Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Joy of Going to the House of the Lord (Psalm 122) | Charles Spurgeon

Transcript

The Joy of Going to the House of the Lord (Psalm 122) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Imagine the physical toll of travel back in the ancient Near
0:03
East. Oh, it was brutal.
0:05
Yeah, you have been walking for days through this arid,
0:08
unforgiving terrain. The roads are rough, the hills
0:11
are steep and the sun is just beating down relentlessly.
0:15
And you are feeling every single step.
0:17
Every muscle aches, you are covered in the dust of the road,
0:22
and there is a constant lingering threat of bandits or
0:26
wild animals. The second the sun dips below
0:29
the horizon, the. Isolation would be completely
0:31
terrifying. It really would be.
0:33
But then you Crest a final hill, and in the distance the stone
0:37
walls of your destination break the skyline, and all that
0:41
exhaustion just fades into a sudden burst of song.
0:44
It is a total shift. Welcome to reformed thinking.
0:46
I am your host and we are jumping into a brand new deep
0:49
dive today. That emotional whiplash from
0:51
grueling, dangerous isolation to overwhelming shared joy is what
0:55
we are looking at today. We have a lot of ground to
0:57
cover. We do.
0:58
We are pulling apart Charles Spurgeon's notes on Psalm 122,
1:02
drawing from his classic work The Treasury of David.
1:05
The mission here is to figure out what ancient believers knew
1:08
about gathered worship that modern society has, well, mostly
1:13
forgotten. And that historical friction
1:15
between the danger of the road and the safety of the
1:17
destination is really the best place to begin.
1:20
Let's set the scene for the listener.
1:22
What is the context of this Psalm?
1:25
So Psalm 122 falls into a category known as a song of
1:28
degrees, or something you hear called a song of Ascent, right?
1:31
David wrote it, but he designed it for a very specific
1:35
functional use. Like a travel song.
1:37
Spot on. It was meant to be sung by the
1:39
people of Israel as they traveled, as they literally
1:42
ascended the topographical elevation toward Jerusalem for
1:45
the high feasts. Because Jerusalem sits up on a
1:47
hill. Yes.
1:48
So the structure of this song documents a distinct
1:50
psychological shift. The singer moves from a state of
1:53
individual isolation in a scattered agrarian village.
1:56
Out in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, Out in the country, they
1:59
move from that into a state of corporate anticipation.
2:01
They are looking forward to being part of a massive group.
2:04
Right. David writes this as a poet
2:07
looking forward to the future glory of the city under his son
2:10
Solomon. So everything we read in this
2:13
text is saturated with this eager anticipation.
2:16
The anticipation of stepping out of the vulnerable individual
2:20
self and into the secure community of faith, Yes.
2:23
So let's test that theory by looking right at the opening
2:25
line, David says. I was glad when they said unto
2:29
me, Let us go into the House of the Lord.
2:31
It is such a famous line. It is, but look at what is
2:34
happening. He is not just thrilled about
2:37
the destination, he is thrilled about the invitation.
2:40
He is glad that others are saying let us go.
2:43
Yeah, the text is very clear on that.
2:45
And I think this directly contradicts how society
2:49
generally builds community today.
2:51
Oh, without a doubt. We obsess over the architecture,
2:53
the personal experience, the individual consumer preference.
2:56
But David is reacting to the fact that his neighbors are
2:59
pulling him along. Spurgeon identifies what he
3:01
calls a double joy in this verse.
3:03
Double joy. What does he mean by that?
3:06
Well, David is glad for his own sake.
3:08
Naturally, his heart is inclined toward the worship of God, and
3:11
he desires to be in the holy place.
3:13
Sure, that makes sense. But the phrasing reveals he is
3:16
equally glad for the sake of his neighbors.
3:19
Oh, because they asked him. Right.
3:21
He rejoices that his companions possess the courage and the
3:23
desire to invite him. The phrase is not a command.
3:27
It is not, you know, you go. Right it is.
3:29
Let us go. Yes, that implies a mutual
3:32
encouragement, and it really challenges the highly
3:36
individualized view of spirituality that dominates our
3:39
current era. Where faith is treated as just a
3:42
private transaction. Exactly.
