78 Th. Booij 24,20) (11). ‘Preparing a lamp for the anointed one’ is: conferring on him a lasting kingship. Often, in poetic texts, the alternation of perfect and imperfect is hardly indicative of relations in time. Occurring between the seven imperfects of vv. 15-18, the perfect in v. 17b (ytkr[, ‘I prepare’ or ‘have prepared’) is noticeable nevertheless. In v. 13 the perfect is used with regard to the election of Zion (b ...rjb, ‘he chooses’ or ‘has chosen’; Hwa, ‘he desires her’ or ‘has desired her’). The election of Zion and the founding of a lasting kingship seem to be acts of the same rank. So in v. 17, in accordance with the parallelism, the ‘anointed one’ is clearly David, and the glory described in v. 18 is David’s glory. The descendants, however, continuing David’s kingship (v. 11), share in the ancestor’s well-being. IV The content of Psalm 132 may be described as follows. The first main part of the text is essentially a prayer. It recalls David’s self-sacrifice: that he denied himself all rest and comfortable living in order to find a place that could please his God as a dwelling (vv. 2-5). YHWH is asked to ‘remember’ this in David’s favour, that is, honour it, reward it (rkz with l, v. 1). Verse 10 complements the opening verse. David’s hardships, if ‘remembered before YHWH’, will benefit his descendant, the present king. YHWH will not reject him, ‘turning away’ his face (μynp byvh, cf. 1 Kgs 2,16-17.20), but will ‘look at his face’ (μynp fybh, Ps 84,10). A pre-condition of this favour is, however, that YHWH accepts the place which the ancestor longed to find him (12). Therefore, after a liturgical introduction (vv. 6-7), YHWH is asked to ‘stand up’ to his resting place, Zion. If he is ready to do so, Zion will be a place of well-being (cf. Ps 133,3); its priests will be able to good ministration and its faithful will rejoice. The second part of the psalm is an answer. It recalls the unchanging pledge that God made to David and the condition added to it: “If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne” (v. 12). This dynastic continuity is grounded on YHWH’s choice of Zion as his permanent dwelling: “For (yk) YHWH has chosen Zion (...): ‘This is my resting place forever (...)’” (vv. 13- 14). The last part of the psalm sums up the blessings of Zion’s election: blessings of food, salvation, joy, and royal glory. There is a close connection between the inner organization of the text and its formal structure. Three links are to be noted. The first is David’s name encompassing both main parts of the psalm. In both parts David is essential. The second link is the correspondence between vv. 8-10 and vv. 13-18, both of which first bring up God’s dwelling in Zion, then the welfare of Zion’s priests and faithful, and finally the well-being of David’s house. These are the things that Psalm 132 is about. Thirdly, there is the repeti- tion of the root bvy, ‘sit, reside’, with d[Ayd[, ‘forever’, underlining the (11) The background of the metaphor is not likely to be a lamp that is always lit or is lit all night, indicating that the house is occupied. See K. GALLING, “Die Beleuchtungsgeräte im israelitisch-jüdischen Kulturgebiet”, ZDPV 46 (1923) 33-37. (12) Cf. FRETHEIM, “Psalm 132”, 298.