A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM CXXII.
_David professeth his joy for the church, and prayeth for the peace thereof._ A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together: Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, _and_ prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace _be_ within thee. Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good. This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, it contains the feelings of a glad, a rejoicing, and a thankful heart, for that unspeakable gift of God,—the ministry of his word. This Psalm in the person of the Jews, rejoices that God had appointed a certain place, namely Jerusalem, in the midst of that people, where the name and the word of God had a certain dwelling-place and could there be found: and where it was administered by certain persons, the Levites and the priests, to certain disciples; namely, to the tribes of Israel.
For what calamity or misery can be greater than to seek the word of God anxiously, and not be able to find it? This calamity and misery the children of Israel experienced in the times of God’s anger, when, being forsaken by him, and left to their own inventions, they sought and worshipped idols. And in these our times of monkery also, the masses and the travellings about to so many Marys have given abundant proofs of what it is to seek the word of God and not to find it. Our Jerusalem, our certain place, is the church, and our temple is Christ. Wheresoever Christ is preached and the sacraments are duly administered, there we are sure God dwells; and there is our temple, our tabernacle, our cherubim, and our mercy-seat; for there God is present with us by his word.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.