3:44
Just an individual, alone with their thoughts entirely detached
3:47
from physical communion. Yeah, modern culture loves the
3:50
idea of solo spirituality. But here, the desire to gather
3:54
with believers, to be drawn into a physical space with them, is
3:58
presented as a predictive indicator of a person's
4:01
spiritual health. Wow.
4:02
Yeah, love for the gathered body indicates a soul being prepared
4:05
for an eternal gathering. There is a fantastic anecdote
4:09
from our sources regarding Gregory Notziansen's father that
4:12
really illustrates how magnetic this mutual encouragement can
4:15
be. Oh, that is a great story.
4:17
It really is so. His father was a heathen
4:20
entirely outside the faith, right?
4:22
And his wife had repeatedly begged him to convert.
4:25
With absolutely 0 success. None.
4:27
But the turning point came when this specific verse, Psalm 122,
4:32
verse one, was suggested to him in a dream.
4:35
Just the verse itself. Yeah, the mere concept of being
4:38
invited into the House of the Lord in that dream broke through
4:41
his resistance. It is amazing.
4:43
It really is. It wasn't some theological
4:45
argument that changed his mind. It was the compelling nature of
4:49
an invitation to community. Which forces us to ask, what did
4:53
the House of the Lord actually mean to these believers?
4:56
Right, because it wasn't just a building to them.
4:58
Well, Martin Luther offers a brilliant perspective on this
5:01
very point. What does he say?
5:02
Luther argued that we completely missed the mark if we look at
5:05
this text and only see a building.
5:08
He noted that the true temple was not beautiful because of its
5:11
physical construction. It wasn't the masonry.
5:14
No, it wasn't the massive stones or the timber, the gold or the
5:17
silver that mattered. So what was the beauty?
5:20
For Luther, the true beauty of the temple was that the word of
5:23
the Lord was heard there, that people called upon His name, and
5:27
that they found Him to be merciful.
5:30
The physical architecture was completely secondary to the
5:33
activity occurring within it. So the gladness David felt was
5:37
not about looking at shiny gold ornaments.
5:39
Not at all. It was about participating in a
5:41
shared reception of God's mercy alongside other people.
5:45
I want to replace the standard modern analogy here.
5:48
OK, go for. It usually people compare this
5:50
verse to getting a text message from a friend saying hey, let's
5:52
go to a concert. Right, which is a bit shallow.
5:55
Very. A concert invitation doesn't
5:57
capture the stakes of the ancient world, no.
6:00
So think of this more like soldiers who have been scattered
6:02
in hostile territory, just trying to survive on their own.
6:05
That is a much better visual. Right when they finally receive
6:09
the communication to regroup at a secure rendezvous point, the
6:13
relief isn't just about the physical bunker.
6:15
It is about seeing the other soldiers.
6:17
Yes, when your fellow travellers say let us go, they are acting
6:22
as a circle of unity. Our source notes from Anthony
6:25
Ferren didn't describe this. We, as a bond of peace that
6:29
makes many, act as one. A bond of peace.
6:32
I like that. When someone says we are going,
6:35
they are flatly refusing to leave you behind to face the
6:38
wilderness alone. And the linguistic shift in the
6:41
next verse reflects that exact transition from the wilderness
6:45
to the secure rendezvous point. Verse 2.
6:47
Yeah, verse 2 declares. Our feet shall stand within thy
6:50
gates, O Jerusalem. Such a triumphant statement.
6:53
Or if you translate it more directly, our feet are standing.
6:57
Oh. So interesting.
6:58
Notice the grammar there. The forward motion of the
7:00
grueling travel has ceased. They are not walking anymore.
7:03
Right, they are no longer walking, climbing or resting
7:06
nervously by the side of the road.
7:08
They are standing. And the location matters.
7:10
Hugely, the location of where they are standing is crucial, it
7:13
says within the gates. Because outside the gates is
7:16
terrible. Exactly.
7:19
In the ancient world, to be outside the gates of a fortified
7:22
city was to be entirely exposed. Outside meant danger, wild
7:27
animals and potential destruction.
