Psalm 122
“LORD, thank You for the privilege of worshiping You.”
A Psalm of Thanks
Psalm 122 I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together, where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to the Testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. For thrones are set there for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, Peace be within you. Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.
This psalm pictures the joy of the believing Israelite who has been invited by his friends to “go into the house of the LORD” to participate in the public worship service.
He considers it a great blessing to be able to do this. He knows that it is in the house of the LORD that God “comes to be with His people.” The tabernacle was a symbol of His gracious dwelling in their midst. Here God’s people could join together in worshiping Him who promised–in the fulness of time–to send them a Savior from sin. A pleasant thought indeed for every true Israelite!
Leupold (who is well-known to pastors for his Old Testament commentaries–ed.) comments: “The ideal Israelite of whom David here writes is stating what feelings always surged through his heart when his townspeople indicated that they were ready to make one of the usual pilgrimages to the capital city on the occasion of one of the great festivals. He was glad over those who informed him of their intention. He liked that kind of people who loved the house of the Lord sincerely enough to plan to go there three times a year as a true Israelite was in conscience bound to do.”
We who are members of the spiritual “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16) through faith in Christ share the sentiments of the psalmist. We consider it a privilege and blessing to gather as a congregation each week at church to worship Jehovah, the God of our salvation, and sing His praises with united voice. That is a blessing not to be taken for granted!