Psalms 84:10(v1)For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of…
Micah 4:2(v1)Many nations will go and say, “Come! Let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of…
Isaiah 2:3(v1)Many peoples shall go and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his…
Psalms 84:1-2(v1)How lovely are your dwellings, Yahweh of Armies! My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for…
Psalms 128:1(v1)Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways.
Show all 50 cross-references
Psalms 120:1(v1)In my distress, I cried to Yahweh. He answered me.
Psalms 134:1(v1)Look! Praise Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh, who stand by night in Yahweh’s house!
Psalms 121:1(v1)I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?
Zechariah 8:21-23(v1)and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, ‘Let’s go speedily to entreat the favor of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Armies. I…
Psalms 123:1(v1)I lift up my eyes to you, you who sit in the heavens.
Psalms 55:14(v1)We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company.
Psalms 119:111(v1)I have taken your testimonies as a heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
Jeremiah 31:6(v1)For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’ ”
Deuteronomy 16:16(v4)Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened…
Psalms 63:1-3(v1)God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no…
Psalms 124:1(v1)If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, let Israel now say,
Psalms 125:1(v1)Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever.
Psalms 127:1(v1)Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.
Psalms 130:1(v1)Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh.
Psalms 131:1(v1)Yahweh, my heart isn’t arrogant, nor my eyes lofty; nor do I concern myself with great matters, or things too wonderful for me.
Psalms 133:1(v1)See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!
2 Samuel 5:9(v3)David lived in the stronghold, and called it David’s city. David built around from Millo and inward.
Psalms 42:4(v1)These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of…
Psalms 126:1(v1)When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream.
Psalms 129:1(v1)Many times they have afflicted me from my youth up. Let Israel now say,
Jeremiah 50:4-5(v1)“In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on…
Ephesians 2:20-21(v3)being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom the whole building,…
Exodus 23:17(v4)Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
Exodus 34:23-24(v4)Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel. For I will drive out nations before you and…
Nehemiah 4:6(v3)So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height: for the people had a mind to work.
Psalms 66:13-16(v4)I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you, which my lips promised, and my mouth spoke, when I was in…
Psalms 84:7(v2)They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
Psalms 100:4(v2)Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name.
Psalms 107:1-3(v4)Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed…
Psalms 118:19(v4)Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them. I will give thanks to Yah.
Psalms 132:1(v1)Yahweh, remember David and all his affliction,
Psalms 132:13(v4)For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation.
Psalms 147:2(v3)Yahweh builds up Jerusalem. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
Exodus 16:34(v4)As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
Exodus 26:33-34(v4)You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the covenant in there within the veil. The veil shall separate the…
Exodus 32:15(v4)Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand; tablets that were written on both their…
Deuteronomy 12:5(v4)But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you…
Deuteronomy 12:11(v4)then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that…
2 Chronicles 6:6(v2)but now I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’
Psalms 78:68(v4)But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
Ephesians 4:4-7(v3)There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and…
Revelation 21:10-27(v3)He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,…
Psalms 116:17-19(v4)I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call on Yahweh’s name. I will pay my vows to Yahweh, yes, in the presence of…
Exodus 20:24(v2)You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your…
Psalms 87:1-3(v2)His foundation is in the holy mountains. Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (26 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv1–41 I was glad when they said to me.…
1 I was glad when they said to me. God had often told Moses, that his Sanctuary would one day have a certain and fixed place of abode; yet from the time of Moses, for the space of more than a thousand years, the Ark of the Covenant had been carried about from place to place, as if it had been in a state of pilgrimage. At length it was revealed to David, that mount Zion was the spot where God would have his ark to be settled, and his temple built. Now, as David himself received this revelation with exceeding great joy, so he affirms that he was glad to find the whole people with one consent agreeing thereto. This circumstance has not been duly considered, and the consequence is, that interpreters have given the unhappy translation—I was glad with those that said to me. Such a rendering, however, only renders the sense a little obscure; but the translation of the Septuagint and the Vulgate, which puts upon the second verb of the verse a neuter signification, entirely vitiates the meaning, I was glad in the things which, were said to me. I indeed admit that literally the reading is—I was glad in those who said to me; but it is no uncommon thing for the letter ב, beth, which commonly signifies in, to be resolved into the adverb of time when; and here the scope of the text requires such a rendering. David testifies that he felt in his heart a double joy on observing that the whole people concurred in yielding obedience to the oracle which declared mount Zion to be the place which God had chosen for his solemn worship. By this example we are taught, that our joy, in like manner, should be doubled, when God by his Holy Spirit not only frames each of us to the obedience of his word, but also produces the same effect upon others, that we may be united together in the same faith. So stubborn and rebellious is human nature, that the great majority of mankind invariably murmur against God whenever he speaks. We have, therefore, no small ground for rejoicing when all harmoniously rank themselves with us on the side of God. Such as translate, with those who said to me, deduce this meaning: I take delight in the company of those who allure me to the service of God, and offer themselves to me as companions, that we may go to the sanctuary together. But from the second verse it will be still more obvious, that the joy of which David speaks proceeded from his seeing the people, with the ready obedience of faith, giving their consent to the utterance of the heavenly oracle, respecting the spot chosen to be the lawful and permanent scat of the ark of the covenant. For it immediately follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv1–4He rejoiceth that God had appointed a place, where…
He rejoiceth that God had appointed a place, where the Ark should still remain.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv1–4Psa 122:1 « A Song of degrees of David.…
Psa 122:1 « A Song of degrees of David. » I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me] The flourish of religion is the chief joy of the good Christian. Hence the evangelical jubilee among the Protestant party. Gregory Nazianzen writes that his father being a heathen, and often besought by his wife to become a Christian, had this verse suggested unto him in a dream, and was much wrought upon thereby. Wolfgangus Schuch, a Dutch martyr in Lotharing, hearing the sentence of his condemnation to the fire, began to sing this psalm (Acts & Mon. fol. 807).
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Let us go into the house of the Lord] "I will go also," {as Zec 8:21} said holy David; who was much cheered at his people’s forwardness in God’s service, and became their captain.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv1–4Let us go; exhorting one another to it, as…
Let us go; exhorting one another to it, as Deu 33:19. Or, We will go. The sense is, It delighteth me much to hear that the people, who had so long lived in the neglect or contempt of God’s worship, were now ready and forward in it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v1Here we have,
Here we have,
I. The pleasure which David and other pious Israelites took in approaching to and attending upon God in public ordinances, Psa 122:1, Psa 122:2.
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1. The invitation to them was very welcome. David was himself glad, and would have every Israelite to say that he was glad, when he was called upon to go up to the house of the Lord. Note, (1.) It is the will of God that we should worship him in concert, that many should join together to wait upon him in public ordinances. We ought to worship God in our own houses, but that is not enough; we must go into the house of the Lord, to pay our homage to him there, and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. (2.) We should not only agree with one another, but excite and stir up one another, to go to worship God in public. Let us go; not, "Do you go and pray for us, and we will stay at home;" but, We will go also, Zac 8:21. Not, "Do you go before, and we will follow at our leisure;" or, "We will go first, and you shall come after us;" but, "Let us go together, for the honour of God and for our mutual edification and encouragement." We ourselves are slow and backward, and others are so too, and therefore we should thus quicken and sharpen one another to that which is good, as iron sharpens iron. (3.) Those that rejoice in God will rejoice in calls and opportunities to wait upon him. David himself, though he had as little need of a spur to his zeal in religious exercises as any, yet was so far from taking it as an affront that he was glad of it as a kindness when he was called upon to go up to the house of the Lord with the meanest of his subjects. We should desire our Christian friends, when they have any good work in hand, to call for us and take us along with them.
2. The prospect of them was very pleasing. They speak it with a holy triumph (Psa 122:2): Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem! Those that came out of the country, when they found the journey tedious, comforted themselves with this, that they should be in Jerusalem shortly, and that would make amends for all the fatigues of their journey. We shall stand there as servants; it is desirable to have a place in Jerusalem, though it be among those that stand by (Zac 3:7), though it be the door keeper's place, Psa 84:10. We have now got a resting-place for the ark, and where it is there will we be.
II. The praises of Jerusalem, as Psa 48:12.
1. It is the beautiful city, not only for situation, but for building. It is built into a city, the houses not scattered, but contiguous, and the streets fair and spacious. It is built uniform, compact together, the houses strengthening and supporting one another. Though the city was divided into the higher and lower town, yet the Jebusites being driven out, and it being entirely in the possession of God's people, it is said to be compact together. It was a type of the gospel-church, which is compact together in holy love and Christian communion, so that it is all as one city.
2. It is the holy city, Psa 122:4. It is the place where all Israel meet one another: Thither the tribes go up, from all parts of the country, as one man, under the character of the tribes of the Lord, in obedience to his command. It is the place appointed for their general rendezvous; and they come together, (1.) To receive instruction from God; they come to the testimony of Israel, to hear what God has to say to them and to consult his oracle. (2.) To ascribe the glory to God, to give thanks to the name of the Lord, which we have all reason to do, especially those that have the testimony of Israel among them. If God speak to us by his word, we have reason to answer him by our thanksgivings. See on what errand we go to public worship, to give thanks.
3. It is the royal city (Psa 122:5): There are set thrones of judgment. Therefore the people had reason to be in love with Jerusalem, because justice was administered there by a man after God's own heart. The civil interests of the people were as well secured as their ecclesiastical concerns; and very happy they were in their courts of judicature, which were erected in Jerusalem, as with us in Westminster Hall. Observe, What a goodly sight it was to see the testimony of Israel and the thrones of judgment such near neighbours, and they are good neighbours, which may greatly befriend one another. Let the testimony of Israel direct the thrones of judgment, and the thrones of judgment protect the testimony of Israel.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv1–4I was glad when they said unto me,.... Or,…
I was glad when they said unto me,.... Or, "I rejoiced in", or "because of, those that said unto me" (b); or, "in what was said unto me". For it may regard not only the time when he had this pleasure of mind, but the persons who gave it, as well as the ground and reason of the things said unto him, as follows:
let us go into the house of the Lord; the house of the sanctuary, as the Targum; the tabernacle, the place of divine worship, typical of the church of God; which is an house of his building, beautifying, and repairing, and where he dwells: it has all the essentiality of a house; its materials are lively stones; its foundation Christ; its pillars ministers of the word; the beams of it stable believers; its windows the ordinances; and the door into it faith in Christ, and a profession of it. Now it is both the duty and privilege of believers to go into it; here they find spiritual pleasure, enjoy abundance of peace and comfort, and have their spiritual strength renewed, as well as it is to their honour and glory: and it becomes them to stir up one another to go thither; some are slothful and backward; some are lukewarm and indifferent; some are worldly and carnally minded; and others are conceited of their knowledge, and think themselves wiser than their teachers, and therefore need to be excited to their duty; and truly gracious souls are glad when they are stirred up to it, both on their own account, and on the account of others, and because of the glory of God.
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(b) "in dicentibus mihi", Montanus; so Ainsworth, Vatablus, Cocceius; "in his quae dicta sunt mihi", V. L. so Junius & Tremellius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv1, 4This psalm seems to have been wrote for the…
This psalm seems to have been wrote for the use of the people, when they came to Jerusalem at the three solemn feasts. David here shews the joy with which they were to go up to Jerusalem, ver. 1, 2. The esteem they were to have of it, ver. 3-5. The prayers they were to make for its welfare, ver, 6-9. A song of degrees of David.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv1–4The satisfaction of a gracious soul in the use…
PSALM CXXII
The satisfaction of a gracious soul in the use of God's
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ordinances, 1, 2.
Description of the internal government of Jerusalem, 3-5.
Prayers for its peace and prosperity, 6-9.
NOTES ON PSALM CXXII
In the preceding Psalms we find the poor captives crying to God for deliverance; here they are returning thanks that they find they are permitted to return to their own land and to the ordinances of their God.
Verse 1. I was glad when they said] When Cyrus published an edict for their return, the very first object of their thanksgiving was the kindness of God in permitting them to return to his ordinances.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 4Psa 122:1-2. I was glad when they said, Let…
Psa 122:1-2. I was glad when they said, Let us go, &c. — Or, We will go, into the house of the Lord — They are the words of the people, exhorting one another to go and attend upon the worship of God at his tabernacle or temple at Jerusalem, and especially at the three great festivals; and they are intended to signify with what great joy such Israelites as were pious received and complied with invitations from their brethren to accompany them on these occasions. But with how much greater joy ought Christians to embrace all opportunities of approaching God, and assembling with his people in the more rational, spiritual, and edifying worship of the New Testament church! Our feet shall stand within thy gates, &c. — Thither we will come, and there we will continue during the times of solemn worship; O Jerusalem — The city where the ark of the covenant and God’s holy altars are now fixed. We shall wander no more, as we did formerly, when the ark was removed from place to place. We have now got a settled habitation for it, and where it is there will we be.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv1–4I was glad - It was a subject; of…
I was glad - It was a subject; of joy to me. The return of the happy season when we were to go up to worship filled me with joy. The language is expressive of the, happiness which is felt by those who love God and his sanctuary, when the stated season of worship returns. The heart is drawn to the house of prayer; the soul is filled with peace at the prospect of being again permitted to worship God. Who the speaker here is, is not known. It may have been David himself; more probably, however, it was designed by him to be used by those who should go up to worship, as expressive of their individual joy.
When they said unto me - When it was said unto me. When the time arrived. When I was invited by others to go. The announcement was joyful; the invitation was welcome. It met the desires of my heart, and I embraced the invitation cheerfully and joyfully.
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Let us go into the house of the Lord - Up to the place where God dwells; the house which he has made his abode. If the psalm was composed in the time of David, this would refer to the tabernacle as fixed by him on Mount Zion; if at a later period, to the temple. The language will admit of either interpretation. Compare the notes at Isa 2:3.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures1864 · Public DomainOn v1Psalms 122
Psalms 122
A Song of degrees of David
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I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go into the house of the Lord.
2 Our feet shall stand
Within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded
As a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel.
To give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
They shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls,
And prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes,
I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God.
We will seek thy good.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.—The Psalmist had rejoiced in those, who, at the close of their pilgrim-journey to Jerusalem, had expressed to him their intention of visiting the house of God. (Psa_122:1-2). This gives occasion to him to celebrate the praise of Jerusalem, as a city unbroken and perfectly regular in its structure, whither the tribes of Jehovah, according to the law established in Israel, made their festival journeys, and which, besides this religious importance, exercised great political influence as the seat of the kingdom of David (Psa_122:3-5). Peace and prosperity should be invoked for this city and its inhabitants, and the Psalmist sets the example of such supplication, as a companion of the people and a lover of God’s house (Psa_122:6-9). The text, however, on account of the indefiniteness of the Hebrew tenses, has given occasion also to other explanations. But this view seems most suitable, if the Davidic authorship be held. The statement to that effect in the superscription is, it is true, not found in the Sept. et al.; but it occurs in the Heb. Text, and cannot be directly disproved from the contents of the Psalm, or from its linguistic peculiarities. For the שׁ prefixed, Psa_122:3-4, is a poetical form which is found even in the most ancient songs.—[Alexander: “This Psalm, though so much older than the two before it, was probably placed third in the series because it was intended to be sung, and actually was sung, at the entrance of the Holy City, whereas the others were used at the commencement of the march and on coming in sight of Jerusalem.” On the other hand, Perowne prefers to look for a composition subsequent to the exile, and cannot regard the expression: “thrones of the house of David,” as a natural one in the mouth of David himself. But, apart from the evidence of the superscription, an argument against the lateness of the composition may be based upon this very expression, as has been done by Hengstenberg. For it evidently points to a time when the kingdom of David was still flourishing. Besides as Hengst. also remarks, how could the allusion to the beautiful compactness of the city be of force after the exile? Perowne very properly objects, on account of the joyful tone of the poem, to the opinion of Ewald, that it contains “a blessing on a party of pilgrims uttered by an old man returned from the exile, himself unequal to a journey across the desert.”—J. F. M.]
Psa_122:1-2. I joyed in those that said,etc. [E. V.: I joyed when they said, etc.] The mode of expression is not favorable to the supposition that the Psalmist had just received the invitation to join the festal train, that he expresses his joy thereat, and directs his gaze to Jerusalem in hope of speedily arriving thither (Luther and most). It is a retrospect that he makes (Sept., Aquila, and the ancient versions generally). But he says neither that his joy was at an end, nor that the time when it was excited was very remote. This remains quite indefinite. The Psalmist only mentions a certain experience and the feeling thereby excited. His joyful feelings had for their direct object, not the journey, but the persons who had spoken to the Psalmist with regard to it, and whose words contained both an invitation and a positive statement. The invitation relates to a journey to be made to the house of God in company with the Psalmist; the information, to journeys previously and happily performed by the speakers, and therefore passes over into an expression of praise. This could very well have happened in the experience of David in Jerusalem, before whom the pilgrims had appeared. There is not the slightest occasion for connecting it with the absence of David and his longing after the sanctuary during the flight before Absalom (Del.). [Delitzsch merely gives this as the most suitable time, if the composition were to be assigned to David. But his opinion, more decidedly pronounced in his last edition, is that the Psalm was composed by one who was gazing upon Jerusalem restored from its ruin after the exile. He therefore renders, in Psa_122:3 : rebuilt, instead of built.—J. F. M.] No indication of longing or of sorrow is heard; but everything breathes joy, and the assertion that the absence of the poet from Jerusalem is understood as a matter of course (Hupfeld), is wholly a product of fancy. Nor is there any occasion for taking the words as a prophecy (Calvin, Venema). Nothing points to the future. On the contrary, the participle with היה expresses duration of time, extending through the past into the present. In any case, Psa_122:2 can be detached entirely from the one preceding, which would then be taken as the introduction, and may be understood as expressing not the words of the pilgrims, but of the poet harmonizing with them. But this view is not absolutely necessary. If it be the correct one, these words in the mouth of David could be justified only on the supposition that he speaks for the people (Hengst.), and the poet would be made to appear as a fellow-pilgrim, unknown to us from any other indications, journeying from the country outside to the Holy City, in company with the visitors at the festival, who speak in Psa_122:1. He, arrived at the end of his journey, breaks forth in admiring praise at the sight of the glorious beauty of Jerusalem, after first expressing the delight which he had experienced at the time of the invitation in those who had addressed it to him. But this view is certainly more to be commended than the assumption that Psa_122:2 also contains a retrospect, and that the whole poem was sung on the return from the journey (Delitzsch), or by an exile (Ewald), who, in joyful sympathy with the resolution of some pious Israelites, to undertake a pilgrimage, relapsed into reminiscences of the time when his feet too were standing in the gates of Jerusalem. [Psa_122:1-2 are thus translated by Dr. Moll:
I took delight in those who said to me:
We will go into the house of Jehovah;
Our feet have become standing
In thy gates, Jerusalem.
This view, according to which Psa_122:2 is a continuation of the words of the pilgrims, is the most suitable, if David be regarded as the author. Perowne, holding the other view, joins it to Psa_122:3.—The rendering “shall stand” in E. V. is ungrammatical. The true meaning expressed freely is probably: have gained a place. On the meanings of the subst. verb with the part., see Ewald, 168 c.—J. F. M.].
Psa_122:3. Jerusalem, thou that art built up. [E. V.: is builded.] Taken by itself, this expression would be meaningless. It has therefore often been taken emphatically: built up loftily, stately (most), or, under the supposition of a composition after the exile: thou that art rebuilt (Hupfeld, Del.). But the former is linguistically inadmissible; the latter an unsupported assumption. To gain the surest meaning, it is best to connect it with the following word by which a sentence results, somewhat halting in structure, it is true, but yet not altogether without example. But the object of the building is not that men should assemble there (Luther). The character of Jerusalem is exhibited as a city self-inclosed, adhering closely together as a community (Sept. Symmachus). The city, however, is not contrasted with the scattered dwellings of a village (Aben Ezra and many older expositors), as though the verse expressed the admiration felt by a rustic pilgrim, who, for the first time, beholds a great city (Herder, De Wette). It is mentioned, either as one which had no breaches in its wall (Hitzig, who refers specially to the building operations of Jonathan), or, generally, as one that was secure and strong on account of its compact structure. The older Rabbins, following the Targum, interpreted the expression as referring to the heavenly Jerusalem; and so it has often been applied, in the mystical sense, in the Christian Church. [Translate Psa_122:3 : Jerusalem, thou that art built up as a city that is compact together.—J. F. M.]
Psa_122:4. This verse is a retrospect of actual events; but it does not intimate that they had happened long, for centuries, or since ancient times, but that the tribes which, as being those of God’s people, are here called the tribes of Jehovah, had already for some time observed this custom. Accordingly the law referring to it, Exo_23:14-15; Deu_16:16, is mentioned as a “testimony of Israel.” The term עֵדוּתִ does not imply that it was an old-established custom, but only that the tribes who formed the united Israel had already publicly professed their allegiance to this law, and abided by it. David, in the later years of his life, could express himself thus, and apply the words of Psa_122:5, which are employed more objectively here with relation to his house, with a meaning based upon the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7, if the verse be not itself a prophecy.
Psa_122:5. The thrones are not magisterial benches=courts of justice under David’s authority (Hengst.), or a court of inferior judges formed by the sons of the king (J. H. Mich. et al.), but the thrones of a judge=thrones of the king (Rosenmüller et al.); for the administration of justice was the original and principal duty of the monarch in times of peace (2Sa_15:2; 1Ki_3:16). The word for is explained by the consideration that Jerusalem owed its elevation, as the religious centre of the nation, to its previous position as the civil capital (Hengst.). [Render Psa_122:4-5 : Whither the tribes went up—the tribes of Jehovah—a law of Israel—to give thanks to the name of Jehovah. For there were set thrones for judgment—thrones for the house of David.—J. F. M.]
Psa_122:6-7. The wishes are arranged alliteratively, and contain unmistakable allusions to the name Jerusalem and its signification=peaceful dwelling. But the word schalôm is more comprehensive than our word peace [Friede]; it includes welfare or prosperity and happiness. Psa_122:6 does not call for an inquiry=ask after the peace (Sept. et al.), but for intercession=pray for the peace of Jerusalem. In Psa_122:6 b. we are not to supply: saying (Isaaki, Geier); it is the wish of the speaker himself (J. H. Mich.) in behalf of those who love Jerusalem, as contrasted with those who hate Zion (Psa_129:5). The walls or the bulwarks and the palaces are not intended to represent the outside and inside (most), but express the idea of the city itself (Psa_48:14).
Psa_122:8 shows that no reproach of selfishness or private interest could possibly be made. The welfare of all the members of the Church lies close to the heart of the Psalmist (comp. Jer_29:7). It is doubtful whether in the second member the rendering should be: pronounce peace over thee, i.e., wish and pray for thee peace (Sept., Luther and most) or: speak peace, for peace in thee (Calvin, Geier, Venema, Hupfeld) or: say, peace be in thee (Piscator, Köster, Hengst., Olshausen).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
He who loves the people of God must not only be willing to build and protect for them the house of God, but must also invite them thither, and walk thither with them.—Peace rules only where the God of peace dwells; cleave thou then to the city of peace which is the Church of the living God.—When we go out of our houses, let us see well to it, (1) with whom, (2) whither, (3) for what purpose.—The greatest glory of a city is not that it is large, strong and magnificent, but that it gathers, protects and builds up God’s Church within it.—He who delights to give thanks, will also delight to pray, and that not only for himself, but also with and for others. Blessed is the man for whom attendance upon the house of God is a season of delight and an occasion of thanksgiving, praise and prayer.—Blessed are the people whose national life has for its centre the sanctuary of God.
