Ps 132 roots us firmly in history, but the historical evidence of God’s faithfulness and provision are not past tense experiences only. History matters a lot to Christians: not only Old Testament history, but New Testament history, for we believe that Jesus really did come to earth, that He lived on earth, that He died for our sins and that He rose again – if these things are not historically true, then our faith is in vain; it can’t be relied on (see 1 Cor 15). History is not meant to be ‘dead facts’, however; these facts propel us forward in faith.
Paul makes clear to the Corinthians when he’s looking back at Israel’s history, history is meant to help us: ‘these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.’ (1 Cor 10:6) We need more than our own experience or our own feelings or our own generation to help us make wise choices in life. To the Romans, Paul writes ‘everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.’ (Rom 15:4) The psalmist knew this; he was trying to encourage the pilgrims on their journey to make wise choices and to remember ultimately that what God had done for His people in the past, He was surely able to do again. Since God never changes, we can be confident that there is continuity between His past actions and His present actions.
It’s foolish to reinvent the wheel.
If we ignore the past and don’t learn from history, we are doomed (Edmund Burke says) to repeat it. ‘A Christian with a defective memory has to start everything from scratch… A Christian with a good memory avoids repeating old sins, knows the easiest way through complex situations and instead of starting over each day continues what was begun in Adam.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Journey’, P 153). We do well to learn from the past: to emulate what is good, to discard what is bad, to press on in faith and to avoid unbelief.