Psalm 122

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0:00 So we've been looking last couple of weeks at this little section of the book of Psalms called the Psalms of Ascent. And it's a group of 15 Psalms in the overall book of 150. And the book of Psalms is like this kind of ancient hymn book of our people, right? The Psalms are not arranged topically. They're not arranged chronologically.

0:31 There's conspicuously 150 of them. At the, in the first century, when kids would go to Hebrew school, the first thing they would do is they would memorize the Psalms. It was the basis, the kind of laying the groundwork for what it meant to know anything, right? The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, right? So to start learning something, you would first memorize the Psalms. And then you could use them. As you learned them, you could interact in the synagogue worship.

1:05 You begin to learn a language. You can see a lot of this in like Mary when she sings the Magnificat, when she makes up a song of praise when she's young before she's 20. In her language is already the Psalms. And she speaks to God. She speaks in Psalms because it's been brought inside of her. It's been built into her memory. And so what's really interesting for folks that study the Psalms is to realize that these 15 from Psalm 120 to 135, that these 15 Psalms, 134, all have the same heading on top of

1:41 them called the Psalms of Ascent. And one of the theories is that there's 15 of them and that there were 15 steps in the temple. We know that. And so some people think that the liturgical use for these Psalms of Ascent would be said one after another as they walk up the steps into the temple of God. And then because these Psalms have this like call and response in all of them, there's a notion that as groups of families were moving towards Jerusalem for high feast days, that

2:15 they might sing these back and forth to each other in a call and response sort of way. And I just loved the image of a group of families walking together in a particular season towards the end and encouraging one another with these prayers of the people. And I thought it's a good time of year as we in the fall start new things again to as a group of families look at these Psalms of Ascent and ask ourselves, what are we headed

2:45 towards and what are we thinking about as we do that. And so we're on the third one. I don't know that we'll go through all of them in order, but so far I can't skip one because they're fun. So two weeks ago we did Psalm 120. And we were talking about this like expatriate, this like person, this Israelite who found himself outside of the people of God and the kind of energy drain that comes from always

3:19 feeling like you're battling uphill, that you're amongst people who don't think like you. And then last week we looked at Psalm 121 where the folks then start out on the journey towards Jerusalem. And as they get ready to go on the road, the reality of the road being a place of danger starts to hit them. And they say, where does my help come from? And the idea that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Christ and the church, my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

3:50 And here in Psalm 122 is when they make it to Jerusalem. And so I'm just going to read it for us first and then we'll go back and look at it together. Psalm 122 says this, I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Oh, and now our feet have been standing within your gates. So Jerusalem, Jerusalem built as a city that is bound firmly together to which the tribes go up the tribes of the Lord as was decreed for Israel to give thanks to the name of the

4:25 Lord. Their thrones for judgment were set the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they be secure who love you. Peace be within your walls and security within your towers for my brothers and companion sake. I will say peace be within you. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. The Psalm starts out with an exclamation point. Is yours start out that way? An exclamation point.

4:57 I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. And then the response is our feet have been standing within your gates. So Jerusalem, that's why I want you to start out thinking about something that you're looking forward to. The feeling where you have been looking forward to something for a period of time where you have organized and planned and set out on the road towards something. When you finally then arrive at the thing, the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment,

5:32 the feeling of kind of presence and firmly being planted in the moment with kind of gratitude and success. How often do you have that moment? I heard a guy present on vacations once it was like he did like a local thing and he helped people plan vacations and he advocated for companies to make sure that their staff

6:03 took regular vacations. He was saying that people who take a week-long vacation once a year live longer than people who don't. That there are like tangible, provable health benefits to vacation. But then he said something interesting, most of the health benefit of vacation is in leading up to it. Not actually taking the vacation.

6:33 That the stress reliever for us so often is just in the promise of the vacation. The hope that it's coming. The planning for an anticipation as you're like it's Tuesday and you have the rest of the week to go, you remember that in two months you're going to get the vacation that you've been working towards. And I was like that's so interesting because I don't really like planning. And so I just set something on the calendar and I know it's coming but the thought of

7:07 it being out there is so hopeful. For me it doesn't even matter how far away it is. Just that it's set on the calendar and knowing that it's there. But I started to pay attention because the guy was saying this is true. He said what happens then when you're on your vacation you start thinking about what you'll do the next time you get to go on vacation. When you get there and it's the culmination of all the planning and it's what you've been working towards, you start thinking about well the next time where will we go and what

7:38 will we do. So much of our time and energy is spent somewhere else. I realized a couple of years ago as I started kind of multiplying my responsibilities in life that in order to do this on Sunday morning, in order to speak confidently and in a comprehensively like in a way that makes sense to people about the thing that I believe.