Calvin: When the welfare of our brethren is dear to us, when we have religion in our hearts, then we must, as far as in us lies, care for the prosperity of the Church.
Starke: The true worship of God and the exercise of righteousness are strong pillars of a city or state.—The ministers of God’s word have not only to pray themselves for the welfare of the Church, but also to exhort their people diligently to do the same.—Peace, with its delights, is one of the most precious of earthly blessings. But what is more abused?—The true members of the Church possess that inward spiritual peace which includes all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.—How blessed is the communion of saints! Daily and hourly can a citizen of the spiritual Jerusalem enjoy thousands of wishes of peace, uttered for him by believers throughout the whole world.—Those are the true patriots who, without seeking their own advantage, seek and entreat help for the well-being of their fellow-countrymen and the furthering of true religion.
Frisch: A place is made illustrious and glorious only by a good government and the true worship of God.—Arndt: God blesses His people with peace and all blessings when they manifest brotherly love; but see who the true brethren of Christ are.—Rieger: Prayer must be made continually, that good regulations in the Church and in schools may not fall into disuse, that good plans may not be marred by discord.—Reichel: All the regulations which David made had a reference to the house of the Lord. He devoted every day of his latest years to building it up and directing its services. He delighted in all that spoke to him of it, and enjoyed its worship.—Tholuck: David prepared a dwelling-place for the Lord upon Zion, because he loved it, and his heart clung more to that place, because he had prepared a dwelling-place there for God.—Diedrich: Wherever men assemble, according to God’s appointment, to enjoy in common what He reveals, there is Jerusalem.—Taube: David’s city is the city of God; for in David’s person is represented a two fold type —the God-ordained king and the servant of the Lord.—David desired to have one thing implored for his beloved city—peace, that it might prevail in the city of peace—without before the walls, within in each dwelling.—Lyncker: Concerning pilgrimage to the heavenly Jerusalem, (1) what joy it excites (Psa_122:1-3); (2) what prospects it opens (Psa_122:4-5); (3) what obligations it involves (Psa_122:6-9).
[Matt. Henry: They that rejoice in the Lord, will rejoice in calls and opportunities to wait upon Him.—We should desire our Christian friends, when they have any good work in hand, to call for us and take us along with them.—We must pray for Jerusalem, not out of custom or for fashion’s sake, but out of a principle of love to God’s government of man, and man’s worship of God. And in seeking the public welfare we seek our own; for so well doth God love the gates of Zion, that He will love all those that do love them; and therefore they cannot but prosper; at least their souls shall prosper, by the ordinances they so dearly love.—Whatever lies within the sphere of our activity to do for the public good, we must do it, else we are not sincere in praying for it.—Scott: Satan’s maxim always has been, to divide that he might conquer, and few Christians have been sufficiently aware of his design.—Barnes: The heart of a pious man is in the Church of God; his main delight is there; his arrangements will be made so as best to enjoy the privileges of the sanctuary; and his plans of life will all contemplate the welfare, the extension, and the influence of the Church of God.—J. F. M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv1–41. I was glad—Literally, A light of joy was…
1. I was glad—Literally, A light of joy was in my face. A characteristic testimony that the religion of the Hebrews, according to the liturgy of Moses, induced joy and praise, not a sordid superstition, as the heathen slanderously charged. (TACITUS, History, B. 5, § 4.) The past tense gives us a retrospection, which some take as evidence that the language is that of a pious Jew in exile. But the whole tone of the psalm is that of present joy, as if written immediately after receiving the call to go to the house of God. On the invitation, Let us go, see Deu_33:19; Isa_2:3. House, here, is to be understood of place, or the tent containing the ark. See note on Psa_116:19. Delight in the worship of God springs from the love of God, and makes the way to the house of prayer pleasant. See notes on Psa_84:5-8
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv1–41. The Psalmist recalls his joy when his neighbours…
1. The Psalmist recalls his joy when his neighbours summoned him to join in the pilgrimage to the sanctuary.
I was glad] The A.V. rightly follows the Ancient Versions in translating the verb as a past.
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Let us go into &c.] Rather, We will go to the house of Jehovah. Cp. Isa_2:3.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv1–4(1) Let us go.—Or, we will go. This verse…
(1) Let us go.—Or, we will go. This verse is inscribed over the portico of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv1–4THE "title" assigns this psalm to David; and there…
THE "title" assigns this psalm to David; and there seems to be no sufficient reason why his authorship should not be accepted. The description of Jerusalem exactly suits his day (vers. 3-7). The "thrones of judgment, thrones of the house of David" (ver. 5) would be his own throne and that of his son Solomon, whom he associated. The "house of the Lord" (ver. 1) would be the tabernacle which David set up. (2Sa_6:17) The "tribes of the Lord," which were all united under David, (2Sa_5:5) probably began to "go up" to Jerusalem as soon as David removed the ark thither. The strong love for Jerusalem and for the Lord"s house, which animates the writer, is also very characteristic of David.
I was glad when they said unto us, Let us go into the house of the Lord. (comp. Psa_5:7 Psa_28:2 Psa_138:2)
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Vers. 1-9. The house of God and the Church of Jesus Christ.
The "house of God" (vers. 1 and 9) may stand for the Christian sanctuary, and the "Jerusalem," of which this psalm is full, may stand for the Church of Jesus Christ. Thus regarded, we have
I THE HOUSE OF GOD.
1. The Divine Presence. God"s house is the place where he dwells; where, in the fullest sense, he is. And though the Omnipresent cannot be said to be in one place more truly than in another, yet is there a sense in which he is especially present in his own "house.
(1) Going there expressly to meet and to worship him, we are more conscious of his nearness to us than we are elsewhere.
(2) He will and he does manifest himself in his revealing truth and in his gracious influences as he does not elsewhere.
2. United worship. "Let us go into the house of the Lord." It is not enough for a man to say that he can pray and sing and read at home. Nothing will compensate for united worship. There is a fervor in prayer, and a heartiness in praise when many souls are outpoured in the one, and many voices are united in the other, which solitary worship does not know; there is an influence in uttered truth, spoken in the sympathetic hearing of a hundred hearts, which no book can communicate in the silent chamber. There is a sacred joy which gladdens the pure heart (ver. 1) in the anticipation and in the act of public worship, of which it is a serious mistake to deprive ourselves.
3. The duty of encouragement. "Let us go;" "Let him that heareth say, Come" Those who are not able to enforce Divine claims or human obligations can graciously and effectually invite their neighbors to go where these great spiritual realities will be enforced by others. Andrew rendered his brother Simon, and the Church of Christ, an invaluable service when "he brought him to Jesus " to hear his word and to become his disciple.
II THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST. Jerusalem was "the city of God." The "New Jerusalem" will be composed of the glorified spirits of men of every age and from every land. The spiritual Jerusalem today is the multitude of unrecognized men, but beloved of Christ, that, under every sky, are loving and serving him.
1. We must not be satisfied till we have been enrolled in this company; till we can say, "Our feet are standing within thy walls.
2. To belong to this Church is our most sacred duty; it was "a testimony" or ordinance "in Israel" to go up to Jerusalem (ver. 4). It is the clear, decisive will of Christ and that is our testimony" that constitutes our obligation that we should become members of his Church on earth.
3. The strength of the Church is in the close association of its members; it must be compact together (ver. 3); its forces not scattered, dissipated, lost, but united, well-ordered for defense and for aggression. Where there is unity of spirit, aim, and action, there is strength to withstand and to achieve.
4. A wise regard for our own welfare and a true concern for others" good will make us love and serve the Church of Christ.
(1) They will prosper that love it (ver. 6). Association with Christ and with his people is, if not a guarantee, a strong assurance of present and temporal well-being; sufficiency, if not wealth; all that is needful, if not all that is pleasant.
(2) As we love our brethren and our companions, we shall wish well to the Church; for as its holy influences extend and reach their hearts, and cover their lives, they also will be shielded from evil and enriched with good.
5. Christ calls for believing prayer and faithful labor. Pray for the peace, and for the prosperity, of Jerusalem (vers. 6, 7). It is a poor thing to pray for it if we do not strive for it, if we do not contribute to it. "I will seek thy good;" and it is a very imperfect method of seeking good if we do not bring our personal contribution to it. To do that for the peace and prosperity of the Church, we must command ourselves, be gracious and genial in word as well as in spirit, take our part in earnest work, labor till the Master himself takes the weapon from our hands.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Vers. 1-9. Jerusalem a type of the Church.
That which is said or implied here of Jerusalem is appropriate in a symbolic sense to the New Jerusalem, the Church of the living God.
I FOR THE CHURCH IS AS A CITY.
1. Built. The result of thought and toil and care.
2. As Jerusalem, a captured city. It was once the home of all heathen abomination, but by David it was won for God. So the Church is a captured city, a trophy of God"s omnipotent grace.
3. Has walls and bulwarks. Jerusalem had (ver. 7). So the Church. (Isa_26:1) The Spirit, the Word, and the work of God in human hearts, these are her defenses.
4. And palaces. There were many of these in Jerusalem. The palaces of the Church are those spiritual privileges which those who are high in the favor of God are permitted to enjoy.
II HER PEOPLE. Those who love God"s worship, who love to be asked to go to the house of the Lord, and also to ask others. These are they in whom the Spirit of God dwells, and who are the people of the city of God.
III SHE IS CHARACTERIZED BY UNITY, ORDER, STRENGTH. (Ver. 3, "compact together.") For Jerusalem this was inevitably so by reason of the site on which she stood, which allowed no room for indefinite enlargement (see Exposition; and Stanley"s "Sinai and Palestine"). And so when the Church of God has attained to its perker form, the divisions and discords, the disorder and consequent weakness, which too much characterize the Church now, shall all have disappeared. And even now there are Christian Churches which, by reason of their peace and unity and order, are strong are as a city compact together.
IV SHE IS THE CENTER OF UNITY FOR OTHERS. (Ver. 4) Jerusalem and the temple were, in Israel"s best days, the rallying-point of all her tribes. The strength which this gave them excited the jealousy of Jeroboam, and caused him to set up the rival worship of Samaria. And today the Church is the real bond of nations, and is becoming increasingly so.
V THIS UNITY OF THOSE WHO GATHER TO HER IS A WITNESS FOR GOD, AND RENDERS HIM PRAISE. The gathering of the tribes of the Lord (ver. 4) at the great annual festivals bore testimony to all men that Israel was the covenant people of God, and that they rejoiced therein; thus they rendered praise to the Name of the Lord. And the united companies of believers bear a like testimony and render like praise.
VI JUDGMENT JUST AND RIGHTEOUS GOES FORTH FROM HER. (Ver. 5) From the judgment-thrones of the princes of the royal house went forth the decisions which the people obeyed in all matters on which judgment had been given. So today, from the real Church of God goes forth that law which hinds or looses the consciences of men. This is "the power of the keys" which Christ has given to his Church. What she says today all peoples will sooner or later accept as right and true. They may resist, but ere long they will yield. God wills it so.
VII SHE IS TO BE DEVOTEDLY LOVED AND PRAYED FOR. (Vers. 6-9) For God the Lord dwells within her (ver. 9). All her excellence, authority, and strength are because of this, and only this. Do our feet stand within her gates? S.C.
Glad to go to the house of the Lord.
The feeling expressed here is noteworthy, to say the least of it; for
I SUCH GLADNESS IS RARE. The proof of that is seen in the multitudes that never go at all. And of those who do, how many go as seldom as possible! an hour and a half a week is considered ample for church-going. And of those who are more regular and frequent, can it be said that they are glad to go? Is it not the sense of duty, the necessity of upholding a religious reputation, desire to please friends, force of habit, wish to set good example, fear of a condemning conscience, or some other motive such as these? But how seldom is there much gladness about it, except when it is all over! What a contrast to the exuberant delight which is evident throughout this psalm! We often sing it, but how often do we mean it?
II BUT RIGHT. Ought we not to be "glad when," etc.? Surely yes. For:
1. It is Divine service." But how should we like s child of ours to grudge rendering us service, to get out of it whenever he could, and, when he could not, to render it in as half-hearted a way as possible? But this is just how we treat God in this service which he enjoins upon us.
2. And it is Gods chosen place of meeting with us. Ought we to be loath to meet him, or to avoid such meeting whenever we can find any sort of excuse to do so? We do not so deal with earthly parents or benefactors.
3. And it is tire place where he blesses those who come. Mere gratitude should make us glad to "go into the house," etc.
III AND MOST REASONABLE. What led the psalmist to thus feel and speak? He does so oftentimes.
1. The remembrance of the revelations of God he had received there. (Cf. Psa_63:3, "To see thy power and thy glory, so as," etc.) His soul had been filled with holy rapture and joy in God.
2. The confident expectation of similar blessing. He went desiring God, which is ever the condition of blessing from God.
3. His whole spiritual life had been so quickened and strengthened there. There the chains of sin had fallen off, the burden of guilt removed, the sorrows of his life soothed, and he had been filled with the Spirit of God.
4. The worship itself was beautiful, and the throng of worshippers, and all the associations and memories of the place, enhanced the joy of worship.
5. And like reasons are in force still. The age, place, forms, are all different; but the spiritual realities which the psalmist knew, the true worshipper knows still. He too has met with God, and God with him, as the holy Word has been preached, the fervent prayer offered, the hymn of praise sung, and the holy bread and wine of the Communion partaken of. Often and often has it been the ante-chamber of heaven.
IV AND RESULTFUL. They who are glad to join in worship, to whom it is a real delight, are a very favored people. And the results of their worship will be many.
1. For themselves. It is a witness of the reality of their faith and love and acceptance with God. It is full of inspiration; such glad worship will not evaporate in mere feeling, but will become embodied in holy word and deed and life. It gives them heaven before they get there, and it is a mighty means, through the Holy Spirit, of their sanctification.
2. For the Church: they are the conservators and the promoters of its best life.
3. For the world: they are witnesses for the love of God and the joy of his service.
4. For God: he is glorified in them. S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Joy in God"s service.
"I was glad," etc. It is well agreed among Bible writers that this cannot be a psalm of David"s; it must belong to the time immediately before, or the time subsequent to, the Exile, but very different opinions are entertained concerning its immediate associations. Liddon says, "The pilgrim who composed the psalm would have belonged to one of the ten separated tribes, but he had remained, alter the general defection, true to the divinely ordered worship at Jerusalem, and this psalm may well have been composed on the occasion of his first visit. We observe in it his delight at the mere prospect of the journey; his ecstasy at finding himself, or at the very thought of finding himself, within the sacred gates; his wonder at the aspect of the city lying before him as he stood, probably, on the Mount of Olives; his sense of its past glories and of its present titles to honor the thrones of David and of Solomon, the sacred temple. But there are presages of coming trouble in the air, and as the psalmist thinks of his brethren in the faith who live within its walls, and of the house of God, which was its prominent and its most precious feature, he offers a prayer for the peace of the holy city which has so large a place in his heart." Perowne says, "The poet is living in the country. As the time of the feast draws near, his friends and neighbors come to him, inviting him to join them in their visit to Jerusalem. It is with this picture that he begins his psalm. He tells us how his heart filled with joy as they bade him come with them to the house of Jehovah." We see the procession starting; we see beaming eyes and happy faces, and hear the music of gladness with which the pilgrims beguile the tediousness of the journey. The next verse transports us at once to the holy city itself. "Our feet have stood within thy gates;" the few words are enough. They have reached their journey"s end; they are in the city which they love. Then the poet tells us, first, the impression made upon his mind by her stateliness and her beauty; and next, how there comes crowding upon his memory the scenes of her earlier grandeur, the thought of all she had been as the gathering-place of the tribes of Jehovah, the royal seat of David and of his house. Filled with these thoughts, inspired by these memories, he bursts forth into hearty, fervent prayer the prayer of one who loved his country as he loved his God, with no common devotion for the welfare of that city so glorious in her past history, and with which all hopes for the future were so intimately bound up." The "Four Friends" support the suggestion of Ewald, who thinks the psalm may be a blessing on a party of pilgrims, uttered by an old man returned from the Exile, himself unequal to the journey. "The departure of his friends reminds him of the alacrity with which he, too, had once obeyed a similar summons; his spirit is fired by sympathy with their enthusiasm, and he pours forth the praises of that city which from the earliest times had been recognized as the key-stone of the national unity, the civil and religious metropolis of the tribes." We fix attention on the personal pleasure in the public worship of God which the psalmist expresses. For him the sacred duty had come to be a sacred joy. And we never worship with full acceptance until we have entered into a similar experience. The attitudes of worshippers towards worship may be compared and illustrated.
I THERE IS COMPARATIVE NEGLECT, Presence at Divine service occasionally. Attendance interrupted on the slightest occasions. No evident heart in the service. A duty got through.
II THERE IS COMPARATIVE INDIFFERENCE. There may be fair regularity of attendance, but the "heart divided." The man there, but the heart elsewhere; so the service but a routine, instinct with no mental attention, and no pious feeling. For such Divine service is as though it had not been.
III THERE IS COMPARATIVE INTEREST. That of the intellect and that of the aesthetic faculties, not that of the heart. Sermons may be intellectual treats, and services artistic gratifications, they are not what they should be unless the whole man is interested.
IV THERE IS SPIRITUAL DELIGHT. But this must depend on the man"s being spiritually quickened, and on having his spiritual tastes cultured. Then he finds his supreme joy in God, and therefore in acts of worship that bring near the sense of God. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-9. Worship.
"I was glad when they said unto me," etc. This beautiful ode is supposed to have been by one dwelling in the country, who had been invited to join, and had joined, a company of pilgrims on their way to one of the feasts at Jerusalem; on his return, this ode embodied the sentiments that had been inspired.
I THE JOY OF WORSHIP. The delight of anticipation. (Ver. 1) The brooding gladness which dwells on some anticipated great occasion. His imagination would draw pictures of Jerusalem and the temple on the way thither, and all their sacred historical and religious associations; as we try to think of heaven and of the scenes in which our nature shall be perfected.
II THE JOY OF RETROSPECTION. (Vers. 2-5)
1. He remembers with what awe and delight he was spellbound within the gates of the city and temple. Think how a Mohammedan would feel at Mecca, or a Roman Catholic at St. Peter"s in Rome, or a modern Christian in visiting Calvary, or Bethlehem, or the sepulcher where Christ lay. But the awe and delight of spiritual worship transcend all the emotions inspired by hallowed places spirit and in truth.
2. He was greatly moved by the sight of the stateliness and beauty of the city, which had been rebuilt after the Exile. (Ver. 3) The restoration of a national structure, or of the nation itself after forfeiting its glory, or of a human life and character after loss and shame, greatly moves all sympathetic minds. The transition from darkness into light is very great.
3. The tribes gathered on such occasions, came up in obedience to the Divine law, to worship God with a national thanksgiving. (Ver. 4) The author of the psalm was a grateful participant in the worship. The law of grateful worship is the law of all reasonable spiritual beings, the very necessity of their nature, and therefore full of delights.
4. The "thrones of judgment" for the civil law were under the shadow of the throne of mercy, or the mercy-seat. " The supreme tribunal was to be in the same place as the sanctuary. (Deu_17:8, Deu_17:9) Law and mercy, both in God and in the best man, are always closely related.
5. The highest result of true worship is to produce the spirit of peace. (Vers. 6-9) Between God and man, among nations and Churches, and between man and man. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv1–4This brief but spirited Psalm is entitled "A Song…
This brief but spirited Psalm is entitled "A Song of Degrees of David", and thus we are informed as go its author, and the occasion for which it was designed: David wrote it for the people to sing at the time of their goings up to the holy feasts at Jerusalem. It comes third in the series, and appears to be suitable to be sung when the people had entered the gates, and their feet stood within the city. It was most natural that they should sing of Jerusalem itself, and invoke peace and prosperity upon the Holy City, for it was the centre of their worship, and the place where the Lord revealed himself above the mercy seat. Possibly the city was not all built in David's day, but he wrote under the spirit of prophecy, and spoke of it as it would be in the age of Solomon; a poet has license to speak of things, not only as they are, but as they will be when they come to their perfection. Jerusalem, or the Habitation of Peace, is used as the key word of this Psalm, wherein we have in the original many happy allusions to the salem, or peace, which they implored upon Jerusalem. When they stood within the triple walls, all things around the pilgrims helped to explain the words which they sang within her ramparts of strength. One voice led the Psalm with its personal "I, " but ten thousand brethren and companions united with the first musician and swelled the chorus of the strain.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Good children are pleased to go home, and glad to hear their brothers and sisters call them thither. David's heart was in the worship of God, and he was delighted when he found others inviting him to go where his desires had already gone: it helps the ardour of the most ardent to hear others inviting them to a holy duty. The word was not "go, "but "let us go"; hence the ear of the Psalmist found a double joy in it. He was glad for the sake of others:glad that they wished to go themselves, glad that they had the courage and liberality to invite others. He knew that it would do them good; nothing better can happen to men and their friends than to love the place where God's honour dwelleth. What a glorious day shall that be when many people shall go and say, "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." But David was glad for his own sake:he loved the invitation to the holy place, he delighted in being called to go to worship in company, and, moreover, he rejoiced that good people thought enough of him to extend their invitation to him. Some men would have been offended, and would have said, "Mind your own business. Let my religion alone; "but not so King David, though he had mote dignity than any of us, and less need to be reminded of his duty. He was not teased but pleased by being pressed to attend holy services. He was glad to go into the house of the Lord, glad to go in holy company, glad to find good men and women willing to have him in their society. He may have been sad before, but this happy suggestion cheered him up: he pricked up his ears, as the proverb puts it, at the very mention of his Father's house. Is it so with us? Are we glad when others invite us to public worship, or to church fellowship? Then we shall be glad when the spirits above shall call us to the house of the Lord not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
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"Hark! they whisper: angels say,
Sister spirit, come away."
If we are glad to be called by others to our Father's house, how much more glad shall we be actually to go there. We love our Lord, and therefore we love his house, and pangs of strong desire are upon us that we may soon reach the eternal abode of his glory. An aged saint: when dying, cheered herself with this evidence of grace, for she cried, "I have loved the habitation of thine house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth, "and therefore she begged that she might join the holy congregation of those who for ever behold the King in his beauty. Our gladness at the bare thought of being in God's house is detective as to our character, and prophetic of our being one day happy in the Father's house on high. What a sweet Sabbath Psalm is this! In prospect of the Lord's day, and all its hallowed associations, our soul rejoices. How well, also, may it refer to the, church! We are happy when we see numerous bands ready to unite themselves with the people of God. The pastor is specially glad when many come forward and ask of him assistance in entering into fellowship with the church. No language is more cheering to him than the humble request, "Let us go into the house of the Lord."
