In 1976, the OM ship Logos visited Naples Italy, where I was stationed in the U.S. Navy. During one of the meetings held by the Logos teams, I heard a man share about an event that transformed his life and ministry. He had been working with Operation Mobilization in India and was traveling back to Europe with several other OM’ers. They got as far as what was then Yugoslavia, to a very dangerous section of road called Suicide Strip, when a truck, traveling on the wrong side of the road, hit them head-on. Frank was asleep in the back of the van when it happened, and he woke up some time later to discover that his fiancee and three others had died in the accident.
Frank went to sleep in the van, and when he woke up his whole life had changed. He was seriously injured, his close friends and the woman he planned to marry were gone. In the months of recovery that followed, he spent much time wondering why he had been spared. What was God’s purpose in keeping him alive, when all the others had been killed? Chris Begg, one of the others in the van, was a very gifted and promising leader. He had just finished leading a successful outreach to Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India. His wife, Hilevi, had grown up in India and spoke fluent Hindi. Their ministry was really just beginning. Humanly speaking, the work of missions in India needed them. Why had they been taken, and why had he been spared?
As he wrestled with this question over the next several months, he was thinking primarily in terms of service. What special place of service did God have for him in keeping him alive? The answer that came to him was a surprising one. God’s purpose for him was worship. He had been kept alive so that he could worship God. In the years following that meeting in Naples I got to know Frank, and I worked with him in a number of different settings. But the thing that stands out in my mind when I think of this man is worship. When I think of our two years on the ship Logos, one of the first things that comes to mind is the joy of worshiping under his leadership. If I think for any length of time about the subject of worship, I invariably think about Frank. His life and ministry has been, for me, an illustration of these words from the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Or, of these words from A.W. Tozer: “Why did Christ come? In order that He might make worshipers out of rebels. We were created to worship” (Gems from Tozer, p. 13).
Psalm 120 is a song for starting out. We begin our Christian lives with a realization that this world is not what we had hoped. It’s full of lies and deceit and violence. It’s a place where the wicked prosper, where bullies usually don’t get what they deserve, where the strong take advantage of the weak. Psalm 121 assures us of God’s presence and protection on our pilgrimage. As we set out on our journey toward the New Jerusalem, we soon find ourselves in trouble and in need of help. And as we look around desperately for help, we’re reminded of God’s care and presence: “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 122 tells us the point of the pilgrimage. Why are they making this trip, anyway? In Old Testament times, it was a dangerous journey up to Jerusalem. Pilgrims had to travel in groups, because of the danger of bandits. Why take the risk?
This Psalm makes it clear that the purpose of the pilgrimage is worship. The psalmist is excited about being in Jerusalem, but the focus is not Jerusalem in itself, but “the house of the Lord.” At the beginning of the Psalm, he rejoices with those who said: “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” And at the end, he commits himself to seeking the prosperity of Jerusalem “for the sake of the house of the Lord.” These pilgrims are going to Jerusalem because God’s house is there. It’s the same with our pilgrimage to the New Jerusalem. We are headed there to worship. This is what we look forward to: “Now the dwelling of God is with [people], and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). And here is a glimpse of the worship we’ll experience there: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’ All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces and worshiped God” (Revelation 7:9-11). We make our pilgrimage in anticipation of sharing in the worship around God’s throne. Worship is central to our lives in Jesus Christ, both now and in eternity.
Notice, in verses 1-2, that gathering for worship is a source of joy to the psalmist. It’s something he looks forward to with a sense of anticipation. “When they said, ‘Let’s go to the house of God,’ my heart leapt for joy” (The Message). We too often approach corporate worship legalistically: “I have to go to church.” Or, “I’m really tired this morning, and it’s been a hard week. I haven’t missed church in a few weeks, so I can afford to stay home today.” And if we look at it this way, we often feel that we’ve done our duty for the week by coming to church on Sunday morning: “Now that’s out of the way, and I can go on to other things.” It’s true that God does command us to gather for corporate worship: “That is where the tribes go up... to praise the name of the Lord according to the statute given to Israel” (v. 4). The pilgrimage to Jerusalem was, on one level, an issue of obedience. And the same is true for us: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing....” (Hebrews 10:25). But we read in Acts that the early Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer,” and that “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” (Acts 2:42, 46-47). Clearly there’s something more here than fulfilling a legal obligation. These people aren’t just dutifully fulfilling the law by being in church each Sunday. And the same is true for the psalmist. Going up to Jerusalem to worship was a source of joy to him. It was something he looked forward to.
