Psa 122:1-9
Psalm 122 is one of the psalms of ascents; it is written by David. 122-134 are psalms of ascents - songs sung by the Israelites when the walked up to Jerusalem for the festivals. Psalm 122 reflect how David’s heart felt towards the house of the Lord. We should reflect on our attitude towards the house of the Lord.

Psa 122:1
“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.””
Since there have been 2 COVID-19 clusters in churches, some people may be more reluctant to go. How about us?

Do we have such joy when others tell us to go to church? Or when did we last feel this way when someone asked to go to church together? When someone did, did we think: “I’m already so busy…you STILL ask me to church?”

But David’s reaction was one of gladness. We may think we’re busy today. But David was the king of a nation; he would’ve been very busy ruling it. Yet he was glad when asked to go to the house of the Lord. How was he able to be glad? What was the house of the Lord to him? We take a look at other psalms David wrote.

Psa 27:4, 23:5-6 (read)
We see David’s desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. It was a great blessing to be able to dwell in the house of the Lord. This is the attitude we should have today. Do we think we want to come and stay in church as long as possible? Or do we already start to think what we want to do after service ends?

David desires to stay in the house of the Lord, always; to behold the beauty of the Lord. This means he wanted to know more about God and His will. David was a man who truly wanted to draw close to God, and he knew the way to go was to go to the house of the Lord.

If we don’t have this same joy when we come to church, let’s try to find out the reason. Are we so bogged down by our daily lives that we aren’t able to put it aside and think about God when we come to church? Let us endeavour to be like David.

Remind ourselves about the joy of coming to church so we don’t end up with thoughts like: argh….church again….

From Psa 122:1, we also learn of the importance of encouraging one another. It’s not just between us and God. People encouraged David to go to the house of the Lord. David was King then, but that didn’t stop the people from approaching him to ask him along to the house of the Lord.

Sometimes we think ministers (preachers and deacons) don’t need encouragement. But here we see how David was glad to be called along. We tend to forget ministers are also human. We shouldn’t neglect encouraging them too.

Zech 8:21
The inhabitants went from one city to another to encourage them to seek the grace of the Lord.

Importantly, while we encourage one another, it shouldn’t just be lip service.

“I myself will go also” shows that we should set the example first. If we encourage people to come to church often/on time but don’t/are often late, that makes our encouragement less effectively. Or encourage others to pray more but we’re always on our phones. We need to be exemplary.

Heb 10:25
As man, we tend to grow lazy and lethargic. We need encouragement sometimes. We need to often exhort one another.

Heb 3:13
We need to encourage one another as long as it’s called today.

Just a simple sentence of “let’s go to church together” can serve as a reminder/encouragement to one another, just as how David was encouraged by the people.

Psa 122:2
“Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!”
Recall Psalm 122 is a psalm of ascents sung by the Israelites as they walked up to Jerusalem. For some, the journey might’ve been very long. But they comforted themselves that they would soon be in Jerusalem. All the hassle and trouble was so they can get into Jerusalem.

In our walk of faith, there’re times we get tired and weary. We need to remind ourselves we’ll soon be in Jerusalem. All the things we go through now will soon pass, and we’ll enter God’s city and God’s rest. Let’s remind ourselves of this hope just like the people did.

Also note that BOTH our feet need to be standing within the gates of the Lord. We can’t be straddling between the world and God. Both feet must be standing firmly within the gates. This also reminds us that whole standing within the gates of Jerusalem, we shouldn’t consider ourselves as outsiders/just guests of the church anymore.

Psa 134:1, 135:2 tell us what people can stand within the house of the Lord - the servants. Not strangers. Not foreigners.

Eph 2:19
We are no longer strangers and foreigners, but citizens of the house of God. We are all members of the household of God. As family members, we must all be concerned about the church. Not guests that’ll go away after some time. Don’t expect to be served all the time. Rather, be ready to serve others all the time.

Just as in Psa 122:9 “Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good.”

We must be concerned about God’s house and His members. Only then can we stand in the house of the Lord.

Psa 122:3
”Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together.”
A city compact together means the houses share the same wall and support one another. If there wasn’t proper planning and everyone decided where to build their house, the whole city would look very messy. It’ll definitely not be compact. They’d be many gaps; the buildings wouldn’t support one another.

But if every house has the same design and size, all can support one another. Surely there must’ve been some planning/specification to build this compact city.

Similarly, the church today is the spiritual Jerusalem. It needs to be built compact together.

Eph 2:20-22
The foundation has already been set on the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. That means the church can’t be built on another foundation; can’t exceed the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. God holds us together to be fit nicely and compact.

Eph 4:15-16
It is love that fits everything together. We need to have love in the church. But this love needs to be with the truth.

Psa 122:4-5 (read)
These verses remind us that the church needs to be united. When the Israelites went up to the temple, David described that they went up as the tribe of the Lord. Not the tribe of Reuben, tribe of Benjamin. But the tribe of the Lord. We don’t come to church saying, “I’m from Telok Kurau/Adam/Serangoon/Sembawang.”

We shouldn’t compete with one another. We’re all God’s army and need to work with one another. We need to remind ourselves who’s the one on the throne of David. We need to remind ourselves who’s the king of the church. We need to always work together.

Psa 122:6-9
We need to pray for the church, that it may have peace; that it may prosper.

In our prayer requests, we are asked to pray for the church in China. While the situation seems to have died down a bit, it’s escalated in other countries. Remember these places in our prayers, that God will allow peace to prosper there.

v9 tells us that we need to consider the needs of other members before ourselves. Why? Because of the house of the Lord.

Even though David was king, he seeks for other people’s good for the sake of the house of the Lord. We should adopt such an attitude.

May Psalm 122 remind us it’s a joyful thing to be able to come to the house of the Lord. Why it’s a joyful thing is that it’s a place we can seek Him and enjoy His beauty. Coming to church is also encouraging one another. At the same thing, we should encourage one another as long as it’s called today. Our feet need to be within the church, not straddling between the God and the world. We also need to see ourselves as members of the church; servants of the church. Lastly, seek the good of others; consider the needs of the church above our own.