Word of Encouragement (6/20/2020)
As we look forward to worshipping God together tomorrow after three months(!), I’d like us to meditate on Ps. 122:
“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’ 2 Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! 3 Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together, 4 to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. 5 There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! ‘May they be secure who love you! 7 Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!’ 8 For my brothers and companions’ sake I will say, ‘Peace be within you!’ 9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.”
Having lived away from Jerusalem among those who have lying lips and deceitful tongue and hate peace (Ps. 120), and having gone through a treacherous journey (Ps. 121), the pilgrims have finally arrived in Jerusalem, their destination (v. 2)! Now that their feet are standing within the gates of Jerusalem, their hearts are filled with joy and they consider all the trouble they have gone through to get there all worth it. This is why the Psalmist was glad when others told him, “Let us go to the house of the LORD” (v. 1). As I think about the pilgrims and their joy here, what comes to my mind are the pictures of people kissing the ground of their home country as they return to it after many years of exile.
It was not for the grandeur and beauty of Jerusalem as a city that the pilgrims made the difficult journey, of course. What made Jerusalem beautiful and desirable was “the house of the LORD” (v. 1) in its midst. Israel was nothing without their God. Moses knew this. So, when God threatened not to go into the Promised Land with the people of Israel, Moses said, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth” (Ex. 33:15-16). We can also say that Jerusalem was nothing without its temple because the temple represented God’s presence in the midst of His people as well as the centrality of worship in the life of Israel. So, it was to go to the temple in Jerusalem that the pilgrims made the treacherous journey. And they wanted to go to the house of the Lord because they wanted to properly worship God.
But what was their worship like? It must have been amazing to be with hundreds of thousands of fellow pilgrims, who came to the house of the LORD for the same purpose—to worship God. But what about their worship of God? They were separated from the Most Holy Place and the Mercy Seat of God by the curtains and veils of the temple. The court outside the sanctuary portion of the temple was as far as they were allowed to go. Even so, they were glad when others invited them to go to the house of the Lord and risk much to get there. If so, how much greater should be our gladness to enter the Most Holy Place of the heavenly temple by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:19-25)! We cannot say our drive to church is treacherous or dangerous. How glad we should be when the Lord Himself calls us to come to His heavenly temple and worship Him there along with all the angels and all the glorified saints in heaven as well as with all the saints in this world as they call upon the name of the Lord and worship Him! This is possible only because Jesus'journey to Calvary was treacherous and deadly.
I hope you are glad as we are about to resume our public worship this coming Lord’s Day. May the Lord fill our hearts with joy and gratitude as we join with our fellow saints and worship our wonderful God!