Going to the House of the Lord – Psalm 122

Doug FloydThe gentle sounds of young men softly humming mingled with bittersweet scents of late harvest and the bite of crisp autumn air. These sensations excited Shamir’s tiredimagination with visions from festivals long ago.This long-awaited journey was like stepping forth into a new world. The young menfollowed him back to the land that only he remembered. He told them the stories, hetaught them the songs, and now he led back to the land of his past. And the land of their future.As they walked, they hummed, and the words to an ancient song beat in their heartsand coursed through their bodies. Day after day, month after month, year after year,he held tightly to the melody of this short, joyful song of ascents.

“I was glad when they said unto me Let us go into the house of the Lord!”

A lifetime before, his father taught him to sing while on pilgrimage to the temple.To keep the body from growing weary during such a long trip, his father told himthat a song can make the heart dance and tired feet step lively.Little Shamir and his father would sing together:

I was glad when they said to me,“We will go to the house of the LORD.”Our feet are standingWithin your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem you that are built As a city bound in fellowship. Here the tribes ascend,The tribes of the LORD, As is the law for Israel,To give thanks to the name of the LORD. And here stands thrones of justice,The thrones of the house of David.O pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May blessing abound on those who love you.Peace be within your walls,Tranquility within your palacesFor the sake of my brothers and companions,

I will pray down peace upon you.For sake of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.

As they walked and sang, they joined with other pilgrims who joined with otherpilgrims, and soon a large band walked and sang and longed toward the holy city.King Josiah’s devotion to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob renewed a sense of hope and purpose and destiny for this small kingdom.Shamir’s father recounted the legendary glory days when King David the Warriorand King Solomon the Golden Son ruled the land. The world came to this tinykingdom to hear and see the unfolding wisdom of the great High God.

Our feet are standingWithin your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem you that are built As a city bound in fellowship.

Standing at the gates of city, they beheld the fine craftsmanship of Israel’s ancientsfirsthand. Giant stones cut to fit in perfect harmony and strength. The great wallformed a mosaic that reflected the call of God to bind the tribes of Israel into onepeople, one voice, one sounding glory upon the earth.Growing up immersed in the stories of his people, Shamir dreamed of one dayhelping this call to glory echo across the land. But his dreams of future hopefractured into memories of terror, destruction and violence when the invasionsbegan.During one attack his family fell under weight Babylon’s cruel victory, and he joined other young men taken captive on the long track to a foreign land. As hemarched away on this dark pilgrimage, Shamir quietly prayed,For sake of the house of the LORD our GodI will seek your good.He continued to dream of one day returning to stand within the gates of Jerusalem.Shamir watched as some of the captives lost heart during the long years of Babylonian rule. Serving in this massive kingdom, made Judah seem like a tiny specof a nation and the Hebrews a spec of a people.The days and years and decades of his long dark night were filled with echoes of song, longing for a new day.

“I was glad when they said unto me Let us go into the house of the Lord!”

In the song, Shamir could still see the wonder of Solomon’s throne through the eyesof his heart. He told his stories, Judah’s stories, Israel’s stories to the young menwho would listen. And gradually some began to sing and hope and long for a landtheir eyes had never seen.These same young men now surrounded the old man as a band of pilgrims returningto the land of their fathers. Cyrus, King of Persia had granted bands of people fromthe tribes of Judah and Benjamin to make the long journey and rebuild the temple.And as they walked on this cool autumn morning, they hummed. Shamir’s brokenbody simply couldn’t express the giddiness of his childlike heart. He wanted todance and sing loudly and swirl like King David of old. Instead, he stumbled andsmiled and dreamed.Walking in between waking and sleeping, he could see the city that once was. As helooked at overgrown fields and ruins from another time, he could see great walls of glory.He also saw the pilgrims who also walked this journey.

Here the tribes ascend,The tribes of the LORD, As is the law for Israel,To give thanks to the name of the LORD.

He watched old men, young men, women, a few animals and some children. Alltired from the long journey. But even as he looked out to the ascending tribes, hesaw beyond the handfuls of sojourners to more tribes, people of every race, everycolor. He saw great horses and chariots; he saw mighty kings. As far as his eyescould see, a vast multitude walked. And as they walked they loudly sang,“I was glad when they said unto meLet us go into the house of the Lord!”He wanted to shout, to dance, to scream. But his body was too weak. The youngmen began to carry him across the scarred land. For a moment Shamir rejoined thesmall bands of travelers heading toward the holy city.