Happy Once Again

When thinking about Back to Church Sunday, the first verse of this Psalm is sort of a natural selection

Reminder of Dennis O’s “tell me again why I’m so happy to be here!”

The Psalmist is GLAD to be urged to attend the house of the Lord...

Let’s explore it and see why that was so

We need some...

Background of Worship

Worship was part of the life-cycle of the nation of Israel

All laid out in the laws of Moses

The purpose of the distinctive nature of their law was to bring people to God

This God’s people are different!

They worshipped

The people were commanded in the Levitical Law to worship

…prescribed feasts and festivals, e.g. Passover

>>these were a people set apart; to be a singular people to a specific God

----discuss regional gods

They travelled “up” to Jerusalem to the tabernacle, later the temple, for this

…from every direction, the final approach was up grade, thus the ascent to worship

A song of David

King of Israel after 1000 BC (3100 years ago)

During his reign, the “house of the Lord” was the Tabernacle…not yet a temple

...It housed the Ark of the Covenant and was the place the Glory of God dwelled

David would begin to make preparations; temple would be build by his son, Solomon

As they ascended to the city, then to the Temple the songs were more and more exuberant These psalms run from 120 to 134

#120 begins with

Psalm 120:1 ESV

In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.

#134 is something of a climax of praise

Psalm 134:1–2 ESV

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!

In 122, the worshipper has arrived in the city and is itching to get to the matter of entering to worship

Interesting that the singing was a part of their approach to worship…as it is yet today

A few points to bring out, then apply it to our current situation

Lots of cultural things we won’t attempt to connect; but some principles surely cross over…quite well, actually

Belonging in Community

v, 4: brings the nation together; all these were sons of Abraham…the Jewish nation

Had a common history that held them together

Coming together allowed them to recite their history…to learn from it

Multiple psalms recite the works of their God on behalf of His people

Reciting their history allowed them to communally part of the history

Collectively, they worship Him, bring Him thanks; a purpose of their worship

Worship being giving value to God…their God, the supreme God

Significant difference in the worship of the Lord by the Israelites and the worship of the pagan gods by the people surrounding them

…worship for the pagans was offerings of appeasement in hopes of prosperity

In this time they would offer sacrifices as required and as desired, as well as gifts and other offerings

Part of God’s plan to both keep them separate from and being corrupted by, the surrounding nations

To be fully a part of the community, one had to become a Jew

Benefit to the Individual

A place for judgement v. 5

…priests might act as judges in disputes among their people

>>hopefully giving justice pursuant the precepts of the absolute true judge, God Himself

A place of peace and security v.

…actually this addresses all the city of Jerusalem

There should be peace withing the body which has gathered for worship

Another of the songs of ascent gives us that is

Psalm 133:1 ESV

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

One reality we fail to address is that even in that time, religion was somewhat cultural

David was a true worshipper—a full-on believer and servant of his God

Many of the day were part of the nation of Israel and of the events of worship; but were never part of true family of God

The came for the family, the festivities, the cultural celebration…but really had no relationship with their God, Yahweh—Jehovah

They were culturally and ethnically Jews…but had no relationship with their God

They were not His true sons…they pursued the happiness that came with their religious practice…not the holiness that was desired by their God

That takes us to the...

Bridge to the Present

We rightly refer to our churches as the house of God—not that He can be contained

It’s where we go to meet with like-minded believers…the community of God’s people

We’re cautioned against neglecting these gatherings

…Pastor Sean recently preached on

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

It’s in this environment we meet and see how God has acted among us…we recite our history...

We get lessons in/from the Word of God

The reading of and teaching from, the Word was central to the pre-Christian worship

We have the example of Jesus reading from Isaiah in the gathering in Nazareth

Not everyone who comes in is actually a believer

Peace, Safety, and Unity

They all roll together …and should be present in the church…sometimes are not so.

Because the

We can make other messages out of all those things from a number of different texts…but....

Let’s look at the true source of peace, safely and unity

There’s not much of it anywhere—especially now

Political, racial, denominational, masks v. no masks, vaccinations v. no vaccination; close the churches v. open the churches

The true source of unity is found in the CHURCH

Read Eph 2:11-21

Key thoughts

Reconciled to God and to each other by the atoning work of Jesus Christ

We have hope in Christ

We have peace in Christ

As we pursue holiness, we can have happiness

Are You Glad to Come into the House of the Lord?