PSALMS LESSON 133
We will begin this lesson by giving the 122nd Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 122
Verse 1. "With joy I hear my friends exclaim, "come let us in God's
temple meet." Within thy gates, Jerusalem, Shall ever stand
our willing feet."
Verse 2. "A city built compact and fair, Jerus'lem stands, the sacred
place To which the gathering tribes repair, Tribes of
Jehovah's chosen race."
Verse 3. "'Tis there by his command they meet, To render thanks and
pay their vows; And there is Judgment's royal seat, There
are the thrones of David's house."
Verse 4. "Pray that Jerus'lem's peace endure, For all that love thee
God will bless; Peace dwell within thy walls secure, And joy
within thy palaces."
Verse 5. "For sake of friends and kindred dear, My heart's desire is
"peace to thee;" And for the house of God, my prayer shall
seek thy good continually. "
We will begin the verse by verse study of the 122nd Psalm. Psalms
122:1 "{A Song of degrees of David.} I was glad when they said unto
me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."
Are you glad, when someone says let's go to church? David, of
course, is the penman here. David loved the Lord. He was always
excited when it was time to go to worship with his God. He was not
only glad for himself, but he was glad that others wanted to go as
well. This is probably speaking of the physical house of the LORD here
on the earth. It would be said, also, of those who have run their race
and are prepared to meet their LORD at His throne in heaven. Many
times I ask someone, why do you go to church? Is it a joy to go? Would
you rather be doing something else? Are you going because you are
obligated to go, or do you go because you want to go? In David's
case, here, he was excited about just the thought of going. It was
with great anticipation that he went. He knew the Presence of God was
there over the mercy seat. O, to be just in the near vicinity of the
LORD. I can truthfully say, that it is with joy I think upon the
possibility of going to church. I am likewise anticipating the day
when I can go home to be with Him and never have to leave again. When
I think of Anna that was in the temple day and night, praying and
fasting, I think of a woman who truly loved God. She just stayed,
because she did not want to leave that Presence of God. Think on
these things.
Psalms 122:2 "Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O
Jerusalem."
The word stand, here, means a stationary fact. This means they
are not leaving, but standing. The joy of the first verse has run on
over in this. It is such a joy just to stand within the gate. Those
who have travelled to Israel can vouch for the joy of just standing in
the gate. There is a heavenly Jerusalem that this can be looking
forward to, as well.
Psalms 122:3 "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact
together:"
Probably, when David penned this, the city was not what we see
there today. Possibly, he was speaking of it prophetically. It is very
compact with a wall completely around it. The city, many times in the
Bible, is speaking of the church. We know that the church, also, is
compact. It is a close-knit group {family}.
Psalms 122:4 "Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD,
unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the
LORD."
Now we see, an important reason for going up to the temple. This
is still one of the reasons for going to church. O, give thanks unto
the Lord, for He is good. There were twelve tribes of Israel, but the
thing that kept them together was their God. The temple in Jerusalem
would be their gathering place of worship. The families of the tribes
would come at least three times a year to the temple to worship.
Psalms 122:5 "For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones
of the house of David."
The throne of judgement was in Jerusalem. David was the leader of
all 12 tribes at this time. Each tribe had a leader, but matters of
great importance were judged by David in Jerusalem.
Psalms 122:6 "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper
that love thee."
Jerusalem was taken from the word Salem, which means peace. The
city of peace has known very little peace. Perhaps, its name is for
the peace it will know when Jesus reigns on the earth. We should all
pray for Jerusalem, the city of our Great God. This city is the called
the city of God. We should all love this city. I believe this is,
also, speaking in a prophetic way about the church. Those who love it
are blessed.
Psalms 122:7 "Peace be within thy walls, [and] prosperity within
thy palaces."
This is a prayer for peace within the walls. Again, this can be
speaking of the walls of physical Jerusalem, or it could be speaking
of the walls of the church.
Psalms 122:8 "For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now
say, Peace [be] within thee."
This Psalm started with someone asking David to go the house of
the Lord. His brethren and companions, here, are the same as those
mentioned in the 1st verse. This is saying, that all believers would
benefit by the peace of Jerusalem. This is not a private place for
just David to worship. It is a place for all who love God to worship.
Psalms 122:9 "Because of the house of the LORD our God I will
seek thy good."
