Psalms 122

Psalms 122:1-9

Psalms 1221. (Psalms 122:1) A Song of the Ascents. By David. I rejoice in (those) saying to me, To the house of Jehovah we will go. This psalm, though so much older than the two before it, was probably placed third in the series, because it was intended to be sung, and was actually sung, at the entrance ofthe Holy City, whereas the others were used at the commencement of the march, and on coming in sight of Jerusalem. The ideal speaker represents the church or chosen people. After the introduction, Psalms 122:1-2, comes a panegyric on Jerusalem, as the royal and holy city, Psalms 122:3-5, followed by a prayer for her prosperity as such, Psalms 122:6-9.

The Ascents, or upward journeys of the people to the sanctuary, as in Psalms 120:1; Psalms 121:1. To rejoice in those saying is to rejoice because they say. On the last clause is founded in Isaiah 2:3, where the gentiles are described as joining in the words here uttered by the Jews.

2. (Psalms 122:2) Standing are our feet in thy gates, 0 Jerusalem! The common version (shall stand) is entirely ungrammatical. The past tense of the sub stantive verb with the participle means strictly have been standing, i.e. have begun to stand, or are already standing.

3. (Psalms 122:3) Jerusalem, the (one) built like a city which is joined to itself together. This seems to be a continuation of the address in the preceding verse. The unusual expressions in the last clause are intended to describe the city as substantially and strongly built. The sense is correctly given in the English Bible, a city that is compact together. This seems to imply that Jerusalem had recently assumed this character, and may therefore help to determine the period in the reign of David, when the psalm was written. See 2 Samuel 5:9.

The abbreviated relative has by some been made a proof of later date; but it no doubt belonged from the beginning to the dialect of common life, though not commonly employed in writing till a later date. It occurs in the song of Deborah, Judges 5:7, and elsewhere in the Book of Judges (Judges 6:17; Judges 7:12; Judges 8:26).

4. (Psalms 122:4) Where the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, (as) a testimony to Israel, to give thanks to the name of Jehovah. There is obvious reference to the requisition in Exodus 23:17; Exodus 34:23, Deuteronomy 16:16, which is called a testimony, not merely as the law in general is (Psalms 93:5), but as a constant memorial of God’s goodness to his people. The mention of the tribes seems to point to the period of the undivided monarchy.

5. (Psalms 122:5) For there sit thrones for judgment, thrones for the house of David. This means simply that Jerusalem was a civil as well as a religious capital. There, literally thither, implying that the singers were themselves in motion towards these thrones. Sit, or as we should say in English, stand. See below, Psalms 125:1.

6. (Psalms 122:6) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may they have peace that love thee! Peace, in both clauses, includes all prosperity. There is obvious allusion to the meaning of the name Jerusalem. See above, on Psalms 76:2.

7. (Psalms 122:7) Peace be within thy rampart, and repose within thy palaces. Peace and repose from all distracting causes, of whatever nature. Rampart, breast-work, circumvallation. Rampart and palaces are put for the outer and inner masses of building. Compare Psalms 48:14.

8. (Psalms 122:8) For the sake of my brethren and my friends, let me speak, Peace (be) within thee. By brethren and friends we are to understand the whole body of the chosen people. For their sake may include the sense of in their behalf. The last clause admits of a different construction, Let me speak peace to thee, literally in thee. See above, on Psalms 85:8. The optative meaning of the verb is determined by the particle, the use of which here seems to be imitated in Psalms 115:2; Psalms 116:4.

9. (Psalms 122:9) For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God, I will seek thy good. The house of God is here the sanctuary and all the interests of which it was the local centre. Jehovah our God, our patron and protector, our peculiar covenant God. Seek includes every form of effort to promote it; but the prominent idea is that of intercession.