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   Psalm 122

   Good News Translation (GNT)

   "Hebrew Title:

   By David

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In Praise of Jerusalem

  1        I was glad when they said to me,
            "Let us go to the Lord's house."
  2        And now we are here,
            standing inside the gates of Jerusalem!

  3        Jerusalem is a city restored
            in beautiful order and harmony.
  4        This is where the tribes come,
               the tribes of Israel,
            to give thanks to the Lord
               according to his command.
  5        Here the kings of Israel
               sat to judge their people.

  6        Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
               "May those who love you prosper.
  7        May there be peace inside your walls
               and safety in your palaces."
  8        For the sake of my relatives and friends
               I say to Jerusalem, "Peace be with
               you!"
  9        For the sake of the house of the Lord our
         God
               I pray for your prosperity.

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Commentary based on an article by 'Sermon Writer'
Copyright 2019, Richard Niell Donovan

In Praise of Jerusalem

     Psalm 122

Psalm 122, the pilgrims have arrived in Jerusalem, are preparing to go to the temple, and are looking agog at the wondrous city, so different from the villages where most Israelites live.

Jewish law prescribes the requirement for three annual pilgrimages -- Passover,
the Feast of Weeks, and
the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Psalmist could have considered that as a burden, but his attitude is the opposite. He is glad -- even overjoyed - -to receive this invitation to go to Yahweh's house.
He is thrilled to have his feet firmly planted within Jerusalem's gates.

Walls and gates defined the boundaries of the city -- and provided protection from Israel's enemies.
'Jerusalem' can also convey the idea of things brought into close proximity, so the idea of "compact altogether" is valid.

Verse four expresses the mandate and the purpose for the gathering of the tribes.
Yahweh was requiring that the people give thanks for the bounty (harvests) that he had bestowed on them.

Verse five has puzzled many a biblical scholar.
Why introduce the idea of judgment into a setting that emphasizes thanksgiving and prayer.
Perhaps the pilgrimage festivals provided the king the opportunity to judge cases that would otherwise never have reached him.

The idea of peace is central to Hebrew thought.
The word shalom was used as a greeting ("Peace to you") and a blessing ("Go in peace").
People assumed that peace was a blessing from God to the faithful, and denied to the wicked.

Israel was almost always surrounded by enemies. Prayer for God's help was essential to Jerusalem's (and Israel's) survival.
It would be quite possible to understand prayers for Jerusalem as anachronistic (belonging to an earlier time), but I believe that they are perfectly appropriate for today.

We can pray for God to sustain them through their struggle.
We can pray that Israel's people will come to know Jesus as the Messiah for whom they have waited so long.

In a turbulent world, the words of verse seven typify the yearnings of almost everyone's heart. The psalmist narrows the focus -- from Jerusalem's walls and cities, to his brothers and companions.

He conveys the same blessing for peace on them. Now (verse nine) the psalmist circles back to his overwhelming concern -- "the house of Yahweh our God."

Because God had chosen to establish his house in Jerusalem, the whole fabric of the city needed the blessings of peace to provide a peaceful setting for the Lord's house.

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