Even Mr. Armstrong had serious trouble with his children.
“Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord” (verse 17). This is where the Laodiceans are today. Look at the corruption. Are they preparing to have the world set on their shoulders? Of course not. They have turned away from God and ignored that strength He would give them if only they would wake up.
I learned almost nothing about the former prophets when I was at Ambassador College. I remember one class on the former prophets by Dr. Herman Hoeh, and it was fascinating to me. I wanted to hear more, but I never did. It wasn’t for that time: It is for our time today. God is revealing it in this last hour.
Hannah’s prophecy is all about God’s spiritual Family, and it shows us how to praise God!
Think about God’s house on Earth today, built by the offerings of God’s people from around the world. That is what God wanted us to do, and it has truly enhanced our spiritual lives. We certainly want to praise God from wherever we are—and especially in His house! God must be praised in His house.
Psalm 113 and 1 Samuel 2 are terrific examples of how God expects us to praise Him! There are many more examples throughout the Bible (e.g. 1 Chronicles 16:4; 23:5; 2 Chronicles 29:30). The armies of ancient Israel had singers who would praise God as they were marching out to fight a battle physically! (2 Chronicles 20:21-22). If you want victories in your trials, tests and personal battles, then follow that example! Praise God!