David was not allowed to build the temple in Jerusalem, because
he was a warrior. We said in a previous lesson, that David was a man
of peace who had been forced into war. David wanted the temple in
Jerusalem built so badly, that he gave a fortune in gold and silver
for the building. We see, in the verse above, that David made peace
around him, so the house of the Lord could be built in peaceful times.
We will continue this lesson by giving Psalms chapter 123 in
metre.
Chapter 123
Verse 1. "O THOU that dwellest in the heav'ns, I lift mine eyes to
thee. Behold, as servants' eyes attend, Their masters' hand
to see,"
Verse 2. "As handmaid's eyes her mistress' hand; So do our eyes
attend Upon the Lord our God, until To us he mercy send."
Verse 3. "O Lord, be gracious unto us, Unto us gracious be; For
filled with insolent contempt Exceedingly are we."
Verse 4. "Our soul is filled with scorn of those That at their case
abide, And with the insolent contempt for those that swell
in pride."
We will now begin the verse by verse study of Psalms chapter 123.
Psalms 123:1 "{A Song of degrees.} Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O
thou that dwellest in the heavens."
Dwellest means continues to dwell. We saw, in a previous lesson,
the psalmist looking from the valley to the hills. Here, we see him
looking into heaven itself. I John 5:7 "For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these
three are one." There is a throne in heaven, and we are told that the
Lord Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. We, also, know that the
Christians have an advocate with the Father. Our help is in the
heavens. You can not depend on people to help you. They will let you
down. Our help is in heaven at the throne of God. We are allowed to
look into the heavens to the throne of God, because Jesus opened the
way for me. Many a saint like Stephen actually saw the throne of God.
Do not look to this earth for answers to problems, you will just get
more problems. Look to heaven and the Lord.
Psalms 123:2 "Behold, as the eyes of servants [look] unto the
hand of their masters, [and] as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of
her mistress; so our eyes [wait] upon the LORD our God, until that he
have mercy upon us."
Behold, says, stop for a moment and pay close attention to this.
These servants, mentioned here, were watching for their master to
direct them to the next job. The maiden looking at her mistress is the
very same thing. We must, also, look at the signs and signals we get
from the Lord. We are not to be caught up in the signs, but we are to
use them to tell us what is about to happen. Matthew chapter 24 gives
us a list of things to watch for. We must keep our attention on the
Lord at all times. It is a very dangerous thing to take your eyes off
the Lord, and start looking around you at things of the earth.
Psalms 123:3 "Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for
we are exceedingly filled with contempt."
We have discussed several times how urgently we need the mercy of
our Lord. We do not want justice, because of our shortcomings. The
fact that he asked twice for mercy just shows the seriousness of the
request. Contempt, in this particular instance, means disrespect. It
could also mean bitterness. The contempt they were filled with was
from those around them. The evil people around the psalmist had no
respect for him at all. They were bitter and hateful in their dealings
with him.
Psalms 123:4 "Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of
those that are at ease, [and] with the contempt of the proud."
The proud, we decided, were lost and were living for just the
here and now. They had not humbled themselves and come to the Lord.
They felt that they were their own boss, and they did not want anyone
telling them what to do. Those that are at ease, possibly, means that
they were well off financially and thought they did not need God. They
ridiculed the psalmist for his stand he had made for God. They
actually hated the psalmist and what he stood for.
Questions 133
1. Quote verse 1 of Psalms 122.
2. Are you glad when someone says, let's go to church?
3. Why do you go to church?
4. Would you rather be doing something else?
5. What was David's attitude about going to meet with God?
6. What was Anna's reason for living in the temple?
7. What does the word, stand, mean in verse 2?
8. _________ is builded as a city that is compact together.
9. Many times in the Bible, the city is speaking of what?
10. What is an important reason to go up to the temple?
11. What kept the 12 tribes together?
12. How often did they come to Jerusalem to the temple to worship?
13. Matters of great importance were judged by whom?
14. Pray for the peace of ___________.
15. What does Salem mean?
16. Verse 8 says, for my ________ and _________ sake.
17. Who would benefit by the peace of Jerusalem?
18. Why did he seek good?
19. What does dwellest mean?
20. Quote 1 John chapter 5 verse 7.
21. Where is Jesus in heaven?
22. Where is our only real help?
23. Who was a good example of someone on earth who looked into heaven?
24. Where should believers be looking?
25. What is "behold" telling us?
26. Where can we read about signs we should be watching for?
27. Where is the contempt, in verse 3 of chapter 123, coming from?
28. Who are the proud?
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