THE SONGS OF ASCENT – PART 4 – PSALM 122 – WHERE DOES YOUR DESIRE REALLY LIE?
PSALM 122:0 A SONG OF ASCENTS, OF DAVID.
[A]. THIS IS A MATTER OF COMMITMENT AND RELATIONSHIP
{{Psalm 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”}}
Let us hear from Justin:- “Well when I was asked to go to a church fellowship of God’s people my thoughts were, I was not glad. I had arranged a fishing trip.”
And from Barbara:- “My friend had a party last night and I promised her I would go and help her clean up. I see the people at church most weeks so it doesn’t matter.”
Lastly from Peter:- “Well they won’t miss me this week. Norman wants me to go and he said there was a missionary speaker from India, but I want to see if I can find where the leaks in the house guttering are while the rain has stopped. There is supposed to be rain in the next few days.”
Others may have had a camping trip, or went to attend a sporting fixture, or . . . or . . . .
Where are the priorities in each of our lives? What is it that stirs your soul and gives you the drive in life? Does the thought of being with God’s people put you off, or does it take you over with such a joy and expectation? Do you find it all too depressing to be in a church or bible study, and most of all – a prayer meeting? I suppose I can understand some people not happy with a particular church, but the moment the thought is expressed about being with the people of God, what is your reaction? Is it peace or resentment? Where would you rather be instead?
These are questions all about commitment. I am not asking you primarily about being committed to a church. I want to know about how you are committed to the Lord. This is also about relationship. Maybe I am simple in my understanding but those who are absolutely committed to the Lord are committed also to His true people. Those who are half hearted about their faith are half hearted about being in a church or having fellowship with God’s people.
Thus, this Psalm begins with a relationship matter. It was written by David who loved the house of the Lord (then is was the Tabernacle) and who loved being in the presence of God. So many of David’s psalms portray that special thought about the Lord’s presence. Every part of Psalm 122 reflects the importance of praise and worship, and of collective praise, and of the extreme importance of Jerusalem and Israel.
You can easily grasp the sweet psalmist of Israel wending his way also up the ascents to Jerusalem along with the throng of people going to the Feasts. I can see on one occasion his writing a psalm for that occasion. How joyfully would the pilgrims have sung this as they wended their way to Jerusalem! It so much reflected their ambition as they would end at the gates of Jerusalem and with great expectation they would enter God’s house. What an absolutely fitting psalm for the occasion.
[B]. O, THE GATES OF JERUSALEM, A CITY RESTORED
{{Psalm 122:2 “Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem,
Psalm 122:3 Jerusalem, that is built as a city that is compact together;”}}
The first four verses go together but I have separated them just for comment. There is a big time difference probably between verses 1 and 2. Verse 1 is the impetus for this pilgrimage and verse 2 is the achievement of it. The pilgrims are now in Jerusalem, actually standing in the gates of entry. What an achievement. They have sung their way up the ascent and at last their feet are about to enter through Jerusalem’s gates and stand before the House of the Lord. They sang right there and then, these two verses of praise.
You will see that Jerusalem is addressed because that city is just so important in the life of the devout Jew. Today there are secular Jews who don’t care much about Israel or Jerusalem especially if they are American. Then there is the devout Jew whose heart lies in Jerusalem. There is a lot more that can be said about Jerusalem but I will take that up later on.
There are things said about the Christian, when he departs this world, about standing before the gates of heaven, the heavenly city. I do not think it is like that. I don’t think heaven has gates for it is the dwelling place (location place) of the Lamb but figurative language will use gates and city. We sometimes say we are going to a heavenly city but we should know that means we are going into the presence of the Lord. How blessed that will be when absent from the body will see us in the Lord’s presence and I feel very positive that Jesus Himself will be there to welcome us, all individually when God calls us to Himself. We are not our own as we have been bought with a price and the Lord is merely gathering to Himself what is rightfully His. We enter heaven and stand before the glorious throne.
JERUSALEM HAS JOINED ITSELF TOGETHER
VERSE 3. Jerusalem is all compact. We really do not know what Jerusalem was like two and three thousand years ago, but David describes it as compact in 1000 BC. Archaeology is a remarkable science and is always uncovering more wonders relating to this ancient city, the city of the Great King. Commentator Ellicott said this – [[“This verse is somewhat perplexing. It is explained to refer either to the rebuilding of the city and reuniting of the parts which had been disconnected in the destruction, or, which is far better (see Introduction), is taken as a rustic’s impression on first seeing a compact city after being accustomed to straggling villages” (in the countryside).]]
Another Commentator – Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges – says it this way, [[“The exclamation of the pilgrims. Jerusalem that art built up as a city which is compacted together, lit. joined together for itself. This is generally understood to refer to the restoration of the city: the walls have been rebuilt, the ruined houses repaired, the gaps and vacant spaces filled up; the city once more presents an aspect of unity, continuity, solidity, widely different from the dilapidated condition in which Nehemiah found it (Nehemiah 2:17; Nehemiah 7:4). But the verb is used metaphorically as well as literally (e.g. Psalm 94:20), and it is possible that the sight of the restored city is to the poet’s eye an emblem of the mutual harmony of its inhabitants or of the unity of the nation. Such a sense is suggested by Coverdale’s beautiful rendering “”that is at unity with itself,”” which seems to be a paraphrase of the Vulgate.”]]
[C]. THE THANKFUL PEOPLE GO UP IN OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD’S COMMAND
{{Psalm 122:4 “To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD - an ordinance for Israel - to give thanks to the name of the LORD –“}}
This verse relates to Jerusalem from the previous verse. The tribes go up to Jerusalem to worship there at three Feasts during the year. Those who obey the Lord will go up to Jerusalem, or representatives of the tribes and cities will go singing these psalms of ascent. As in every society there are those who are disobedient to the Lord and refuse to do what is asked. Right at this point in time in 2023 there are those in my own nation, Australia, who hate God and hate Israel and are very hostile to the extent of persecuting Christians right now. I don’t think it will be long before we have open hostility towards Christians and Jews, and Christian activity will be banned. As it is at present, Australia has no more than 1% born again Christians.
