Psalm 122: Let us go to the house of the Lord
Psalm 122 is what is known as a Psalm of Ascent – sung by pilgrims climbing up the road into Jerusalem. I think it was largely a song which King David would have written and sung which was handed down through the generations and eventually put into a book of similar songs 500 years afterwards.
The Psalms are an ancient songbook. Probably at least 2,500 years old in the written form but several hundred years older than that in their derivation.
This one is written about Jerusalem. It doesn’t mention the temple particularly so it is probable that it was written and used in the early years of ’s occupation of the city. King David conquered Jerusalem around 1,000 BC, 3,000 years ago, but the city has at least another 1,000 of history before that. And obviously it is still at the centre of the world’s history today although it hasn’t been in Jewish hands for some 2,500 years.
Much of Jerusalem’s history (Jewish and non-Jewish) is taken up with the twin themes of being a sacred place and also a place of war. These themes both emerge in this Psalm about Jerusalem – in that it is a place of worship and also a place that keeps danger, war, outside.
As we read the Psalm we need to understand it speaking to us in 3 time frames:
- The time at which it was written, David’s time;
- The time when Jesus instituted the church (in which we now live);
- The time to come when the Lord returns and brings about a new heaven and a new earth.
David’s time
David brought to an end several centuries of warring whilst established itself as the ruler over Palestine. The climax of this was the eventual capture by clever sabotage of what had been an impregnable city.
Do you remember that scene in the Lord of the Rings Two Towers when Aragorn comes to the city on a hill – is it Edoras. And climbs up to see the king on his throne.
Just as previous occupants had, David used Jerusalem as a fortress. It was very difficult to attack being built above steep valleys and ravines. He built up the walls and made it secure. It became the secure, safe place for , a symbol of God’s protection for them.
You can imagine David calling the faithful of Israel to climb the dusty tracks up the hills through the gates and into the security of the city. From open and vulnerable desert landscapes into a walled, stone city.
The time of the church
1,000 years later you had Jesus riding into the city on a colt with palm trees and celebration. A few weeks later the bible describes Peter and John going up to the temple to pray. They would have had the psalm ringing in their ears as they approached.
2,000 years after that we drive into the Carr Manors and park in the car park to come to this place of worship.
I am going to be talking about the Vineyard here when I talk about the church. That is not to say that we are the only church or the best. Certainly not – on both counts. The same applies to St George’s or Moortown Baptist or St Michael le Belfry in York or to your local Methodist Chapel. But the house of the Lord to which we have been called, for this season, is the Vineyard.
The new heaven and the new earth
Revelation 21 describes the arrival of a new Jerusalem, “It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel like a jasper, clear as crystal…with gates made of pearl.”
As we read the Psalm try and hold those 3 time frames in your mind: David's time, the time of the church and the age to come.
The song starts with a celebration of the time and opportunity to gather together and worship, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord”.”
David’s time
Not only is the singer wanting to go, he is delighted to be asked, almost relieved, and is enjoying the opportunity to celebrate together. You sense unbridled enthusiasm, a hunger to get there, to leave loneliness and estrangement and instead to come closer to God and to his people.
The context for him was having access to a place of peace and safety. After decades of battles and wars and threats, now there was a place which was safe to stand in, to worship in, to celebrate God with brothers and sisters and friends. They could walk up into the walled city and know they were there with their kith and kin and within the safety of King David’s defences.
was a rebellious and factional nation made up of competing tribes living out their lives and protecting their territories but here there is celebration in the air and differences and fights are to be left happily behind.
The Psalmist is calling them together in a place of peace ruled by King David who had brought eventually brought peace. It is a taste of the Kingdom of God.
“I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord”.”
The time of the church
We are also calling to each other, “Come on, let’s go to the house of the Lord.” The house of the Lord is no longer a city or even a building. It is a community of faith but a gathered community – what we now call the church.
We don’t just call to each other but to our friends and family, especially those who know no peace and don’t have a safe and secure place.
We call to each other, “Let’s leave behind our differences of background and culture, our disagreements and our preoccupations, let’s join together in celebrating the presence of the King of peace in our community.” At the times of gathering we don’t stay at home and put our feet up to watch TV or wash the car.
Some of us are very busy. We have demanding jobs – both in time and in emotional or physical terms. Or we operate in a hostile environment. Those on the plains need to get up to the safety of the city on a regular basis to recuperate, sense the presence of God and have Him restore and equip them. Then they can go back out and face the rigours and demands of secular world.
We need and look forward to the opportunity to come together and see and experience the Kingdom of God taking shape.
Of course, I don’t mean just this meeting on a Sunday. This is perhaps the backbone of this community of faith but there is substantially more to it than that: the Vine, housegroups, minicabs, youth and children’s events, festivals, prayer times, reach out events, that which is described the web site and so on. It is all part of the house of the Lord today.
The new heaven and the new earth
We also are calling to each other and to those around us to go up to the new Jerusalem one day. We offer an invitation to take part in the eternal adventure of being with the God who made us and rescues us.