Whole Psalm. Foxe, in his "Acts and Monuments, "relates of Wolfgang Schuch, the martyr, of Lothareng in Germany, that upon hearing the sentence that he was to be burned pronounced upon him, he began to sing the hundred and twenty second Psalm, Laetus sum in his quae dicta suni mihi. etc.
Whole Psalm. Perhaps the true text of this Psalm is found in its designation, "A Song of Degrees." Every verse is treated as a degree of advancement in the spiritual life, beginning with "help" from the eternal "hills" for the trials of time, closing with preservation "for evermore." Henry Melvill.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, etc. Gregory Nazianzen writeth that his father being a heathen, and often besought by his wife to become a Christian, had this verse suggested unto him in a dream, and was much wrought upon thereby. John Trapp.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said, etc. These words seem to be very simple, and to contain in them no great matter; but if you look into the same with spiritual eyes, there appeareth a wonderful great majesty in them; which because our Papists cannot see, they do so coldly and negligently pray, read, and sing this Psalm and others, that a man would think there were no tale so foolish or vain, which they would not either recite or hear with more courage and delight. These words, therefore, must be unfolded and laid before the eyes of the faithful: for when he saith, We will go into the house of the Lord, what notable thing can we see in these words, if we only behold the stones, timber, gold, and other ornaments of the material temple? But to go into the house of the Lord signifieth another manner of thing; namely, to come together where we may have God present with us, hear his word, call upon his holy name, and receive help and succour in our necessity. Therefore it is a false definition of the temple which the Papists make; that it is a house built with stones and timber to the honour of God. What this temple is they themselves know not; for the temple of Solomon was not therefore beautiful because it was adorned with gold and silver, and other precious ornaments; but the true beauty of the temple was, because in that place the people heard the word of the Lord, called upon his name, found him merciful, giving peace and remission of sins, etc. This is rightly to behold the temple, and not as the visored bishops behold their idolatrous temple when they consecrate it. Martin Luther.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us (or, We will) go, etc. You have here,
1. David's delight.
2. The object or reason of it.
In the object there are circumstances enough to raise his joy to the highest note.
First, A company, either a tribe, or many of, or all, the people: "They said unto me." So, in another place, he speaketh of "walking to the house of God in company:" Ps 55:14. A glorious sight, a representation of heaven itself, of all the angels crying aloud, the Seraphim to the Cherubim, and the Cherubim echoing back again to the Seraphim, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth."
Secondly, Their resolution to serve the Lord: Dixerunt, "They said it:" and "to say" in Scripture is to resolve. "We will go, " is either a lie, or a resolution.
Thirdly, Their agreement and joint consent: "We, "This is as a circle, and taketh in all within its compass. If there be any dissenting, unwilling person, he is not within this circumference, he is none of the "We." A Turk, a Jew, and a Christian cannot say, "We will serve the Lord; "and the schismatic or separatist shutteth himself out of the house of the Lord. "We" is a bond of peace, keepeth us at unity, and maketh many as one.
Fourthly, Their cheerfulness and alacrity. They speak like men going out of a dungeon into the light, as those who had been long absent from what they loved, and were now approaching unto it, and in fair hope to enjoy what they most earnestly desired: "We will go; "we will make haste, and delay no longer. Ipsa festinatio tarda est; "Speed itself is but slow paced." We cannot be there soon enough.
Fifthly and lastly: The place where they will serve God:not one of their own choosing; not the groves, or hills, or high places; no oratory which pride, or malice, or faction had erected; but a place appointed and set apart by God himself. Servient Domino in domo sua:"They will serve the Lord in his own house." They said unto me, "We will go into the house of the Lord." Anthony Farindon.
Ver. 1. Let us go into the house of the Lord. "Let us go, " spoken by one hundred men in any city to those over whom they have influence, would raise a monster meeting... But who among those who thus single out the working classes, have gone to them and said, "Let us golet us go together into the house of the Lord"? The religious adviser, standing at a distance from the multitude, has advised, and warned, and pleaded, saying, "Go, or you will not escape perdition; ""Why don't you go?" The Christian visitor has likewise used this kind of influence; but how few have taken the working man by the hand, and said, "Let us go together"? You can bring multitudes whom you never can send. Many who would never come alone would come most willingly under the shadow of your company. Then, brethren, to your nonattending neighbour say, "Let us go"; to reluctant members of your own family say, "Let us go"; to those who once went to the house of God in your company, but who have backslidden from worship say, "Let us go"; to all whose ear, and mind, and heart, you can command for such a purpose say, "Let us golet us go together into the house of the Lord." Samuel Martin (1817-1878), in a Sermon entitled "Gladness in the Prospect of Public Worship."
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, etc. Such in kind, but far greater in degree, is the gladness, which the pious soul experiences when she is called hence; when descending angels say unto her, Thy labour and sorrow are at an end, and the hour of thy enlargement is come; put off immortality and misery at once; quit thy house of bondage, and the land of thy captivity; fly forth, and "let us go together into the house of the Lord, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." George Horne.
Ver. 1-2. This is a mutual exhortation. The members of the church invite each other: "Let us go into the house of the Lord." It is not enough to say, Go you to church, and I shall stop at home. That will never do. We must invite by example as well as by precept. Mark the plural forms: "Let us go into the house of God. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." We are to speak as Moses did to Hobab, his brother-in-law, "Come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel." The same duty is binding upon us, with regard to those who make no profession of religion, and whose feet never stand in the house of God. Zechariah, in an animated picture of the future glories of the church, describes the newborn zeal of the converts as taking this direction. They cannot but speak of what they have seen and heard, and others must share in their joy. "And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also." N. M`michael.
Whole Psalm. Observe,
1. The joy with which they were to go up to Jerusalem: Ps 122:1-2.
2. The great esteem they were to have of Jerusalem: Ps 122:3-5.
3. The great concern they were to have for Jerusalem, and the prayers they were to put up for its welfare. M. Henry.
Ver. 1.
1. David was glad to go to the house of the Lord. It was the house of the Lord therefore he desired to go. He preferred it to his own house.
2. He was glad when others said to him, "Let us go." The distance may be great, the weather may be rough, still, "Let us go."
3. He was glad to say it to others, "Let us go, "and to persuade others to accompany him. G. R.
Ver. 1.
1. Joy in prospect of religious worship.
a) Because of the instruction we receive.
b) Because of the exercises in which we engage.
c) Because of the society in which we mingle.
d) Because of the sacred interests we promote.
2. Joy in the invitation to religious worship.
a) Because it shows others are interested in the service of God.
b) Because it shows their interest in us.
c) Because it furthers the interests of Zion. F.J.B.
Ver. 1. Gladness of God's house. Are you "glad when, "etc.? Why glad?
1. That I have a house of the Lord to which I may go.
2. That any feel enough interest in me to say, "Let us go, " etc.
3. That I am able to go to God's house.
4. That I am disposed to go.
J. G. Butler, in "The Preacher's Monthly, "1882.
Ver. 1. I was glad, etc. So says,
1. The devout worshipper, who is glad to be invited to God's earthly house. It is his home, his school, his hospital, his bank.
2. The adhesive Christian, who is glad to be invited to God's spiritual house. Church is builded together, etc. There would he find a settled rest. Has no sympathies with religious gipsies, or no church people.
3. The dying saint, who is glad to be invited to God's heavenly house. SimeonStephenPeterPaul. W. J.
Ver. 1.
1. The duty of attending the services of God's house.
2. The duty of exciting one another to go.
3. The benefit of being thus excited. F.J.B.
Psalms 122:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv1, 2, 4I was glad when they said unto me, Let…
Psa_122:1-9
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
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A pious patriot
I. Rejoicing in the opportunity for assembling for public worship (verses 1, 2).
1. One of the grandest social duties of religious men--to invite their neighbours to religious worship.
2. The delight that may be expected from the right discharge of this duty.
II. Highly appreciating the various advantages of his country (Psa_122:3-5). He rejoices in it because--
1. It was a scene of material beauty.
2. It was the scene of religious worship.
3. It was the scene of civil justice.
III. Earnestly desiring the prosperity of his fatherland (Psa_122:6-9).
1. He invokes for it the highest good--peace and prosperity.
2. For the strongest reasons.
(1) Personal (verse 6).
(2) Social (verse 8).
(3) Religious (verse 9). (Homilist.)
The communion of saints
I. Before worship (verses 1, 2).
1. The joy of a common purpose. Men cannot help approaching one another in approaching one common object.
2. The joy of a common hope.
II. During worship (Psa_122:3-5).
1. The exceeding beauty of unity.
2. The secret of this admirable unity.
(1) One object of worship.
(2) One priesthood.
(3) One ruler and king.
III. United worship itself (Psa_122:6-9).
1. The invitation. Jerusalem which now is is not without faults, nor yet without foes. All the more need for her true children and friends to pray for her peace. It is part of their duty. It is part, also, of their wisdom. They shall prosper that love thee. When we meet to say Our Father, let us say also, Thy kingdom come.
2. The response to the invitation--to its request--to its reasonings.
(1) The request is right, and we will gladly accede to it. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. May all be right internally and externally too.
(2) The reasoning also is sound, and we are prepared to act on it. For my brethren and companions sakes, and because I feel that good to them is good to myself as well, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Yea, because of the house of the Lord our God, in which house and its common worship this feeling is so especially realized, I will seek thy good. (W. S. Lewis, M. A.)
The Christians pleasure at being invited to Gods house
Probably this psalm was composed for the use of the Israelites when journeying up to worship at Jerusalem on the great annual solemnities. We stand in one of the valleys of the Promised Land, whilst it yet flowed with milk and honey, and the children of Abraham had not been exiled for their sins. We see a company approaching: they are a band of one of the distant tribes, and they are hastening to be at Jerusalem on one of the grand anniversaries. As they advance, we catch the sound of their voices: they are beguiling with psalmody the tedious pilgrimage. We listen attentively, and at length we can distinguish the words, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Louder and louder grows the melody: the thought of the glories of the city, in which Jehovah specially dwelt, cheers the weary travellers; and the surrounding mountains echo the beautiful invocation, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
1. Now, it is not required of us to undertake any wearisome journeys: we are not called to incite one or the other by holy melodies to the leaving of our homes, that we may seek the Lord at some distant shrine. But, nevertheless, we are still bound to the duty of public worship; the privilege is left us, though graciously freed from inconvenience; and it may be as necessary as ever, seeing that the removal of difficulties is not unlikely to produce indolence, that men should exhort one another with the words, Let us go into the house of the Lord. We know, of course, that there is a sense in which the Almighty dwelleth not in temples made with hands; heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him; how much less the houses which His creatures build l But, nevertheless, just as He may be said to dwell especially in heaven, though, in virtue of His omnipresence, He is equally everywhere, because in heaven He manifests Himself with greater brightness than in any other scene; so may He be said to dwell specially in our churches, if He there give extraordinary tokens of that presence which must indeed be the same in all departments of creation. And when a true servant of God goes up to the sanctuary, it is in the humble but earnest hope of gaining greater knowledge of doctrines which concern his salvation, of gathering fresh stores of that manna which cometh down from heaven, and of drinking a fresh draught of the water of life. Neither is it only on account of the advantages derivable from the preaching of the Word that the sincere Christian is earnest in attending the sanctuary. There is a charm and a power to him in public worship, in the being associated with a multitude of his fellow-men in acts of prayer and praise, which would draw him to Gods house. It is an inspiriting and elevating thing when numbers loin, with one heart and voice, to ask Divine protection, and celebrate Divine love. There is more of the imagery of heaven in such an exhibition than in any other to be seen on this earth. But we must not omit, in our survey of reasons, why a Christian is glad, when invited to the house of the Lord, that in this house are administered the Sacraments, those mysterious and most profitable rites of our holy religion.
2. We have hitherto enlarged on the motives to joy which are furnished by the ordinances of religion: we will now examine whether there be not also motives in the finding that others associate themselves with us in those ordinances, yea, incite us to their most diligent use? And what more evident than that, if it be a joyful thing to the Christian to go up to Gods house, it must be yet more joyful to go up with a throng? Anxious himself to obtain spiritual strength, it will delight him to mark the like anxiety in others. For there is nothing selfish in genuine religion: on the contrary, it enlarges and throws open the heart, so that the safety of others is eared for in proportion that ones own seems secured.
3. It is one of the predictions of Isaiah in reference to those days when the dispersed Jews are to be restored, and Jerusalem made a praise in the earth, that many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountains of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. Who would not be glad to have it said unto him, Let us go into the house of the Lord, when the saying implied that God had at length fulfilled His mightiest promises, that His banished ones were gathered home, and that there had broken on this creation days for which kings and righteous men had longed, days when out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, till earth, in its remotest tribes, yield homage to the Christ? We may not live to hear the summons thus applied; but we may show our desire for the glorious triumphs which Christianity has yet to achieve, by the earnestness of our endeavours to promote its diffusion. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Gladness about worship
These words show us that the psalmist was thinking--
I. About worship. The house of the Lord. That, to the pious Hebrew, was the scene and symbol of worship. There are two aspects of worship, both of which are right. One is, that in the house of the Lord we get from God what, as sinners and sufferers and suppliants for others, we seek. The other is, that we give to God the adoration and praise He condescends to receive.
II. About social worship. Let us go. The solitary worship in the still hour and in the quiet resting-place is good. But prayer has special promise attached to it when any two agree; and praise has special glory when young men and maidens, old men and children blend their hallelujahs.
III. About invitation to social worship. There are times when, to the neglectful, or the depressed, or the sinful, this human invitation seems an echo of the Divine welcome. There is gladness
(1) because God may be worshipped.
(2) Because others are worshipping God.
(3) Because others are caring for us. (U. R. Thomas.)
Gladness in the prospect of Divine worship
The house of the Lord suggests such subjects of thought as these--they may not come to us in this order, but they are such as these:--
I. Thoughts of the Lord Himself. The house of the Lord. A gladdening thought this to David, and to every man who knows God as Jesus Christ teaches His disciples to know the Father. There may be very little gladness through simply saying there is a God; but surely joyfulness must spring up in the soul when a man can add O God, thou art my God.
II. Thoughts of the various glorious manifestations of God.
III. Thoughts of His mercies.
IV. Thoughts of the exercise and the act of worship. How pleasant to praise! What relief is there in the confession of sin! How soothing is prayer!
V. Thoughts of meeting God as He is not met elsewhere.
VI. Thoughts of receiving special blessings from God.
VII. Thoughts of the communion of saints.
VIII. Thoughts of enjoying a privilege in the performance of duty. (S. Martin, M. A.)
The good mans joy in the engagements of the sanctuary
I. There he is warranted to expect the peculiar enjoyment of the Divine presence. To an affectionate friend nothing is so delightful as his friends society. To a fond child nothing is dearer than the embrace of his father. He delights when absent to return to him. Such is the emotion with which a sincerely pious mind welcomes the coming of the Sabbath, and the returning solemnities in the house of God. And this is a state of feeling that must continually increase in proportion to the increase of his spirituality and piety.
II. The gratification thus expressed on approaching to the house of god, springs also from the happiness of a near and intimate association with our brethren in all the exercises of united devotion.
III. The truly pious man will rejoice in approaching to the house of the Lord, because of those sacred and solemn employments so congenial with his best feelings there awaiting him. For there may he freely, and in concert witch his brethren, engage in those avocations, and delight himself with those pleasures, which are to be his business and his felicity for ever.
IV. We shall rejoice to enter again into the house of God, because of the progressive improvement in all our character there constantly experienced. And in order to the attainment of this advance in the Divine life, derived from all the engagements of the sanctuary, meditate much on their importance. Seek to approach in a state of sacred preparation. Think not of man, but of God. Remember that you stand immediately before Him. Call frequently to mind the account you must render hereafter, and ask with solemnity of spirit how you would be able even now to render it. Be not satisfied, unless you can discern, after each season of devotion, some benefit experienced; some grace attained or strengthened; the soul melted into deeper humility on account of sin, or else kindled into loftier exultation, and conscious of a purer love for all the joys of pardon, and the hope of glory. (R. S. McAll, LL. D.)
Happiness and worship
To know a real and undying happiness, the soul must be bent away from earth and bound back to God. This is religion. But how few know it to be so in this mammon-worshipping world. How few can catch at the sentiment of this text, and breathe it through the heart--I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Tell the world it will find happiness anywhere but in religion, and it will go anywhere, and will never give up the hope under its vain Search. But tell it that the springs of abiding gladness are here, in the house of the Lord, that they are within the reach of all, and you will immediately find its credulity changed into incredulity, and its activity into idleness. Now, why is this? The more I search into it, the more am I convinced that what is wrong are the false conceptions that have been steadily growing up in our midst as to what the Church is, and the mistaken relations we have been entertaining to it. To a great many people who have enough of religious sentiment left in them to forbid them wishing to see the Church entirely effaced, it is anything but gladness to be told to go into the house of the Lord. They have no inclination to be in the sanctuary, but a very strong desire to be anywhere else. All this is the fruit of a mistaken notion of what the Church is. They regard it very much as a schoolboy regards compulsory attendance at school, not as a privilege, but as a hardship; not as offering untold benefits, but only as so much restraint and drudgery that ought to be escaped from as much as possible. And so, when they do go, it is under a sense of constraint or decency, to bestow favour and not to expect good. But if these are glad to escape church attendance and to be let alone, there are also those who are really glad when the Sabbath invitation summons them to the church, but of whom it can, nevertheless, be said that they are not worshippers; they are simply sermon-hunters. But if people are glad to go to church sometimes because they hear clever sermons, just as if they are drawn to a hall to listen to some great political orator or candidate, so are there some who enter church neither to be instructed nor amused, but to bear themselves as critics and judges, and to take no other part in the service. This also grows out of a false conception of the Church. For it is not a place where man is at liberty to sit in judgment on his fellow, or where the instrument is greater than the hand that wields it; but the place where men ought to be humble and not presumptuous, and where they ought to serve and not judge. But if the influence of the Christian Church has been hindered and impaired because of the false notions with which we have so often entered it, we have also weakened it and prevented its power by the wrong relations we have borne to it. It has been to us too long no more than an earthly temple of stone and timber, with a human voice sounding in our ears, and human creatures like ourselves our only companions. It has been to us the resort of habit, and the place where by inherited faith we have been trained from childhood to repair to. But the stone and timber of the sanctuary are no more than the stone and timber of any other building, neither are those we meet with here other than those we meet with in the world, nor yet is the habit acquired nor the faith inherited which carries us to the sanctuary of any value. Our true and sole relation to the place is not in the visible, but in the invisible. When we repair to it we ought to see nothing, and feel nothing, and desire nothing but God. For it is the house of the Lord. We have to please God, and this is how we will please Him, by remembering, when we are in the house of the Lord, that He is there, to receive our praises, to hear our prayers, and to instruct us not after our own choosing, nor with the words of mans wisdom, but in the simplicity of the truth. This is worship therefore when we sing, and when we pray, and when we listen for spiritual edification, and not because we have an itching ear. Then shall carping criticism be dead, and the small shall become really great; for the poorest sermon shall have much in it then, and the best sermon shall have more spiritual momentum, and all the Churchs service will be worship, and the Church shall awake and put on her strength, and God shall be glorified; and we shall find enduring happiness and salvation in the harmony of the new life. (R. Sinclair.)
Inducements to public worship
It should be a source of joy to us, even as it was to David, to be regular and punctual in our attendance upon the public means of grace--
I. With a view to Gods honour and glory. If, on the one hand, the devout and humble worshipper contributes, as he most undoubtedly does, to that great end, then, I ask you whether it does not follow, upon the other hand, that his unnecessary or inexcusable neglect to attend the services of the sanctuary positively dishonours God?
II. For our own spiritual refreshment and edification. We have our own individual cares and anxieties, and our own hard struggles in the race of life, and ofttimes we feel so worn and fagged with the hurry and bustle of the world that we are well nigh ready to sink beneath the pressure upon us, and we experience an intense yearning for rest, an earnest longing for something--perhaps some of us scarcely know what--but something that certainly we find not in the whirl of business or the excitement of pleasure. Ah! thank God, that peace which the world cannot give is to be found here, here in the house of prayer. Every time these doors are opened for public worship, God awaits His hungry, and thirsty, and fainting people, and whispers to each poor, needy, longing soul, Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.
III. That we may become examples for good to those around us. Let me assure you that when you give up for a time the sweet converse of friends and the cheerful glow of the bright fireside, and turn out, it may be, into the blinding snow, or the pelting rain, or the dismal fog, that you may go into the house of the Lord, you do far more by these your silent, but practical, examples than we can hope to accomplish by any amount of persuasion. It was a noble answer that an old saint of God who had been for years very deaf once gave to her minister when he asked her why she was so constant in her attendance at church:--Though I cannot hear, I come to Gods house because I love it, and I love the service, and I wish to be found in His ways, and He gives me many a sweet thought upon the text when it is pointed out to me. Another reason is because I am in the best company, in the most immediate presence of God, and among His saints, the honourable of the earth. I am not satisfied with serving God in private; it is my duty and privilege to honour Him regularly and constantly in public. (J. F. Haynes, LL. D.)
Gladness of Gods house
Why glad?
1. That you have a house of the Lord to which you may go. Davids zeal for Gods house. The incident with Araunah. Removal of the ark to Jerusalem. His reasoning about a house for God. His large liberality toward building the Temple. That which costs us nothing we do not prize. When our money and labour and brain and heart go into Gods house, we are glad when, etc.
2. That any feel enough interest in me to say, Let us go, etc.
3. That I am able to go to Gods house. That my Sabbaths are my own. Sabbath and government and capital--the right of the working-man. That I have bodily health. That I have mental health. Able to-day, may not be to-morrow.
4. That I am disposed to go. Where theres a will theres a way. Many excuses, but true of the mass of non-church-goers, that they have not the will. (J. G. Butler.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible1887 · Public DomainOn v1Psalms 122
Psalms 122
THIS is very distinctly a pilgrim psalm. But there is difficulty in determining the singers precise point of view, arising from the possibility of understanding the phrase in Psa_122:2, "are standing," as meaning either "are" or "were standing" or "have stood." If it is taken as a present tense, the psalm begins by recalling the joy with which the pilgrims began their march, and in Psa_122:2 rejoices in reaching the goal. Then, in Psa_122:3, Psa_122:4, Psa_122:5 the psalmist paints, the sight of the city which gladdened the gazers eyes, remembers ancient glories when Jerusalem was the rallying point for united worship and the seat of the Davidic monarchy, and finally pours out patriotic exhortations to love Jerusalem and prayers for her peace and prosperity. This seems the most natural construing of the psalm. If, on the other hand, Psa_122:2 refers to a past time, "the poet, now again returning home or actually returned, remembers the whole pilgrimage from its beginning onwards." This is possible; but the warmth of emotion in the exclamation in Psa_122:3 is more appropriate to the moment of rapturous realisation of a long-sought joy than to the paler remembrance of it.
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Taking, then, the former view of the verse, we have the beginning and end of the pilgrimage brought into juxtaposition in Psa_122:1 and Psa_122:2. It was begun in joy; it ends in full attainment and a satisfied rapture, as the pilgrim finds the feet which have traversed many a weary mile planted at last within the city. How fading the annoyances of the road! Happy they whose lifes path ends where the psalmists did! The joy of fruition will surpass that of anticipation, and difficulties and dangers will be forgotten.
