Psalm 122:4

Psalm 122:4

For the love of Zion

David ruled over a united kingdom. He had been personally responsible for bringing the Israelites together and extending their boundaries so that they entered a time of peace and relative prosperity. He had overseen the journey of the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh in the north of Israel to Jerusalem in Judea. As he surveyed his achievements but also the hand of God in making all this possible, he could hardly be blamed for his sense of satisfaction and fulfilment. It’s here in this verse, we can imagine him gazing proudly over the Holy City, “This is where the 12 tribes go up, this is where the 12 tribes of the Lord come to meet with Him. This is where they will come to praise His Name and fulfil the laws and regulations of worship and remembrance that He has taught us.” David loved Zion, and he loved it most of all because God was there, and all Israel would come to celebrate that fact and to give thanks for His blessings upon the nation. 

An example of David’s thinking when he talks about “the statute given to Israel”, is found in Psalm 81:3-5. “Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. When God went out against Egypt, He established it as a statute for Joseph.” Passover, The Festival of Weeks, Tabernacles, these were the kind of annual celebrations that every Israelite looked forward to and Jerusalem became the centre of their worship and relationship with the Lord God, not least when the Temple was completed by David’s son, Solomon.  Jerusalem is still a sacred place and will become even more so again in the future, when the Lord reigns from there as Messiah and every knee bows down before Him. No doubt, we will share David’s excitement and joy on that day. Hallelujah! 

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