Craig T. Owens

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The main point in Hebrew literature is usually found in the middle. In Psalm 122 that would be verse 5 where we see the keyword in this verse is thrones—“thrones for judgment” and “thrones of the house of David.” Before this, we have the call to go up to Jerusalem (the City of Peace) in the first four verses, and after this, we have overwhelming, saturating peace in the last four verses.

But I wonder: How do thrones—especially a throne of judgment—bring about peace? 

Remember that these are songs of ascent: we are called upward. I think “up” implicitly appears in verse 1—“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go UP to the house of the Lord,’—and “up” explicitly appears in verse 4—“That is where the tribes go UP, the tribes of the Lord, to praise the name of the Lord.” 

There is clearly a longing to go up to meet with God, but I also detect a note of uncertainty. Let me show you what I see. First of all, verse 3 in the New Living Translation says about Jerusalem that “its seamless walls cannot be breached.” And yet the walls were breached in 586 BC when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. So anyone singing this song of ascent after the time of exile would have known that the walls weren’t as secure as David hoped they would be. 

Second, verse 4 in the Contemporary English Version says that “every tribe of the Lord obeys Him.” And yet it was the disobedience of every tribe of the Lord that led to their defeat and then their 70-year exile. So, again, anyone singing this song of ascent after the time of exile would know about the punishment for disobedience. 

In an earlier Psalm, David asked God who could go up to the Holy City, and then he answered his own question like this—

The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. (Psalm 15:1-5) 

That description also sounds a bit unachievable to me, because who has ever fulfilled all of the items on that list perfectly? 

So we get to verse 5 and read about the thrones. The word “throne” means the seat of honor, authority, and power. It represents the place where the final and unchallengeable word is spoken. There is a final day of judgment before God’s throne, which John records in Revelation 20:11-15. 

And yet, that day of judgment is not here yet. Jesus quoted the prophecy from Isaiah about Himself in His first sermon, but He purposely left off the last phrase about the day of judgment. He, instead, ended with the phrase where He had come to “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:17-21). We see this thought again in John’s Gospel—

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. (John 3:16-17)

The reason why it’s so important that the “the throne of the house of David” is in the middle of Psalm 122 is because Jesus is the fulfillment of that—He is the final and eternal King to come from David’s line (see 2 Samuel 7:8-18; Matthew 1:1; Acts 2:25-36; Revelation 22:16)! 

If we try to earn our own way into the Eternal Jerusalem, we will find that the walls can be breached, our obedience is not consistent, and that we are unable to keep that full list in Psalm 15. As a result, we face a throne of judgment. 

But when we place our faith in what Jesus did for us on the Cross, where He paid the price for our sin, took away our unrighteousness, and gave us His righteousness in its place, then we will stand before the throne of shalom. 

In the second half of Psalm 122, the words we read are peace, secure, peace, security, brothers and friends, peace, prosperity. That word “peace” is the Hebrew word shalom, which means nothing lost, nothing missing. Jesus wants us to be in the Eternal Jerusalem with Him for ever and ever. 

Christ’s desire is that none should be separated from Him (see 2 Peter 3:9-14), so we could also say that shalom means no one lost, no one missing. We should want everyone—every tribe, nation, and people—to be with us in the Eternal Jerusalem forever!

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go UP to the house of Lord.” Let’s not go alone. Let’s bring as many people with us as we can to enjoy the eternal shalom of God’s Holy City! 

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in our look at the Psalms of Ascent, you can find them all here. 

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