7:28
Bandits. Yeah, all of it.
7:30
Stepping inside the gates meant seclusion, serenity and
7:33
salvation. The walls provided an absolute
7:36
physical barrier against the chaos of the exterior world.
7:40
They did. But let's bring this into
7:41
reality for the listener, OK? If you are sitting in traffic on
7:46
a Tuesday morning, or maybe walking into a standard office
7:49
building, you do not have literal walled cities that you
7:53
retreat into for worship. Most of us don't know.
7:55
So what does standing within the gates mean for someone whose
7:59
physical environment lacks these literal stone barriers?
8:03
That is a great question. The physical security of
8:05
Jerusalem's walls maps directly onto the spiritual security of
8:09
being integrated into a local body of believers.
8:13
The gates are highly functional, you know they're open to let the
8:16
travellers in, but they are shut to keep the enemies out.
8:19
So the church acts. This is the walls.
8:21
Right. Standing within the gates
8:24
represents an honorable and secure posture.
8:27
It is a place of refuge from the sliding snares and the moral
8:31
chaos of the outside world. The joy of the travelers is the
8:35
realization that they have crossed the threshold from
8:37
vulnerability into safety. The gathered church functions as
8:41
that walled city to. Really visualize that moment of
8:44
crossing the threshold. The sources introduced this
8:47
amazing historical travel account from a guy named Doctor
8:50
Clark. Yes, the account of his travel
8:52
in the East. Right.
8:53
He was traveling with a massive procession of people A.
8:56
Huge group. And they were climbing these
8:58
extended heavy ranges of eastern hills.
9:01
They were totally exhausted from the dust and the heat.
9:03
This. Completely drained.
9:05
But when the foremost travelers finally reached the summit of
9:08
the last hill and the city broke the horizon, they just threw
9:11
their hands up. And gestures of sheer joy.
9:13
Yeah, and they showed it. The holy city.
9:15
The holy city and then everyone behind them started rushing
9:19
forward just to get a glimpse. That physical arrival creates a
9:22
massive psychological release. It is a phenomenal image, and it
9:27
is used frequently by theologians to describe the
9:30
ultimate threshold A believer crosses at the end of life.
9:34
You mean death? Yes, Edward Payson, a minister
9:38
in the early 19th century, utilized this exact imagery
9:41
during his dying experience. What did he say?
9:44
He described the Celestial City coming into full view as he
9:47
approached death. He said the glories were beaming
9:51
upon him, the breezes fanning him.
9:53
That is beautiful. And because the vision of that
9:55
secure city was so grand and overwhelming, he said.
9:58
The river of death, which you know terrifies the human mind
10:02
of. Course.
10:03
He said it now appeared to him as nothing more than an
10:05
insignificant little rill that could be crossed in a single
10:08
step. Just a tiny stream, yeah.
10:11
The physical arrival at the gates of earthly Jerusalem
10:13
becomes a miniature model of the believers final arrival at the
10:17
gates of the New Jerusalem. I need to clarify something
10:19
regarding the phrasing though. The phrase Our feet shall stand.
10:23
OK, what about it? If they're singing this on the
10:25
road while they're walking, are they physically standing in the
10:28
city at that moment? That is the big debate.
10:31
Or as the sources suggest, have they antedated the joy?
10:35
Like are they essentially time traveling emotionally borrowing
10:39
tomorrow's relief to pay for today's exhaustion?
10:41
That is a highly perceptive way to frame it.
10:44
Spurgeon suggests that both interpretations carry weight.
10:47
OK, it could be the triumphant song of actual physical arrival,
10:51
like they just walked through the cage.
10:53
But it is equally plausible that their faith and anticipation
10:57
were so strong that they antedated the joy.
11:00
They were so sure of their destination, so confident in the
11:04
safety that awaited them behind those walls, that they sang of
11:07
the standing while still engaged in The Walking.
11:10
That is incredible. The sheer certainty of arriving
11:13
at the gates fueled their physical endurance on the road.
11:16
Yes, the mind was already at rest, even while the legs were
11:19
still climbing. So they have crossed this
11:20
threshold and survived the road, right?
