Psalm 122 JOINING UP

ON THE WAY UP (3)

Psalm 122    JOINING UP

SO far the Pilgrim's songs have been wholly personal. This is as it should be for we rightly respond to our heavenly calling with individual faith. At first he feels alone in his venture. But not for long. His quest for holiness brings him into vital relationship with others who are on the same road and heading for the same destination, the house of the Lord in the top of the mountain.

HE is glad to find himself in such company. At times we extol the merits of some district by saying that one can walk for miles without meeting another soul. Well, that may be all right for a holiday but it is not possible, neither is it desirable, for the Christian pilgrim.

NOTE how the singular use of 'I' and 'my' give place to the plural 'us' and 'our'. The tribes -- all of them -- are on the move and they journey together in the will of God. We are joined up as we journey up. Such relatedness brings its problems but it brings divine joys -- "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go ...". It is a great privilege to be given a place in that happy band of pilgrims.

THEIR hope is so vividly real that they feel as though their feet are already standing in those sacred precincts, though actually they are tramping a dusty road. They are there in spirit. Their first impression seems to be of the marvellous compact unity which is a feature of God's house. They see also that they are in the realm where God alone rules -- "there are set thrones for judgment". The very prospect inspires the psalmist to an appreciation of his calling to be joined up to brothers and companions in this upward movement.

THE welfare of these friends and companions will now be a governing factor in his concerns and prayers. He began with personal preoccupations and found assurance that God would watch over them; now he is joined up with the rest of God's people, so he will concentrate on their affairs too. He will pray for the peace of Jerusalem not only because it is his home but because he knows it to be the home which he shares with all the rest of God's people.

THOSE who are compacted together and ruled by God's throne in their heavenly destination should surely strive for harmony on the way up and gladly submit to the judgments of the throne even now. The psalmist's final words show that he realises that the united testimony of the redeemed is of paramount importance to the Lord Himself. He accepts that his right relationship with others in this great tribal movement upwards is supremely for the pleasure of the Lord. The house they are going to is God's house. The peace that really matters is God's peace. The invitation which he has received is not only to join up with special friends of his own choosing, but to play a loyal part in the concerted progress of all God's pilgrims, who are his brothers because they are God's children.

----------------