“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let’s go to the house of the Lord!’” Can we honestly say the same thing every Sunday morning? Are we excited to gather with other believers for worship? And if so, why?

Well, notice that David doesn’t mention any of the reasons that so many modern Americans choose to attend a particular congregation: he doesn’t say anything about children’s programming, or the attractiveness of the buildings, or even the quality of the music ministry (in spite of the fact that he was quite an accomplished songwriter and instrumentalist himself).

Instead, in verse 4 he points to the ordinance or the testimony for Israel – in other words, to the Word of God. And this is still a great reason to attend divine worship: not only because we get to learn more about God’s Word, but because God wants those He loves so much to draw close to Him in this way. Public worship thus gives us a chance both to fulfill the expectations God has of us and to learn more of His perfect will for our lives.

But David doesn’t stop there. He also celebrates the fact that approaching the Temple of the Lord also meant coming close to the throne of the kings of Israel, those who had been divinely appointed to administer justice to the people of God. In the same way, becoming part of a worshipping congregation allows our ruling elders to hold us accountable for our profession of faith, thus helping us to follow Jesus more consistently and to bear a purer witness to the Christ Who lives within us.

But perhaps the best reason to gather with other believers for worship is the mutual encouragement that such fellowship brings to all of us. We all know how much we enjoy seeing our Christian friends on Sunday mornings (verse 8). But David goes so far as to urge us to pray for peace among all Christians, among all the tribes of the people of God (verse 4). In fact, David says that he will seek the good of God’s people for the sake of the house of the Lord.

So, knowing that the Holy Spirit lives within all those who trust in Christ (I Corinthians 6:19), and knowing that all God’s people are in fact living stones that make up the true Temple of God (I Peter 2:5), how much more should we New Testament believers long to gather with the rest of God’s people? Having seen the cross and the empty tomb, how much greater should be our desire to learn more of Jesus’ Word, to follow Him more consistently, and to “pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another” (Romans 14:19)? How much more glad we should be to go into the house of the Lord!

Psalm 122 (NASB)

A Song of Ascents, of David.
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
2 Our feet are standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that is built As a city that is compact together;
4 To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD– An ordinance for Israel– To give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5 For there thrones were set for judgment, The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
7 “May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.