11:23
But physical walls only keep the outside threats at Bay.
11:26
True survival in the ancient world required internal
11:28
cohesion. Without a doubt.
11:30
That is why David immediately shifts his focus from the walls
11:33
to the actual urban planning. He looks at the city itself.
11:36
He does. He says.
11:38
Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together.
11:42
So let's strip away the poetry for a second.
11:44
What does compact together actually mean for ancient urban
11:48
defense? The architecture of Jerusalem
11:50
was deliberate and highly functional.
11:53
David sees that it is not a loose collection of temporary
11:56
tents. Not a campsite.
11:58
No, it is not a wasteland and it is not what some historians call
12:02
a city of magnificent distances. A city of magnificent distances.
12:07
What is that? It means a long, straggling
12:09
street with massive undefended spaces between the homes.
12:13
Like a sprawling suburb. Right.
12:16
But in Jerusalem, the allotted space inside the walls is
12:19
entirely filled. It is a solid block, a massive
12:23
unity. And that matters for defense.
12:24
It was a primary defense mechanism.
12:26
Think about it, if you have large gaps between structures,
12:29
an enemy can infiltrate one section of the town without the
12:32
other sections even noticing. They could just slip through the
12:34
cracks, yeah. But in a compact city, no single
12:37
quarter of the town could be surprised or sacked by an enemy
12:40
without the rest of the town instantly knowing about it and
12:42
responding. An attack on one wall was
12:44
immediately felt by the entire population.
12:46
Spot on. Let's translate that
12:48
sociological reality to a modern gathered body, OK?
12:52
How so? Think about the anatomy of the
12:54
human body, OK? If you have a limb that is
12:57
isolated from the central nervous system or cut off from
13:00
the primary blood supply, that limb becomes incredibly
13:04
vulnerable. Right, it goes numb.
13:06
It weakens, It loses feeling. Eventually it dies.
13:09
The strength of the limb relies entirely on being compact with
13:12
the rest of the body. That is a great analogy.
13:15
Because the nervous system instantly transmits pain from
13:18
the foot up to the brain, rallying the entire Organism to
13:21
respond to the threat. Yes, we hear the phrase 1 Lord,
13:24
1 faith, one baptism. That is the spiritual equivalent
13:28
of a central nervous system keeping a body compact together.
13:31
It really is. If your local gathering is just
13:34
a loose association of strangers who happen to sit in the same
13:36
room once a week, you are living in a city of magnificent
13:40
distances. You are spiritually vulnerable
13:42
to being surprised and sacked. A loose association provides 0
13:46
mutual defense. A compact city means everyone
13:50
shares the burden of defense and the joy of peace.
13:54
The text actually compares this unified city to a flawless
13:57
diamond. A flawless diamond.
13:59
Because a diamond is strong precisely because its internal
14:03
structure is tightly bonded and undivided.
14:06
Right, there are no gaps in the carbon.
14:07
Exactly. But Spurgeon issues a stark
14:10
warning here about the terrifying reality that some
14:13
bodies of believers fail to maintain this compactness.
14:16
What happens to them? Instead of being a solid block,
14:19
they are periodically blown to fragments by internal strife,
14:22
party spirit and contention. Blown to fragments.
14:25
Yeah, and as he Riley notes, no gracious person is glad to be
14:29
anywhere near the building when those internal explosions take
14:32
place. The blast.
14:33
Radius is awful. The walls might keep the bandits
14:36
out, but internal dissension will destroy the city from the
14:39
inside. Which naturally leads to the
14:41
next big question. Who is inside?
14:42
Right. If the city is a solid block,
14:45
who's actually filling these compact streets?
14:48
Who is living shoulder to shoulder in this flawless
14:50
diamond? Verse 4 gives us the
14:52
demographic. Whither the tribes go up, the
14:55
tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give
14:58
thanks unto the name of the Lord.
15:00
The sociological shock of this verse really cannot be
15:03
overstated. Why is it shirking?
15:05
Well, Israel was a nation, but it was heavily divided by tribal
15:09
individuality. You had the tribe of Judah, the
15:12
tribe of Benjamin Manasseh Airfream.
