Psalm 122--A Journey

Do you have a favorite journey? Is there a car ride that brings back memories—like an annual drive to a family member’s home to celebrate Christmas?

Psalm 122 is about a journey. This is a psalm about how the Jews would journey three times a year to Jerusalem for a feast. They rejoiced because they were going to the Temple, the place where God dwelled. And that made it worth all of that effort. And since the Temple was special, so was its city because it was the city of the Temple. The presence of God at the Temple not only made the Temple special, but made the city around it important. So, the psalm calls the people of God to pray for Jerusalem and to seek its peace.

Christmas is all about a journey also. However Christmas is not about travelers journeying to the place of God. Rather, Christmas is the story about God leaving his place in heaven and coming to where we dwell. The presence of the Temple represented God’s intention to be near his people in their world. The arrival of Jesus superseded the old Temple in order to house the presence of God so that God may be close to all people throughout the entire world. Now that Jesus has come, each person who follows Jesus is now a Temple that houses the presence of Jesus’ own Holy Spirit. Not only that, but together, the disciples of Jesus become a Temple (Eph 2:19-22) where together they reveal God and express his praises.

Now we are the ones who reflect God, just as the Temple did in the Old Testament. We have the opportunity to bring joy to the people in our community. Just as the Temple made Jerusalem important, our presence in our community is important to God. Just as it was right for those first pilgrims to seek the peace of Jerusalem, so it is also right for us, in the spirit of Christmas, to seek the peace and welfare of our community.

Posted by Marc