Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read 2 Kings 16, Nahum 2, and Psalms 120-123. This devotional is about Psalm 122. I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord. Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built up as a city united together, where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For there the thrones of judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May those who love you prosper. May there be peace within your walls and prosperity inside your fortresses. For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, peace be within you. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity. This is God's Word. Though it's located in the southern part of Israel, Jerusalem became the center of gravity for the nation of Israel politically and morally. David conquered this city and concentrated the weight of his kingdom there by making it his home as well as moving the tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant there. God's law required all the men of Israel to come to the tabernacle three times every year. Their families usually came with them, but sometimes women and children would stay home, such as Hannah did after giving birth to Samuel in 1 Samuel 1, 21-23. So God's law just required the men to come to the tabernacle, and they had to do so three times a year for the Feast of the Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Booths. You can see Deuteronomy 16, 16 for this command. Once David moved the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, That meant the men traveled there to Jerusalem for each of these festivals. Jerusalem is located on a hill, and it is surrounded by hills too, which makes it difficult to attack. And that's one reason why David made it his capital. But as men traveled from all over Israel to Jerusalem, they had to go up, meaning ascending, the hill on which Jerusalem was built. David, Solomon, and possibly others wrote some songs for the men to sing while they traveled. And these songs were given to us here in Scripture as the Psalms of Ascents. They are 15 songs we know as Psalm 120 through 134. Our devotional for this day, Psalm 122, talks about all this when it says in verse 3 and 4, That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to praise the name of the Lord according to the statute given to Israel. That last phrase, the statute given to Israel, refers to the commands in Moses' law to come and worship three times a year. Sometimes, when we have to do something by law, we can resent the requirement. Nobody ever said, I was glad when they told me, let us go to the post office and mail in our tax returns before midnight on April 15th. No one ever said that. But David the psalmist here in Psalm 122 said, I rejoiced with those who said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Now sure, he lived in Jerusalem, so it was easy for him. But here he is writing on behalf of all the men of Israel. Those who truly loved the Lord, who wanted to praise the name of the Lord, as verse 4c says, they are the ones who would be glad to go and observe these feasts. Their love for God would cause them to want to take time away from their work to praise God and enjoy time with family and friends who also love the Lord. And so this requirement to go to Jerusalem wasn't a burden to them. It was something that made them happy. It was something they enjoyed doing. These days, the Lord lives within us, not in a tabernacle or a temple made by men. But the Bible says that when we gather together as a church, the gathered body of believers is also the house of the Lord. 1 Timothy 3.15 says, God's household, which is the church of the living God. And so when God's people gather in any local church, not the building, but the people themselves, when we gather to worship, we comprise then the household of God. So my question to you is this. If believers in Israel could sing, I rejoiced with those who said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord, as they sang here in Psalm 122.1. Can you and I sing the same type of thing in our hearts every Sunday when it's time to come to church? Is coming to worship on Sunday morning or coming to prayer meeting or to small group something you delight to do? Is it the center of gravity for your week? Is it a non-negotiable that most other things in your life fit around rather than replacing? Or is your participation in church an obligation that you drag yourself to? Is worshiping and fellowshipping with God's people something you avoid? Is it low on your priorities, something you gladly avoid when you have a good excuse? If your desire isn't to gather with the church as often as possible, why not? Has your love for the Lord cooled for some reason? Are you living in sin in some way that's blocking your desire to meet with God and His people? Are there unresolved conflicts with God's people in the church that's inhibiting your desire to worship and gather with us? Take some time now and either give thanks for our church and pray for peace as David did in verses six through nine, or ask the Lord to reveal to you why you feel reluctant to come to worship. Then act, confess your sins if that's the problem, or ask the Lord to rekindle your love to gather with God's people for worship. 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