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Illustration for Psalm 122: Let Us Go to God's House

Psalm 122

Let Us Go to God's House

JoyAdventure

The pilgrim is happy and excited to be going to Jerusalem — God's city! They pray for the city's peace and safety. It's like the joy of going to church on Sunday, but even more special because it's the city where God's temple stood.

  1. 1I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."
  2. 2Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.
  3. 3Jerusalem is built as a city joined together in unity.
  4. 4The tribes go up there— the tribes of the LORD— as a testimony for Israel, to praise the name of the LORD.
  5. 5There stand the thrones of justice, the thrones of the house of David.
  6. 6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure.
  7. 7May peace be within your walls and security within your towers."
  8. 8For the sake of my brothers and friends I will say, "Peace be with you."
  9. 9For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity.

What it means

This traveller is simply glad to be going to God's house with other people. Not dragged along — glad. And what they pray for when they arrive is peace for everybody in the city, not just for themselves.

A little prayer

God, thank You for people I can worship with. Make me glad to spend time with You and with them. I pray for peace in my home, my school and my town. Amen.

Memory verse

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."”

Psalm 122:1 (BSB)

The gladness comes from the invitation, before anybody has gone anywhere.

Talk about it

Questions with no single right answer — for a family table or a Sunday-school circle.

  1. The pilgrim is glad when people say 'let us go to the house of the LORD'. What invitation makes you glad?
  2. The psalm prays for the peace of the city. Why pray for a place rather than a person?
  3. It mentions going together, not alone. Does that matter?
  4. What place would you pray peace over?

Try this

Pray for a place

Choose one street, school or town. Find out one real thing that is hard there. Pray for it by name this week.

Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB)