#DailyDevotion We Rejoice When We Get To Go To Church
Psalm 122 I was glad they said to me, “Let us go to the LORD’s house.” 2Our feet are standing inside your gates, Jerusalem. 3Jerusalem is a well-built city, 4where the tribes, the LORD’s tribes, go up. It is a law in Israel to praise the LORD’s name. 5There stand the seats for judges to try cases, seats for the men of David’s family. 6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May it be well with those who love you! 7Peace be inside your walls and undisturbed happiness in your palaces!” 8Thinking of my relatives and friends I say, “Peace be with you!”. 9Thinking of the house of the LORD our God, I will look for your welfare.
This is the third Psalm of Ascent. One of fifteen psalms sung as pilgrims to the three festivals sang as they went up the hill to Jerusalem. We can see in this Psalm they are definitely getting closer to the city. The LORD’s house and Jerusalem are both named here.
So they should be glad when people said to them, “Let us go to the LORD’s house.” These were three festivals: Passover and Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. During these festivals they ate food, drank wine, were generous to the lowly, they sang and they danced. Why wouldn’t they be glad to go up to the LORD’s house. Yet unbelievers found these things to be a burden. We also, knowing we’ll receive the feast of our LORD’s body and blood, the fellowship of fellow believers and the hearing of God’s word make us glad to come to the LORD’s house. It also should not be a burden for us to gather together in His house.
They were standing in the gates of Jerusalem when they sang this Psalm. So they begin to praise the city which God has chosen to place His name. It is a well-built city. All the tribes would go up to it. Even after the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, there were remnants of the tribes dwelling in Judea who continued worshiping the LORD. Certainly there is a law in Israel to praise the LORD’s name but God’s people do not need it. They praise the name of the LORD from willing and cheerful hearts. Now the word for law here is edah which is more like testimonies. We also have the testimonies from the Apostles to praise the name of the LORD Jesus Christ for all He has done for us and for who He is, our Savior and Redeemer.
In the original city, the princes of David judged the peoples from their seats and his descendant ruled over them. Later, when there was no more Davidic heir that reigned, they set up their elders of the people to judge over them. Now that Jesus has come, He reigns over the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem and His Apostles sit on their thrones judging the people of Israel as Jesus promised them.
While they prayed for the peace of the city of Jerusalem, we now pray for Christ’s Church, the New Jerusalem. We pray for its peace in this world and for its peace in the world to come. Jesus tells us this prayer will be answered on the Last Day when it descends from heaven. The gates will always be open. No unclean thing or person will come upon the highways into it.
The pilgrims would greet their friends and family with “Na shalom,” I pray peace. In many churches before the LORD’s Supper, sometimes before the prayers, we greet one another with the peace of the LORD. As with the Apostle’s command for us to look for the good for one another. The second half of the Small Catechism’s explanation to the second table of the Law reminds us not only to avoid hurting our neighbor but also to be of help to them in all their ways of life. So we with the psalmist seek the good of everyone around us as we believe the LORD has been good to us in Christ Jesus.
Heavenly Father, grant us joyful spirits that look forward to our worship together around all Your gifts and may we be agents of Your peace and good to all we meet. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.