Eager to Worship – Psalm 122
Psalm 122
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2 Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together,
4 to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they be secure who love you!
7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!”
8 For my brothers and companions' sake
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
NOTE: This is the last week of commentary by Dr. Kevin Watson, who has moved to Tulsa to become the Director of Academic Growth and Formation at the Tulsa Extension Site for Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as joining our staff at Asbury Church as Scholar-in-Residence. I wrote a post announcing and explaining this move. I’m going to resume writing commentary starting with Psalm 125, this coming Saturday!
—Andrew
It is easy to see how Psalm 122 would fit into the understanding of the “Songs of Ascent” as written and sung on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship.
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Can you imagine a literal pilgrimage, where you had spent days walking from your hometown to Jerusalem for a major feast where people were gathering from across the region?
The excitement would build as you got close to the city and it came in to view, a city on a hill.
What would it look like for you to view going to worship this week as a pilgrimage? Where your excitement to join together with brothers and sisters in Christ to worship God together built throughout the week?
How would it change your experience of worship if everyone else brought the same expectation and excitement to gather back together again?
Try it this week!