We are in the last days of the Church age when God warned us that difficult times will come and evil men and women will proceed from bad to worse. What has surprised me is the rapid decline that has brought this about. It will continue to worsen very quickly. The Lord is on the doorstep and will rapture His Church away, so if you are not a Christian, then repent and turn to God right now because the time is very short.
Only the righteous Jews desired to take the ascent to Jerusalem. It was a joyous time. Only the righteous ones know joy. The world confuses joy and happiness. There is a difference where happiness is a fickle emotion but joy is eternal. The joy in heaven will beyond our current comprehension.
Verse 4 speaks of “an ordinance for Israel” and we saw those verses in the Introduction for these Psalms, in Part 1. God requested that three times a year this happens – {{Deuteronomy 16:16 “Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”}} That section about not appearing before the Lord empty-handed is answered in the following verse – {{Deuteronomy 16:17 “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.”}} And so with thankful hearts the pilgrims journeyed to Jerusalem and sang these songs on the journey. This one was very meaningful when they arrived in the holy city and entered in through the gates.
[D]. THE THRONES OF JUDGEMENT IN JERUSALEM MAINLY
{{Psalm 122:5 “for there thrones were set for judgment, the thrones of the house of David.”}}
This is a very significant verse because so much of it is still in the future. Looking at its application to the time of writing, what were the judgement thrones and what were the thrones of the house of David? They were judgements made at the time, and in David’s day, it was he, the King, who sat on his THRONE in judgement. So revered was David by those who loved God, but not by his enemies.
Jerusalem was the seat of dispensing justice for Israel, and some of this judgement may have been conducted by members of David’s household also. The city is also the location of future judgements.
(a). *** I believe we are fully justified in considering the future thrones that are to be set up. At the Second Coming the Lord comes at the end of the Tribulation and destroys all the armies of the world gathered against Israel; against Jerusalem in particular – {{Zechariah 14:2-3 “For I will gather ALL the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.”}}
(b) *** Jesus descends from heaven and His feet touch the Mount of Olives – {{Zechariah 14:4 “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.”}}
(c) *** Very soon after that, Jesus executes judgement on the surviving nations from His throne in Jerusalem – {{Matthew 25:31-34 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious THRONE and all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels –“}}
(d) *** Straight after that Jesus establishes His Millennium kingdom for 1 000 years and He reigns over the whole world from His throne in Jerusalem – {{Zechariah 14:9 “And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. Zechariah 14:16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.”}} This passage has reminders of the Psalm of Ascents that happened so long ago in the past.
(e) *** The final throne of judgement is maybe the worst and the most horrible in the entire history of the universe and it is Jesus in eternal judgement and it does not happen on the earth - Revelation 20:11-15 “I saw a great white THRONE and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them, and I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the THRONE, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. The sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds, and death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”}}
(f) *** To close this short study on the future thrones we end with the most beautiful promises and so joyous that we can not understand it in our present bodies – {{Revelation 21:3-7 I heard a loud voice from the THRONE, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall no longer be any death. There shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things have passed away.” He who sits on the THRONE said, “Behold, I am making all things new,” and He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”}}
(E). PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM
{{Psalm 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.”}}
What a deeply important verse this is. Who is it for? Most definitely it had application to the Jews of that time, but this is a timeless verse. Woe to those who have written Jerusalem off and consigned her to the waste paper basket of oblivion such as Martin Luther did and all the Reformers who followed him, and all those who have a part of Reformed Theology who reject Israel.
The term “Replacement Theology” is well known and used, but the term itself is despised by those who hold to it. It means that Israel (and Jerusalem) have been replaced by the Church, and all the glorious promises given to Jerusalem and all those unfulfilled Old Testament prophecies (hundreds of them) that belong to Israel are slaughtered and now taken and patched onto the Church. They try to say they all now apply to the Church. I think it is a monstrous belief. Israel has NOT been replaced and glorious times are ahead for the nation.
The verse (God) asks we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the centre of the earth and has known strife for all its existence, conquest after conquest and war after war. Today it is harassed daily by the PLO and the Palestinian terrorists who fire more than 200 rockets daily into Israeli territory. God wants us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Then the verse has another part, “MAY THEY PROSPER WHO LOVE YOU.” Please do not overlook this verse. It is a small promise in the form of a prayer. May all who love Jerusalem be prospered. That is so true, and if churches took notice of that promise and were obedient to God, it is my opinion they would be in a much better state than they are. Israel is the apple of God’s eye.
4 000 years ago God gave a promise to Abraham that is as true now as it was when given. {{Genesis 12:2 “and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing. Gen 12:3 I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU and the one who curses you I will curse. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,”}}
Also this promise was again spoken by Isaac – {{Genesis 27:29 “May peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master of your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. CURSED BE THOSE WHO CURSE YOU, and blessed be those who bless you.”}}
Whatever you do, do not dismiss Israel and Jerusalem!
(F). THE CONTINUING PRAYER FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM
Psalm 122:7 “May peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.”
Psalm 122:8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
Psalm 122:9 “For the sake of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.”}}
These three closing verses continue the theme of peace for Jerusalem. It is the desire of God’s people that peace surrounds Jerusalem, but we know confidently that that will not happen until the Prince of Peace reigns in Jerusalem in the Millennium. At that time this verse will be fulfilled – {{Isaiah 11:9 “They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”}}
Let the will of God be done! Amen
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