8:09 The trick for me is not about preparation and study but about being absolutely present in this singular moment here. And that I could if I could slow myself down on a Sunday morning and walk with the Lord toward something and be absolutely present in the moment. That was such a unique experience for me that I was available to God in a different kind of way so that you and I could have a different kind of exchange than I have normally

8:41 with people throughout my week because it is so rare for me to be all the way in one place. That if I do that I'm available to God and to you all in a different kind of way that something different can happen. In order to get the type of a exclamatory sentence that they start Psalm 122 with, in order to feel the like emotion of what they're saying at the beginning of the Psalm is a

9:13 complete restful presence in the place where God is. They are so satisfied because they have made their way to where the God is. And this is uniquely true in the history of our people, right? If you think about the story of Scripture and what we know about the God and what He's up to with humanity that when He starts out there's this like there is no space between

9:47 humanity and God, right? That they walk in the cool of the evening with God, that they eat of the tree of life in order to live forever in this state where they carry the image of God well and govern and rule the world that He gave them well, right? And then when the relationship is fractured, God out of necessity pulls back from humanity in a way that is different and new so that Adam and Eve moved outside of the garden.

10:23 There's one moment where they come back to see the flaming sword separating them from the place of God. So that they're especially in Old Testament, there is a serious and foreign to you and I separation between God and man. So that at the time of the psalmist when they start out on their multiple days journey with several families and they go to the place where God is when they finally get there they can look at the room and see where the God is.

10:57 And the psalmist says with such restful, present satisfaction, psalmist says, oh, I was glad when they said to me, let us go up to the house of the Lord and now our feet have been standing within your gate. So Jerusalem, here we are. When have you had a moment like that?

11:29 Ah, yes. Here I am and I am all the way here and completely satisfied. Then we begin to taste what the psalmist is talking about. He says Jerusalem built as a city that is bound firmly together to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord as was decreed for Israel give thanks to the name of the

12:02 Lord. He's saying that the key to understanding the people of Israel is the land that God gave them, right? Four hundred years of slavery coming out of the land and God gives them a land that was occupied by fortified countries. They've been slaves and they take it as slaves, right? And then they're each apportioned land flowing with milk and honey meaning it's really great land. Your herds will do well here, your vineyards will grow well here. You get the best land in the region and I'm just going to give it to you and we're going

12:34 to apportion it according to your tribes, right? And what's interesting is like the commentary that I read for this points back to Genesis 49 and I won't read it for you now but if you look at Genesis 49, it outlines different personality traits of each of the tribes. It's so interesting, it calls the tribes of Israel and then it says like the tribe of Dan is different than the tribe of Judah.

13:05 Their like personality is different. Their skill sets are different. That each tribe of the people of Israel is given a land but Jerusalem is set aside as the city of peace. Salem is the root word of Hebrew for peace. Jerusalem is set aside as the city of peace. It's not given to anyone but the Levites like they maintain this city, right? And so it says Jerusalem is built as a city bound firmly together to which the tribes

13:38 go up. And I would say to the Lord that there is unity in the people of God but not uniformity that Dan and Judah and Benjamin that they all can come here with their unique personalities and skill sets that they find their place as the people of God in the presence of God. They don't have to diminish who they are as a matter of fact who they are becomes fuller

14:12 in its distinctives as they celebrate the distinctives of everybody else together. That this is the place where they are excited to find themselves. That they walk with their families from their tribes and they're excited to again be within the walls of Jerusalem with all the diversity of Israel standing amongst the people of God. And then this is a key right here in the center of the Psalm is a distinctive for our people. I'm going to try and get out of the way of that buzzing.

