Psalm 122:1 "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord!'”
Oh, I LOVE this Psalm. Maybe it's because I grew up with the church as my second home--a place where I always felt encouraged, loved, and accepted. But lots of people didn't find that same kind of gladness in churches and in church communities, and far too often still don't--instead, many people looking for the light of Christ encounter painful judgment, condemnation, estrangement, and rejection. So my prayer for today is for the Church to live up to Psalm 122--that every embodiment of the church of Jesus Christ will create a sanctuary of welcome, celebration, wholeness, and love, so that ALL might be glad when it is said, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!"
Psalm 122
1 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—built as a city that is bound firmly together.
4 To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.