Psa_122:3-5 give voice to the crowding thoughts and memories waked by that moment of supreme joy, when dreams and hopes have become realities, and the pilgrims happy eyes do actually see the city. It stands "built," by which is best understood built anew, rising from the ruins of many years. It is "compact together," the former breaches in the walls and the melancholy gaps in the buildings being filled up. Others take the reference to be to the crowding of its houses, which its site, a narrow peninsula of rock with deep ravines on three sides, made necessary. But fair to his eyes as the Jerusalem of today looked, the poet-patriot sees auguster forms rising behind it, and recalls vanished glories, when all the twelve tribes came up to worship, according to the commandment, and there was yet a king in Israel. The religious and civil life of the nation had their centres in the city; and Jerusalem had become the seat of worship because it was the seat of the monarchy. These days were past; but though few in number, the tribes still were going up; and the psalmist does not feel the sadness but the sanctity of the vanished past.
Thus moved to the depths of his soul, he breaks forth into exhortation to his companion pilgrims to pray for the peace of the city. There is a play on the meaning of the name in Psa_122:6 a; for, as the Tel-el-Amarna tablets have told us, the name of the city of the priest-king was Uru Salim-the city of [the god of] peace. The prayer is that the nomen may become omen, and that the hope that moved in the hearts that had so long ago and in the midst of wars given so fair a designation to their abode, may be fulfilled now at last. A similar play of words lies in the interchange of "peace" and "prosperity," which are closely similar in sound in the Hebrew. So sure is the psalmist that God will favour Zion, that he assures his companions that individual well-being will be secured by loyal love to her. The motive appealed to may be so put as to be mere selfishness, though, if any man loved Zion not for Zions sake but for his own, he could scarcely be deemed to love her at all. But rightly understood, the psalmist proclaims an everlasting truth, that the highest good is realised by sinking self in a passion of earnest love for and service to the City of God. Such love is in itself well-being; and while it may have no rewards appreciable by sense, it cannot fail of sharing in the good of Zion and the prosperity of Gods chosen.
The singer puts forth the prayers which he enjoins on others, and rises high above all considerations of self. His desires are winged by two great motives-on the one hand, his self-oblivious wish for the good of those who are knit to him by common faith and worship; on the other, his loving reverence for the sacred house of Jehovah. That house hallowed every stone in the city. To wish for the prosperity of Jerusalem, forgetting that the Temple was in it, would have been mere earthly patriotism, a very questionable virtue. To wish and struggle for the growth of an external organisation called a Church, disregarding the Presence which gives it all its sanctity, is no uncommon fault in some who think that they are actuated by "zeal for the Lord," when it is a much more earthly flame that burns in them.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v1This Psalm, which the title ascribes to David, was…
INTRODUCTION
This Psalm, which the title ascribes to David, was probably composed by him after he had settled the Ark in Mount Zion, to encourage the people to resort to Jerusalem to the three annual feasts, or to express his pleasure in observing that they did assemble there in great numbers. With how much greater joy ought Christians to embrace all opportunities of approaching God and assembling with His people in the more rational, spiritual, and edifying worship of the New-Testament Church!
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THE JOY OF DIVINE WORSHIP
(Psa_122:1-2)
This Psalm is a song on the entrance of the Church and State of Israel into a superior habitation. It seems to have been originally written in the interval between the translation of the Ark to Zion by David and the erection of the Temple there by Solomon. We may picture the multitudes of eager worshippers singing this song as they journeyed in companies from different parts of Palestine to the holy sanctuary of Zion. As they leave their homes, as in the morning they resume their march, as they approach the gates of the city, or as they pause within them and prepare to go up in solemn procession with music and song to the sanctuary, they unite in singing these words of joy and gladness. Observe—
I. That the joy of Divine worship is realised in anticipation. “I was glad when they said unto me” (Psa_122:7). The invitation to worship is met with an eager and joyous response, as though the soul had been pleasantly musing on the theme and was longing for the time of public worship to return. Much of our happiness in life, and of our misery too, are realised by anticipation. The same power by which we forecast the future and fill the mind with sombre pictures of coming calamities, may also be used to portray with the vividness of reality the exquisite pleasures which are yet to come. Prolonged absence from the sanctuary, whether from sickness or distance, gives piquancy to the spiritual appetite, and adds an additional charm to the prospect of soon joining again with the happy worshippers. The joy of the devout emigrant as he returns once more to his native village, is intensified by the hope of again worshipping God in the rustic temple with which are associated the happiest moments of his youth.
II. That the joy of Divine worship is enhanced when shared with others. “Let us go.” Man can worship God alone, but he can worship Him better in company. The song of the solitary bird does not create such a tempest of tumultuous rapture as when it is blended with the summer-morning chorus of a thousand merry choristers, rising over brake and woodland. The journey of the pilgrim is not so long and tedious when it is prosecuted in the society of kindred spirits and enlivened with songs of gladness. Our worship of God will reach its highest joy when it is rendered in fraternal union with that great multitude which no man can number (Rev_7:9-12).
III. That the joy of Divine worship is most fully realised in the sanctuary. “Into the house of the Lord.” Here Jehovah dwells, making His home in the hearts of the sincere worshippers. Here His majestic glory is displayed with overwhelming splendour. Here the mysteries of His providential dealings are explained. Here His will is made known with unmistakable plainness and emphasis, illustrated with the commentary of passing events. Here the worshipper has received his most memorable blessings—his fears have been banished, his murmurs silenced, his false ideas corrected, his faith invigorated, his soul tuned to harmony and love. The blissful associations of the sanctuary in the past assist the worshipper every time he visits the loved and sacred shrine. Many are thankful in the recollection of those whose advice and example led them to the sanctuary. The Christian mother of Gregory Nazianzen often begged her Pagan husband to join the Lord’s people in their worship, but had to go without him for a long time. At last her remembered words were irresistible music to his spirit. In a dream, he repeated the first words of the Psalm: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” The opposite had been the fact; but the dream would come to pass. Such happiness was soon his lot. He felt a longing to accept the Christian religion, and was soon able, when wide awake, to say the same words with literal truth.
IV. The joy of Divine worship is abiding. “Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem” (Psa_122:2). The joy of worship is satisfying and permanent: it remains with us when other joys have vanished—vanished like the bloom of a short-lived flower, like the picture of a pleasant dream, like the delicate tints of a lovely scene, like the sweet strain of an entrancing melody. David governed with his harp as much as with his sword and sceptre; and the songs of Zion which he taught his people to sing were a potent and constant influence in the formation and solidifying of the national religious life. The unceasing praise of Jehovah in the Heavenly Jerusalem will be an occasion of unceasing joy.
“In thy gates, O Jerusalem bright,
Have our feet often stood with delight:
And again shall they measure the way,
Till within them, enchanted, we stay.”
LESSONS:—
1. The true praise of God is the highest worship.
2. The worship in the Church below begets a preparedness and fitness for worship in the Church above.
3. The highest worship is the unfailing source of the highest rapture.
4. Much spiritual loss is suffered by changing or neglecting the sanctuary.
JERUSALEM A TYPE OF THE CHURCH OF GOD
(Psa_122:3-5)
I. Because it is securely founded. “Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together” (Psa_122:3). It was situate on a lofty eminence: it was strengthened till it became an impregnable fortress: it was beautified by a series of princely palaces: it was crowned by the most magnificent Temple: it was circled and invested by the Divine presence. So the Church of God has its basis in invulnerable truth: it is defended by the ablest intellects: it embraces the good of all ages: it has survived the wreck of the mightiest empires, and the rage of the most formidable enemies: it is overshadowed with the glory of God: it is dowered with a fadeless immortality.
II. Because it is the place of general assembly. “Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord” (Psa_122:4).
1. There the will of God is made known. “Unto the testimony of Israel.” The ark was there, containing the tables of the law, the testimony of God’s will and Israel’s duty (Exo_25:21-22). In the Church of God, as in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Word of God is expounded and the individual path of duty clearly marked out. Obedience is encouraged by promises of blessing, and its failure threatened with corresponding punishment; and the law of God is an awful and imperishable testimony of the Divine faithfulness in each sphere.
2. There the Name of God is worshipped. “To give thanks unto the Name of the Lord.” The Divine Name is the embodiment of the Divine perfections; and that mysterious Name is the legitimate object of all true worship. Thanksgiving is the essence of acceptable worship. “To give thanks” becometh a creature who is so absolutely dependent on the Divine bounty as man. Thanksgiving should be offered humbly, fervently, constantly.
III. Because it is the seat of universal government. “For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David” (Psa_122:5). It is a picture of combined and quiet strength. The pilgrims do not look upon a solitary throne, exposed and insecure; but see thrones, firm and safe, beneath and around David’s, occupied simultaneously by his advisers, administrators, and magistrates, including his sons, all in his royal name and service (2Sa_8:18; 1Ch_18:17). They behold a broadly organised and settled government. (Vide “The Caravan and the Temple.”) From this metropolis of power all civil and ecclesiastical mandates must issue, and to it all classes were taught to look for justice. So the Church of God is the seat and centre of government If justice is not found here, it can be found nowhere. And not justice only, but all that which government exists to promote and conserve—righteousness, peace, joy, love—these are the stable constituents and ornaments of the Divine throne.
LESSONS:—
1. The Church of God is the repository of the greatest mental and moral wealth.
2. A secure place in the true Church is gained only by a Divinely implanted moral fitness.
3. A member of the true Church is amenable to the Divine laws.
PEACE AND PROSPERITY
(Psa_122:6-9)
I. That peace and prosperity should be subjects of earnest prayer. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psa_122:6). It is not in mortals to command success, nor is it always in the power of man to maintain peace in either Church or State. It is an Apostolic direction—As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. But the best intentions are often misinterpreted, and, such is the perversity of the human mind, the very efforts made to promote peace are often the occasion of strife. The baffled mediator finds his readiest and most potent resource in prayer. All who truly love the Church of God will be constant and fervent in supplication for its peace and prosperity. Prayer succeeds when the most astute diplomacy fails.
II. That peace and prosperity are correlative blessings. “Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces” (Psa_122:7). When peace takes its flight from a community or nation, prosperity soon follows: one depends upon the other. Nothing is prosperous with the man who is not at peace. The prosperity of the wicked is but temporary and apparent: it is for the present life only. It sows the seeds of discord and rebellion, and involves thousands in suffering and adversity. The man who strives to promote peace is a benefactor to the race. We should strive with others, as Lord Bacon says, “as the vine with the olive, which of us shall bear the best fruit; not as the briar with the thistle, which is the most unprofitable.”
“A peace is of the nature of a conquest:
For there both parties nobly are subdued,
And neither party loses.”—Shakespeare.
Peace is the condition of a permanent and increasing prosperity.
III. That peace and prosperity are necessary for the cultivation of fraternal intercourse and affection. “For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee” (Psa_122:8). The unity of a nation depends upon its loyalty to the Church of God; and the welfare of the Church is the measure of a nation’s prosperity. Let Jerusalem be secure and blest, and the population generally will be secure and happy. How often is the peace of a home wrecked by the absence of love and harmony. A drunken husband, a scolding wife, a dissipated son, make sad havoc of what might be the happiest of homes. “As hatred by quarrels exposes the faults of others, so love covers them, except in so far as brotherly correction requires their exposure. The disagreements which hatred stirreth up, love allays; and the offences which are usually the causes of quarrel it sees as though it saw them not, and excuses them. It gives to men the forgiveness which it daily craves from God.”
“Love is the happy privilege of mind;
Love is the reason of all living things.
A trinity there seems of principles,
Which represent and rule created life—
The love of self, our fellows, and our God.”
—Festus.
IV. That peace and prosperity should be sought for the sake of the Church of God. “Because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek thy good” (Psa_122:9). In promoting the good of the Church, we promote our own best interests and those of all mankind. If we love God, we love His Church. We stand very much in the estimation of God according to our worth to His Church. The character of Eli is redeemed from much of its weakness and blame-worthiness, when we discover the tenderness and strength of his attachment. The brave old man bore up heroically when he was told the astounding news from the battle-field, that Israel was defeated and his own sons were among the slain; but when the messenger announced as the climax of his doleful tidings, that the Ark of God was taken, a deeper chord was touched than that of the patriot and the father, and, smitten to the heart, he fell backward and expired; and the sublimity that massed itself around the close of the aged prophet’s career seemed to overshadow the feebleness and imperfections of his previous life. God will forgive a great deal to the man who helps—in gifts, in work, in witness-bearing, in sacrifices, in suffering—to promote the peace and prosperity of Zion.
LESSONS:—
1. Sin is the fruitful source of war and poverty.
2. It is the mission of Christianity to confer a universal and permanent peace.
3. prospers best who prays the most.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible1900 · Public DomainOn v1I. Why was David so glad? why did his…
Psa 122:1
I. Why was David so glad? why did his heart beat with a thrill of pleasure at the summons to enter God’s house? Because David was a man who lived in the faith and fear of God; because from a child he had set God always before him, and had been accustomed to see God’s hand in all that befell him; because he was from his heart convinced that in God he lived, and moved, and had his being. He longed to acknowledge the lovingkindness of the Lord; and that acknowledgment, he felt, he could nowhere make so solemnly and so fitly as in the courts of God’s house.
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II. David’s joy is set forth in the Scriptures as an example of the right spirit in which we ought to approach the public worship of our Maker: in a spirit of holy gladness. The service which God requires of us is the service of our hearts. The mere coming into His courts on Sunday is nothing—nay, is worse than nothing: is a mockery—unless we come gladly, cheerfully, willingly, of our own free desire, and not from compulsion or for form’s sake.
III. What has God done for David that He has not done for us as well? The Lord is everything to us that He was to David: our strength, our strong rock, our defence, our Saviour, our might, our buckler, the horn also of our salvation, and our refuge. The real stumbling-block is that we are not sufficiently alive to God’s great goodness; that we do not set Him, as David did, continually before our face; that we set other things before us in His stead: our farm, our merchandise, our family cares, our pleasures, our schemes for getting on in the world. One thing is needful. Try to live with the thought of God more continually present to your minds. Cultivate a sense of I Its exceeding love. If we do this, we shall be glad, unfeignedly glad, when they say, "Let us go into the house of the Lord."
R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 2nd series, p. 70.
The house of the Lord suggests:—
I. Thoughts of the Lord Himself. A gladdening thought this to David, and to every man who knows God as Jesus Christ teaches His disciples to know the Father.
II. Thoughts of the various glorious manifestations of God. These manifestations are calculated to awaken joy.
III. Thoughts of the mercies of the Lord, those mercies of which we personally have been the recipients.
IV. Thoughts of the exercises and the acts of worship.
V. The thought of meeting God as God is not found elsewhere.
VI. The thought of receiving special blessings from God, for in these places, or of them, God has said, "I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee."
VII. Thoughts suggested by the prospect of the communion of saints.
VIII. The thought of enjoying a privilege in the performance of a duty.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 1st series, No. 5.
References: Psa 122:1.—Sermons for Boys and Girls, p. 352; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xxi., p. 144; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 250; J. G. Butler, Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii., p. 366; A. P. Stanley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 273; J. F. Haynes Ibid., vol. xvii., p. 190.
Psa 122:2
The Psalm from which this verse is taken was probably written by a pilgrim to Jerusalem at some time previous to the Babylonish captivity. On the one hand, it is clear that the house of the Lord, the ancient Temple, was still standing; on the other, the reference to the house of David and the anxious prayer for the peace of Jerusalem, its walls, its palaces, seem to point to a later time than that of David.
I. One thing which would have struck a pilgrim to Jerusalem who should approach the city, as was natural, from its northeastern side, would be its beauty. In the eyes of a religious pilgrim the physical beauty of Jerusalem must have suggested and blended with beauty of the highest order. The beauty of the world of spirit imparts to the world of sense a subtle lustre which of itself it could never possess.
II. Jerusalem was the centre of the religious and national life of Israel. Its greatest distinction was that the Temple lay within its walls. No other title to glory and distinction in these ancient days could compete with this place where God did choose to put His name.
III. A third characteristic of Jerusalem was its unworldliness. (1) This appears partly in its very situation. Jerusalem was not on the sea or on a navigable river. Isaiah rejoiced in "Zion, the city of our solemnities, as a quiet habitation, wherein shall no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship, pass by." In his eyes its religious character as well as its security are ensured by its seclusion from the great highways of the world of his day. (2) This characteristic may be further illustrated by the smallness of Jerusalem. No large capital could have existed in such a situation. In point of area Jerusalem would ill compare with our larger London parishes, Marylebone or Islington. Yet no city in the world has so profoundly influenced the highest life of millions of the human race as has that little highland town in a remote province of the empire of Turkey.
IV. Once more, as the centuries went on, Jerusalem became yet dearer to the heart of Israel by misfortune. Of all that is most beautiful in life sorrow is the last consecration. Undoubtedly the author of our Psalm would already have seen in Jerusalem a pathos and a dignity which so often come with suffering, and those who used this Psalm in later ages would have felt increasingly this element of the attraction of the holy city.
V. The Jerusalem of Christian thought is no longer only or mainly the "city of David." It is first of all the visible and universal Church of Christ. And it suggests another city, a true haven of peace, into which all those true children of Zion who are joyful in their King will one day be received.
H. P. Liddon, Family Churchman, Aug. 25th, 1886 (see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 113).
References: Psa 122:3.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 1; E. Thring, Uppingham Sermons, vol. ii., p. 389. Psa 122:6.—J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 425. Psa 122:6, Psa 122:7.—F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 49. Psa 122:7-9.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 254. Psa 122:8.—F. W. Farrar, In the Days of thy Youth, p. 230. Psa 122:9.—J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. x., p. 233. Psalm 122—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. no; W. Scott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxix., p. 56; S. Cox, The Pilgrim Psalms, p. 48.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant1903 · Public DomainOn v1The restored House and the City!
The restored House and the City!
A song of the ascents: of David.
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The next psalm brings in the full blessing. In view of the 132nd psalm; it is quite natural that it should be a psalm of David: against which it is vain to appeal to the fifth verse, unless it is quite plain that not only was David no prophet, but that he did not even believe the prophecy as to his house.
The psalm shows us the end of the pilgrimage in the restored city and temple of the glorious days to come. The worse than lone man of the first psalm finds himself here surrounded with companions, who are in complete sympathy also with his own delight in what is the glorious city’s crown of blessing, the dwelling-place of Jehovah in her midst.
1. Jerusalem is now the uniting centre for Israel: in fact, (though this does not appear in the psalm,) of the whole earth. The basis of unity the first verse expresses, the power over the soul of Jehovah’s house. Our Jerusalem has indeed no temple, but only because God is there in a more perfect way. But how glad will they be when it is said to them; "Let us go into the house of Jehovah"! It is now for them no more a matter of faith: it is one of sight: "standing are our feet within thy gates, Jerusalem."
It is a resurrection; indeed, this city compacted together: all firmly united because held by that divine attraction which the first verse expresses. No other bond can unite like this, and none else be like this -eternal.
Now we see the nation united with it, the tribes going up on their pilgrimages when in the land, -happy substitution for the toil of the wilderness itself, now ended. Thus the blessing is now complete for them: I do not, of course, mean told out completely, but we realize that they are in it.
2. The city thus reviewed is now lifted into the supremacy which belongs to it: "for there are set thrones of judgment, -thrones for the house of David." Christ has His place here, as we know, though we must go to other scriptures to learn that it is so. "Thrones," in the plural. and for the house of David," imply, apparently, the vice-royalty of the simply human "prince" of that line, with whom Ezekiel makes us acquainted (ch. 46 throughout). Of the reign of the heavenly saints with Christ, with which some would connect it, it cannot possibly speak.
The thrones are "for judgment," -no mere regal state: for righteousness is to be maintained upon the earth; and men are bidden now to welcome and be subject to this new sovereignty. As was said to Abraham, "blessed shall he be who blesseth thee," so now is it here: "they shall prosper that love thee." To love righteousness is to be righteous; and here is a kingdom of righteousness in which every sufferer for and every hater of wrong may rejoice together. The peace of Jerusalem means the welfare of men and the blessing of God. There is a human ground for such a prayer as is here offered: brethren and companions in divine things whose prosperity it means; and there is a divine-human ground, that dwelling of God with man which the house of God implies. Oh for the days to come in which all this shall be revealed! And yet this is only the type and shadow of better things above.
Thus the first series is clearly ended, and to begin another we go back in time.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow1909 · Public DomainOn v1The writer recalls a journey to Jerusalem and the…
The writer recalls a journey to Jerusalem and the many sacred memories associated with that much-loved city.
1. 'I rejoiced with them that said unto me.'
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2. Shall stand] rather, 'were standing,' i.e. came to be standing.
3. Jerusalem is builded] RV 'Jerusalem that art built.' Compact] descriptive of the appearance of the rebuilt city, with the breaches restored and the walls complete, after the return from exile.
4. Go up] better, 'went up,' in days gone by. Unto the testimony] RV 'for a testimony' of God's relationship to Israel: cp. Psa_81:5.
5. Thrones] i.e. tribunals. House of David] either the Davidic line of kings or the princes of the house of David.
6. They shall prosper] RM 'let them prosper.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn v1A Song of degrees of David
A Song of degrees of David
Literally, "of ascents." Perhaps chanted by the people as they went up to Jerusalem to the feasts. Psa 122:1; Psa 122:2.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v1A Hymn of Love for the Church of God.
A Hymn of Love for the Church of God.
A song of degrees of David, expressing the sacred joy of the faithful in being able to participate in the services of the Temple and to feel the appeal of the capital city, this psalm being particularly appropriate for a festival journey.
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v. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. The psalmist expresses his joy over the invitation to join the festal train; he now remembers the happiness that filled his heart when he was asked to be one of those making up a caravan of pilgrims to Jerusalem.
v. 2. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem, or, "Our feet stood still in thy gates," rooted to the spot for some minutes with astonishment at the glorious beauty of Jerusalem which was presented to their eyes.
v. 3. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together, built up without gaps and unsightly open spaces, one house next to the other, presenting a solid community,
v. 4. whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, the faithful members of all Israel being required to journey to Jerusalem three times a year, for the great festivals, unto the testimony of Israel, that is, according to the rule and ordinance of God, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord, for that was the chief function of the congregation and all its members at the festival seasons.
v. 5. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David; for Jerusalem was not only the seat of the Sanctuary of Israel, but also the capital city of the nation, where the highest government officials resided, where, above all, the administration of justice was the original and chief duty of the monarch in times of peace. The psalmist, having thus painted a picture of Jerusalem, the capital, which also contained the Sanctuary of the nation, is constrained to send up a prayer for its continued well-being.
v. 6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as a city of peace, welfare, prosperity, and happiness; they shall prosper that love thee, their welfare being involved in that of their capital city.
v. 7. Peace be within thy walls, both externally and inwardly, and prosperity within thy palaces, the blessing of Jehovah resting upon all inhabitants.
v. 8. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, with whom he includes himself by virtue of the communion of saints, the fellowship obtaining between all believers, I will now say, Peace be within thee, for the welfare and prosperity of the Church is that of all its members.
v. 9. Because of the house of the Lord, our God, the Temple, or Tabernacle, as the center of Israel’s worship, the symbol of the true religion over against those without, I will seek thy good, for the welfare of the Jewish Church was largely dependent upon the safety and prosperity of the city of the Sanctuary. Even so the spiritual welfare and happiness of all believers is bound up with the fortunes of the Church, for which reason this special petition for peace is included in the General Prayer read in many of our churches every Sunday.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1, 4General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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A song of ascents
Possible meanings are 1) "song people sang while going up to Jerusalem for a celebration" or 2) "song people sang while going up the steps into the temple" or 3) "song whose words are like steps." See how you translated this in Psalms 120:1
Jerusalem, our feet are standing within your gates!
