“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.” —Psalm 122:1-2
The Psalm from which our text for today is taken relates to temporal Jerusalem, and aside from the petition to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” (v.6) it has no immediate significance for the New Testament believer. It will of course come into focus again during the millennial reign of Christ and will figure darkly in the tribulation period, but for the moment it must serve us for spiritual purposes in the way of type or figure. The New Testament gives legitimacy to this.
Paul, writing to the Galatians, said of earthly Jerusalem, “Jerusalem which now is…is in bondage with her children.” That remains true to this day as Israel remains in unbelief with respect to the Lord Jesus Christ. But in the next verse he refers to “Jerusalem which is above.” (See Gal. 4:25, 26) The writer to the Hebrews refers to “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem [Heb. 12:22],” to which, says he, believers have come. And in the Revelation we read of “…the city of…God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down from God…” in a day yet future. (See Rev. 3:12, 21:2, 10.) Israel is identified with the former, the earthly Jerusalem; the church with the heavenly.
Symbolically this Jerusalem represents our center of worship and the heavenly habitation of God and of the redeemed. From that perspective our text will offer us some relevant food for thoughtful meditation. First let us observe that its benefits and blessings are not to be enjoyed in isolation. The gladness of the worshipper is found in a corporate fellowship. Note the plural words: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” And again in v.2, “Our feet shall stand…” There are no “lone rangers” in the true church. The church in scripture is likened to a body, a building, a “holy temple.” Each member is part of a whole and both dependent and interdependent on all the others to fulfill his or her intended role. We need one another.
The second thing that comes to mind is that we need to encourage one another in spiritual matters. The picture is that of a company on the way to worship inviting another, who might have been passed by, to join them in their journey and objective. In fact v.3 says, “Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together.” It is not a loose, but an intimate fellowship. In fact, the apostle Paul employs a different figure but addresses the same principle when he urges the Ephesians that “… speaking the truth in love [we] may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Casual Christianity and spiritual isolation do not fit the New Testament model for the church.
Not only are believers to encourage one another to “go into the house of the Lord,” but they must also extend the invitation to those outside of Christ to become a part of the congregation of the Lord through faith in His name and in His finished work. After all, “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,” and “Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved [I John 2:2; Rom. 10:13].”
A third thought emerges from meditating on this passage. It is the assurance of things to come. “Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.” For the moment our Jerusalem lies before us, but this terse verse assures us of the success of our journey, as certain as the promises of God. And that not because of the firmness of our commitment to Him, but because of the nature of His commitment to us. The Savior said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand [John 10:27-28].” And again, “…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also [John 14:2-3].” What a glorious prospect, well suited to encourage us to “keep on keeping on,” even if at times the journey seems long and difficult.
Remarking that the phrase can be rendered “our feet are standing,” Spurgeon concludes appropriately, “Many feet are running the downward road, or kicking against the pricks, or held by snares, or sliding to an awful fall; but our feet, through grace divine, are "standing" -- an honourable posture, "within thy gates, O Jerusalem" -- an honourable position, and there shall they stand for ever -- an honourable future.
May our feet stand together in the City of God in the great “day of His appearing!”
For His glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
The Psalm from which our text for today is taken relates to temporal Jerusalem, and aside from the petition to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” (v.6) it has no immediate significance for the New Testament believer. It will of course come into focus again during the millennial reign of Christ and will figure darkly in the tribulation period, but for the moment it must serve us for spiritual purposes in the way of type or figure. The New Testament gives legitimacy to this.
Paul, writing to the Galatians, said of earthly Jerusalem, “Jerusalem which now is…is in bondage with her children.” That remains true to this day as Israel remains in unbelief with respect to the Lord Jesus Christ. But in the next verse he refers to “Jerusalem which is above.” (See Gal. 4:25, 26) The writer to the Hebrews refers to “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem [Heb. 12:22],” to which, says he, believers have come. And in the Revelation we read of “…the city of…God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down from God…” in a day yet future. (See Rev. 3:12, 21:2, 10.) Israel is identified with the former, the earthly Jerusalem; the church with the heavenly.
Symbolically this Jerusalem represents our center of worship and the heavenly habitation of God and of the redeemed. From that perspective our text will offer us some relevant food for thoughtful meditation. First let us observe that its benefits and blessings are not to be enjoyed in isolation. The gladness of the worshipper is found in a corporate fellowship. Note the plural words: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” And again in v.2, “Our feet shall stand…” There are no “lone rangers” in the true church. The church in scripture is likened to a body, a building, a “holy temple.” Each member is part of a whole and both dependent and interdependent on all the others to fulfill his or her intended role. We need one another.
The second thing that comes to mind is that we need to encourage one another in spiritual matters. The picture is that of a company on the way to worship inviting another, who might have been passed by, to join them in their journey and objective. In fact v.3 says, “Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together.” It is not a loose, but an intimate fellowship. In fact, the apostle Paul employs a different figure but addresses the same principle when he urges the Ephesians that “… speaking the truth in love [we] may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Casual Christianity and spiritual isolation do not fit the New Testament model for the church.
Not only are believers to encourage one another to “go into the house of the Lord,” but they must also extend the invitation to those outside of Christ to become a part of the congregation of the Lord through faith in His name and in His finished work. After all, “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,” and “Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved [I John 2:2; Rom. 10:13].”
A third thought emerges from meditating on this passage. It is the assurance of things to come. “Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.” For the moment our Jerusalem lies before us, but this terse verse assures us of the success of our journey, as certain as the promises of God. And that not because of the firmness of our commitment to Him, but because of the nature of His commitment to us. The Savior said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand [John 10:27-28].” And again, “…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also [John 14:2-3].” What a glorious prospect, well suited to encourage us to “keep on keeping on,” even if at times the journey seems long and difficult.
Remarking that the phrase can be rendered “our feet are standing,” Spurgeon concludes appropriately, “Many feet are running the downward road, or kicking against the pricks, or held by snares, or sliding to an awful fall; but our feet, through grace divine, are "standing" -- an honourable posture, "within thy gates, O Jerusalem" -- an honourable position, and there shall they stand for ever -- an honourable future.
May our feet stand together in the City of God in the great “day of His appearing!”
For His glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
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