Read Psalm 122
Questions from the Scripture text: What sort of song is his (superscript)? Who wrote it? With what emotion did he write (Psalm 122:1)? Why was he glad? What is he anticipating having done (Psalm 122:2)? Where? How does he describe the strength and unity of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:3)? When/how is this most seen (Psalm 122:4a–b)? To what do they go up (verse 4c)? For what purpose (verse 4d)? For what part, especially, of the Lord’s display of His Name in Jerusalem, do they give thanks (Psalm 122:5)? What does David now tell us to do (Psalm 122:6a)? What are the three parts of the example that he gives for this kind of prayer (verse 6b, cf. Psalm 122:8a; Psalm 122:7a, Psalm 122:8b; Psalm 122:7b, Psalm 122:9)? What does He call the temple at the climax (verse 9a, cf. Psalm 122:1)?
What should the gladness and prayer of a Christian look like? Psalm 122 looks forward to the opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these nine verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the gladness and prayer of a Christian should look like the gladness and praise of Christ.
What a blessing to gather “to the house of YHWH” (Psalm 122:1, Psalm 122:9a) with “the tribes of YHWH” (Psalm 122:4b) to give thanks to the Name of YHWH (verse 4d)!
Joining Christ’s Kingly Rejoicing. David is rejoicing here, as king, over his own thrones (Psalm 122:5). Why? Because David writes and rejoices as a type (a divinely-given foreshadowing) of Christ, the King. It is Christ’s Kingly, Priestly, and Prophetic joy to gather His brethren to God for worship (cf. Hebrews 2:10–13; Psalm 22:22–23; Hebrews 12:2). And David’s joy anticipates Christ’s. Since Jesus spoke that His joy might be in us (cf. John 15:11), this Psalm is precious as a means of being conformed to that joy.
Our cause for joy, now, is superior to David’s when he wrote this Psalm. At that time, Jerusalem was an earthly built city that was compact together (Psalm 122:1). But now that great David’s greater Son has ascended into heaven, our weekly assembly (cf. Hebrews 10:19–25) makes a greater “going up”/ascension than the Jews in David’s day could do only three times each year (Psalm 122:4). The great thing about Jerusalem was that the Ark of the Testimony (verse 4c) was there. But that was just a shadow-copy of Christ Himself, in glory now, interceding for us (cf. Hebrews 8:3–6, Hebrews 10:11–13).
So, dear Christian, take in all of the joy of this Psalm, and seek, by God’s means, that the Spirit would produce, in your own heart, Christ’s superior joy over our superior assembling in glory!
And rejoice over Christ’s kingship. It’s instructive that it is especially His kingship that Psalm 122:5 presents as the reason for Jerusalem being a place of gladness. The reign of YHWH, in the Christ, is one of the great causes for rejoicing in the Scripture (cf. Psalm 96, Psalm 98; Isaiah 52:7). Is it a great cause of rejoicing for you? Are you confident that He reigns? And that His kingdom will come in its fullness? Does the truth and reality about Christ control your affections more than the temporary details of what happens to you?
Joining Jesus’s Priestly Praying. The rejoicing in v1–5Psalm 122:1-5 gives way to the praying in Psalm 122:6-9. David urges us to pray for three blessings, in Psalm 122:6-7, that he proceeds to pronounce upon Israel, in the style of a priestly benediction, in Psalm 122:8-9. First, there is the prosperity of those who love Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), which corresponds to “for the sake of my brethren and companions.” This matches how the Lord Jesus identified His “brother and sister and mother” in Matthew 12:50. What a comfort to know that Jesus prays and labors for our peace, and what a privilege to pray for the peace of the rest of the family of God!
Then there is the peace within Jerusalem’s walls (Psalm 122:7a), which matches “Peace within you” in Psalm 122:8b. We pray and labor not only to see the church have external peace from her enemies, but internal peace among her members. Ultimately, Psalm 133:1 will be perfectly fulfilled. It is one of the things that we pray for when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,” and this is one of the motivations behind prayers for grace to be able to “forgive our debtors.”
Finally, there is the prosperity of her palaces (Psalm 122:7b), which corresponds to the good of the house of YHWH our God in Psalm 122:9. The household of God ought not to be a place of pain and misery, but one of health and joy. Of course, this applies more so spiritually than physically, but the two will ultimately and perfectly coincide in glory.
When we realize that David is praying as an anticipation of Christ, here, it makes sense that the priorities of this praying so closely match those of what we have come to call “The Lord’s Prayer.” When Christ came, it had already been the Lord’s prayer, and the true disciple’s prayer for a millennium.
What are some things that you rejoice over? How does your rejoicing over public worship compare to your rejoicing over those other things? What place does rejoicing over Christ’s kingship have in your heart? How does your ordinary habit of praying line up with the prayer in Psalm 122:6–9, or the “Lord’s Prayer”?
Sample prayer: Lord, we are so glad to be worshiping You, and we look forward with joy to the Lord’s Day, when we will gather with Your people, and even more so to the day when we are gathered, finally, into the heavenly Jerusalem to worship You. Grant that here, just as there, the Lord Jesus would be unto us the way that You tabernacle with us. And grant that Your church on earth would enjoy true peace and prosperity unto the glory of our King, which we ask in His Name, AMEN!
Suggested Songs: ARP122A “I Was Filled with Joy and Gladness” or TPH122B “My Heart Was Glad to Hear the Welcome Sound”
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