Psalm 122

This is the 3rd psalm of the fifteen Song of Ascents psalms

1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builds as a city that is compact together:
4 whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel,
to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:  they shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good. (AKJV)

Reading verse one, I reflect back to my early years that I went to church as a young child. As a child, church was a place of worship, and this was an event that we treasured every Sunday. It was a day set aside to worship the Lord and to praise him. As a child I was sheltered from most of the problems of this world, and not aware of any of the issues that were in the world around me. I was allowed to enjoy life as a child.  In the past twenty years technology has changed our lifestyle and our culture to the point of information overload.  It is refreshing to know I can still come to God’s Word and quiet and refresh my spirit.  

There is comfort in being surrounded by those who have the same belief system as you do.  However, as our country moves away from any association with God, I find it harder to be surrounded by those who have my belief system.  And yet I try to open up my conversations with others using a welcoming statement such as “How is it going this great and beautiful and wonderful day that God has given us”.  Statements like this can open up conversions about the Greatness of our God and how wonderful He is in your life.

When talking with others how much does the Lord play a part in your everyday conversations? Do you let the world know how much he means to you?  I may not be a preacher or a minister; but I will always be a witness to the glorious power of an ever-loving Lord in my life.  I will let the world know Christ lives in me and the life I now live is a life that reflects Christ in my daily-to-daily activities.

Another theme of this psalm is Jerusalem and the house of David.  The way that Jerusalem is praise in this psalm is the way I love to praise our country.  We need to pray for our country and our leaders.  When studying the kingdom of Israel under the first three kings (Saul, David, Solomon) we see the rise of twelve tribes to a strong nation, just to split into two nations soon after Rehoboam took over the kingdom from Solomon.  As we look back to Lincoln’s Gettysburg address to the words that only eighty-seven years had passed from the creation of this nation that was engaged in a Civil War that was threatening to destroy this nation that was created under God of the people, by the people, and for the people.  It did survive.   In the next few years, we will be approaching two hundred and fifty years as a nation.  Hopefully we will have still look to God to look over us and protect us.  May we use this psalm as an example to pray for our country.