Psalm 122 - Christmas hope

   Psalm 122   I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”  Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.  That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to praise the name of the LORD according to the statute given to Israel.  There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those you love you be secure.  May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”  For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.”  For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity (NIV).

   In studying Psalm 122 last week I realized this Psalm leads to a path of Christmas.  How does God use a Psalm of David written around one thousand years before the birth of Jesus to offer Christmas hope?
   First of all, the authorship of this Psalm is disputed because the Temple was not built in David’s lifetime, rather the first temple was built by Solomon who used the plans and resources his father David gave him.  David explained the plans for the temple had come from God.  “All this,” David said, “I have in writing from the hand of the LORD upon me, and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan” (I Chronicles 28:19 NIV).  Yet God told David he was not to build the temple rather his son Solomon was to build it (I Chronicles 22:6-10).
   However, only so many years into the 40 year reign of David, the first 7 years of which were from Hebron, and then the remaining 33 years of which were from Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:4-5), David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem where it was placed in a tent (2 Samuel 6:17).  Jerusalem became the place for the Feasts.  Though odd the psalmist would be speaking of going to the “house” of the LORD before a temple was built, he still could be David.
   Authorship aside, the message of Psalm 122 starts with mission to go to the house of the LORD with the purpose of praising the LORD, as is stated in verse four.  Praising the LORD is done in a number of the Psalms.  “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name” (Psalm 103:1 NIV).
   And then the psalmist speaks of Jerusalem being the place of “thrones for judgment,” which are “the thrones of the house of David.”  Though the temple came after David, David did reside 33 years in Jerusalem, the city which was his seat of rule (2 Samuel 5:9-10).
   How does David’s throne lead to a baby being born in a manger?  From that passage of 2 Samuel 5:9-10, we learn Jerusalem began to be called the “City of David,” yet Bethlehem became known likewise as the city of David, or the town of David, since Bethlehem is where David was born.  Thus starts a parallel where we can realize the fulfillment of promises God made in the time of David as He was preparing people for an everlasting covenant.  David was born in Bethlehem; Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  David was anointed king of Israel by God; Jesus, of the lineage of David, though born in a time when Israel no longer had a physical king, was the Anointed One, which in Hebrew is called Messiah, and which in Greek is called Christ.  Some magi used the term king when they asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2 NIV).  Israelites knew they were to worship only the one true God, since for starters this was in the Ten Commandments.  Whether some magi realized Jesus was the one true God incarnate, I do not know.  Yet what we know from Scripture is the baby Jesus born in a manger was indeed God.  “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” –which means, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23 NIV).
   Finally, though David was anointed king of Israel by God (I Samuel 16:12-13), he did not take his throne until after much turmoil due to the sins of others, especially Saul, and due to some of his own sins.  Likewise there was suffering by Jesus because of his love for sinful people, before He went back to his throne in heaven.  Though Jesus was born the Messiah and lived a sinless life, He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets allowing Himself to be crucified on a cross as the atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins for people.  Jesus was the substitute for the wages of sins, which is spiritual death, a mission of the Messiah which many Israelites overlooked.  Yet then Jesus was resurrected!  He now reigns in heaven.  And Jesus will one day return from heaven to Jerusalem and judge from His throne!  Then He will forever reign in heaven and on earth.
   The conclusion of the Psalm speaks of praying for the peace of Jerusalem.  Praise be to God we know from the prophet Isaiah that the Messiah, born in a manger of all places, is the Prince of Peace!  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this" (Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV).
   The baby Jesus born in a manger was the Messiah who later died for our iniquities.  And when Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, comes again, He will rescue Jerusalem just as Zechariah the prophet foretold, and He will reign from His throne as the eternal King of Glory.  And though in heaven now, Jesus the King of Glory who was God in the flesh, remains the loving Savior who is willing to be your Friend, no matter what your ethnic background, even right now.  You simply need to believe in Jesus.
Hunter Irvine