Psalm 122: A Song and a Prayer on the Way to Church
The truly born again love the Sabbath Day. There is a delight when a voice summons, “It is time to go to church.” This was true one thousand years before Christ, as David put Sabbath Day worship to words of song. The songs of ascent (Psalm 120–134) were written as songs to be sung on the way up to the Temple at Jerusalem.
David wrote, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD (Ps 122:1).’” God our Father has a family gathering every Sunday at His house. It is our place of fellowship, feasting, and festival. The drudgery of labor in the world is replaced by the gladness of good things to come, when the type becomes the reality, in the Spirit (Rom 14:17). The Sabbath is a delight.
The shadow of New Jerusalem is a reality for us, “Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem (Ps 122:2).” The sights (a telling edifice), the sounds (shofars, singing, teaching, talking), the smells (calves, goats, sheep on the BBQ) were alluring in every physical sense. The pilgrim’s soul sees the heavenly Zion through the types and shadows. Christ is our reality, today, in part, but in full on the Day of Christ Jesus.
Abraham saw the spiritual realities even before his family had become much more than seventy people (Heb 11:10). The spiritual man knows his sojourn in this world is temporary. He, like David, observed the place, “Jerusalem that is built as a city that is compact together (122:3).” There was nothing “mega” in his view. Babylon, Athens, and Rome were all more impressive cities in the world, but Jerusalem, unimpressive by comparison, is the city of God. God’s people are taught not to despise the day of small things (Ps 119:141; Jer 49:15; Obadiah 1:2; Zech 4:10). This is God’s way, and the world cannot comprehend it (Jn 1:5), even despising it.
Jerusalem is a picture of the corporate body of Christ, the church. It is the assembly point for God’s people, “To which the tribes go up even the tribes of the Lord (Yahweh)…” Israel of the Old Testament served as a type of God’s holy nation — true Israel actually being derived from every nation, tribe and tongue (Rev 5:9; 7:9). These are “called” or summoned to worship. They heard the trumpet, as if it were the voice of God, thus, “…An ordinance for Israel — to give thanks to the name of Yahweh (122:4).”
Gladness and thanksgiving are in the heart of the true worshiper, who knows he has been adopted into the family of God, by the Spirit (Rom 8:15, 23). The Spirit gives discernment to the spiritual man (1 Cor 2:15), to know the distinctions between himself and the unbeliever. He knows that God is a just Judge (Gen 18:25; 2 Tim 4:1; 1 Pet 4:5).
“For there (Jerusalem = church) thrones were set for judgment, the thrones of the house of David (122:5),” teaches us that this act of worship is royal and no trifle. Our God is King Jesus Christ, the king of glory, and knowing His precision judgments, we, too, should be discerning. When we go up to the house of God, we discover the glories of Christ, and we gain perspective on the world in rebellion against Him.
Christians live in a hostile world, as did the Israelites departing Egypt and settling Canaan. Those at enmity with God (Eph 2:15–16), haters of God (Rom 1:30), have no desire to share space with the children of light (Eph 5:8), who are ambassadors from a kingdom not of this world (Jn 18:36).
David’s urgency and desire now come into view, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may they prosper who love you (122:6).” His allusion is to the city, sometimes under siege, by the enemy kings who wish her destruction. We are again wise to remember the typology of Jerusalem being the church. With God, the spiritual is the reality, and the material is the shadow. We are engaged in spiritual warfare (Eph 6:10–20), in the manner of Hezekiah, as the Assyrians approached the holy city.
No doubt Hezekiah shared David’s sentiments, “May peace be within your walls and prosperity within your palaces (122:7).” Do we have a king, like Solomon, who is so wealthy that his armory is full and ready? Do we have a king who inspires faith, by being the prince of peace? We do. His name, above all other names is Jesus Christ. He brings peace to His people on earth because all authority in heaven and on earth have been given to Him (Mt 28:18), as the only Sovereign Lord of all (Acts 10:36; 17:24; 1 Tim 6:15).
Blessed are the peacemakers in the city of God (Ps 122:8), “For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, ‘May peace be within you (Jerusalem = church).” The true man of God will fight the good fight against the principalities and powers of this present darkness. His weapon is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, the Word of truth (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12). This is not a war against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12), but against the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), the deceiver and his demons in the domain of darkness (Jn 8:44; Col 1:13).
The man of God, reminds the people of God to keep their eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2), who teaches us to do good (Lk 6:9, 27, 35), especially toward those in the household of faith (Gal 6:10). David wrote, “For the sake of the house of the LORD our God. I will seek your good (122:9).” This is God’s will and work in and through His saints (Phil 2:13).
Christian, is this your heart’s desire? Do you want the best for the people of God, who gather for worship on the Lord’s Day? Are you praying for your church family? Do you give thanks to God, for the blessings and benefits of being a member in a local assembly of God’s called out people, who are His possession (1 Pet 2:9)? I pray you do and that you are glad when you do.
There is no need to pray for the peace of heavenly Jerusalem for when we all gather up yonder, we will finally enter His eternal rest. Until then, let us pray for the peace of the church (Jerusalem), the temple of God in the Spirit (Eph 2:20–22).
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
September 7, 2022
