Psalm 122 is the song of a person who not only decides to attend
to the worship of God, but also is glad about it. This is a person who can’t
think of any place he or she would rather be than in the house of the Lord.
Psalm 122 is part of a collection known as the Songs of Ascent
(Psalms 120 to 134). They are songs for the road. They are songs that Hebrew
pilgrims sang on their way to Jerusalem to worship God. This third in the
series is a song of arrival. The singers are now in the city of Jerusalem,
which was their goal. Verse 2 says, “Our feet are standing in your gates,
O Jerusalem.” So they rejoice that they’ve made it to the city
of God, and very soon they’ll have opportunity to enter into worship.
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the
Lord” (v. 1, kjv).
People are hungry for the authentic presence of God. They come
to churches hoping to find that hunger satisfied. Given that, it’s amazing
that the saints can become so casual about worship. An ever present danger
for the church is losing sight of the heart of worship. Our first work as
Christians is to worship God in spirit and in truth. Everything else we do
as the church must flow out of our worship. If it does not, then it’s
nothing more than self-effort.
In this song, the psalmist identifies three things that make
worship so critical to our lives. First, gathering for worship gives a necessary
structure and rhythm to life. Verses 3-4: “Jerusalem is built like a
city that is closely compacted together. That is where the tribes go up.”
Worship provides a kind of boundary to life. It’s a point from which
all life can be ordered and aligned.
Second, worship nurtures our hunger to be in relationship with
God. In the last part of verse 4 the psalmist says that all of this is “according
to the statute given to Israel.” In other words, worship is not just
a good idea, it’s the law of God.
Third, worship centers our attention on the decisions of God.
Verse 5: “There the thrones for judgment stand.” What does that
mean? Worship is the place where we hear, “Thus says the Lord.”
Essentially God says to us: This is how I’ve created things to be, this
is how things work, and this is what you can trust your life to.
As we come before God in worship, He promises two things: shalom
and shalvah, peace and security. Peace is the wholeness and sanity of life
that only comes when we are properly oriented to God. Security is the trust
of a God who preserves our lives by keeping us from the evil that is so prevalent
in the world.
As Christians, we are invited to pray that the Kingdom might
come on earth as it is in heaven. There’s a similar thought in this
psalm. Verse 6 says, “For the peace of Jerusalem.” In other words,
in the places of our lives. Prayer moves worship into the everyday world.
It creates the intersection between a holy God and our everyday lives.
(For a complete manuscript
of this sermon, go to www.preachersmagazine.org.)
The desired outcome of this sermon1 is to help our people remember
that worship is not about them. It’s not about the schedules or styles
or sermons that they prefer. It’s all about God and His amazing invitation
to enter into His life, to hear His word to us and allow that word to have
its way with us.
Everything of lasting value that the church has been given comes
out of worship. In worship we meet God as a person to be authentically responded
to. We learn to voice our praise to God. We learn the comfort of corporate
prayer. In worship we learn to bear witness to Christ. We learn that we can
no longer live demanding our own rights, but that all personal preference
gives way to a singular focus on God who alone is worthy of my worship.
1. This sermon is based on chapter 4 of Eugene H. Peterson’s book, A
Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (Downers
Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1980).
