Psalm 122
The Old Testament promises centered around God’s covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David. By the time of Solomon, these promises centered on the city of Jerusalem and especially the temple. That’s because the whole nation was focused on the way that God’s presence in the temple interacted with the king of Judah in David’s line.
Psalm 122 is called a psalm of ascents, which means that the psalm was part of God’s peoples worship as the ascended to Jerusalem. No matter where you were in Israel or Judah, the city of Jerusalem was upwards. We talk about going north as going up and going south as going down. But Jerusalem was literally uphill from the rest of the country.
So, God’s people sang psalms on their way uphill to the city of Jerusalem. This song rehearsed the feelings they were supposed to have while they turned to Jerusalem for worship. They were glad, even when their hearts weren’t in it. Maybe they were stressed about their fields. Maybe they needed to repair their homes. Maybe they just weren’t up to it. But they still sang the words, “I was glad when they said to me/ Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
But the city of Jerusalem and the building of the temple were always in danger. Armies attacked the city and threatened to steal the items of worship in and around the temple. It culminated when the Babylonians destroyed the city and tore down the temple. What were God’s people to do after that?
Well, God sent Jesus to be our temple. And God established a heavenly Jerusalem, the city. of the promises of our God. The king reigns there to protect us and deliver God’s promises to us forever. No enemy can strike it. No one can tear down the body of the temple. And our salvation is safe there.
Listen to the sermon to hear more.
Christians do not have a real city that embodies God’s promises to us. There is no building that God gives his name and establishes his presence among us. There are no enemies