The Psalms – Israel’s worship

The ancient Israelites chose wisely when they made Jerusalem their capital city.

Palestine is a flat country, except for the higher ground on which Jerusalem was built.

Then, within the city on its highest site, Solomon built the temple.

The overall effect for the faithful was one of ascending in worship towards God.

This sense of rising to God would be keenly felt by the people as they made their way to Jerusalem for one of their major religious festivals.

This love for and attachment to Jerusalem is expressed in Psalm 122: “Jerusalem, built as a city, to which the tribes go up”(Psalm 122.3-4).

Psalm 122 is a pilgrim’s hymn expressing the delight of the worshipper at the conclusion of his pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem.

This psalm records his memories. He remembers his sense of anticipation at the start of his journey:“I was glad when they said to me.‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”(Psalm 122.1).

Then he remembers his actual stay in Jerusalem. He had gathered with his kinsmen. He had walked in the sacred places of the holy city. He had celebrated his devotion and worship to God in the holy temple.

Now he was returning home: “Our feet‘have been’standing within your gates, O Jerusalem” (Psalm 122.2).

We have to remember that for these ancient Israelites the physical sight of the temple was their assurance of the very presence of God in their midst.

When they saw the temple they were certain of the presence of God. So, when their temple was destroyed at the time of the Exile (587 BC), they feared they had lost their God.

But the second part of this psalm contains a wide-sweeping vision, one lost in our contemporary society.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. For my brethren and companions sake I will say‘Peace be within you’. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good’’(Psalm 122. 6-9).

For the pilgrim in psalm 122 the welfare of his nation, its peace, safety and prosperity, was paramount.

It is certainly true that our modern generation does not want organised religion.

Religion for many people, especially the younger generation, is much more personalised with their own inner sense of spirituality.

Falling church attendances clearly show that organised worship is not fashionable.

But have we lost a binding force with the power to gather communities together and to provide society with a common unity? Today, worship, whether it be in church, chapel, meeting house, or mosque, is the exclusive activity of certain often minority groups within our communities.

Whereas worship should be the inclusive activity with the power to bind us together. We have lost, but desperately need, the spirit of the psalmist:“For my brethren and companions’sake.”

“Jesus came to Nazareth, and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day” (Luke 4.16).

The punch line is the overlooked phrase:“As his custom was”.

Jesus worshipped regularly in his home town. Worship within his community with his own people was a regular feature in Jesus’ timetable.

I often sit at the back of the church as the people come for Sunday worship. The atmosphere in a gathering congregation, the sense of anticipation, can be very uplifting. Again, I often simply listen to the congregation singing the hymns.

If I have had a demanding week in the parish, I find the congregational singing can lift my spirits. May I commend regular congregational worship.

Why did Jesus worship“as was his custom”on a regular basis?

Because he met with his God and Father.“Where two or three are gathered in God’s name, then God is there.”God is there and hears your heart’s silent prayers. God is with the congregation to open the truth of the Word of God.

God is there to bind up the broken heart and to heal the aching wound. God is there to still the troubled mind and to assure the frightened soul. God presides over every act of worship and seals your praise with his heavenly blessing.

“All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord”(Psalm 100.1).