The Joy of God’s House

Psalm 122

Immanuel – 10/25/26

          In the fourth chapter of Revelation, God gave the Apostle John a vision of himself. John tells us what he saw.

          Read Revelation 4:2-11

          There, seated upon the throne is the Almighty – transcendent, eternal, above all and beyond all, awesome in power, glorious beyond comprehension. Your Creator and God! Holy, holy, holy. He alone is worthy of your worship – of the worship of all the earth.

But there is more to the picture than God’s transcendence. For the eternal Son of God became one of us. He came to heal the sick, find the lost, and give rest to the weary. And in an ultimate act of humility and love, he gave his life as a ransom for many.

          Be stunned by the contrast: God is terrifyingly awesome, infinitely beyond us – and yet, in Jesus Christ, he has drawn near to us, gentle and lowly.

          The prophet Joel captures well this remarkable contrast.  

          The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.                                                                                  -Joel 3:16

          The same God whose voice shakes the earth is a mighty refuge for his people. This same God is whom we have come to worship today.

          And that great reality joyfully catapults us into Psalm 122.

          Two weeks ago we began our journey through the Psalms of Ascent. In Psalm 120 we met a pilgrim distressed by the lies and hostility surrounding him. He longed for peace, but those around him desired war.

          Last week, my good friend and fellow elder Eric Moore did a tremendous job leading us through Psalm 121, reminding us that in our distress the Lord is our Keeper. He neither slumbers nor sleeps.

          Now, in Psalm 122, something has changed. The pilgrim who was distressed in Psalm 120, who lifted his eyes to the hills in 121, has decided to go to Jerusalem – and he is filled with joy.

          Main Point

Because God dwells among his people, we should delight in gathering with them, rejoice in what he is building, and devote ourselves to their good.

          Read vs 1-2

          Psalm 122 is the first of the Psalms of Ascent attributed to King David. Notice how he begins: I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

          Again, see how communal this is: David doesn’t say, “I was glad when I decided to go.” NO! “I was glad when they said to me, Let us go.” This is a journey together: the people of God traveling together, rejoicing together, worshipping together.

          So, what is it that makes David burst with gladness?

          Jerusalem was a magnificent city, but its streets and structures were not what got his heart racing. He rejoiced because he was going to the house of the Lord – the place God had chosen to dwell among his people.

          Hear David’s joy in God’s presence resounding through Psalm 16:11.

          You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.                      

          Fullness of joy, pleasure forevermore: where shall these be found? In the presence of God!

          Shouldn’t this be our attitude toward the church every time it gathers? Think about it! The God of Revelation 4 has welcomed us into his presence through Jesus Christ. As the writer of Hebrews tells us,

          We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus.       

-Hebrews 10:19

And we enter his presence together. Of course, God is with us everywhere we go, but God has chosen to manifest his presence in a special way among his gathered people.

So when we gather on the Lord’s Day, something extraordinary is taking place: This assembly of the redeemed is gathering before the throne of the living God!

          Where in the world can we see the work of God more clearly than in his church? Here, in this place, are sinners who have been forgiven, enemies reconciled, strangers become brothers and sisters – all transformed by the power of the gospel.

          So I wonder: Do we anticipate the gathering of the saints the way David anticipated Jerusalem? Or has all of this become routine, mundane, obligatory?

          Imagine a husband who has been on hundreds of dates with his wife. What was once exciting has become familiar, and familiarity has slowly collapsed into indifference. And though she has changed through the years, she is still God’s precious daughter, made in his image. She hasn’t become less wonderfully made, but he has lost sight of the beauty God has woven into her.

          Something similar can happen in our relationship with God.

          His glory has not been diminished. He has not grown less holy, less beautiful, less worthy of our affection. But our hearts can grow dull. We come to church distracted, sing without considering the words, listen to Scripture with a wandering minds.

          O, what shall we do with our dull hearts? James tells us:

Draw near to God, and he shall draw near to you.       -James 4:8

          Pursue him in his Word. Fellowship with him in prayer. Let the days between our gatherings become days of anticipation so when Sunday comes and someone says, “Let us go to the house of the Lord,” your heart responds, “I am glad!”

Read vs 2

          The pilgrim speaks as though he has already arrived. Perhaps these words were sung upon entering Jerusalem, but they also capture the longing of someone whose heart is firmly fixed upon home.

          Isn’t this the Christian life? Though Jesus Christ, we already belong to the heavenly Jerusalem. Yet we await the day when faith becomes sight. Already we are citizens of that city, but we are not yet home. Our bodies are not yet there, but our hearts have already arrived.

          And every gathering of the church is a foretaste of the glory of our home. If God dwells among his people, then we should delight in gathering with God’s people.