The writer briefly stops speaking to his audience and speaks directly to the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is spoken to as if it was a person who could hear the writer. (See: Apostrophe and Personification)
our feet are standing
Here "feet" refers to the whole person. AT: "we are standing" (See: Synecdoche)
within your gates
Here "gates" refers to the city. AT: "inside you, Jerusalem" (See: Synecdoche)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1–4Ps 122 Jerusalem is here idealized as the city…
Ps 122 Jerusalem is here idealized as the city of God, the city of David, and the city of faith. A group of people on a pilgrimage joyfully arrive in the city (122:1-2). The psalmist sings an ode to Jerusalem (122:3-5) and prays for the city’s peace (122:6-9).
122:1 The central sanctuary was the house of the Lord. This phrase originally referred to the Tabernacle (Exod 23:19; 34:26).
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1–4 1 I was glad when they said to me.…
1 I was glad when they said to me. God had often told Moses, that his Sanctuary would one day have a certain and fixed place of abode; yet from the time of Moses, for the space of more than a thousand years, the Ark of the Covenant had been carried about from place to place, as if it had been in a state of pilgrimage. At length it was revealed to David, that mount Zion was the spot where God would have his ark to be settled, and his temple built. Now, as David himself received this revelation with exceeding great joy, so he affirms that he was glad to find the whole people with one consent agreeing thereto. This circumstance has not been duly considered, and the consequence is, that interpreters have given the unhappy translation—I was glad with those that said to me. Such a rendering, however, only renders the sense a little obscure; but the translation of the Septuagint and the Vulgate, which puts upon the second verb of the verse a neuter signification, entirely vitiates the meaning, I was glad in the things which, were said to me. I indeed admit that literally the reading is—I was glad in those who said to me; but it is no uncommon thing for the letter ב, beth, which commonly signifies in, to be resolved into the adverb of time when; and here the scope of the text requires such a rendering. David testifies that he felt in his heart a double joy on observing that the whole people concurred in yielding obedience to the oracle which declared mount Zion to be the place which God had chosen for his solemn worship. By this example we are taught, that our joy, in like manner, should be doubled, when God by his Holy Spirit not only frames each of us to the obedience of his word, but also produces the same effect upon others, that we may be united together in the same faith. So stubborn and rebellious is human nature, that the great majority of mankind invariably murmur against God whenever he speaks. We have, therefore, no small ground for rejoicing when all harmoniously rank themselves with us on the side of God. Such as translate, with those who said to me, deduce this meaning: I take delight in the company of those who allure me to the service of God, and offer themselves to me as companions, that we may go to the sanctuary together. But from the second verse it will be still more obvious, that the joy of which David speaks proceeded from his seeing the people, with the ready obedience of faith, giving their consent to the utterance of the heavenly oracle, respecting the spot chosen to be the lawful and permanent scat of the ark of the covenant. For it immediately follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1–4 He rejoiceth that God had appointed a place, where…
He rejoiceth that God had appointed a place, where the Ark should still remain.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Psa 122:1 « A Song of degrees of David.…
Psa 122:1 « A Song of degrees of David. » I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me] The flourish of religion is the chief joy of the good Christian. Hence the evangelical jubilee among the Protestant party. Gregory Nazianzen writes that his father being a heathen, and often besought by his wife to become a Christian, had this verse suggested unto him in a dream, and was much wrought upon thereby. Wolfgangus Schuch, a Dutch martyr in Lotharing, hearing the sentence of his condemnation to the fire, began to sing this psalm (Acts & Mon. fol. 807).
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Let us go into the house of the Lord] "I will go also," {as Zec 8:21} said holy David; who was much cheered at his people’s forwardness in God’s service, and became their captain.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Let us go; exhorting one another to it, as…
Let us go; exhorting one another to it, as Deu 33:19. Or, We will go. The sense is, It delighteth me much to hear that the people, who had so long lived in the neglect or contempt of God’s worship, were now ready and forward in it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 Here we have,
Here we have,
I. The pleasure which David and other pious Israelites took in approaching to and attending upon God in public ordinances, Psa 122:1, Psa 122:2.
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1. The invitation to them was very welcome. David was himself glad, and would have every Israelite to say that he was glad, when he was called upon to go up to the house of the Lord. Note, (1.) It is the will of God that we should worship him in concert, that many should join together to wait upon him in public ordinances. We ought to worship God in our own houses, but that is not enough; we must go into the house of the Lord, to pay our homage to him there, and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. (2.) We should not only agree with one another, but excite and stir up one another, to go to worship God in public. Let us go; not, "Do you go and pray for us, and we will stay at home;" but, We will go also, Zac 8:21. Not, "Do you go before, and we will follow at our leisure;" or, "We will go first, and you shall come after us;" but, "Let us go together, for the honour of God and for our mutual edification and encouragement." We ourselves are slow and backward, and others are so too, and therefore we should thus quicken and sharpen one another to that which is good, as iron sharpens iron. (3.) Those that rejoice in God will rejoice in calls and opportunities to wait upon him. David himself, though he had as little need of a spur to his zeal in religious exercises as any, yet was so far from taking it as an affront that he was glad of it as a kindness when he was called upon to go up to the house of the Lord with the meanest of his subjects. We should desire our Christian friends, when they have any good work in hand, to call for us and take us along with them.
2. The prospect of them was very pleasing. They speak it with a holy triumph (Psa 122:2): Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem! Those that came out of the country, when they found the journey tedious, comforted themselves with this, that they should be in Jerusalem shortly, and that would make amends for all the fatigues of their journey. We shall stand there as servants; it is desirable to have a place in Jerusalem, though it be among those that stand by (Zac 3:7), though it be the door keeper's place, Psa 84:10. We have now got a resting-place for the ark, and where it is there will we be.
II. The praises of Jerusalem, as Psa 48:12.
1. It is the beautiful city, not only for situation, but for building. It is built into a city, the houses not scattered, but contiguous, and the streets fair and spacious. It is built uniform, compact together, the houses strengthening and supporting one another. Though the city was divided into the higher and lower town, yet the Jebusites being driven out, and it being entirely in the possession of God's people, it is said to be compact together. It was a type of the gospel-church, which is compact together in holy love and Christian communion, so that it is all as one city.
2. It is the holy city, Psa 122:4. It is the place where all Israel meet one another: Thither the tribes go up, from all parts of the country, as one man, under the character of the tribes of the Lord, in obedience to his command. It is the place appointed for their general rendezvous; and they come together, (1.) To receive instruction from God; they come to the testimony of Israel, to hear what God has to say to them and to consult his oracle. (2.) To ascribe the glory to God, to give thanks to the name of the Lord, which we have all reason to do, especially those that have the testimony of Israel among them. If God speak to us by his word, we have reason to answer him by our thanksgivings. See on what errand we go to public worship, to give thanks.
3. It is the royal city (Psa 122:5): There are set thrones of judgment. Therefore the people had reason to be in love with Jerusalem, because justice was administered there by a man after God's own heart. The civil interests of the people were as well secured as their ecclesiastical concerns; and very happy they were in their courts of judicature, which were erected in Jerusalem, as with us in Westminster Hall. Observe, What a goodly sight it was to see the testimony of Israel and the thrones of judgment such near neighbours, and they are good neighbours, which may greatly befriend one another. Let the testimony of Israel direct the thrones of judgment, and the thrones of judgment protect the testimony of Israel.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–4 I was glad when they said unto me,.... Or,…
I was glad when they said unto me,.... Or, "I rejoiced in", or "because of, those that said unto me" (b); or, "in what was said unto me". For it may regard not only the time when he had this pleasure of mind, but the persons who gave it, as well as the ground and reason of the things said unto him, as follows:
let us go into the house of the Lord; the house of the sanctuary, as the Targum; the tabernacle, the place of divine worship, typical of the church of God; which is an house of his building, beautifying, and repairing, and where he dwells: it has all the essentiality of a house; its materials are lively stones; its foundation Christ; its pillars ministers of the word; the beams of it stable believers; its windows the ordinances; and the door into it faith in Christ, and a profession of it. Now it is both the duty and privilege of believers to go into it; here they find spiritual pleasure, enjoy abundance of peace and comfort, and have their spiritual strength renewed, as well as it is to their honour and glory: and it becomes them to stir up one another to go thither; some are slothful and backward; some are lukewarm and indifferent; some are worldly and carnally minded; and others are conceited of their knowledge, and think themselves wiser than their teachers, and therefore need to be excited to their duty; and truly gracious souls are glad when they are stirred up to it, both on their own account, and on the account of others, and because of the glory of God.
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(b) "in dicentibus mihi", Montanus; so Ainsworth, Vatablus, Cocceius; "in his quae dicta sunt mihi", V. L. so Junius & Tremellius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 This psalm seems to have been wrote for the…
This psalm seems to have been wrote for the use of the people, when they came to Jerusalem at the three solemn feasts. David here shews the joy with which they were to go up to Jerusalem, ver. 1, 2. The esteem they were to have of it, ver. 3-5. The prayers they were to make for its welfare, ver, 6-9. A song of degrees of David.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–4 The satisfaction of a gracious soul in the use…
PSALM CXXII
The satisfaction of a gracious soul in the use of God's
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ordinances, 1, 2.
Description of the internal government of Jerusalem, 3-5.
Prayers for its peace and prosperity, 6-9.
NOTES ON PSALM CXXII
In the preceding Psalms we find the poor captives crying to God for deliverance; here they are returning thanks that they find they are permitted to return to their own land and to the ordinances of their God.
Verse 1. I was glad when they said] When Cyrus published an edict for their return, the very first object of their thanksgiving was the kindness of God in permitting them to return to his ordinances.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4 Psa 122:1-2. I was glad when they said, Let…
Psa 122:1-2. I was glad when they said, Let us go, &c. — Or, We will go, into the house of the Lord — They are the words of the people, exhorting one another to go and attend upon the worship of God at his tabernacle or temple at Jerusalem, and especially at the three great festivals; and they are intended to signify with what great joy such Israelites as were pious received and complied with invitations from their brethren to accompany them on these occasions. But with how much greater joy ought Christians to embrace all opportunities of approaching God, and assembling with his people in the more rational, spiritual, and edifying worship of the New Testament church! Our feet shall stand within thy gates, &c. — Thither we will come, and there we will continue during the times of solemn worship; O Jerusalem — The city where the ark of the covenant and God’s holy altars are now fixed. We shall wander no more, as we did formerly, when the ark was removed from place to place. We have now got a settled habitation for it, and where it is there will we be.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–4 I was glad - It was a subject; of…
I was glad - It was a subject; of joy to me. The return of the happy season when we were to go up to worship filled me with joy. The language is expressive of the, happiness which is felt by those who love God and his sanctuary, when the stated season of worship returns. The heart is drawn to the house of prayer; the soul is filled with peace at the prospect of being again permitted to worship God. Who the speaker here is, is not known. It may have been David himself; more probably, however, it was designed by him to be used by those who should go up to worship, as expressive of their individual joy.
When they said unto me - When it was said unto me. When the time arrived. When I was invited by others to go. The announcement was joyful; the invitation was welcome. It met the desires of my heart, and I embraced the invitation cheerfully and joyfully.
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Let us go into the house of the Lord - Up to the place where God dwells; the house which he has made his abode. If the psalm was composed in the time of David, this would refer to the tabernacle as fixed by him on Mount Zion; if at a later period, to the temple. The language will admit of either interpretation. Compare the notes at Isa 2:3.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 122
Psalms 122
A Song of degrees of David
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I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go into the house of the Lord.
2 Our feet shall stand
Within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded
As a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel.
To give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
They shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls,
And prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes,
I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God.
We will seek thy good.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.—The Psalmist had rejoiced in those, who, at the close of their pilgrim-journey to Jerusalem, had expressed to him their intention of visiting the house of God. (Psa_122:1-2). This gives occasion to him to celebrate the praise of Jerusalem, as a city unbroken and perfectly regular in its structure, whither the tribes of Jehovah, according to the law established in Israel, made their festival journeys, and which, besides this religious importance, exercised great political influence as the seat of the kingdom of David (Psa_122:3-5). Peace and prosperity should be invoked for this city and its inhabitants, and the Psalmist sets the example of such supplication, as a companion of the people and a lover of God’s house (Psa_122:6-9). The text, however, on account of the indefiniteness of the Hebrew tenses, has given occasion also to other explanations. But this view seems most suitable, if the Davidic authorship be held. The statement to that effect in the superscription is, it is true, not found in the Sept. et al.; but it occurs in the Heb. Text, and cannot be directly disproved from the contents of the Psalm, or from its linguistic peculiarities. For the שׁ prefixed, Psa_122:3-4, is a poetical form which is found even in the most ancient songs.—[Alexander: “This Psalm, though so much older than the two before it, was probably placed third in the series because it was intended to be sung, and actually was sung, at the entrance of the Holy City, whereas the others were used at the commencement of the march and on coming in sight of Jerusalem.” On the other hand, Perowne prefers to look for a composition subsequent to the exile, and cannot regard the expression: “thrones of the house of David,” as a natural one in the mouth of David himself. But, apart from the evidence of the superscription, an argument against the lateness of the composition may be based upon this very expression, as has been done by Hengstenberg. For it evidently points to a time when the kingdom of David was still flourishing. Besides as Hengst. also remarks, how could the allusion to the beautiful compactness of the city be of force after the exile? Perowne very properly objects, on account of the joyful tone of the poem, to the opinion of Ewald, that it contains “a blessing on a party of pilgrims uttered by an old man returned from the exile, himself unequal to a journey across the desert.”—J. F. M.]
Psa_122:1-2. I joyed in those that said,etc. [E. V.: I joyed when they said, etc.] The mode of expression is not favorable to the supposition that the Psalmist had just received the invitation to join the festal train, that he expresses his joy thereat, and directs his gaze to Jerusalem in hope of speedily arriving thither (Luther and most). It is a retrospect that he makes (Sept., Aquila, and the ancient versions generally). But he says neither that his joy was at an end, nor that the time when it was excited was very remote. This remains quite indefinite. The Psalmist only mentions a certain experience and the feeling thereby excited. His joyful feelings had for their direct object, not the journey, but the persons who had spoken to the Psalmist with regard to it, and whose words contained both an invitation and a positive statement. The invitation relates to a journey to be made to the house of God in company with the Psalmist; the information, to journeys previously and happily performed by the speakers, and therefore passes over into an expression of praise. This could very well have happened in the experience of David in Jerusalem, before whom the pilgrims had appeared. There is not the slightest occasion for connecting it with the absence of David and his longing after the sanctuary during the flight before Absalom (Del.). [Delitzsch merely gives this as the most suitable time, if the composition were to be assigned to David. But his opinion, more decidedly pronounced in his last edition, is that the Psalm was composed by one who was gazing upon Jerusalem restored from its ruin after the exile. He therefore renders, in Psa_122:3 : rebuilt, instead of built.—J. F. M.] No indication of longing or of sorrow is heard; but everything breathes joy, and the assertion that the absence of the poet from Jerusalem is understood as a matter of course (Hupfeld), is wholly a product of fancy. Nor is there any occasion for taking the words as a prophecy (Calvin, Venema). Nothing points to the future. On the contrary, the participle with היה expresses duration of time, extending through the past into the present. In any case, Psa_122:2 can be detached entirely from the one preceding, which would then be taken as the introduction, and may be understood as expressing not the words of the pilgrims, but of the poet harmonizing with them. But this view is not absolutely necessary. If it be the correct one, these words in the mouth of David could be justified only on the supposition that he speaks for the people (Hengst.), and the poet would be made to appear as a fellow-pilgrim, unknown to us from any other indications, journeying from the country outside to the Holy City, in company with the visitors at the festival, who speak in Psa_122:1. He, arrived at the end of his journey, breaks forth in admiring praise at the sight of the glorious beauty of Jerusalem, after first expressing the delight which he had experienced at the time of the invitation in those who had addressed it to him. But this view is certainly more to be commended than the assumption that Psa_122:2 also contains a retrospect, and that the whole poem was sung on the return from the journey (Delitzsch), or by an exile (Ewald), who, in joyful sympathy with the resolution of some pious Israelites, to undertake a pilgrimage, relapsed into reminiscences of the time when his feet too were standing in the gates of Jerusalem. [Psa_122:1-2 are thus translated by Dr. Moll:
I took delight in those who said to me:
We will go into the house of Jehovah;
Our feet have become standing
In thy gates, Jerusalem.
This view, according to which Psa_122:2 is a continuation of the words of the pilgrims, is the most suitable, if David be regarded as the author. Perowne, holding the other view, joins it to Psa_122:3.—The rendering “shall stand” in E. V. is ungrammatical. The true meaning expressed freely is probably: have gained a place. On the meanings of the subst. verb with the part., see Ewald, 168 c.—J. F. M.].
Psa_122:3. Jerusalem, thou that art built up. [E. V.: is builded.] Taken by itself, this expression would be meaningless. It has therefore often been taken emphatically: built up loftily, stately (most), or, under the supposition of a composition after the exile: thou that art rebuilt (Hupfeld, Del.). But the former is linguistically inadmissible; the latter an unsupported assumption. To gain the surest meaning, it is best to connect it with the following word by which a sentence results, somewhat halting in structure, it is true, but yet not altogether without example. But the object of the building is not that men should assemble there (Luther). The character of Jerusalem is exhibited as a city self-inclosed, adhering closely together as a community (Sept. Symmachus). The city, however, is not contrasted with the scattered dwellings of a village (Aben Ezra and many older expositors), as though the verse expressed the admiration felt by a rustic pilgrim, who, for the first time, beholds a great city (Herder, De Wette). It is mentioned, either as one which had no breaches in its wall (Hitzig, who refers specially to the building operations of Jonathan), or, generally, as one that was secure and strong on account of its compact structure. The older Rabbins, following the Targum, interpreted the expression as referring to the heavenly Jerusalem; and so it has often been applied, in the mystical sense, in the Christian Church. [Translate Psa_122:3 : Jerusalem, thou that art built up as a city that is compact together.—J. F. M.]
Psa_122:4. This verse is a retrospect of actual events; but it does not intimate that they had happened long, for centuries, or since ancient times, but that the tribes which, as being those of God’s people, are here called the tribes of Jehovah, had already for some time observed this custom. Accordingly the law referring to it, Exo_23:14-15; Deu_16:16, is mentioned as a “testimony of Israel.” The term עֵדוּתִ does not imply that it was an old-established custom, but only that the tribes who formed the united Israel had already publicly professed their allegiance to this law, and abided by it. David, in the later years of his life, could express himself thus, and apply the words of Psa_122:5, which are employed more objectively here with relation to his house, with a meaning based upon the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7, if the verse be not itself a prophecy.
Psa_122:5. The thrones are not magisterial benches=courts of justice under David’s authority (Hengst.), or a court of inferior judges formed by the sons of the king (J. H. Mich. et al.), but the thrones of a judge=thrones of the king (Rosenmüller et al.); for the administration of justice was the original and principal duty of the monarch in times of peace (2Sa_15:2; 1Ki_3:16). The word for is explained by the consideration that Jerusalem owed its elevation, as the religious centre of the nation, to its previous position as the civil capital (Hengst.). [Render Psa_122:4-5 : Whither the tribes went up—the tribes of Jehovah—a law of Israel—to give thanks to the name of Jehovah. For there were set thrones for judgment—thrones for the house of David.—J. F. M.]
Psa_122:6-7. The wishes are arranged alliteratively, and contain unmistakable allusions to the name Jerusalem and its signification=peaceful dwelling. But the word schalôm is more comprehensive than our word peace [Friede]; it includes welfare or prosperity and happiness. Psa_122:6 does not call for an inquiry=ask after the peace (Sept. et al.), but for intercession=pray for the peace of Jerusalem. In Psa_122:6 b. we are not to supply: saying (Isaaki, Geier); it is the wish of the speaker himself (J. H. Mich.) in behalf of those who love Jerusalem, as contrasted with those who hate Zion (Psa_129:5). The walls or the bulwarks and the palaces are not intended to represent the outside and inside (most), but express the idea of the city itself (Psa_48:14).
Psa_122:8 shows that no reproach of selfishness or private interest could possibly be made. The welfare of all the members of the Church lies close to the heart of the Psalmist (comp. Jer_29:7). It is doubtful whether in the second member the rendering should be: pronounce peace over thee, i.e., wish and pray for thee peace (Sept., Luther and most) or: speak peace, for peace in thee (Calvin, Geier, Venema, Hupfeld) or: say, peace be in thee (Piscator, Köster, Hengst., Olshausen).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
He who loves the people of God must not only be willing to build and protect for them the house of God, but must also invite them thither, and walk thither with them.—Peace rules only where the God of peace dwells; cleave thou then to the city of peace which is the Church of the living God.—When we go out of our houses, let us see well to it, (1) with whom, (2) whither, (3) for what purpose.—The greatest glory of a city is not that it is large, strong and magnificent, but that it gathers, protects and builds up God’s Church within it.—He who delights to give thanks, will also delight to pray, and that not only for himself, but also with and for others. Blessed is the man for whom attendance upon the house of God is a season of delight and an occasion of thanksgiving, praise and prayer.—Blessed are the people whose national life has for its centre the sanctuary of God.
Calvin: When the welfare of our brethren is dear to us, when we have religion in our hearts, then we must, as far as in us lies, care for the prosperity of the Church.
Starke: The true worship of God and the exercise of righteousness are strong pillars of a city or state.—The ministers of God’s word have not only to pray themselves for the welfare of the Church, but also to exhort their people diligently to do the same.—Peace, with its delights, is one of the most precious of earthly blessings. But what is more abused?—The true members of the Church possess that inward spiritual peace which includes all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.—How blessed is the communion of saints! Daily and hourly can a citizen of the spiritual Jerusalem enjoy thousands of wishes of peace, uttered for him by believers throughout the whole world.—Those are the true patriots who, without seeking their own advantage, seek and entreat help for the well-being of their fellow-countrymen and the furthering of true religion.