15:14
Right, 12 distinct tribes. And in their daily lives back in
15:18
their home territories, those surface distinctions mattered a
15:21
great deal. They had different lands,
15:23
different regional customs, varying dialects and different
15:26
local leaders. They weren't a monolith.
15:28
No, they frequently experienced intense tribal rivalries and
15:32
animosities. We see that all over the
15:34
historical books. Sure, but when they go up to
15:36
Jerusalem, they sink those surface distinctions into a
15:39
national unity. They drop the beef, yes.
15:42
They do not go up as independent competing factions, they go up
15:44
as the tribes of the Lord. They recognize that despite
15:48
their regional differences, they are all equally the Lord's
15:52
property. They are alike chosen, sustained
15:55
and upheld by Jehovah. The shared identity supersedes
15:58
the tribal identity. Wait, I want to pause on Martin
16:01
Luther's point here about what David leaves out of this
16:03
description. The Golden Letters comment.
16:05
Yes, because the verse gives us the two main reasons they are
16:08
gathering the testimony of Israel and to give thanks unto
16:12
the name of the Lord. Right?
16:14
But if you asked anyone on the street in ancient Israel what
16:17
happens at the Temple, the first thing they would mention is the
16:19
sacrifices. Of course, the sacrificial
16:21
system was the main visual. The blood, the altars, the
16:25
smoke, the priests. Yet David completely ignores the
16:29
physical rituals. Luther says these words ought to
16:32
be written in golden letters specifically because of that
16:35
omission. It is a massive omission.
16:37
It is the sacrifices, the blood of bulls and goats, the burning
16:42
incense, the oblations. All of these things were
16:44
strictly commanded by God to be performed at the temple.
16:48
Yet in this song celebrating the gathering of the tribes, David
16:52
highlights the teaching of the Word, the testimony, and the
16:56
offering of prayer and praise, the Thanksgiving.
16:59
He elevates the spiritual reality over the ceremonial
17:03
shadow. He really does.
17:04
Look at the tension there between testimony and
17:06
Thanksgiving. I view it as a continuous closed
17:10
loop system. How do you mean?
17:12
Well, the testimony of Israel is the intake.
17:16
It is the people receiving from God, hearing the Word, learning
17:19
His character, and understanding His law.
17:21
Right, breathing in. And the Thanksgiving is the
17:24
output. It is the people giving back to
17:26
God through prayer, praise and gratitude.
17:30
Breathing out. Oh, that is good.
17:32
You receive the testimony, it alters your internal state, and
17:35
you return Thanksgiving. This creates a feedback loop
17:38
that blesses both God and man. And that gratitude naturally
17:42
spills over onto the people standing compactly next to you.
17:45
You cannot be truly thankful in a vacuum.
17:47
No, you really cannot. That continuous loop of
17:50
receiving truth and responding with gratitude is the engine of
17:53
the gathered body. But engines need maintenance.
17:55
They do. And for that engine to run
17:57
smoothly, for that unified city of diverse tribes to function
18:01
without tearing itself apart, there must be a mechanism of
18:03
governance to secure its peace. Because you cannot just put
18:07
people from Manasa and Ephraim in a compact space without a way
18:10
to resolve their disputes. Yeah, they will end up fighting.
18:13
But let's be honest, putting the words throne and judgement next
18:16
to each other does not scream joy to a modern listener.
18:19
No, not at all. If I hear Thrones of Judgement,
18:23
my first instinct is not to start singing.
18:26
My first instinct is to call a lawyer.
18:29
Yeah, judgement sounds harsh to us today.
18:31
So why were these travelers celebrating the governance of
18:34
the city in verse 5? For there are set Thrones of
18:37
judgement, the Thrones of the House of David.
18:40
Our modern flinching at the word judgment reveals a failure to
18:44
understand the ancient reality of systemic.
18:46
Corruption. OK, unpack that.
18:48
If you were a peasant living in an agrarian village, local
18:51
justice was often heavily biased.
18:54
You might face a local magistrate who was easily bribed
18:56
by your wealthy neighbor. Or a judge who favored his own
18:59
family members. Right, oppression was the daily
19:02
reality. But when those peasants came up
19:04
to Jerusalem, they could bring those difficult cases to the
19:07
royal seat. Knowing that the king would
19:09
decide righteously. Exactly.
