Tehilim Perek 132

Hello everybody, in today’s NachDaily we’ll be discussing Tehilim chapter 132 in the Shir Hama’alos chapters.

The perek corresponds to what happened with Dovid at the end of Sefer Shmuel. In order to stop a plague, Gad Hanavi instructed Dovid to purchase Har Hamoriyah from a man named Aravna Hayivusi. After the purchase, Dovid built an altar and brought korbonos, sacrifices, to Hashem. The plague stopped, and the people were saved.

Although not mentioned at the end of Sefer Shmuel, in Divrei Hayomim Aleph perek 21, it says that on buying the land Dovid explicitly stated that this is the house of God and the Mizbayach, Altar, for the Jewish nation. Up until that very moment the exact spot of the Beis Hamkidash had not been known.

Although Dovid didn’t build the Beis Hamikdash, he wanted Hashem to consider his thoughts as if they were his actions

The perek opens with Dovid’s intense desire to find a home for God to rest in. While growing up in Ephrat, Dovid had heard from the elders that God would one day choose a home for Himself where mankind would be able to serve Him.

The chapter moves on to quote several pessukim that overlap from Divrei Hayomim Beis, perek 6. At the inauguration of the Beis Hamikdash, Shlomo invited Hashem to enter His place of rest, inviting the Kohanim to rejoice in front of the Ahron, holy Ark.

The author reiterates that Hashem swore to Dovid that the kingship will stay in his family and move to his son Shlomo.

The last part of the perek affirms that Hashem chose Tzion, the spot that Dovid bought from Aravna Hayivusi, for His resting place. Mashiach will come from the house of Dovid forever and ever.

Verse 13 says:

כִּֽי־בָחַ֣ר יְהוָ֣ה בְּצִיּ֑וֹן אִ֝וָּ֗הּ לְמוֹשָׁ֥ב לֽוֹ׃

For God has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home.

It’s important to speak about this, as I feel that there is no end to how much we need to connect to Eretz Yisrael.

Reb Nosson once asked Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, “When you speak about Eretz Yisrael, to what part of it are you referring?”

“The rocks!” Rebbe Nachman replied. We have to believe that even the physical rocks of Eretz Yisrael are somehow different than the rocks in the rest of the world.

This is why Avraham Avinu spent his entire life searching for Hamakom, the Place where the Divine intersects with this world. This was the same place that Dovid most deeply desired to find.

As the Ramachal in his sefer Mishkeny Elyon explains, the Makom Hamikdash, the place that Dovid bought from Aravna, is the umbilical cord of creation. The entire world receives its sustenance from the Makom Hamikdash. It’s like a super highway between this world and the next.

This is why the world was created from this spot, which contains the “Even Shesiyah, the Foundation Stone.” All Divinity continues to enter into our world from there.

May we merit making our lives a mini Beis Hamikdash for Hashem, for us to feel His closeness. May we never give up the search to find that Place inside of ourselves!

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.