Psa 122 | EE | STEP | It made me very happy when they said to me, ‘We will go into the house of the LORD.’

Psalms 122

This is a song for climbing by David.

1 It made me very happy when they said to me,

‘We will go into the house of the LORD.’ ^{▼▼122:1 ‘The house of the LORD’, (verse 1), was a tent when David was alive. A tent is a small house that people made from animal skins. Later, they built a stone temple or house. They kept the ark in it. Read about the ark in Psalm 132 in this set of psalms. Read the notes in Psalm 120 for what ‘the LORD’ means.}

2 Now our feet are standing inside your gates, Jerusalem!

3 Jerusalem is a city with buildings that fit near together.

4 The tribes go up there, the tribes of the LORD.

They go there to thank the LORD. All Israel will see it. ^{▼▼122:4 ‘Tribes’ are very large families. There were 12 tribes in Israel. ‘Thrones’ are special seats that kings and leaders sit on. ‘They’, in verse 5, means the people that David told to judge the people who had problems. ‘Judge’ means ‘decide who is right and who is wrong.’ In Hebrew, the language that the Jews spoke, ‘peace’ means ‘no war.’ But it meant more than this. It also meant that you had good health. And it meant that you were rich.}

5 The thrones of the house of David are there.

Also, they sit there to judge the people.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Pray that the people that love Jerusalem will be safe.

7 ‘I pray that there will be peace inside your walls.

And I pray that it will be safe inside your big houses.’

8 Because of my brothers and friends I will pray,

‘I want peace inside you.’

9 Because of the house of the LORD our God,

I will hope for good things for you.