Frisch: A place is made illustrious and glorious only by a good government and the true worship of God.—Arndt: God blesses His people with peace and all blessings when they manifest brotherly love; but see who the true brethren of Christ are.—Rieger: Prayer must be made continually, that good regulations in the Church and in schools may not fall into disuse, that good plans may not be marred by discord.—Reichel: All the regulations which David made had a reference to the house of the Lord. He devoted every day of his latest years to building it up and directing its services. He delighted in all that spoke to him of it, and enjoyed its worship.—Tholuck: David prepared a dwelling-place for the Lord upon Zion, because he loved it, and his heart clung more to that place, because he had prepared a dwelling-place there for God.—Diedrich: Wherever men assemble, according to God’s appointment, to enjoy in common what He reveals, there is Jerusalem.—Taube: David’s city is the city of God; for in David’s person is represented a two fold type —the God-ordained king and the servant of the Lord.—David desired to have one thing implored for his beloved city—peace, that it might prevail in the city of peace—without before the walls, within in each dwelling.—Lyncker: Concerning pilgrimage to the heavenly Jerusalem, (1) what joy it excites (Psa_122:1-3); (2) what prospects it opens (Psa_122:4-5); (3) what obligations it involves (Psa_122:6-9).
[Matt. Henry: They that rejoice in the Lord, will rejoice in calls and opportunities to wait upon Him.—We should desire our Christian friends, when they have any good work in hand, to call for us and take us along with them.—We must pray for Jerusalem, not out of custom or for fashion’s sake, but out of a principle of love to God’s government of man, and man’s worship of God. And in seeking the public welfare we seek our own; for so well doth God love the gates of Zion, that He will love all those that do love them; and therefore they cannot but prosper; at least their souls shall prosper, by the ordinances they so dearly love.—Whatever lies within the sphere of our activity to do for the public good, we must do it, else we are not sincere in praying for it.—Scott: Satan’s maxim always has been, to divide that he might conquer, and few Christians have been sufficiently aware of his design.—Barnes: The heart of a pious man is in the Church of God; his main delight is there; his arrangements will be made so as best to enjoy the privileges of the sanctuary; and his plans of life will all contemplate the welfare, the extension, and the influence of the Church of God.—J. F. M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–4 1. I was glad—Literally, A light of joy was…
1. I was glad—Literally, A light of joy was in my face. A characteristic testimony that the religion of the Hebrews, according to the liturgy of Moses, induced joy and praise, not a sordid superstition, as the heathen slanderously charged. (TACITUS, History, B. 5, § 4.) The past tense gives us a retrospection, which some take as evidence that the language is that of a pious Jew in exile. But the whole tone of the psalm is that of present joy, as if written immediately after receiving the call to go to the house of God. On the invitation, Let us go, see Deu_33:19; Isa_2:3. House, here, is to be understood of place, or the tent containing the ark. See note on Psa_116:19. Delight in the worship of God springs from the love of God, and makes the way to the house of prayer pleasant. See notes on Psa_84:5-8
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 1. The Psalmist recalls his joy when his neighbours…
1. The Psalmist recalls his joy when his neighbours summoned him to join in the pilgrimage to the sanctuary.
I was glad] The A.V. rightly follows the Ancient Versions in translating the verb as a past.
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Let us go into &c.] Rather, We will go to the house of Jehovah. Cp. Isa_2:3.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 (1) Let us go.—Or, we will go. This verse…
(1) Let us go.—Or, we will go. This verse is inscribed over the portico of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–4 THE "title" assigns this psalm to David; and there…
THE "title" assigns this psalm to David; and there seems to be no sufficient reason why his authorship should not be accepted. The description of Jerusalem exactly suits his day (vers. 3-7). The "thrones of judgment, thrones of the house of David" (ver. 5) would be his own throne and that of his son Solomon, whom he associated. The "house of the Lord" (ver. 1) would be the tabernacle which David set up. (2Sa_6:17) The "tribes of the Lord," which were all united under David, (2Sa_5:5) probably began to "go up" to Jerusalem as soon as David removed the ark thither. The strong love for Jerusalem and for the Lord"s house, which animates the writer, is also very characteristic of David.
I was glad when they said unto us, Let us go into the house of the Lord. (comp. Psa_5:7 Psa_28:2 Psa_138:2)
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Vers. 1-9. The house of God and the Church of Jesus Christ.
The "house of God" (vers. 1 and 9) may stand for the Christian sanctuary, and the "Jerusalem," of which this psalm is full, may stand for the Church of Jesus Christ. Thus regarded, we have
I THE HOUSE OF GOD.
1. The Divine Presence. God"s house is the place where he dwells; where, in the fullest sense, he is. And though the Omnipresent cannot be said to be in one place more truly than in another, yet is there a sense in which he is especially present in his own "house.
(1) Going there expressly to meet and to worship him, we are more conscious of his nearness to us than we are elsewhere.
(2) He will and he does manifest himself in his revealing truth and in his gracious influences as he does not elsewhere.
2. United worship. "Let us go into the house of the Lord." It is not enough for a man to say that he can pray and sing and read at home. Nothing will compensate for united worship. There is a fervor in prayer, and a heartiness in praise when many souls are outpoured in the one, and many voices are united in the other, which solitary worship does not know; there is an influence in uttered truth, spoken in the sympathetic hearing of a hundred hearts, which no book can communicate in the silent chamber. There is a sacred joy which gladdens the pure heart (ver. 1) in the anticipation and in the act of public worship, of which it is a serious mistake to deprive ourselves.
3. The duty of encouragement. "Let us go;" "Let him that heareth say, Come" Those who are not able to enforce Divine claims or human obligations can graciously and effectually invite their neighbors to go where these great spiritual realities will be enforced by others. Andrew rendered his brother Simon, and the Church of Christ, an invaluable service when "he brought him to Jesus " to hear his word and to become his disciple.
II THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST. Jerusalem was "the city of God." The "New Jerusalem" will be composed of the glorified spirits of men of every age and from every land. The spiritual Jerusalem today is the multitude of unrecognized men, but beloved of Christ, that, under every sky, are loving and serving him.
1. We must not be satisfied till we have been enrolled in this company; till we can say, "Our feet are standing within thy walls.
2. To belong to this Church is our most sacred duty; it was "a testimony" or ordinance "in Israel" to go up to Jerusalem (ver. 4). It is the clear, decisive will of Christ and that is our testimony" that constitutes our obligation that we should become members of his Church on earth.
3. The strength of the Church is in the close association of its members; it must be compact together (ver. 3); its forces not scattered, dissipated, lost, but united, well-ordered for defense and for aggression. Where there is unity of spirit, aim, and action, there is strength to withstand and to achieve.
4. A wise regard for our own welfare and a true concern for others" good will make us love and serve the Church of Christ.
(1) They will prosper that love it (ver. 6). Association with Christ and with his people is, if not a guarantee, a strong assurance of present and temporal well-being; sufficiency, if not wealth; all that is needful, if not all that is pleasant.
(2) As we love our brethren and our companions, we shall wish well to the Church; for as its holy influences extend and reach their hearts, and cover their lives, they also will be shielded from evil and enriched with good.
5. Christ calls for believing prayer and faithful labor. Pray for the peace, and for the prosperity, of Jerusalem (vers. 6, 7). It is a poor thing to pray for it if we do not strive for it, if we do not contribute to it. "I will seek thy good;" and it is a very imperfect method of seeking good if we do not bring our personal contribution to it. To do that for the peace and prosperity of the Church, we must command ourselves, be gracious and genial in word as well as in spirit, take our part in earnest work, labor till the Master himself takes the weapon from our hands.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Vers. 1-9. Jerusalem a type of the Church.
That which is said or implied here of Jerusalem is appropriate in a symbolic sense to the New Jerusalem, the Church of the living God.
I FOR THE CHURCH IS AS A CITY.
1. Built. The result of thought and toil and care.
2. As Jerusalem, a captured city. It was once the home of all heathen abomination, but by David it was won for God. So the Church is a captured city, a trophy of God"s omnipotent grace.
3. Has walls and bulwarks. Jerusalem had (ver. 7). So the Church. (Isa_26:1) The Spirit, the Word, and the work of God in human hearts, these are her defenses.
4. And palaces. There were many of these in Jerusalem. The palaces of the Church are those spiritual privileges which those who are high in the favor of God are permitted to enjoy.
II HER PEOPLE. Those who love God"s worship, who love to be asked to go to the house of the Lord, and also to ask others. These are they in whom the Spirit of God dwells, and who are the people of the city of God.
III SHE IS CHARACTERIZED BY UNITY, ORDER, STRENGTH. (Ver. 3, "compact together.") For Jerusalem this was inevitably so by reason of the site on which she stood, which allowed no room for indefinite enlargement (see Exposition; and Stanley"s "Sinai and Palestine"). And so when the Church of God has attained to its perker form, the divisions and discords, the disorder and consequent weakness, which too much characterize the Church now, shall all have disappeared. And even now there are Christian Churches which, by reason of their peace and unity and order, are strong are as a city compact together.
IV SHE IS THE CENTER OF UNITY FOR OTHERS. (Ver. 4) Jerusalem and the temple were, in Israel"s best days, the rallying-point of all her tribes. The strength which this gave them excited the jealousy of Jeroboam, and caused him to set up the rival worship of Samaria. And today the Church is the real bond of nations, and is becoming increasingly so.
V THIS UNITY OF THOSE WHO GATHER TO HER IS A WITNESS FOR GOD, AND RENDERS HIM PRAISE. The gathering of the tribes of the Lord (ver. 4) at the great annual festivals bore testimony to all men that Israel was the covenant people of God, and that they rejoiced therein; thus they rendered praise to the Name of the Lord. And the united companies of believers bear a like testimony and render like praise.
VI JUDGMENT JUST AND RIGHTEOUS GOES FORTH FROM HER. (Ver. 5) From the judgment-thrones of the princes of the royal house went forth the decisions which the people obeyed in all matters on which judgment had been given. So today, from the real Church of God goes forth that law which hinds or looses the consciences of men. This is "the power of the keys" which Christ has given to his Church. What she says today all peoples will sooner or later accept as right and true. They may resist, but ere long they will yield. God wills it so.
VII SHE IS TO BE DEVOTEDLY LOVED AND PRAYED FOR. (Vers. 6-9) For God the Lord dwells within her (ver. 9). All her excellence, authority, and strength are because of this, and only this. Do our feet stand within her gates? S.C.
Glad to go to the house of the Lord.
The feeling expressed here is noteworthy, to say the least of it; for
I SUCH GLADNESS IS RARE. The proof of that is seen in the multitudes that never go at all. And of those who do, how many go as seldom as possible! an hour and a half a week is considered ample for church-going. And of those who are more regular and frequent, can it be said that they are glad to go? Is it not the sense of duty, the necessity of upholding a religious reputation, desire to please friends, force of habit, wish to set good example, fear of a condemning conscience, or some other motive such as these? But how seldom is there much gladness about it, except when it is all over! What a contrast to the exuberant delight which is evident throughout this psalm! We often sing it, but how often do we mean it?
II BUT RIGHT. Ought we not to be "glad when," etc.? Surely yes. For:
1. It is Divine service." But how should we like s child of ours to grudge rendering us service, to get out of it whenever he could, and, when he could not, to render it in as half-hearted a way as possible? But this is just how we treat God in this service which he enjoins upon us.
2. And it is Gods chosen place of meeting with us. Ought we to be loath to meet him, or to avoid such meeting whenever we can find any sort of excuse to do so? We do not so deal with earthly parents or benefactors.
3. And it is tire place where he blesses those who come. Mere gratitude should make us glad to "go into the house," etc.
III AND MOST REASONABLE. What led the psalmist to thus feel and speak? He does so oftentimes.
1. The remembrance of the revelations of God he had received there. (Cf. Psa_63:3, "To see thy power and thy glory, so as," etc.) His soul had been filled with holy rapture and joy in God.
2. The confident expectation of similar blessing. He went desiring God, which is ever the condition of blessing from God.
3. His whole spiritual life had been so quickened and strengthened there. There the chains of sin had fallen off, the burden of guilt removed, the sorrows of his life soothed, and he had been filled with the Spirit of God.
4. The worship itself was beautiful, and the throng of worshippers, and all the associations and memories of the place, enhanced the joy of worship.
5. And like reasons are in force still. The age, place, forms, are all different; but the spiritual realities which the psalmist knew, the true worshipper knows still. He too has met with God, and God with him, as the holy Word has been preached, the fervent prayer offered, the hymn of praise sung, and the holy bread and wine of the Communion partaken of. Often and often has it been the ante-chamber of heaven.
IV AND RESULTFUL. They who are glad to join in worship, to whom it is a real delight, are a very favored people. And the results of their worship will be many.
1. For themselves. It is a witness of the reality of their faith and love and acceptance with God. It is full of inspiration; such glad worship will not evaporate in mere feeling, but will become embodied in holy word and deed and life. It gives them heaven before they get there, and it is a mighty means, through the Holy Spirit, of their sanctification.
2. For the Church: they are the conservators and the promoters of its best life.
3. For the world: they are witnesses for the love of God and the joy of his service.
4. For God: he is glorified in them. S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Joy in God"s service.
"I was glad," etc. It is well agreed among Bible writers that this cannot be a psalm of David"s; it must belong to the time immediately before, or the time subsequent to, the Exile, but very different opinions are entertained concerning its immediate associations. Liddon says, "The pilgrim who composed the psalm would have belonged to one of the ten separated tribes, but he had remained, alter the general defection, true to the divinely ordered worship at Jerusalem, and this psalm may well have been composed on the occasion of his first visit. We observe in it his delight at the mere prospect of the journey; his ecstasy at finding himself, or at the very thought of finding himself, within the sacred gates; his wonder at the aspect of the city lying before him as he stood, probably, on the Mount of Olives; his sense of its past glories and of its present titles to honor the thrones of David and of Solomon, the sacred temple. But there are presages of coming trouble in the air, and as the psalmist thinks of his brethren in the faith who live within its walls, and of the house of God, which was its prominent and its most precious feature, he offers a prayer for the peace of the holy city which has so large a place in his heart." Perowne says, "The poet is living in the country. As the time of the feast draws near, his friends and neighbors come to him, inviting him to join them in their visit to Jerusalem. It is with this picture that he begins his psalm. He tells us how his heart filled with joy as they bade him come with them to the house of Jehovah." We see the procession starting; we see beaming eyes and happy faces, and hear the music of gladness with which the pilgrims beguile the tediousness of the journey. The next verse transports us at once to the holy city itself. "Our feet have stood within thy gates;" the few words are enough. They have reached their journey"s end; they are in the city which they love. Then the poet tells us, first, the impression made upon his mind by her stateliness and her beauty; and next, how there comes crowding upon his memory the scenes of her earlier grandeur, the thought of all she had been as the gathering-place of the tribes of Jehovah, the royal seat of David and of his house. Filled with these thoughts, inspired by these memories, he bursts forth into hearty, fervent prayer the prayer of one who loved his country as he loved his God, with no common devotion for the welfare of that city so glorious in her past history, and with which all hopes for the future were so intimately bound up." The "Four Friends" support the suggestion of Ewald, who thinks the psalm may be a blessing on a party of pilgrims, uttered by an old man returned from the Exile, himself unequal to the journey. "The departure of his friends reminds him of the alacrity with which he, too, had once obeyed a similar summons; his spirit is fired by sympathy with their enthusiasm, and he pours forth the praises of that city which from the earliest times had been recognized as the key-stone of the national unity, the civil and religious metropolis of the tribes." We fix attention on the personal pleasure in the public worship of God which the psalmist expresses. For him the sacred duty had come to be a sacred joy. And we never worship with full acceptance until we have entered into a similar experience. The attitudes of worshippers towards worship may be compared and illustrated.
I THERE IS COMPARATIVE NEGLECT, Presence at Divine service occasionally. Attendance interrupted on the slightest occasions. No evident heart in the service. A duty got through.
II THERE IS COMPARATIVE INDIFFERENCE. There may be fair regularity of attendance, but the "heart divided." The man there, but the heart elsewhere; so the service but a routine, instinct with no mental attention, and no pious feeling. For such Divine service is as though it had not been.
III THERE IS COMPARATIVE INTEREST. That of the intellect and that of the aesthetic faculties, not that of the heart. Sermons may be intellectual treats, and services artistic gratifications, they are not what they should be unless the whole man is interested.
IV THERE IS SPIRITUAL DELIGHT. But this must depend on the man"s being spiritually quickened, and on having his spiritual tastes cultured. Then he finds his supreme joy in God, and therefore in acts of worship that bring near the sense of God. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-9. Worship.
"I was glad when they said unto me," etc. This beautiful ode is supposed to have been by one dwelling in the country, who had been invited to join, and had joined, a company of pilgrims on their way to one of the feasts at Jerusalem; on his return, this ode embodied the sentiments that had been inspired.
I THE JOY OF WORSHIP. The delight of anticipation. (Ver. 1) The brooding gladness which dwells on some anticipated great occasion. His imagination would draw pictures of Jerusalem and the temple on the way thither, and all their sacred historical and religious associations; as we try to think of heaven and of the scenes in which our nature shall be perfected.
II THE JOY OF RETROSPECTION. (Vers. 2-5)
1. He remembers with what awe and delight he was spellbound within the gates of the city and temple. Think how a Mohammedan would feel at Mecca, or a Roman Catholic at St. Peter"s in Rome, or a modern Christian in visiting Calvary, or Bethlehem, or the sepulcher where Christ lay. But the awe and delight of spiritual worship transcend all the emotions inspired by hallowed places spirit and in truth.
2. He was greatly moved by the sight of the stateliness and beauty of the city, which had been rebuilt after the Exile. (Ver. 3) The restoration of a national structure, or of the nation itself after forfeiting its glory, or of a human life and character after loss and shame, greatly moves all sympathetic minds. The transition from darkness into light is very great.
3. The tribes gathered on such occasions, came up in obedience to the Divine law, to worship God with a national thanksgiving. (Ver. 4) The author of the psalm was a grateful participant in the worship. The law of grateful worship is the law of all reasonable spiritual beings, the very necessity of their nature, and therefore full of delights.
4. The "thrones of judgment" for the civil law were under the shadow of the throne of mercy, or the mercy-seat. " The supreme tribunal was to be in the same place as the sanctuary. (Deu_17:8, Deu_17:9) Law and mercy, both in God and in the best man, are always closely related.
5. The highest result of true worship is to produce the spirit of peace. (Vers. 6-9) Between God and man, among nations and Churches, and between man and man. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv1–4 This brief but spirited Psalm is entitled "A Song…
This brief but spirited Psalm is entitled "A Song of Degrees of David", and thus we are informed as go its author, and the occasion for which it was designed: David wrote it for the people to sing at the time of their goings up to the holy feasts at Jerusalem. It comes third in the series, and appears to be suitable to be sung when the people had entered the gates, and their feet stood within the city. It was most natural that they should sing of Jerusalem itself, and invoke peace and prosperity upon the Holy City, for it was the centre of their worship, and the place where the Lord revealed himself above the mercy seat. Possibly the city was not all built in David's day, but he wrote under the spirit of prophecy, and spoke of it as it would be in the age of Solomon; a poet has license to speak of things, not only as they are, but as they will be when they come to their perfection. Jerusalem, or the Habitation of Peace, is used as the key word of this Psalm, wherein we have in the original many happy allusions to the salem, or peace, which they implored upon Jerusalem. When they stood within the triple walls, all things around the pilgrims helped to explain the words which they sang within her ramparts of strength. One voice led the Psalm with its personal "I, " but ten thousand brethren and companions united with the first musician and swelled the chorus of the strain.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Good children are pleased to go home, and glad to hear their brothers and sisters call them thither. David's heart was in the worship of God, and he was delighted when he found others inviting him to go where his desires had already gone: it helps the ardour of the most ardent to hear others inviting them to a holy duty. The word was not "go, "but "let us go"; hence the ear of the Psalmist found a double joy in it. He was glad for the sake of others:glad that they wished to go themselves, glad that they had the courage and liberality to invite others. He knew that it would do them good; nothing better can happen to men and their friends than to love the place where God's honour dwelleth. What a glorious day shall that be when many people shall go and say, "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." But David was glad for his own sake:he loved the invitation to the holy place, he delighted in being called to go to worship in company, and, moreover, he rejoiced that good people thought enough of him to extend their invitation to him. Some men would have been offended, and would have said, "Mind your own business. Let my religion alone; "but not so King David, though he had mote dignity than any of us, and less need to be reminded of his duty. He was not teased but pleased by being pressed to attend holy services. He was glad to go into the house of the Lord, glad to go in holy company, glad to find good men and women willing to have him in their society. He may have been sad before, but this happy suggestion cheered him up: he pricked up his ears, as the proverb puts it, at the very mention of his Father's house. Is it so with us? Are we glad when others invite us to public worship, or to church fellowship? Then we shall be glad when the spirits above shall call us to the house of the Lord not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
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"Hark! they whisper: angels say,
Sister spirit, come away."
If we are glad to be called by others to our Father's house, how much more glad shall we be actually to go there. We love our Lord, and therefore we love his house, and pangs of strong desire are upon us that we may soon reach the eternal abode of his glory. An aged saint: when dying, cheered herself with this evidence of grace, for she cried, "I have loved the habitation of thine house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth, "and therefore she begged that she might join the holy congregation of those who for ever behold the King in his beauty. Our gladness at the bare thought of being in God's house is detective as to our character, and prophetic of our being one day happy in the Father's house on high. What a sweet Sabbath Psalm is this! In prospect of the Lord's day, and all its hallowed associations, our soul rejoices. How well, also, may it refer to the, church! We are happy when we see numerous bands ready to unite themselves with the people of God. The pastor is specially glad when many come forward and ask of him assistance in entering into fellowship with the church. No language is more cheering to him than the humble request, "Let us go into the house of the Lord."
Whole Psalm. Foxe, in his "Acts and Monuments, "relates of Wolfgang Schuch, the martyr, of Lothareng in Germany, that upon hearing the sentence that he was to be burned pronounced upon him, he began to sing the hundred and twenty second Psalm, Laetus sum in his quae dicta suni mihi. etc.
Whole Psalm. Perhaps the true text of this Psalm is found in its designation, "A Song of Degrees." Every verse is treated as a degree of advancement in the spiritual life, beginning with "help" from the eternal "hills" for the trials of time, closing with preservation "for evermore." Henry Melvill.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, etc. Gregory Nazianzen writeth that his father being a heathen, and often besought by his wife to become a Christian, had this verse suggested unto him in a dream, and was much wrought upon thereby. John Trapp.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said, etc. These words seem to be very simple, and to contain in them no great matter; but if you look into the same with spiritual eyes, there appeareth a wonderful great majesty in them; which because our Papists cannot see, they do so coldly and negligently pray, read, and sing this Psalm and others, that a man would think there were no tale so foolish or vain, which they would not either recite or hear with more courage and delight. These words, therefore, must be unfolded and laid before the eyes of the faithful: for when he saith, We will go into the house of the Lord, what notable thing can we see in these words, if we only behold the stones, timber, gold, and other ornaments of the material temple? But to go into the house of the Lord signifieth another manner of thing; namely, to come together where we may have God present with us, hear his word, call upon his holy name, and receive help and succour in our necessity. Therefore it is a false definition of the temple which the Papists make; that it is a house built with stones and timber to the honour of God. What this temple is they themselves know not; for the temple of Solomon was not therefore beautiful because it was adorned with gold and silver, and other precious ornaments; but the true beauty of the temple was, because in that place the people heard the word of the Lord, called upon his name, found him merciful, giving peace and remission of sins, etc. This is rightly to behold the temple, and not as the visored bishops behold their idolatrous temple when they consecrate it. Martin Luther.
