Psalms · psalm 122 of 150
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Psalm 122 is a song of ascents by David in which the pilgrim celebrates having reached Jerusalem. He is glad when they say, let us go to the house of the Lord, describes the compact city where the tribes go up, and calls on God's people to pray for Jerusalem's peace. It ends with his resolve to seek the good of the city for the sake of his brothers and the house of the Lord.
After the dangers of the road in Psalm 121, Psalm 122 describes the arrival. It is the third of the Songs of Ascents and the first of four attributed to David in this collection. It belongs to the group of Zion psalms, which celebrate the city where God chose to dwell among his people and where the twelve tribes gathered to worship him.
The psalm opens with a shared joy: the pilgrim rejoiced when they said to him, let us go to the house of the Lord. Now his feet stand within the gates of Jerusalem, the city that was his goal and that he sang about so many times on the road.
Verses 3 and 4 describe Jerusalem as a city built compactly, bound firmly together, where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. Verse 5 adds that the thrones for judgment are there, the thrones of the house of David, because the city is also the center of justice.
From verse 6 the poem turns into prayer. It calls on the people to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and blesses those who love the city. It asks for peace within its walls and security within its towers. The pilgrim declares that, for the sake of his brothers and friends, he will say, peace be within you, and for the sake of the house of the Lord his God he will seek the good of the city.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The psalmist is glad when others tell him to go to the house of the Lord. It is a contagious joy that comes from worshiping in company and not only in private.
Jerusalem appears as a closely united city where the tribes of the Lord go up to give thanks to his name. The unity of the city reflects the unity of the people when they gather to worship.
The psalm calls us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and promises blessing to those who love it. Biblical peace, shalom, includes security, justice and well-being for everyone.
For the sake of the house of the Lord, the pilgrim will seek the good of the city. True worship leads to a commitment to the good of others.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Let us go to the house of the Lord. — Psalm 122:1
Answer: Within the gates of Jerusalem. — Psalm 122:2
Answer: As a city bound firmly together, built compactly. — Psalm 122:3
Answer: The tribes of the Lord, to give thanks to his name. — Psalm 122:4
Answer: Thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. — Psalm 122:5
Answer: For the sake of the house of the Lord his God, as well as his brothers and friends. — Psalm 122:8-9
Psalm 122 reminds us that worship is a shared joy. When someone invites us to church or to a Bible study group, it is not a burden but a chance to be with God's people. A good Sunday school exercise is to ask what makes us glad about gathering and what makes it hard.
It also teaches us to pray for peace and for the good of the place where God has put us. Jerusalem is here a symbol of God's people, but the principle fits our congregation, city and country: pray, work for unity and seek the good of others. For Christians, true peace comes from Christ, who is our peace and gathers his people into one body.
Psalm 122 ends with the desire to seek the good of the city of the Lord. Psalm 123 turns from the joy of the festival to a plea: the people lift their eyes to the Lord and ask for mercy in the face of contempt.
In the psalm's context, it means asking God to give security, justice and well-being to the city where his people worship him. Many Christians also apply it to the church and to their own city. The Hebrew word shalom means much more than the absence of war: it is wholeness and harmony.
It may refer to Jerusalem being built with houses close together inside its walls, or to the unity of the tribes who gathered there. Many commentators see both ideas: the compact city is a picture of a people who worship as one.
Because the king of David's line ruled and judged in Jerusalem. The New Testament presents Jesus as the son of David, the king whose kingdom will have no end, so the thrones in this picture point toward him.