19:11
Righteous judgment is the absolute guarantee of fairness.
19:15
If you are the oppressor, a throne of pure judgment is
19:18
terrifying. But if you are the oppressed?
19:22
If you have been cheated or marginalized, a true and
19:25
uncorrupted throne of judgement is a source of immense relief.
19:28
Righteous men love judgement because it ensures that right
19:32
will be rewarded and iniquity will be halted.
19:35
And the physical setup of these Thrones communicated that
19:38
guarantee of fairness. How so?
19:40
Well, the sources describe an incredibly intimidating visual
19:43
spectacle. Oh, Arthur Penman Stanley
19:44
details this right. He does.
19:46
He details the actual throne of Solomon.
19:49
It was constructed of ivory brought all the way from Africa
19:52
or India. Just massive.
19:54
Yes. The king sat on the back of a
19:56
golden bull, flanked by 6 golden lions on each side of the steps
20:00
leading up to it. It acted as a literal gate of
20:03
justice. That visual spectacle was
20:04
designed to project authority, but Henry Smith adds a detail
20:07
about the orientation of these seats that projects
20:09
transparency. The rising Sun.
20:11
Yes, the seats in the gate were deliberately framed so that the
20:15
judges had to sit with their faces toward the rising sun.
20:19
Which is brilliant. It was a highly symbolic
20:21
physical posture. It was a constant visual
20:24
guarantee to the judges and to the people standing before them
20:28
that their judgement should be as pure and clear from
20:31
corruption as the sun in its chiefest brightness.
20:35
The piercing light of the sun would theoretically expose any
20:37
shadow of bribery or partiality. The visual transparency of the
20:41
Justice Dis disarmed the tribal animosity.
20:44
Because they knew they would get a fair hearing.
20:46
And because this transparent justice exists at the center of
20:49
the city, the city is capable of maintaining true peace.
20:52
You cannot have peace without justice.
20:54
If the scales are rigged, the city will eventually riot.
20:57
Always. And that realization leads
20:59
directly into the most famous invocation of the Solomon,
21:01
verses 6 and seven. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
21:05
They shall prosper that love thee.
21:07
Peace be within my walls and prosperity within my palaces.
21:11
The Hebrew text here is just phenomenal.
21:13
Let's look at the original language here, because there is
21:16
a rhythm to the Hebrew that we completely lose in English.
21:19
We really do. The linguistic layer uncovered
21:21
by the scholar Samuel Cox is masterful.
21:25
It is a brilliant play on words. Laid out for us.
21:28
So in Hebrew, the word for peace is Shalom, OK, and the word for
21:32
prosperity is shalva. Shalva.
21:34
Right. And the name Jerusalem is
21:36
Jerusalem. Oh wow, yeah.
21:38
When the poet writes this, he is literally wishing Shalom and
21:42
shalva upon Shalom. The sound of the words
21:45
themselves creates a rhythm of peace.
21:48
It is a linguistic reinforcement of a theological reality.
21:51
I need to translate the word prosper for a modern audience
21:53
though. Because we carry baggage with
21:55
that. Word.
21:55
Tons of baggage. Today, prosperity is almost
21:59
exclusively tied to financial metrics.
22:01
It means getting a promotion, buying a bigger house,
22:05
maximizing your retirement account.
22:06
A prosperity gospel. Yeah, if someone tells you that
22:09
you will prosper by loving the church, it sounds like a
22:12
financial transaction, right? But Albert Barnes clarifies this
22:15
beautifully, stripping away our modern financial assumptions.
22:19
What does Barnes say? In this context, prosper does
22:22
not mean accumulating material goods or worldly wealth.
22:26
The essential Hebrew idea is quietness, security and rest.
22:31
Rest. Yes, the prosperity promised
22:33
here is peace of conscience. It is an internal stability
22:37
amidst life's inevitable storms. It is not about a bank account.
22:41
No, it is even peace in the prospect of death and the grave,
22:45
much like Edward Payson experienced.