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us (or, We will) go, etc. You have here,
1. David's delight.
2. The object or reason of it.
In the object there are circumstances enough to raise his joy to the highest note.
First, A company, either a tribe, or many of, or all, the people: "They said unto me." So, in another place, he speaketh of "walking to the house of God in company:" Ps 55:14. A glorious sight, a representation of heaven itself, of all the angels crying aloud, the Seraphim to the Cherubim, and the Cherubim echoing back again to the Seraphim, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth."
Secondly, Their resolution to serve the Lord: Dixerunt, "They said it:" and "to say" in Scripture is to resolve. "We will go, " is either a lie, or a resolution.
Thirdly, Their agreement and joint consent: "We, "This is as a circle, and taketh in all within its compass. If there be any dissenting, unwilling person, he is not within this circumference, he is none of the "We." A Turk, a Jew, and a Christian cannot say, "We will serve the Lord; "and the schismatic or separatist shutteth himself out of the house of the Lord. "We" is a bond of peace, keepeth us at unity, and maketh many as one.
Fourthly, Their cheerfulness and alacrity. They speak like men going out of a dungeon into the light, as those who had been long absent from what they loved, and were now approaching unto it, and in fair hope to enjoy what they most earnestly desired: "We will go; "we will make haste, and delay no longer. Ipsa festinatio tarda est; "Speed itself is but slow paced." We cannot be there soon enough.
Fifthly and lastly: The place where they will serve God:not one of their own choosing; not the groves, or hills, or high places; no oratory which pride, or malice, or faction had erected; but a place appointed and set apart by God himself. Servient Domino in domo sua:"They will serve the Lord in his own house." They said unto me, "We will go into the house of the Lord." Anthony Farindon.
Ver. 1. Let us go into the house of the Lord. "Let us go, " spoken by one hundred men in any city to those over whom they have influence, would raise a monster meeting... But who among those who thus single out the working classes, have gone to them and said, "Let us golet us go together into the house of the Lord"? The religious adviser, standing at a distance from the multitude, has advised, and warned, and pleaded, saying, "Go, or you will not escape perdition; ""Why don't you go?" The Christian visitor has likewise used this kind of influence; but how few have taken the working man by the hand, and said, "Let us go together"? You can bring multitudes whom you never can send. Many who would never come alone would come most willingly under the shadow of your company. Then, brethren, to your nonattending neighbour say, "Let us go"; to reluctant members of your own family say, "Let us go"; to those who once went to the house of God in your company, but who have backslidden from worship say, "Let us go"; to all whose ear, and mind, and heart, you can command for such a purpose say, "Let us golet us go together into the house of the Lord." Samuel Martin (1817-1878), in a Sermon entitled "Gladness in the Prospect of Public Worship."
Ver. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, etc. Such in kind, but far greater in degree, is the gladness, which the pious soul experiences when she is called hence; when descending angels say unto her, Thy labour and sorrow are at an end, and the hour of thy enlargement is come; put off immortality and misery at once; quit thy house of bondage, and the land of thy captivity; fly forth, and "let us go together into the house of the Lord, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." George Horne.
Ver. 1-2. This is a mutual exhortation. The members of the church invite each other: "Let us go into the house of the Lord." It is not enough to say, Go you to church, and I shall stop at home. That will never do. We must invite by example as well as by precept. Mark the plural forms: "Let us go into the house of God. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." We are to speak as Moses did to Hobab, his brother-in-law, "Come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel." The same duty is binding upon us, with regard to those who make no profession of religion, and whose feet never stand in the house of God. Zechariah, in an animated picture of the future glories of the church, describes the newborn zeal of the converts as taking this direction. They cannot but speak of what they have seen and heard, and others must share in their joy. "And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also." N. M`michael.
Whole Psalm. Observe,
1. The joy with which they were to go up to Jerusalem: Ps 122:1-2.
2. The great esteem they were to have of Jerusalem: Ps 122:3-5.
3. The great concern they were to have for Jerusalem, and the prayers they were to put up for its welfare. M. Henry.
Ver. 1.
1. David was glad to go to the house of the Lord. It was the house of the Lord therefore he desired to go. He preferred it to his own house.
2. He was glad when others said to him, "Let us go." The distance may be great, the weather may be rough, still, "Let us go."
3. He was glad to say it to others, "Let us go, "and to persuade others to accompany him. G. R.
Ver. 1.
1. Joy in prospect of religious worship.
a) Because of the instruction we receive.
b) Because of the exercises in which we engage.
c) Because of the society in which we mingle.
d) Because of the sacred interests we promote.
2. Joy in the invitation to religious worship.
a) Because it shows others are interested in the service of God.
b) Because it shows their interest in us.
c) Because it furthers the interests of Zion. F.J.B.
Ver. 1. Gladness of God's house. Are you "glad when, "etc.? Why glad?
1. That I have a house of the Lord to which I may go.
2. That any feel enough interest in me to say, "Let us go, " etc.
3. That I am able to go to God's house.
4. That I am disposed to go.
J. G. Butler, in "The Preacher's Monthly, "1882.
Ver. 1. I was glad, etc. So says,
1. The devout worshipper, who is glad to be invited to God's earthly house. It is his home, his school, his hospital, his bank.
2. The adhesive Christian, who is glad to be invited to God's spiritual house. Church is builded together, etc. There would he find a settled rest. Has no sympathies with religious gipsies, or no church people.
3. The dying saint, who is glad to be invited to God's heavenly house. SimeonStephenPeterPaul. W. J.
Ver. 1.
1. The duty of attending the services of God's house.
2. The duty of exciting one another to go.
3. The benefit of being thus excited. F.J.B.
Psalms 122:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4 I was glad when they said unto me, Let…
Psa_122:1-9
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
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A pious patriot
I. Rejoicing in the opportunity for assembling for public worship (verses 1, 2).
1. One of the grandest social duties of religious men--to invite their neighbours to religious worship.
2. The delight that may be expected from the right discharge of this duty.
II. Highly appreciating the various advantages of his country (Psa_122:3-5). He rejoices in it because--
1. It was a scene of material beauty.
2. It was the scene of religious worship.
3. It was the scene of civil justice.
III. Earnestly desiring the prosperity of his fatherland (Psa_122:6-9).
1. He invokes for it the highest good--peace and prosperity.
2. For the strongest reasons.
(1) Personal (verse 6).
(2) Social (verse 8).
(3) Religious (verse 9). (Homilist.)
The communion of saints
I. Before worship (verses 1, 2).
1. The joy of a common purpose. Men cannot help approaching one another in approaching one common object.
2. The joy of a common hope.
II. During worship (Psa_122:3-5).
1. The exceeding beauty of unity.
2. The secret of this admirable unity.
(1) One object of worship.
(2) One priesthood.
(3) One ruler and king.
III. United worship itself (Psa_122:6-9).
1. The invitation. Jerusalem which now is is not without faults, nor yet without foes. All the more need for her true children and friends to pray for her peace. It is part of their duty. It is part, also, of their wisdom. They shall prosper that love thee. When we meet to say Our Father, let us say also, Thy kingdom come.
2. The response to the invitation--to its request--to its reasonings.
(1) The request is right, and we will gladly accede to it. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. May all be right internally and externally too.
(2) The reasoning also is sound, and we are prepared to act on it. For my brethren and companions sakes, and because I feel that good to them is good to myself as well, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Yea, because of the house of the Lord our God, in which house and its common worship this feeling is so especially realized, I will seek thy good. (W. S. Lewis, M. A.)
The Christians pleasure at being invited to Gods house
Probably this psalm was composed for the use of the Israelites when journeying up to worship at Jerusalem on the great annual solemnities. We stand in one of the valleys of the Promised Land, whilst it yet flowed with milk and honey, and the children of Abraham had not been exiled for their sins. We see a company approaching: they are a band of one of the distant tribes, and they are hastening to be at Jerusalem on one of the grand anniversaries. As they advance, we catch the sound of their voices: they are beguiling with psalmody the tedious pilgrimage. We listen attentively, and at length we can distinguish the words, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Louder and louder grows the melody: the thought of the glories of the city, in which Jehovah specially dwelt, cheers the weary travellers; and the surrounding mountains echo the beautiful invocation, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
1. Now, it is not required of us to undertake any wearisome journeys: we are not called to incite one or the other by holy melodies to the leaving of our homes, that we may seek the Lord at some distant shrine. But, nevertheless, we are still bound to the duty of public worship; the privilege is left us, though graciously freed from inconvenience; and it may be as necessary as ever, seeing that the removal of difficulties is not unlikely to produce indolence, that men should exhort one another with the words, Let us go into the house of the Lord. We know, of course, that there is a sense in which the Almighty dwelleth not in temples made with hands; heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him; how much less the houses which His creatures build l But, nevertheless, just as He may be said to dwell especially in heaven, though, in virtue of His omnipresence, He is equally everywhere, because in heaven He manifests Himself with greater brightness than in any other scene; so may He be said to dwell specially in our churches, if He there give extraordinary tokens of that presence which must indeed be the same in all departments of creation. And when a true servant of God goes up to the sanctuary, it is in the humble but earnest hope of gaining greater knowledge of doctrines which concern his salvation, of gathering fresh stores of that manna which cometh down from heaven, and of drinking a fresh draught of the water of life. Neither is it only on account of the advantages derivable from the preaching of the Word that the sincere Christian is earnest in attending the sanctuary. There is a charm and a power to him in public worship, in the being associated with a multitude of his fellow-men in acts of prayer and praise, which would draw him to Gods house. It is an inspiriting and elevating thing when numbers loin, with one heart and voice, to ask Divine protection, and celebrate Divine love. There is more of the imagery of heaven in such an exhibition than in any other to be seen on this earth. But we must not omit, in our survey of reasons, why a Christian is glad, when invited to the house of the Lord, that in this house are administered the Sacraments, those mysterious and most profitable rites of our holy religion.
2. We have hitherto enlarged on the motives to joy which are furnished by the ordinances of religion: we will now examine whether there be not also motives in the finding that others associate themselves with us in those ordinances, yea, incite us to their most diligent use? And what more evident than that, if it be a joyful thing to the Christian to go up to Gods house, it must be yet more joyful to go up with a throng? Anxious himself to obtain spiritual strength, it will delight him to mark the like anxiety in others. For there is nothing selfish in genuine religion: on the contrary, it enlarges and throws open the heart, so that the safety of others is eared for in proportion that ones own seems secured.
3. It is one of the predictions of Isaiah in reference to those days when the dispersed Jews are to be restored, and Jerusalem made a praise in the earth, that many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountains of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. Who would not be glad to have it said unto him, Let us go into the house of the Lord, when the saying implied that God had at length fulfilled His mightiest promises, that His banished ones were gathered home, and that there had broken on this creation days for which kings and righteous men had longed, days when out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, till earth, in its remotest tribes, yield homage to the Christ? We may not live to hear the summons thus applied; but we may show our desire for the glorious triumphs which Christianity has yet to achieve, by the earnestness of our endeavours to promote its diffusion. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Gladness about worship
These words show us that the psalmist was thinking--
I. About worship. The house of the Lord. That, to the pious Hebrew, was the scene and symbol of worship. There are two aspects of worship, both of which are right. One is, that in the house of the Lord we get from God what, as sinners and sufferers and suppliants for others, we seek. The other is, that we give to God the adoration and praise He condescends to receive.
II. About social worship. Let us go. The solitary worship in the still hour and in the quiet resting-place is good. But prayer has special promise attached to it when any two agree; and praise has special glory when young men and maidens, old men and children blend their hallelujahs.
III. About invitation to social worship. There are times when, to the neglectful, or the depressed, or the sinful, this human invitation seems an echo of the Divine welcome. There is gladness
(1) because God may be worshipped.
(2) Because others are worshipping God.
(3) Because others are caring for us. (U. R. Thomas.)
Gladness in the prospect of Divine worship
The house of the Lord suggests such subjects of thought as these--they may not come to us in this order, but they are such as these:--
I. Thoughts of the Lord Himself. The house of the Lord. A gladdening thought this to David, and to every man who knows God as Jesus Christ teaches His disciples to know the Father. There may be very little gladness through simply saying there is a God; but surely joyfulness must spring up in the soul when a man can add O God, thou art my God.
II. Thoughts of the various glorious manifestations of God.
III. Thoughts of His mercies.
IV. Thoughts of the exercise and the act of worship. How pleasant to praise! What relief is there in the confession of sin! How soothing is prayer!
V. Thoughts of meeting God as He is not met elsewhere.
VI. Thoughts of receiving special blessings from God.
VII. Thoughts of the communion of saints.
VIII. Thoughts of enjoying a privilege in the performance of duty. (S. Martin, M. A.)
The good mans joy in the engagements of the sanctuary
I. There he is warranted to expect the peculiar enjoyment of the Divine presence. To an affectionate friend nothing is so delightful as his friends society. To a fond child nothing is dearer than the embrace of his father. He delights when absent to return to him. Such is the emotion with which a sincerely pious mind welcomes the coming of the Sabbath, and the returning solemnities in the house of God. And this is a state of feeling that must continually increase in proportion to the increase of his spirituality and piety.
II. The gratification thus expressed on approaching to the house of god, springs also from the happiness of a near and intimate association with our brethren in all the exercises of united devotion.
III. The truly pious man will rejoice in approaching to the house of the Lord, because of those sacred and solemn employments so congenial with his best feelings there awaiting him. For there may he freely, and in concert witch his brethren, engage in those avocations, and delight himself with those pleasures, which are to be his business and his felicity for ever.
IV. We shall rejoice to enter again into the house of God, because of the progressive improvement in all our character there constantly experienced. And in order to the attainment of this advance in the Divine life, derived from all the engagements of the sanctuary, meditate much on their importance. Seek to approach in a state of sacred preparation. Think not of man, but of God. Remember that you stand immediately before Him. Call frequently to mind the account you must render hereafter, and ask with solemnity of spirit how you would be able even now to render it. Be not satisfied, unless you can discern, after each season of devotion, some benefit experienced; some grace attained or strengthened; the soul melted into deeper humility on account of sin, or else kindled into loftier exultation, and conscious of a purer love for all the joys of pardon, and the hope of glory. (R. S. McAll, LL. D.)
Happiness and worship
To know a real and undying happiness, the soul must be bent away from earth and bound back to God. This is religion. But how few know it to be so in this mammon-worshipping world. How few can catch at the sentiment of this text, and breathe it through the heart--I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Tell the world it will find happiness anywhere but in religion, and it will go anywhere, and will never give up the hope under its vain Search. But tell it that the springs of abiding gladness are here, in the house of the Lord, that they are within the reach of all, and you will immediately find its credulity changed into incredulity, and its activity into idleness. Now, why is this? The more I search into it, the more am I convinced that what is wrong are the false conceptions that have been steadily growing up in our midst as to what the Church is, and the mistaken relations we have been entertaining to it. To a great many people who have enough of religious sentiment left in them to forbid them wishing to see the Church entirely effaced, it is anything but gladness to be told to go into the house of the Lord. They have no inclination to be in the sanctuary, but a very strong desire to be anywhere else. All this is the fruit of a mistaken notion of what the Church is. They regard it very much as a schoolboy regards compulsory attendance at school, not as a privilege, but as a hardship; not as offering untold benefits, but only as so much restraint and drudgery that ought to be escaped from as much as possible. And so, when they do go, it is under a sense of constraint or decency, to bestow favour and not to expect good. But if these are glad to escape church attendance and to be let alone, there are also those who are really glad when the Sabbath invitation summons them to the church, but of whom it can, nevertheless, be said that they are not worshippers; they are simply sermon-hunters. But if people are glad to go to church sometimes because they hear clever sermons, just as if they are drawn to a hall to listen to some great political orator or candidate, so are there some who enter church neither to be instructed nor amused, but to bear themselves as critics and judges, and to take no other part in the service. This also grows out of a false conception of the Church. For it is not a place where man is at liberty to sit in judgment on his fellow, or where the instrument is greater than the hand that wields it; but the place where men ought to be humble and not presumptuous, and where they ought to serve and not judge. But if the influence of the Christian Church has been hindered and impaired because of the false notions with which we have so often entered it, we have also weakened it and prevented its power by the wrong relations we have borne to it. It has been to us too long no more than an earthly temple of stone and timber, with a human voice sounding in our ears, and human creatures like ourselves our only companions. It has been to us the resort of habit, and the place where by inherited faith we have been trained from childhood to repair to. But the stone and timber of the sanctuary are no more than the stone and timber of any other building, neither are those we meet with here other than those we meet with in the world, nor yet is the habit acquired nor the faith inherited which carries us to the sanctuary of any value. Our true and sole relation to the place is not in the visible, but in the invisible. When we repair to it we ought to see nothing, and feel nothing, and desire nothing but God. For it is the house of the Lord. We have to please God, and this is how we will please Him, by remembering, when we are in the house of the Lord, that He is there, to receive our praises, to hear our prayers, and to instruct us not after our own choosing, nor with the words of mans wisdom, but in the simplicity of the truth. This is worship therefore when we sing, and when we pray, and when we listen for spiritual edification, and not because we have an itching ear. Then shall carping criticism be dead, and the small shall become really great; for the poorest sermon shall have much in it then, and the best sermon shall have more spiritual momentum, and all the Churchs service will be worship, and the Church shall awake and put on her strength, and God shall be glorified; and we shall find enduring happiness and salvation in the harmony of the new life. (R. Sinclair.)
Inducements to public worship
It should be a source of joy to us, even as it was to David, to be regular and punctual in our attendance upon the public means of grace--
I. With a view to Gods honour and glory. If, on the one hand, the devout and humble worshipper contributes, as he most undoubtedly does, to that great end, then, I ask you whether it does not follow, upon the other hand, that his unnecessary or inexcusable neglect to attend the services of the sanctuary positively dishonours God?
II. For our own spiritual refreshment and edification. We have our own individual cares and anxieties, and our own hard struggles in the race of life, and ofttimes we feel so worn and fagged with the hurry and bustle of the world that we are well nigh ready to sink beneath the pressure upon us, and we experience an intense yearning for rest, an earnest longing for something--perhaps some of us scarcely know what--but something that certainly we find not in the whirl of business or the excitement of pleasure. Ah! thank God, that peace which the world cannot give is to be found here, here in the house of prayer. Every time these doors are opened for public worship, God awaits His hungry, and thirsty, and fainting people, and whispers to each poor, needy, longing soul, Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.
III. That we may become examples for good to those around us. Let me assure you that when you give up for a time the sweet converse of friends and the cheerful glow of the bright fireside, and turn out, it may be, into the blinding snow, or the pelting rain, or the dismal fog, that you may go into the house of the Lord, you do far more by these your silent, but practical, examples than we can hope to accomplish by any amount of persuasion. It was a noble answer that an old saint of God who had been for years very deaf once gave to her minister when he asked her why she was so constant in her attendance at church:--Though I cannot hear, I come to Gods house because I love it, and I love the service, and I wish to be found in His ways, and He gives me many a sweet thought upon the text when it is pointed out to me. Another reason is because I am in the best company, in the most immediate presence of God, and among His saints, the honourable of the earth. I am not satisfied with serving God in private; it is my duty and privilege to honour Him regularly and constantly in public. (J. F. Haynes, LL. D.)
Gladness of Gods house
Why glad?
1. That you have a house of the Lord to which you may go. Davids zeal for Gods house. The incident with Araunah. Removal of the ark to Jerusalem. His reasoning about a house for God. His large liberality toward building the Temple. That which costs us nothing we do not prize. When our money and labour and brain and heart go into Gods house, we are glad when, etc.
2. That any feel enough interest in me to say, Let us go, etc.
3. That I am able to go to Gods house. That my Sabbaths are my own. Sabbath and government and capital--the right of the working-man. That I have bodily health. That I have mental health. Able to-day, may not be to-morrow.
4. That I am disposed to go. Where theres a will theres a way. Many excuses, but true of the mass of non-church-goers, that they have not the will. (J. G. Butler.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 122
Psalms 122
THIS is very distinctly a pilgrim psalm. But there is difficulty in determining the singers precise point of view, arising from the possibility of understanding the phrase in Psa_122:2, "are standing," as meaning either "are" or "were standing" or "have stood." If it is taken as a present tense, the psalm begins by recalling the joy with which the pilgrims began their march, and in Psa_122:2 rejoices in reaching the goal. Then, in Psa_122:3, Psa_122:4, Psa_122:5 the psalmist paints, the sight of the city which gladdened the gazers eyes, remembers ancient glories when Jerusalem was the rallying point for united worship and the seat of the Davidic monarchy, and finally pours out patriotic exhortations to love Jerusalem and prayers for her peace and prosperity. This seems the most natural construing of the psalm. If, on the other hand, Psa_122:2 refers to a past time, "the poet, now again returning home or actually returned, remembers the whole pilgrimage from its beginning onwards." This is possible; but the warmth of emotion in the exclamation in Psa_122:3 is more appropriate to the moment of rapturous realisation of a long-sought joy than to the paler remembrance of it.
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Taking, then, the former view of the verse, we have the beginning and end of the pilgrimage brought into juxtaposition in Psa_122:1 and Psa_122:2. It was begun in joy; it ends in full attainment and a satisfied rapture, as the pilgrim finds the feet which have traversed many a weary mile planted at last within the city. How fading the annoyances of the road! Happy they whose lifes path ends where the psalmists did! The joy of fruition will surpass that of anticipation, and difficulties and dangers will be forgotten.
Psa_122:3-5 give voice to the crowding thoughts and memories waked by that moment of supreme joy, when dreams and hopes have become realities, and the pilgrims happy eyes do actually see the city. It stands "built," by which is best understood built anew, rising from the ruins of many years. It is "compact together," the former breaches in the walls and the melancholy gaps in the buildings being filled up. Others take the reference to be to the crowding of its houses, which its site, a narrow peninsula of rock with deep ravines on three sides, made necessary. But fair to his eyes as the Jerusalem of today looked, the poet-patriot sees auguster forms rising behind it, and recalls vanished glories, when all the twelve tribes came up to worship, according to the commandment, and there was yet a king in Israel. The religious and civil life of the nation had their centres in the city; and Jerusalem had become the seat of worship because it was the seat of the monarchy. These days were past; but though few in number, the tribes still were going up; and the psalmist does not feel the sadness but the sanctity of the vanished past.