And indeed to those who are dying this verse offers an opportunity to rejoice as they approach the throne of grace, firm in the knowledge that eternal peace and safety awaits them.
“The celestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam upon me, its breezes fan me, its odours are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. Nothing separates me from it but the river of death, which now appears but as an insignificant rill, that may be crossed at a single step, whenever God shall give permission. The Sun of Righteousness has been gradually drawing nearer and nearer, appearing larger and brighter as he approached, and now he fills the whole hemisphere; pouring forth a flood of glory, in which I seem to float like an insect in the beams of the sun; exulting, yet almost trembling, while I gaze on this excessive brightness, and wondering, with unutterable wonder, why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm.”
Edward Payson's dying experience.
“I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord”.”
The Psalm then goes on in verses 3ff to describe Jerusalem, “built like a city that is closely compacted together. It is where the tribes go up to praise, according to the statute (being taught the truth of the scriptures), where the thrones of judgement stand.”
A city closely compacted together is community that knows each other, where something can’t happen in one area without some others knowing and being affected. It has the same feel as the “body” metaphor used by Paul in the New Testament. The house of God is one place and a place where the community is gathered together.
The call is for the people to gather together as a community to praise, to be taught and to understand their heritage and their inheritance and for this place to be a place of governance where they will find justice and security.
In the place of worship and the presence of God, justice and order will emerge. That which is unrighteous will become clear and the King will put things right. Judgement arises in the sanctuary partly from presentation of the bible, partly from the freshening of our consciences in the presence of the Spirit, partly through the preaching of the gospel, the good news about Jesus.
And this is the same for us – we are called to be a community together, disparate yet together, different and yet one. We are called to worship and learn about our faith together. We are called to seek justice and deal with our sin, together.
And the new heaven and the new earth will be the perfect and unspoilt place of peace where we will be together in harmony, worshipping and understanding, knowing justice and righteousness.
The Psalm then turns to prayer
In Hebrew, the language in which this was written, this is a beautiful piece of poetry as it plays with 3 similar sounding words:
Peace: shalom
Jerusalem: salem
Secure: shalvah
The three words all sound similar and are all different angles on the same meaning.
Jerusalem is the “City of Peace”, the prayer is for peace and security.
If you try and say it using the Hebrew words you can hear the poetry….
“Pray for the shalom of Jerusalem: may those who love you be shalveh.”
For David’s time it has a very practical spin to it – seeking peace and security after a time of war in a land surrounded by enemies.
In the time of the church we pray for peace within the church – unity and resolving of disagreements. We pray too that this is a place of safety and peace for those escaping from the battles and trauma’s of life.
We must earnestly pray for and seek peace, not allowing disagreements and slights to take root. Being quick to forgive and extend mercy, not holding onto hurts and offences.
“On the necessary points, unity; on the questionable points, liberty; in everything, love” Rupert Meldenious.
This is not easy. It is hard. But so important. It means we have to work at it, give energy to being good at this, make sacrifices for it. The world is watching for every slip up the church makes, every fight, every row. We must love the church and pray for peace.
And the time will come when there will be total peace and total security. When the King is on his throne and judgement has been executed. When we can know complete safety, peace and oneness.
The psalmist ends by demonstrating a passion for, a love for, a deep commitment to the house of the Lord, verses 6ff, “May those who love you be secure …. For the sake of my brothers and sisters … for the sake of the house of the Lord.”
It is a driving commitment made up of a love for the people of praise, for the place of praise and for the God whom we come to praise. He says he will pray and seek peace and security (or prosperity), work for it, desire it.
I think that what this psalm teaches us about:
· the house of the Lord: to which the psalmist walked;
· the community of faith in which we now worship;
· the new heaven and new earth which are to come:
Is that these are not clubs, they are not just for a fun time together. Neither are they a lecture room or a babysitting service.
It is much, much more than that. This is the coming closer and closer of the Kingdom of God.
God comes close in David’s time to provide a city where there was safety and security and a place to worship and praise. They had a sense – through the kingship of David and the provision of Jerusalem, of the very presence of God. An understanding of being in his kingdom.
God comes much closer still in Jesus’ and the time of the church. Jesus who is the King, who provides rescue and salvation and, in the church, safety and security and a place to worship and praise. Of course the church is not the kingdom of God but it is today the primary residence of the Kingdom of God and the expression of it.
And God will come again, to judge the living and the dead, to provide a new heaven and a new earth where we will know peace and security and salvation and be restored to relationship with our maker for ever.
So when the psalmist says, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord”,” he is making a very big statement. He is identifying a move of the living God to come close to us. What a privilege to be part of that call and invitation to come close to him.
I urge you therefore to pray for the Vineyard, to serve the Vineyard, seek prosperity for the Vineyard so that it becomes a place where God's kingdom can come and provide peace and security.
Let us extend that invitation to each other, encouraging each other to go up to the house of the Lord.
Let us extend that invitation to our friends and family. Let us offer them the opportunity of coming to a place of peace and security where they can meet the King and which will, one day, lead them to a place of sanctuary for ever.
“Let us go to the house of the Lord”,”
David Flowers, 01/12/2006