Next, David turns his attention to the glorious city.

          Read vs 3

          Jerusalem – built as a city that is bound firmly together.

Certainly, Jerusalem was a fortified city, with walls and buildings closely joined together. But David rejoices in something greater than its architecture. He sees a city united, a people bound together by their common identity and allegiance.

          Yet the earthly Jerusalem never perfectly embodied such unity. It pointed toward something greater: the heavenly Jerusalem – represented on earth by the church of Jesus Christ.

          So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.                    -Ephesians 2:19-22

          Do you hear the language? Fellow citizens, members of the household of God, joined together, built together. This is the city Psalm 122 sings about! And notice what hold the whole city together: Jesus Christ, the cornerstone.

          Brothers and sisters, consider what God is building here at Immanuel. Look past the facility and programs, and see a temple of God. Its stones are living, its people redeemed. Despite our different backgrounds, gifts, and weaknesses, we are being built into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

          That means we must never treat the unity of the church lightly. Forgive one another, bear one another’s burdens, speak truth in love, seek one another’s good.

          Read vs 4

          Here is a city of unity, but also of diversity. The 12 tribes of Israel were marked by different histories and territories; yet they ascended together to Jerusalem – to worship the one, true God.

          Now, in Jesus Christ, the people of God are drawn from every nation. Revelation 7 describes a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, worshipping with one voice.

          What glory! The nations united in worship of one God through one Savior. What Jerusalem anticipated is fulfilled in the church of Jesus Christ!

          Read vs 5

          Jerusalem wasn’t only the center of Israel’s worship, it was also the seat of royal authority. Justice was to be administered from David’s throne. This, too, points us to Jesus, the ultimate Son of David, whose kingdom will never end. Unlike Israel’s kings, Christ’s judgments are always righteous, his rule is perfectly just.

As through the proclamation of his gospel, sinners and enemies are reconciled to God and brought into his kingdom. And one day Christ shall return, and every injustice will be answered, every evil judged, and every knee will bow before Jesus as Lord.

He is the King who reigns over God’s city! Because God dwells among his people, let us rejoice in what he is building! In the final verses David turns from celebrating Jerusalem to praying for the city.

Read vs 6-9

Do you hear the language of peace? Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! Peace be within your walls. Peace be within you!

The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. As we considered in Psalm 120, shalom means more than the absence of conflict. Shalom is wholeness, harmony, well-being, flourishing – life as God intended it to be.

Shalom is what David greatly desires for Jerusalem. He longs for the city to flourish, its people to dwell securely, and the worship of God to continue in peace. The welfare of Jerusalem was inseparable from the welfare of Israel.

When we bring these truths into the new covenant, then Psalm 122 becomes a call to pray for the peace of the church.

Brothers and sisters, how desperately we need to pray! Pray for Immanuel - that God would preserve our unity, protect us from division, strengthen our love, and keep us faithful to his Word.

Pray for the church throughout the world: for believers facing persecution, for false teachers to be exposed, for missionaries carrying the gospel to the nations.

So pray for the church’s peace, purity, flourishing, and expansion: that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea! (Habakkuk 2:14)

And notice how David doesn’t just pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but in verse 9 he also says, For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. David commits himself to the very things for which he prays.

And we must do the same. We pray for the church’s unity – and work to preserve it. Pray for your brothers and sisters – and encourage them. Pray for the spread of the gospel – and proclaim it.

Why should we seek the good of the church? David tells us in verses 8 and 9: for the sake of his brothers and companions, and for the sake of the house of the Lord. He loves the people of God because he love the God of his people.

These two loves must not be separated. We cannot claim to love Chrit while remaining indifferent towards his church. She is his Bride, his Body, the people purchased with his own blood.

To love Christ is to love those who belong to Christ. Because God dwells among his people, devote yourself to their good!

Brothers and sisters, remember where we began. In Revelation 4, John saw the throne of God – the One who is holy, holy, holy! This same God has drawn near to us in Jesus Christ. The eternal Son took on flesh, bore our sins upon the cross, rose victorious from the grave, and opened a way into God’s presence. Through Jesus we have become citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem.

Today, as we witness two baptisms, we see a visible testimony of this grace. These are two people unashamedly identifying with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection, confessing their hope in him. This is the work of Christ. He is building his church!

So do not let your wonder at what God is doing among us, fail. We are not yet home. Still there are sorrows to endure, sins to overcome, burdens to bear. But one day Christ will return, and with him will come the fulness of the New Jerusalem, when faith becomes sight. Until then, we are pilgrims longing for home.

So delight in God’s presence, rejoice in what he is building, seek the good of his church. And together, let us ascend to the city of our God!

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of our Lord!”