PS 132:9, 16 “May your priests be clothed with righteousness;
may your saints sing for joy.”
“I will clothe her priests with salvation,
and her saints will ever sing for joy.”

Here we have the record of a prayer and of God’s direct response. It is of particular interest to notice the differences between them. In the prayer, God is asked to clothe the priests with righteousness, but in His response He says He will clothe them in salvation. From the standpoint of the people, they wanted the priests to be upright, doing their job faithfully and not being twisted by the various temptations of high position. However, God said He would go them one better, and make the priests agents of salvation. Paul makes it clear that sal­vation is by grace through faith, and not by works of righteousness. (Ephesians 2:8-10) Someone who has accepted God’s salvation will indeed be increasingly righteous, but we can’t get to salvation by being righteous on our own; we just aren’t that good. Those praying the prayer in verse 9 didn’t fully understand that, but they did want to sing for joy (or sing joyfully). In God’s response, He indicates that His better solution will cause them to sing greatly for joy (or for great joy). God’s solutions are always better than anything we could come up with!

All of this takes on new meaning when we consider that God is making us to be a “royal priesthood.” (1 Peter 2:9) That turns verse 9 around and says, “If you are clothed with salvation, you are a priest.” This is of course one of the central doctrines of the Protestant Reformation, the Priesthood of the Believer. As a pastor, I am in the position of a priest (and am often addressed as such by Japanese in Nagasaki who are more familiar with Catholics than Protestants), but I am a believer first, one of “the saints.” That means that as God clothes me in salvation, I will walk in righteousness and sing for great joy! I have tasted that, and my heart’s desire is that more and more of those around me would experience it as well. So few Christians grasp the reality that God desires to use them as His agents, His priests, and even those that do keep trying to do it in their own strength. I know, because I’m guilty! I need to both remember and teach that God wants to use us in His holiness and power, so our weaknesses aren’t an issue, but neither can we take any personal pride when He does so. We have to accept God’s “robes of righteous­ness,” (Isaiah 61:10) but we can’t just take them on our own.

Father, this is a deep subject, and I thank You for the insight You have given me on it. Help me grasp it, and walk in it, more and more, leading the believers to do likewise, so that we may indeed be “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9) Thank You. Hallelujah!