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We begin with David – and what better place to start when considering the Psalms? When King David, one of the possible authors of this Psalm, was approaching death, a squabble arose as to which of his sons would be appointed king in his stead. The Kingdom was thrown into chaos. Now in that day, when a king wanted to make known who had his special hand of blessing, one way he could do it was by placing that individual on the king’s foal. So, in order to show that Solomon was the heir to the throne, and to restore peace back to Israel, David sent three of his closest friends with an order that Solomon be placed on the king’s donkey and that he ride down through the city. And when this happened, and the people saw their new king, they rejoiced and sang and shook the earth with their noise (1 Kings 1:32-40).
When Solomon became king, he built a temple to be a house for Yahweh, the God of Israel. And when the priests brought the ark of the covenant to the temple, “the glory of the LORD filled the house” so much that the priests had to back away from the building (1 Kings 8:11). God had entered the building, giving evidence to his covenant relationship with Israel.
But Solomon, and the kings who came after him, led Israel into evil and away from their covenant with God. The Lord sent prophets to the people to warn them and woo them and turn them back from their wicked ways. But their hearts became hardened, the temple became a place of empty ritual, and rarely did anyone recognize their plight and cry out to God: “Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.”(Ps. 31:9).
God sent Jeremiah, the other possible author of this song, but the people would not listen to his words either. And on the day the army of Babylon destroyed the city of Jerusalem and ransacked the temple of Yahweh, Jeremiah lamented, saying: “The Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his sanctuary… We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction. Streams of tears flow from my eyes…” (Lam. 2:7, 3:46ff). And he very easily could have prayed, “My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak” (Psalm 31:10). The covenant had been broken.
That day, a prophecy of Jeremiah’s came true – that Jerusalem would “fall and be shattered like fine pottery” (Jer. 15:34). In 586 B.C. the remnant of Israel was taken into captivity by Babylon, the entire royal family was put to death, and soldiers shackled Judah’s king and gouged out his eyes. And all Judah cried out, “Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends— those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery” (Ps. 31:11-12).
There in exile, God appointed a new prophet, Ezekiel, to tell the people to repent and look to the Lord to restore them and bring them back to their land. God gave Ezekiel visions, and in one of them, Ezekiel relived the day of Jerusalem’s fall. And as the gates of the city were stormed, the “glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple” (Ezekiel 10:18). Then, “the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city” (Ezek. 11:23). God had left the building. But before the Lord departed entirely from Jerusalem, he promised that he would keep his covenant with Israel. One day, he would bring them back to their land and give them one heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 11:17-20). And God would renew his covenant with them and return to the temple: “The glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east… And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east” (Ezek. 43:1-4).
In 536 B.C., a group of Israelites were released from captivity and allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The promise would be fulfilled! With no wall, no formidable army, and no real city to speak of, the Israelites had to build the temple in utter fear of the unfriendly neighboring people groups surrounding them (Ezra 3:3). All they could do was trust the Lord who had been faithful enough to bring them this far. They prayed: “I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me” (Ps. 31:13-15).
This new temple was nowhere near the prestige and glamour of Solomon’s. In fact, there were some old men in this small band that remembered the old temple, who remembered the glory days. At the temple dedication, while many shook the earth with their shouts of joy, the men “wept with a loud voice when the foundation of [the] house was laid before their eyes… so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people” (Ezra 3:12-13). The lights were on; nobody was home. There was no glory in this temple. Would Ezekiel’s final vision remain unfulfilled?
When Solomon became king, he built a temple to be a house for Yahweh, the God of Israel. And when the priests brought the ark of the covenant to the temple, “the glory of the LORD filled the house” so much that the priests had to back away from the building (1 Kings 8:11). God had entered the building, giving evidence to his covenant relationship with Israel.
But Solomon, and the kings who came after him, led Israel into evil and away from their covenant with God. The Lord sent prophets to the people to warn them and woo them and turn them back from their wicked ways. But their hearts became hardened, the temple became a place of empty ritual, and rarely did anyone recognize their plight and cry out to God: “Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.”(Ps. 31:9).
God sent Jeremiah, the other possible author of this song, but the people would not listen to his words either. And on the day the army of Babylon destroyed the city of Jerusalem and ransacked the temple of Yahweh, Jeremiah lamented, saying: “The Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his sanctuary… We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction. Streams of tears flow from my eyes…” (Lam. 2:7, 3:46ff). And he very easily could have prayed, “My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak” (Psalm 31:10). The covenant had been broken.
That day, a prophecy of Jeremiah’s came true – that Jerusalem would “fall and be shattered like fine pottery” (Jer. 15:34). In 586 B.C. the remnant of Israel was taken into captivity by Babylon, the entire royal family was put to death, and soldiers shackled Judah’s king and gouged out his eyes. And all Judah cried out, “Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends— those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery” (Ps. 31:11-12).
There in exile, God appointed a new prophet, Ezekiel, to tell the people to repent and look to the Lord to restore them and bring them back to their land. God gave Ezekiel visions, and in one of them, Ezekiel relived the day of Jerusalem’s fall. And as the gates of the city were stormed, the “glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple” (Ezekiel 10:18). Then, “the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city” (Ezek. 11:23). God had left the building. But before the Lord departed entirely from Jerusalem, he promised that he would keep his covenant with Israel. One day, he would bring them back to their land and give them one heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 11:17-20). And God would renew his covenant with them and return to the temple: “The glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east… And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east” (Ezek. 43:1-4).
In 536 B.C., a group of Israelites were released from captivity and allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The promise would be fulfilled! With no wall, no formidable army, and no real city to speak of, the Israelites had to build the temple in utter fear of the unfriendly neighboring people groups surrounding them (Ezra 3:3). All they could do was trust the Lord who had been faithful enough to bring them this far. They prayed: “I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me” (Ps. 31:13-15).
This new temple was nowhere near the prestige and glamour of Solomon’s. In fact, there were some old men in this small band that remembered the old temple, who remembered the glory days. At the temple dedication, while many shook the earth with their shouts of joy, the men “wept with a loud voice when the foundation of [the] house was laid before their eyes… so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people” (Ezra 3:12-13). The lights were on; nobody was home. There was no glory in this temple. Would Ezekiel’s final vision remain unfulfilled?
To Be Continued...
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