22:47
It is the tranquility of a soul that knows it is secure within
22:51
the walls, resting under righteous judgment.
22:54
Speaking of those walls, the historian Josephus describes
22:57
Jerusalem as having three ranges of walls. 3 layers of defense.
23:01
Yeah, it wasn't just a single barrier, it was a Trinity of
23:04
security. An enemy army had to breach 3
23:06
massive stone defenses just to touch the people inside.
23:10
That is wild. The prosperity is the knowledge
23:13
that those walls hold. The people recognize that
23:15
disrupting the internal peace of this heavily fortified city was
23:18
a dangerous thing to do. There is a striking Jewish
23:21
proverb quoted in the text. Let's hear it.
23:23
It says none ever took a stone out of the Temple, but the dust
23:27
did fly into his eyes. Oh, that is vivid.
23:30
It is the exact reverse of the prosperity promised to those who
23:34
love the city, those who try to dismantle the peace of the body,
23:38
those who pick away at the stones of unity through gossip,
23:41
division or tribal animosity. They will inevitably suffer for
23:46
it. The dust will blind them.
23:48
Attempting to destroy the compact nature of the city is an
23:51
act of self sabotage. Let's apply that directly to the
23:53
listener, OK? When you close your eyes and
23:55
pray, do you ever pray for the peace of the believers around
23:59
you? It is a tough question.
24:00
Or are your prayers entirely consumed by your own individual
24:04
needs, like your job, your health, your personal anxiety?
24:08
We all default to that. We do, yeah, but David commands
24:11
us to pray for the peace of the gathered body.
24:14
Spurgeon uses a fantastic phrase to illustrate this.
24:17
He says the bird of paradise thrives in the calm of
24:20
communion, not the hurricane of debate.
24:22
The hurricane of debate that describes so much of modern
24:26
life. Doesn't it?
24:26
If you want your local gathering to thrive, it requires the calm
24:30
of communion. You have to actively pray for
24:32
the cessation of the hurricane. This prayer for peace is not a
24:36
self-serving desire to have a quiet place to sit on Sundays.
24:40
No, the text shows us that the prayer expands outward.
24:44
It is motivated by a deep, active care for others, which
24:47
emerges clearly as we move into the final verses.
24:50
Read verses 8:00 and 9:00 for us.
24:53
For my brethren and companions sakes, I will now say, Peace be
24:57
within thee, because of the House of the Lord our God, I
25:00
will seek thy good. I see two major motivations
25:03
emerging there. The 1st is philanthropy.
25:05
Meaning love for mankind. Right.
25:07
A genuine love for family, friends and neighbors.
25:09
And the second is a supreme love for God.
25:12
You pray for the peace of the city because you love the people
25:15
in it and you love the God who built it.
25:17
The believer understands that they are bound by a covenant
25:20
relation to Jehovah and therefore they are bound to pray
25:22
for his people. It is an obligation, but a
25:25
joyful. One and the benefits of this
25:26
peaceful, flourishing body do not stay locked inside the
25:29
walls. A healthy, unified group of
25:32
believers acts as salt and savor to the entire surrounding
25:35
society. The peace cultivated inside the
25:37
walls spills over. It positively affects the
25:40
children, the neighbors and the fellow countrymen who interact
25:44
with the citizens of that city. Yeah, the internal peace becomes
25:48
an external witness. To illustrate how radical this
25:51
concept of brethren truly is, let's look at the story from the
25:55
missionary William Gill. This is one of the most intense
25:57
stories in the notes. It is he was working with an
26:00
elderly native who had formerly been a cannibal, right?
26:03
This man was addressing the local church members and he
26:05
started his speech by saying brethren.
26:08
And then he just stops. He paused for a moment,
26:11
completely marveling at the word he had just used.
26:14
He told the congregation that heathenism had absolutely no
26:17
such concept until the Gospel arrived.
26:19
Just think about that. The idea that people from
26:22
different warring tribes, people who previously would have
26:25
literally consumed one another, could sit compactly together,
26:28
share a common identity and call each other brethren, was a
26:31
complete sociological shock. That is the function of the
26:34
gospel, to create a new society out of fractured individuals.
