The House of the Lord – Psalm 122

A text – Psalm 122     Of David.

¹ I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
² Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

³ Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together.
⁴ To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
⁵ For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
⁷ Peace be within your walls and security within your towers.”
⁸ For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”
⁹ For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

A reflection:

Our psalm this week echoes the words of Isaiah from Wednesday. Jerusalem is the center of the world for David and his nation, and the temple is the house of the Lord, the center of the center. All the tribes go up the hill to give thanks to God. The thrones for judgment are there – perhaps the thrones for the judgment God will deliver to all the people of the earth as promised in the prophesy of Isaiah centuries later.

I’ve known the opening verse of this psalm since I was little. To me it meant I was happy to be going to church. My little church. Not literally the house of God in Jerusalem. And I expect the same is true for many folks who learned Bible verses when they were young.  But this psalm is bigger than that picture I had when I was little. God is God of all people, and the house of God, whether we think of the one in the city of Jerusalem in the country of Israel, or whether we think of wherever beyond our universe God might choose to be at home, God calls us to come to God’s house not just to have a pleasant time but to learn God’s ways of peace for all nations. All of us humans have much to learn and much to do in God’s Reign.

Advent is a time when we take a moment to wait for the birth of a baby in a stable and hear the beautiful music and see the crystalline lights of the season. But it is also the time when we consider the big picture: the meaning of God coming to earth to be one of us, the meaning of God’s love for the whole world, and the meaning of what time and time again prevents so many people on our planet from knowing God’s peace and love, from knowing health and security. God’s Kingdom comes now only in glimpses. This week we have a chance to imagine what it will be like when it comes all at once and forever.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for having a future planned where we can take a part. Help us to remember that we are invited to work with you in your Kingdom, and help us to look for your work, especially in Advent. Amen.