Psalm 122

We have found that before the pilgrim can truly begin his journey to God he must first recognize a holy dissatisfaction with his present situation.  Then, because that journey takes him on a narrow, difficult road, he must have the assurance that Someone will help him along the way.  This Psalm grants one other obvious need to be filled that the trip might have success.  The pilgrim must have a satisfying vision of where he is going.

As a child I often sang the first verse of this Psalm as a call to worship in a church service.  The idea was that being in the church building meant we were in the "house of the Lord".  For the Psalmist, an Israelite, he was in fact headed for a building, the temple in Jerusalem.  But even this Psalm makes it clear that it is the presence of the "Testimony" that gives Jerusalem it's significance.  The journey is not simply to a city or building but to the very place where God promised to dwell with Israel.

Look at how the Psalmist thinks.  In v1 friends have come to ask him to accompany them on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  This was common.  As in the days of Jesus (Lk. 2:41-45) groups of people would travel together to Jerusalem for a feast.  With every joining together of roads the crowd would grow larger and larger. 

(King David, who wrote this Psalm, may have been thinking of times in his youth when he lived in Bethlehem, although it fits best with his time as King when he actually lived in Jerusalem.  The house of the Lord was the tabernacle of testimony. He also might have written the Psalm anticipating a time future, after his son Solomon had completed the temple project.)

So they ask the Psalmist to join them.  His emotional response is that he is glad.  And why is he glad?  Because he has such a wonderful vision of the splendor and serenity of Jerusalem.  In his mind he seems to be standing within the gates of Jerusalem (v2). He reviews it's beauty, it's glory as the gathering place of the tribes of Israel for the giving of praise to God, and it's greatness as the seat of government.

One cannot underestimate the value of a vision of the destination before one sets out on a difficult journey.  I have often been encouraged on long trips or hikes by pictures I have seen of my destination.  The pictures are not themselves satisfying, but they present a compelling goal that will see us into and through the inevitable struggles.

Do you long to know God as David longed to be in Jerusalem?  Think about where you're headed and you too will be glad.

Where are we headed on our pilgrimage?  We are not going to Jerusalem or any other earthly city.  Rather, the Christian is on a journey to the temple of heaven, as well as on a day-by-day journey into a closer fellowship with the God Who lives in him.

God's people today need to have a longing for heaven.  It ought not be feared or neglected.  Note the following:

               1 Cor 1:7: we long for the Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

               Phil. 3:20-21: we long for our Savior from heaven.

               2 Tim. 4:8: we love the appearing of Christ.  (Contrast this with v10, having loved this present world.)

               Titus 2:13: we look for the blessed hope.

This longing for the coming of Christ and our going to be with Him is not escapism.  In fact, it enables the pilgrim to function with hope and a positive mental attitude during his earthly days.  So we are encouraged to read and study, from time to time, those parts of Scripture (e.g. Rev. 21-22) that give us a glimpse of that place.

But what of the pilgrimage whereby we grow in the knowledge of our Creator now?  As David was spurred on by a vision of Jerusalem, so we can be encouraged by a vision of what a deeper relationship with God is like.

This is the point of setting your attention on Jesus. When you see Him you see one who was in perfect fellowship with His Father (Hb. 12:2-3; 1 Jn. 1:1-4; 2 Co. 3:17; 4:6,11).  Join Him in the desert of fasting and temptation.  Pray with Him all night.  Agonize with Him in the Garden.  Hear Him from the cross.

Then look at others in the Bible who grew in their knowledge of God.  Go with Abraham to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice his only son.  Observe Jacob wrestling all night with the angel of the Lord.  Sit with Job in the ashes of tremendous suffering.  Join David in confessing horrible sin.  Then, with Isaiah see God high and lifted up.

Also, cultivate this longing in the annals of Church history.  Many fellow-pilgrims have recorded their journeys and can help us.  Read a'Kempis' Imitation of Christ, Fox's Book of Martyrs, Pilgrim's Progress, The Journal of John Wesley, The Life of Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Brother Lawrence's Practice of the Presence of God, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, or the writings of A.W. Tozer or Oswald Chambers.  The joys of these who came to desire nothing on earth but God will give you a wonderful vision of where you're headed.