14:43 It's bothering me. In Psalm right in the middle and verse 4 right at the end it says to which the tribes go up the tribes of the Lord as was decreed for Israel meaning he told the tribes of Israel to go up to Jerusalem. They're supposed to go there to do what? To give thanks to the name of the Lord. So he has this place set aside. He said no longer can you walk with me in the cool of the evening but I will not leave

15:14 you alone. I'll locate my presence. My physical manifest presence out of whoever dwells infinitely will take up root right over the mercy seat in the center of this building built as a model of heaven. And seven times a year you'll all walk from wherever as families together along the road and you'll sing worship songs together and when you get there you will begin to feel the peace of the presence of God among the diversity of the people and you'll come there for what purpose to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

15:52 The reason that I wrote this is because that seems like a kind of a normal reason for us right? You would give thanks to the name of the Lord but this is distinctive because so often worship in the time of Israel in first century and today is not about giving thanks. It's about getting what you want. That you would come to the presence of God in order to get him to give you the thing

16:24 that you want. Now this is documented in the ancient Near East in the time of Israel. There was specific passages and ways. There was specific rights that you went through in order to get God to give you what you want. The people of Israel come with their first fruits and thank God for who he is. Not demanding what they want.

16:55 I want to suggest like along with the Apostle Paul that you and I together, the church in the world gathered together is the place where God dwells. That wherever you have been, however, scattered your brain is no matter where your body. However multiple places you have been throughout the week that you can understand that this

17:27 morning you have come to a place where you are invited to be all the way present in the moment. And as you allow yourself to sit firmly right here and now you do so with that original presence of God. We are within the walls of Jerusalem. They said, let me go to the house of the Lord.

17:57 I said, how great to go to the house of the Lord. My feet are set firmly within the walls of Jerusalem. Indeed, all of Israel has gathered here in order to encounter the God and to give thanks. If you are going to be able to walk all the road knowing that the crop has to produce,

18:37 that the children need to be healthy, that the home needs to be safe, if you are going to walk all the way to Jerusalem carrying your first fruits and when you get there, thank God for what he has done and will do rather than ask him to do what you have to be confident that the Lord will in fact give you the desires of your heart. Do you see? The people of Israel, the invitation to the people of Israel is not to be held captive

19:10 by their anxieties or fears, but to rest in the assurance that God will take care of them and when they do, they are free to thank God for what he has done and will already do. They don't have to try and like jump through hoops to get God to do a thing. They know he'll do what is needed. Jerusalem built a city was decreed for Israel, give thanks to the name of the Lord.

19:52 Their thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. The seat of the king always would decide you didn't have a lawsuit, you just went and the king made a decision and that was the rule. So it's less about pronouncing judgment and more about measuring justice. That we go to the place of God because God is who we give thanks to for our situation, what it is now and what it will be and who we get justice from.

20:25 And then it says, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they be secure who love you. Peace within your walls and security within your towers. Once you know that the place of God, that Jerusalem or the temple is where you meet God and that this is the God who has provided, protected, loved you.

21:00 And you have permission to enter into his presence and give thanks to him for your life where he administers justice, then you want that place to be safe.

21:36 I've said before but I grew up going to church. And for some reason I always loved going to church. I mean when I was a kid we would go on vacation and my dad would find a church because he never got to just go to church. And so we'd be on vacation, he was the pastor, he preached every Sunday and when we were on vacation he'd find a place to go to church. And sometimes we'd be in places where he couldn't find one or it didn't work out.

22:10 And I can remember on multiple occasions coming back from a vacation having been missed on it, going twice on Sunday just because I missed it. I've always loved church. But the deeper I got into church profession, like as I moved into seminary and began to see churches outside of the one that I grew up in, my like frustration meter for the mechanism of church started to go through the roof. Like my patience for the ways that the world's wisdom had wound its way into the church that

22:50 we had packaged and marketed the God. Like I started to get really cynical about the church even while I was in seminary. And I feel like sometimes we can get to the point where we, the cynicism with regard to the church, robs us of the experience of Israel gathered together.

23:23 There's a little phrase in scripture that says that your body is the temple of God and that gets taken out of context more often than it gets used in context. The point is that it occurs two places in the epistles and the point in both is to say you don't need to go to a temple when the people of God assemble. You together are the temple. Look however much we screw up what church is supposed to be.

23:53 We can't screw up the fact that when we gather together God is present here with provision and protection and love and we can come and give thanks for what he's done and will do. Look our people have been journeying from places to the presence of God to give thanks for hundreds of generations.

24:25 This morning we do the same. And I hope that you and I can gather some modicum of the satisfaction that they found when they said I was glad when they said to me let us go to the house of the Lord. Our feet have been standing within your gates of Jerusalem. I hope that we can find some measure of that satisfaction this morning. Let me pray towards that end.

24:56 Thank you that you continue to give us ways to gather together in your presence. A pull us into the moment this morning Lord. So we might sit with you and find the capacity to give you thanks this morning.

25:28 In Jesus name we pray. Amen.