26:39
But maintaining that society requires deliberate effort.
26:43
The theologian Joseph Irons comments on the phrase I will
26:47
seek thy good. What does Irons say?
26:50
He notes that this is not a loose, careless wish.
26:53
It is not like casually looking around on the floor for a
26:56
dropped pin where you give up after 5 seconds if you don't
26:59
immediately see it. Right, it is not passive.
27:01
To seek thy good demands, throwing your energies, your
27:05
faculties, your property and your time into a deliberate,
27:08
sustained effort, it requires a massive allocation of personal
27:12
resources. Let's use the analogy of a
27:14
shareholder in a ship. OK, I like maritime analogies.
27:17
In the days of ancient maritime trade, the risks were
27:19
astronomical. If you owned a share in a
27:21
merchant ship, your entire fortune was tied up in its
27:24
voyage. Every storm was a threat to your
27:26
wallet. You tracked the weather
27:27
patterns, you cared intensely about the competence of the
27:30
crew, and you desperately wanted that ship to reach its harbor
27:33
safely. Because your personal prosperity
27:36
was entirely tied to its success.
27:37
Yes, if the ship sank, you were ruined.
27:40
If you pray for the church, you have a venture in every ship of
27:43
prayer that makes a voyage to heaven.
27:45
You are a shareholder in the spiritual success of your
27:48
brethren. Passive affection is utterly
27:50
insufficient. You cannot just stand on the
27:52
dock and say well I hope the ship does well while refusing to
27:56
invest in the cargo or repair the sails.
27:59
True affection leads to active seeking.
28:01
You look for ways to benefit the people standing compactly next
28:05
to you. Because their spiritual survival
28:07
is tied to your own. Synthesizing this entire
28:10
progression reveals a masterful map of the Believers experience.
28:13
Walk us through it one more time.
28:15
It begins on the dusty, dangerous Rd. with the initial
28:17
relief of an invitation from a friend.
28:19
Let us go the double joy, right? Then it moves to the physical
28:23
and psychological safety of standing within the secure
28:26
functional walls. Inside the gates.
28:28
Inside the Traveler marvels at the unified, compact and
28:32
structure of the city, recognizing how diverse rival
28:35
tribes merge into a single, cohesive people.
28:38
The flawless diamond. Yes, they gather to participate
28:41
in the continuous loop of receiving the testimony and
28:45
returning Thanksgiving. Breathing in and breathing out.
28:47
They find genuine rest in the transparent, uncorrupted
28:50
judgement of the King, which guarantees fairness and halts
28:54
oppression. Facing the rising sun.
28:56
And finally, all of this internal joy and security
28:59
translates into an outward active seeking of peace for the
29:03
sake of the brethren. That progression moves you from
29:06
a solitary, vulnerable Walker on a dangerous road to an active,
29:11
invested shareholder in a flawless diamond of a city.
29:14
And this leaves us with a final reality to consider.
29:18
We have spent this time analyzing the earthly Jerusalem
29:21
of David's era. Historical City.
29:23
We have examined its physical walls of stone, its ivory
29:25
Thrones, and its mortal judges. But that earthly city was a
29:29
shadow, a temporary physical structure prone to eventual
29:32
destruction. If that shadow could evoke such
29:35
overwhelming gladness and eager travel from David and the
29:38
pilgrims, how much more eagerly should we anticipate the
29:41
gathering in the eternal heavenly city?
29:43
The New Jerusalem. In that city, the king himself
29:46
is the direct source of light, requiring no sun.
29:50
The justice is perfectly transparent, the security is
29:53
absolute and the walls will never be breached.
29:56
So we leave you with this challenge today.
29:58
Evaluate your current anticipation.
30:01
Look inward. When your alarm goes off on a
30:03
Sunday morning, or when you receive a text from a friend
30:06
inviting you to gather, does your internal reaction mirror
30:10
even a fraction of the joy David felt for the earthly shadow of
30:13
things to come? Are you genuinely glad when they
30:15
say unto you, Let us go? That is something to sit with.
30:18
Thank you for joining us on this deep dive on Reformed thinking.
30:21
We will catch you next time.