Part of the problem is that we’re too busy. Our lives are cluttered with more things than we can possibly do. But that’s not the only problem. In 1978, my team traveled to a remote village in Madhya Pradesh, a large unevangelized state in the middle of India. The man who worked with us there was the only Christian in the whole area, and he was beside himself with joy at the thought of spending the day with other believers. He seldom had the opportunity to be involved in corporate worship and prayer. In 1982, when the ship Logos was in the Middle East, Annie and I felt spiritually oppressed whenever we left the ship. All of us living on the ship had a strong sense of community in that spiritually hostile environment. But here in the West, the lines between the Church and the world are often blurred. Church, for most of us, isn’t a place where we gather with God’s people after being in a draining environment that’s constantly pulling us down. Church is just one more thing we have to do. We don’t have an immediate sense that corporate worship is necessary to our spiritual survival. It is necessary to our spiritual survival, but we don’t see this as readily. We, all too often, see it as an obligation rather than a privilege.
What is the psalmist so excited about? He had looked forward to being in Jerusalem, and now that he’s there, he’s not disappointed. He says, with joy: “Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.” Verse three is a bit puzzling, at first glance: “Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.” When I first read those words, it paints a picture in my mind of narrow streets and crowded conditions. That’s not the sort of thing I look forward to. But the word translated “compact” is also used to describe the idea of group unity, the sense of people being united together in a common cause. Here’s one possible translation: “O Jerusalem, thou are built as the city by which brethren are united together” (The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 4, pp. 650-51). Or here’s another: “Jerusalem is built as a city that is at unity with itself” (Psalter for the Christian People). The idea here is that the structure of Jerusalem visually symbolizes the unity of God’s people, and also that Jerusalem, as the center of worship, functions to unify God’s people. It’s a place where God’s people unite in worship.
When he worships in Jerusalem, he’s aware of being part of something bigger than himself. He’s one with all God’s people who gather there in His name. “That is where the tribes go up... to praise the name of the Lord.” He’s part of this company; he’s not just out on his own, seeking spiritual fulfillment. “All the people of Israel–the Lord’s people–make their pilgrimage here” (New Living Translation). He’s part of something bigger than himself, but also he’s going there to do something that doesn’t revolve around his own needs and desires. He receives much by going to worship at the Temple, but that’s not why he’s going. He’s not going there to get something. He’s going there “to praise the name of the Lord.” He’s going there to offer something to God.
Often our problem with worship is that we’re too wrapped up in ourselves. Our lives in this society revolve around consumerism, making sure we get the most for our money, making sure we get what we’re looking for. And this is appropriate when we’re doing business. But when we approach the church in this way, we’re on very dangerous ground. If our reasons for attending worship all revolve around ourselves, we’re certainly guilty of idolatry. But we’re also unable to offer praise to God as He desires. When we approach the church as consumers, we’re not here to give something, we’re expecting to receive something. And if we don’t receive it here, we’ll just move on and find it somewhere else. In the meantime, we’ll probably be in a bad mood, because we haven’t been able to find what we’re looking for. The psalmist has come to Jerusalem to give something, and he doesn’t go away disappointed. His praise is focused on God, not on himself.
The psalmist is also reminded, in Jerusalem, that he is responsible to a law outside himself: “There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.” Here’s what Eugene Peterson says about this verse: “The biblical word judgment means ‘the decisive word by which God straightens things out and puts things right.’ Thrones of judgment are the places that that word is announced.... Every time we worship our minds are informed, our memories refreshed with the judgments of God, we are familiarized with what God says, what he has decided, the ways he is working out our salvation.... we want to hear what God says and what he says to us: worship is the place where our attention is centered on these personal and decisive words of God” (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, pp. 50-51). We come to worship to offer praise, and also to submit ourselves to the authority of God’s Word.
There’s no doubt that people in our society leave churches too easily. But what about people who leave churches because they feel spiritually starved? They come to church on Sunday morning expecting, and needing, to hear God’s Word preached, and all they hear, week after week, is the pastor’s own pet ideas. I believe they’re right. They aren’t approaching the church as consumers. They recognize that hearing God’s Word preached is part of what it means to worship. We gather together to praise God, and to put ourselves under the authority of His Word. The psalmist is in Jerusalem because of God. He’s taken the dangerous journey, together with a company of other pilgrims, because he wants to worship God. And part of what that means is hearing from His Word, being refocused and reoriented by hearing the judgments of God. Without God’s Word we flounder and drift, with no sense of direction. Worship involves both speaking to God and hearing from Him.
Notice, also, the psalmist’s attitude as he anticipates leaving Jerusalem to return home: he commits himself to pray for Jerusalem, and he exhorts others to do the same. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” This verse is often quoted in reference to the current problems in the Middle East: “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” It’s a good thing to pray for an end to the continual violence in the Middle East. But that isn’t what this verse is about, in the context of this Psalm. The psalmist is concerned about Jerusalem as the center of true worship: “For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.” The place where God is worshiped today is the Church of Jesus Christ. So when we pray this Psalm, we’re not praying for the rebuilding of the Temple. We’re not taking sides in the disputes over who should have control over the Temple Mount (an important site for Jews, Christians and Muslims). When we pray this Psalm, we’re praying for the Church. As Paul says in Galatians, we belong to the New Jerusalem: “Hagar, the slave-wife, represents Mount Sinai where people first became enslaved to the law. And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery. But Sarah, the free woman, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. And she is our mother” (Galatians 4:24-26, New Living Translation). Or this, from Hebrews 12: “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God” (Hebrews 12:22).