Thus moved to the depths of his soul, he breaks forth into exhortation to his companion pilgrims to pray for the peace of the city. There is a play on the meaning of the name in Psa_122:6 a; for, as the Tel-el-Amarna tablets have told us, the name of the city of the priest-king was Uru Salim-the city of [the god of] peace. The prayer is that the nomen may become omen, and that the hope that moved in the hearts that had so long ago and in the midst of wars given so fair a designation to their abode, may be fulfilled now at last. A similar play of words lies in the interchange of "peace" and "prosperity," which are closely similar in sound in the Hebrew. So sure is the psalmist that God will favour Zion, that he assures his companions that individual well-being will be secured by loyal love to her. The motive appealed to may be so put as to be mere selfishness, though, if any man loved Zion not for Zions sake but for his own, he could scarcely be deemed to love her at all. But rightly understood, the psalmist proclaims an everlasting truth, that the highest good is realised by sinking self in a passion of earnest love for and service to the City of God. Such love is in itself well-being; and while it may have no rewards appreciable by sense, it cannot fail of sharing in the good of Zion and the prosperity of Gods chosen.
The singer puts forth the prayers which he enjoins on others, and rises high above all considerations of self. His desires are winged by two great motives-on the one hand, his self-oblivious wish for the good of those who are knit to him by common faith and worship; on the other, his loving reverence for the sacred house of Jehovah. That house hallowed every stone in the city. To wish for the prosperity of Jerusalem, forgetting that the Temple was in it, would have been mere earthly patriotism, a very questionable virtue. To wish and struggle for the growth of an external organisation called a Church, disregarding the Presence which gives it all its sanctity, is no uncommon fault in some who think that they are actuated by "zeal for the Lord," when it is a much more earthly flame that burns in them.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 This Psalm, which the title ascribes to David, was…
INTRODUCTION
This Psalm, which the title ascribes to David, was probably composed by him after he had settled the Ark in Mount Zion, to encourage the people to resort to Jerusalem to the three annual feasts, or to express his pleasure in observing that they did assemble there in great numbers. With how much greater joy ought Christians to embrace all opportunities of approaching God and assembling with His people in the more rational, spiritual, and edifying worship of the New-Testament Church!
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THE JOY OF DIVINE WORSHIP
(Psa_122:1-2)
This Psalm is a song on the entrance of the Church and State of Israel into a superior habitation. It seems to have been originally written in the interval between the translation of the Ark to Zion by David and the erection of the Temple there by Solomon. We may picture the multitudes of eager worshippers singing this song as they journeyed in companies from different parts of Palestine to the holy sanctuary of Zion. As they leave their homes, as in the morning they resume their march, as they approach the gates of the city, or as they pause within them and prepare to go up in solemn procession with music and song to the sanctuary, they unite in singing these words of joy and gladness. Observe—
I. That the joy of Divine worship is realised in anticipation. “I was glad when they said unto me” (Psa_122:7). The invitation to worship is met with an eager and joyous response, as though the soul had been pleasantly musing on the theme and was longing for the time of public worship to return. Much of our happiness in life, and of our misery too, are realised by anticipation. The same power by which we forecast the future and fill the mind with sombre pictures of coming calamities, may also be used to portray with the vividness of reality the exquisite pleasures which are yet to come. Prolonged absence from the sanctuary, whether from sickness or distance, gives piquancy to the spiritual appetite, and adds an additional charm to the prospect of soon joining again with the happy worshippers. The joy of the devout emigrant as he returns once more to his native village, is intensified by the hope of again worshipping God in the rustic temple with which are associated the happiest moments of his youth.
II. That the joy of Divine worship is enhanced when shared with others. “Let us go.” Man can worship God alone, but he can worship Him better in company. The song of the solitary bird does not create such a tempest of tumultuous rapture as when it is blended with the summer-morning chorus of a thousand merry choristers, rising over brake and woodland. The journey of the pilgrim is not so long and tedious when it is prosecuted in the society of kindred spirits and enlivened with songs of gladness. Our worship of God will reach its highest joy when it is rendered in fraternal union with that great multitude which no man can number (Rev_7:9-12).
III. That the joy of Divine worship is most fully realised in the sanctuary. “Into the house of the Lord.” Here Jehovah dwells, making His home in the hearts of the sincere worshippers. Here His majestic glory is displayed with overwhelming splendour. Here the mysteries of His providential dealings are explained. Here His will is made known with unmistakable plainness and emphasis, illustrated with the commentary of passing events. Here the worshipper has received his most memorable blessings—his fears have been banished, his murmurs silenced, his false ideas corrected, his faith invigorated, his soul tuned to harmony and love. The blissful associations of the sanctuary in the past assist the worshipper every time he visits the loved and sacred shrine. Many are thankful in the recollection of those whose advice and example led them to the sanctuary. The Christian mother of Gregory Nazianzen often begged her Pagan husband to join the Lord’s people in their worship, but had to go without him for a long time. At last her remembered words were irresistible music to his spirit. In a dream, he repeated the first words of the Psalm: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” The opposite had been the fact; but the dream would come to pass. Such happiness was soon his lot. He felt a longing to accept the Christian religion, and was soon able, when wide awake, to say the same words with literal truth.
IV. The joy of Divine worship is abiding. “Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem” (Psa_122:2). The joy of worship is satisfying and permanent: it remains with us when other joys have vanished—vanished like the bloom of a short-lived flower, like the picture of a pleasant dream, like the delicate tints of a lovely scene, like the sweet strain of an entrancing melody. David governed with his harp as much as with his sword and sceptre; and the songs of Zion which he taught his people to sing were a potent and constant influence in the formation and solidifying of the national religious life. The unceasing praise of Jehovah in the Heavenly Jerusalem will be an occasion of unceasing joy.
“In thy gates, O Jerusalem bright,
Have our feet often stood with delight:
And again shall they measure the way,
Till within them, enchanted, we stay.”
LESSONS:—
1. The true praise of God is the highest worship.
2. The worship in the Church below begets a preparedness and fitness for worship in the Church above.
3. The highest worship is the unfailing source of the highest rapture.
4. Much spiritual loss is suffered by changing or neglecting the sanctuary.
JERUSALEM A TYPE OF THE CHURCH OF GOD
(Psa_122:3-5)
I. Because it is securely founded. “Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together” (Psa_122:3). It was situate on a lofty eminence: it was strengthened till it became an impregnable fortress: it was beautified by a series of princely palaces: it was crowned by the most magnificent Temple: it was circled and invested by the Divine presence. So the Church of God has its basis in invulnerable truth: it is defended by the ablest intellects: it embraces the good of all ages: it has survived the wreck of the mightiest empires, and the rage of the most formidable enemies: it is overshadowed with the glory of God: it is dowered with a fadeless immortality.
II. Because it is the place of general assembly. “Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord” (Psa_122:4).
1. There the will of God is made known. “Unto the testimony of Israel.” The ark was there, containing the tables of the law, the testimony of God’s will and Israel’s duty (Exo_25:21-22). In the Church of God, as in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Word of God is expounded and the individual path of duty clearly marked out. Obedience is encouraged by promises of blessing, and its failure threatened with corresponding punishment; and the law of God is an awful and imperishable testimony of the Divine faithfulness in each sphere.
2. There the Name of God is worshipped. “To give thanks unto the Name of the Lord.” The Divine Name is the embodiment of the Divine perfections; and that mysterious Name is the legitimate object of all true worship. Thanksgiving is the essence of acceptable worship. “To give thanks” becometh a creature who is so absolutely dependent on the Divine bounty as man. Thanksgiving should be offered humbly, fervently, constantly.
III. Because it is the seat of universal government. “For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David” (Psa_122:5). It is a picture of combined and quiet strength. The pilgrims do not look upon a solitary throne, exposed and insecure; but see thrones, firm and safe, beneath and around David’s, occupied simultaneously by his advisers, administrators, and magistrates, including his sons, all in his royal name and service (2Sa_8:18; 1Ch_18:17). They behold a broadly organised and settled government. (Vide “The Caravan and the Temple.”) From this metropolis of power all civil and ecclesiastical mandates must issue, and to it all classes were taught to look for justice. So the Church of God is the seat and centre of government If justice is not found here, it can be found nowhere. And not justice only, but all that which government exists to promote and conserve—righteousness, peace, joy, love—these are the stable constituents and ornaments of the Divine throne.
LESSONS:—
1. The Church of God is the repository of the greatest mental and moral wealth.
2. A secure place in the true Church is gained only by a Divinely implanted moral fitness.
3. A member of the true Church is amenable to the Divine laws.
PEACE AND PROSPERITY
(Psa_122:6-9)
I. That peace and prosperity should be subjects of earnest prayer. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psa_122:6). It is not in mortals to command success, nor is it always in the power of man to maintain peace in either Church or State. It is an Apostolic direction—As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. But the best intentions are often misinterpreted, and, such is the perversity of the human mind, the very efforts made to promote peace are often the occasion of strife. The baffled mediator finds his readiest and most potent resource in prayer. All who truly love the Church of God will be constant and fervent in supplication for its peace and prosperity. Prayer succeeds when the most astute diplomacy fails.
II. That peace and prosperity are correlative blessings. “Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces” (Psa_122:7). When peace takes its flight from a community or nation, prosperity soon follows: one depends upon the other. Nothing is prosperous with the man who is not at peace. The prosperity of the wicked is but temporary and apparent: it is for the present life only. It sows the seeds of discord and rebellion, and involves thousands in suffering and adversity. The man who strives to promote peace is a benefactor to the race. We should strive with others, as Lord Bacon says, “as the vine with the olive, which of us shall bear the best fruit; not as the briar with the thistle, which is the most unprofitable.”
“A peace is of the nature of a conquest:
For there both parties nobly are subdued,
And neither party loses.”—Shakespeare.
Peace is the condition of a permanent and increasing prosperity.
III. That peace and prosperity are necessary for the cultivation of fraternal intercourse and affection. “For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee” (Psa_122:8). The unity of a nation depends upon its loyalty to the Church of God; and the welfare of the Church is the measure of a nation’s prosperity. Let Jerusalem be secure and blest, and the population generally will be secure and happy. How often is the peace of a home wrecked by the absence of love and harmony. A drunken husband, a scolding wife, a dissipated son, make sad havoc of what might be the happiest of homes. “As hatred by quarrels exposes the faults of others, so love covers them, except in so far as brotherly correction requires their exposure. The disagreements which hatred stirreth up, love allays; and the offences which are usually the causes of quarrel it sees as though it saw them not, and excuses them. It gives to men the forgiveness which it daily craves from God.”
“Love is the happy privilege of mind;
Love is the reason of all living things.
A trinity there seems of principles,
Which represent and rule created life—
The love of self, our fellows, and our God.”
—Festus.
IV. That peace and prosperity should be sought for the sake of the Church of God. “Because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek thy good” (Psa_122:9). In promoting the good of the Church, we promote our own best interests and those of all mankind. If we love God, we love His Church. We stand very much in the estimation of God according to our worth to His Church. The character of Eli is redeemed from much of its weakness and blame-worthiness, when we discover the tenderness and strength of his attachment. The brave old man bore up heroically when he was told the astounding news from the battle-field, that Israel was defeated and his own sons were among the slain; but when the messenger announced as the climax of his doleful tidings, that the Ark of God was taken, a deeper chord was touched than that of the patriot and the father, and, smitten to the heart, he fell backward and expired; and the sublimity that massed itself around the close of the aged prophet’s career seemed to overshadow the feebleness and imperfections of his previous life. God will forgive a great deal to the man who helps—in gifts, in work, in witness-bearing, in sacrifices, in suffering—to promote the peace and prosperity of Zion.
LESSONS:—
1. Sin is the fruitful source of war and poverty.
2. It is the mission of Christianity to confer a universal and permanent peace.
3. prospers best who prays the most.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. Why was David so glad? why did his…
Psa 122:1
I. Why was David so glad? why did his heart beat with a thrill of pleasure at the summons to enter God’s house? Because David was a man who lived in the faith and fear of God; because from a child he had set God always before him, and had been accustomed to see God’s hand in all that befell him; because he was from his heart convinced that in God he lived, and moved, and had his being. He longed to acknowledge the lovingkindness of the Lord; and that acknowledgment, he felt, he could nowhere make so solemnly and so fitly as in the courts of God’s house.
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II. David’s joy is set forth in the Scriptures as an example of the right spirit in which we ought to approach the public worship of our Maker: in a spirit of holy gladness. The service which God requires of us is the service of our hearts. The mere coming into His courts on Sunday is nothing—nay, is worse than nothing: is a mockery—unless we come gladly, cheerfully, willingly, of our own free desire, and not from compulsion or for form’s sake.
III. What has God done for David that He has not done for us as well? The Lord is everything to us that He was to David: our strength, our strong rock, our defence, our Saviour, our might, our buckler, the horn also of our salvation, and our refuge. The real stumbling-block is that we are not sufficiently alive to God’s great goodness; that we do not set Him, as David did, continually before our face; that we set other things before us in His stead: our farm, our merchandise, our family cares, our pleasures, our schemes for getting on in the world. One thing is needful. Try to live with the thought of God more continually present to your minds. Cultivate a sense of I Its exceeding love. If we do this, we shall be glad, unfeignedly glad, when they say, "Let us go into the house of the Lord."
R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 2nd series, p. 70.
The house of the Lord suggests:—
I. Thoughts of the Lord Himself. A gladdening thought this to David, and to every man who knows God as Jesus Christ teaches His disciples to know the Father.
II. Thoughts of the various glorious manifestations of God. These manifestations are calculated to awaken joy.
III. Thoughts of the mercies of the Lord, those mercies of which we personally have been the recipients.
IV. Thoughts of the exercises and the acts of worship.
V. The thought of meeting God as God is not found elsewhere.
VI. The thought of receiving special blessings from God, for in these places, or of them, God has said, "I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee."
VII. Thoughts suggested by the prospect of the communion of saints.
VIII. The thought of enjoying a privilege in the performance of a duty.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 1st series, No. 5.
References: Psa 122:1.—Sermons for Boys and Girls, p. 352; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xxi., p. 144; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 250; J. G. Butler, Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii., p. 366; A. P. Stanley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 273; J. F. Haynes Ibid., vol. xvii., p. 190.
Psa 122:2
The Psalm from which this verse is taken was probably written by a pilgrim to Jerusalem at some time previous to the Babylonish captivity. On the one hand, it is clear that the house of the Lord, the ancient Temple, was still standing; on the other, the reference to the house of David and the anxious prayer for the peace of Jerusalem, its walls, its palaces, seem to point to a later time than that of David.
I. One thing which would have struck a pilgrim to Jerusalem who should approach the city, as was natural, from its northeastern side, would be its beauty. In the eyes of a religious pilgrim the physical beauty of Jerusalem must have suggested and blended with beauty of the highest order. The beauty of the world of spirit imparts to the world of sense a subtle lustre which of itself it could never possess.
II. Jerusalem was the centre of the religious and national life of Israel. Its greatest distinction was that the Temple lay within its walls. No other title to glory and distinction in these ancient days could compete with this place where God did choose to put His name.
III. A third characteristic of Jerusalem was its unworldliness. (1) This appears partly in its very situation. Jerusalem was not on the sea or on a navigable river. Isaiah rejoiced in "Zion, the city of our solemnities, as a quiet habitation, wherein shall no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship, pass by." In his eyes its religious character as well as its security are ensured by its seclusion from the great highways of the world of his day. (2) This characteristic may be further illustrated by the smallness of Jerusalem. No large capital could have existed in such a situation. In point of area Jerusalem would ill compare with our larger London parishes, Marylebone or Islington. Yet no city in the world has so profoundly influenced the highest life of millions of the human race as has that little highland town in a remote province of the empire of Turkey.
IV. Once more, as the centuries went on, Jerusalem became yet dearer to the heart of Israel by misfortune. Of all that is most beautiful in life sorrow is the last consecration. Undoubtedly the author of our Psalm would already have seen in Jerusalem a pathos and a dignity which so often come with suffering, and those who used this Psalm in later ages would have felt increasingly this element of the attraction of the holy city.
V. The Jerusalem of Christian thought is no longer only or mainly the "city of David." It is first of all the visible and universal Church of Christ. And it suggests another city, a true haven of peace, into which all those true children of Zion who are joyful in their King will one day be received.
H. P. Liddon, Family Churchman, Aug. 25th, 1886 (see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 113).
References: Psa 122:3.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 1; E. Thring, Uppingham Sermons, vol. ii., p. 389. Psa 122:6.—J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 425. Psa 122:6, Psa 122:7.—F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 49. Psa 122:7-9.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 254. Psa 122:8.—F. W. Farrar, In the Days of thy Youth, p. 230. Psa 122:9.—J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. x., p. 233. Psalm 122—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. no; W. Scott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxix., p. 56; S. Cox, The Pilgrim Psalms, p. 48.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 The restored House and the City!
The restored House and the City!
A song of the ascents: of David.
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The next psalm brings in the full blessing. In view of the 132nd psalm; it is quite natural that it should be a psalm of David: against which it is vain to appeal to the fifth verse, unless it is quite plain that not only was David no prophet, but that he did not even believe the prophecy as to his house.
The psalm shows us the end of the pilgrimage in the restored city and temple of the glorious days to come. The worse than lone man of the first psalm finds himself here surrounded with companions, who are in complete sympathy also with his own delight in what is the glorious city’s crown of blessing, the dwelling-place of Jehovah in her midst.
1. Jerusalem is now the uniting centre for Israel: in fact, (though this does not appear in the psalm,) of the whole earth. The basis of unity the first verse expresses, the power over the soul of Jehovah’s house. Our Jerusalem has indeed no temple, but only because God is there in a more perfect way. But how glad will they be when it is said to them; "Let us go into the house of Jehovah"! It is now for them no more a matter of faith: it is one of sight: "standing are our feet within thy gates, Jerusalem."
It is a resurrection; indeed, this city compacted together: all firmly united because held by that divine attraction which the first verse expresses. No other bond can unite like this, and none else be like this -eternal.
Now we see the nation united with it, the tribes going up on their pilgrimages when in the land, -happy substitution for the toil of the wilderness itself, now ended. Thus the blessing is now complete for them: I do not, of course, mean told out completely, but we realize that they are in it.
2. The city thus reviewed is now lifted into the supremacy which belongs to it: "for there are set thrones of judgment, -thrones for the house of David." Christ has His place here, as we know, though we must go to other scriptures to learn that it is so. "Thrones," in the plural. and for the house of David," imply, apparently, the vice-royalty of the simply human "prince" of that line, with whom Ezekiel makes us acquainted (ch. 46 throughout). Of the reign of the heavenly saints with Christ, with which some would connect it, it cannot possibly speak.
The thrones are "for judgment," -no mere regal state: for righteousness is to be maintained upon the earth; and men are bidden now to welcome and be subject to this new sovereignty. As was said to Abraham, "blessed shall he be who blesseth thee," so now is it here: "they shall prosper that love thee." To love righteousness is to be righteous; and here is a kingdom of righteousness in which every sufferer for and every hater of wrong may rejoice together. The peace of Jerusalem means the welfare of men and the blessing of God. There is a human ground for such a prayer as is here offered: brethren and companions in divine things whose prosperity it means; and there is a divine-human ground, that dwelling of God with man which the house of God implies. Oh for the days to come in which all this shall be revealed! And yet this is only the type and shadow of better things above.
Thus the first series is clearly ended, and to begin another we go back in time.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The writer recalls a journey to Jerusalem and the…
The writer recalls a journey to Jerusalem and the many sacred memories associated with that much-loved city.
1. 'I rejoiced with them that said unto me.'
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2. Shall stand] rather, 'were standing,' i.e. came to be standing.
3. Jerusalem is builded] RV 'Jerusalem that art built.' Compact] descriptive of the appearance of the rebuilt city, with the breaches restored and the walls complete, after the return from exile.
4. Go up] better, 'went up,' in days gone by. Unto the testimony] RV 'for a testimony' of God's relationship to Israel: cp. Psa_81:5.
5. Thrones] i.e. tribunals. House of David] either the Davidic line of kings or the princes of the house of David.
6. They shall prosper] RM 'let them prosper.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 A Song of degrees of David
A Song of degrees of David
Literally, "of ascents." Perhaps chanted by the people as they went up to Jerusalem to the feasts. Psa 122:1; Psa 122:2.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 A Hymn of Love for the Church of God.
A Hymn of Love for the Church of God.
A song of degrees of David, expressing the sacred joy of the faithful in being able to participate in the services of the Temple and to feel the appeal of the capital city, this psalm being particularly appropriate for a festival journey.
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v. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. The psalmist expresses his joy over the invitation to join the festal train; he now remembers the happiness that filled his heart when he was asked to be one of those making up a caravan of pilgrims to Jerusalem.
v. 2. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem, or, "Our feet stood still in thy gates," rooted to the spot for some minutes with astonishment at the glorious beauty of Jerusalem which was presented to their eyes.
v. 3. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together, built up without gaps and unsightly open spaces, one house next to the other, presenting a solid community,
v. 4. whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, the faithful members of all Israel being required to journey to Jerusalem three times a year, for the great festivals, unto the testimony of Israel, that is, according to the rule and ordinance of God, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord, for that was the chief function of the congregation and all its members at the festival seasons.
v. 5. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David; for Jerusalem was not only the seat of the Sanctuary of Israel, but also the capital city of the nation, where the highest government officials resided, where, above all, the administration of justice was the original and chief duty of the monarch in times of peace. The psalmist, having thus painted a picture of Jerusalem, the capital, which also contained the Sanctuary of the nation, is constrained to send up a prayer for its continued well-being.
v. 6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as a city of peace, welfare, prosperity, and happiness; they shall prosper that love thee, their welfare being involved in that of their capital city.
v. 7. Peace be within thy walls, both externally and inwardly, and prosperity within thy palaces, the blessing of Jehovah resting upon all inhabitants.
v. 8. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, with whom he includes himself by virtue of the communion of saints, the fellowship obtaining between all believers, I will now say, Peace be within thee, for the welfare and prosperity of the Church is that of all its members.
v. 9. Because of the house of the Lord, our God, the Temple, or Tabernacle, as the center of Israel’s worship, the symbol of the true religion over against those without, I will seek thy good, for the welfare of the Jewish Church was largely dependent upon the safety and prosperity of the city of the Sanctuary. Even so the spiritual welfare and happiness of all believers is bound up with the fortunes of the Church, for which reason this special petition for peace is included in the General Prayer read in many of our churches every Sunday.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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A song of ascents
Possible meanings are 1) "song people sang while going up to Jerusalem for a celebration" or 2) "song people sang while going up the steps into the temple" or 3) "song whose words are like steps." See how you translated this in Psalms 120:1
Jerusalem, our feet are standing within your gates!
The writer briefly stops speaking to his audience and speaks directly to the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is spoken to as if it was a person who could hear the writer. (See: Apostrophe and Personification)
our feet are standing
Here "feet" refers to the whole person. AT: "we are standing" (See: Synecdoche)
within your gates
Here "gates" refers to the city. AT: "inside you, Jerusalem" (See: Synecdoche)
translationWords
David
house of God
gate
Jerusalem
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1–4 Ps 122 Jerusalem is here idealized as the city…
Ps 122 Jerusalem is here idealized as the city of God, the city of David, and the city of faith. A group of people on a pilgrimage joyfully arrive in the city (122:1-2). The psalmist sings an ode to Jerusalem (122:3-5) and prays for the city’s peace (122:6-9).
122:1 The central sanctuary was the house of the Lord. This phrase originally referred to the Tabernacle (Exod 23:19; 34:26).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.