Psalms 132:18

His enemies will I clothe with shame - Every opponent of the Christian cause shall be confounded.

But upon himself shall his crown flourish - There shall be no end of the government of Christ's kingdom. From Psalm 132:11-18, the spiritual David and his posterity are the subjects of which the Psalm treats.

His enemies will I clothe with shame - They shall be so confounded that shame shall seem to cover them as a garment. See the notes at Psalm 109:29. That is, David would be triumphant.

But upon himself shall his crown flourish - His crown shall be as a fresh, blooming garland. The Hebrew word used here may mean either to glitter, or to flower, to fiourish or bloom. As applied to a crown, it may mean either that it would sparkle or glitter, as set with precious stones - or (under the idea of a garland) it may mean that it would appear to bloom or blossom. In either case it denotes success, joy, triumph - and is a promise of prosperity to David as a king. This was a part of the promise referred to by the psalmist, and a ground of the plea in the psalm. God had made these precious promises to David and his posterity; and now, in a time of sorrow and disaster, when the glory of the crown seemed about to pass away, the psalmist, in the name of the people, and in language to be used by the people, prays that those ancient promises might be remembered and fulfilled. So, in a time of general religious declension, we may plead the promises, so rich and so abundant, which God has made to his church, as a reason for his gracious interposition, for his coming to revive his work.