Psalm 122: A Prayer for Christ’s Church

Today’s reading is Psalm 122.

The HEavenly Jerusalem

Clearly, in its original context, Psalm 122 spoke of pilgrimages to the city of David. In Deuteronomy 16:16-17, the Lord commanded:

Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you (ESV).

But in Jesus, this psalm takes on new meaning.

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Hebrews 12:22-24 (ESV)

While our ancient Hebrew counterparts celebrated an annual pilgrimage to a geographical location in Canaan or memorialized a return from Babylon to and restoration of that location, we glory in a greater gift. We glory in Christ’s church, the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven.

Certainly, our pilgrimage takes us from temporal earth to the eternal dwelling of God in His ultimate kingdom. But we do not make this journey alone. We must enter the gates of His city. We must join together with others in Christ’s church. We leave Meshech, Kedar, and all they represent behind. We joyously come into Christ’s church.

Many today want to steer clear of this truth. They speak of being spiritual, not religious. They want to pursue individualistic spirituality. They despise what they call organized religion. They think they will somehow pilgrimage into the very holy place of God at the pinnacle of His mountain in Psalm 134 without walking through the city of God in Psalm 122. This can’t be.

We will find Jesus in this psalm on Friday as we always do. But first, let us clearly see His church. We can’t have the Jesus of this psalm without having the church of this psalm.

This does speak of being part of the universal body of saved believers. But the very picture in this psalm of tribes going up and gathering together to give thanks means we must also see the local gatherings and assemblies meeting regularly to worship, praise, and give thanks to God. We make our journey to the ultimate throne room of God through the habitual assembling with God’s people. We travel our pilgrimage in no other way.

Yes, in original context, this was a prayer for the geographical city of Jerusalem. For us, it is a song of Christ’s church. It is a song of our congregation. It is a song of our assemblies. Let us be glad to be called to these assemblies, let us be glad to be called to worship with brothers and sisters.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 122.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 122 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Psalm 120: The Journey Begins

Today’s reading is Psalm 120.

Ascending the Mountain of God

In Book V of the Psalms, we’ve studied some exciting things. We studied the Hallel psalms (113-118). We spent eleven weeks with a deep dive into delight for God’s Word walking through Psalm 119. Now we begin another fantastic series: the Songs of Ascents. Psalms 120-134 are all labeled “A Song of Ascents.”

We don’t quite know why they were called that. Some suggest these were songs compiled for the return journey of Ezra or Nehemiah. Many suggest these were songs sung by Israelites as they traveled their annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the feast days. Apparently at some point, there is evidence the temple choirs would sing these psalms as they ascended the 15 steps of the temple one at a time during the feasts.

No matter what the origination was, the series presents a story of pilgrimage. We begin this week in Psalm 120 dwelling in enemy territory, we travel to Jerusalem over the next few psalms and by Psalm 134 we are ascending to the peak of God’s mountain to lift our hands in His holy place and worship the Lord.

As Psalm 48 declares, Zion is the envy of the world. It’s elevation is beautiful. It’s city is daunting. The kings of the earth panic at the sight of her. These psalms ascend that mountain. Psalm 24:3 asks who shall ascend the Lord’s holy hill. While that particular psalm had its own answer in context, we come back to that theme in these songs of ascents and we make the journey.

Whatever the original time of compilation, we can clearly see layers of application. We can see the original ascent from Egypt in the time of Moses to the Promised Land under Joshua to Jerusalem in the time of David. We can see the second Exodus from Babylon and the restoration of God’s people. We can see the annual ascent of pilgrims longing to be in the Lord’s city to worship. But perhaps most of all, we can see our own ascent. We can see our pilgrimage from this world up the heavenly mountain to find ourselves in eternity around the throne of God on His high mountain. Picture the scene of worship in Revelation 5.

Each step of this journey from Psalm 120-134 will give us insight to our path, holding on to Jesus’s hand, to the throne room of God in eternity.

I’m so excited as our journey begins this week. Don’t miss a single day. I believe we will all be blessed by this study of pilgrimage.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 120.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 120 prompt or improve your praise of God?