The psalmist prays that Jerusalem will experience peace and security. He uses the word “peace” three times. But he’s talking about more than the mere absence of fighting. This word, shalom, is one of the richest words in the Old Testament. It refers to the idea of wholeness, the wholeness that results when God’s will is fulfilled in us. Jesus miracles of healing and His acts of mercy were demonstrations of shalom (Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 52). He also means more by this word “security” than we normally do when we use it. “It has nothing to do with insurance policies or large bank accounts or stockpiles of weapons. The root meaning is leisure–the relaxed stance of one who knows that everything is all right because God is over us, with us and for us in Jesus Christ. It is the security of being at home in a history that has a cross at its center. It is the leisure of the person who knows that every moment of our existence is at the disposal of God, lived under the mercy of God” (Peterson, p. 52). The psalmist is praying that Jerusalem will be filled with an awareness of God’s presence and blessing. He’s praying for Jerusalem as the place where God’s people go for worship, the orienting center for the worship of the true God. He’s praying that Jerusalem will continue to be a place where God’s people meet with Him.
Worship is central to our lives as Christians. It’s what we’ll be doing when we see God face to face, and it’s what He calls us to do now, throughout the course of our pilgrimage. We need to resist the activistic impulses of our culture and remind ourselves often that worship, not service, is primary. Our highest calling is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” A.W. Tozer said this: “We’re here to be worshipers first and workers only second. We take a convert and immediately make a worker out of him. God never meant it to be so. God meant that a convert should learn to be a worshiper, and after that he can learn to be a worker. The work done by a worshiper will have eternity in it.” God has called us to Himself so that we can offer Him worship and praise throughout eternity.
Try praying this Psalm over the next week or so, and ask God to fill you with a genuine sense of joy and anticipation at the thought of gathering with His people for corporate worship. Some years ago, I was at a John Michael Talbot concert, and he said, “I hope you all pray the Psalms.” I didn’t know what he was talking about, but it sounded like a good idea. So I started. It was a struggle at first, so I bought Eugene Peterson’s translation, The Message, which really helped. The first few times, it took me several months to pray through the whole book of Psalms, and I had to keep bringing myself back to it. But as I kept coming back to it, I found the Psalms becoming more and more important to me, and now praying through the Psalms is the foundation of my prayer life. The Psalms have often been referred to as the Church’s school of prayer. Until fairly recently, this has been how most of God’s people, throughout the centuries, have learned to pray. We need to recover this practice. But it’s unfamiliar, and we’ll be tempted to give up before we’ve given it a fair chance.
Listen to this counsel from Eugene Peterson: “Believers must be aware that most of the time discipline feels dull and dead. We’re impatient if we have to wait a long time for something, especially in America. If we don’t find instant zest in a discipline, we make a negative snap judgment about it. But often what we describe as deadness, dullness, or boredom is simply our own slow waking up. We just have to live through that. Simple desire for more in our Christian lives is sufficient evidence that the life is there. Be patient and wait. It’s the Spirit’s work. We simply put ourselves in the way of the Spirit so he can work in us” (E. Peterson, Living the Message, p. 295). Don’t give up because it’s unfamiliar and uncomfortable. “Be patient and wait.... We simply put ourselves in the way of the Spirit so he can work in us.” A good place to begin is with these Psalms of Ascent. Pray through them regularly during this series. As you pray them, over and over, you’ll enter into the Psalms in a way that you can’t do by simply reading them. And you’ll find that God will be also forming these things into your life, so that you can say, from your heart, “I rejoiced when I heard them say, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”
In Revelation we’re given glimpses into the worship before God’s throne. But we easily forget that, in Christ, we are part of that right now. Each time we gather in His name for worship, we join all those in heaven and throughout the earth who worship Him. This is what the author of Hebrews says: “You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai when God gave them his laws. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice with a message so terrible that they begged God go stop speaking. They staggered back under God’s command: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.’ Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, ‘I am terrified and trembling.’” What we’ve experienced is not so visibly and physically dramatic as that. And yet, here’s what he says about us: “No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to thousands of angels in joyful assembly. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to the spirits of the redeemed in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which graciously forgives instead of crying out for vengeance as the blood of Abel did.... Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be destroyed, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:18-24, 28-29; New Living Translation). May God stir us with a fresh realization of what we’re doing when we gather in His name for worship. Let’s worship Him in anticipation of that great day when we’ll all be gathered before His throne.
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