Psalm 122
1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.
I love this Psalm, and not least because I first learned it in the choir at Bethany Church of Sierra Madre. Or was it Tustin Pres? I remember it was a great big choir, and they could sing rings around most church choirs at the time.
Years later I encountered it once again in Pennsylvania, where I was singing in the choir of Palm Lutheran Church, so named because it was created on Palm Sunday, though apt because it was located in Palmyra. The director was the organist, and was also Mennonite. I remember before the service that day he brought to mind news from Israel, bombings and war, and said this Psalm anthem was all the more poignant. He urged us to truly be in prayer "for the peace of Jerusalem".
Last year I participated in our Women's Spring Bible Study, in which we studied the Psalms of Ascent in a devotional series by Beth Moore called Stepping Up. It was truly a turning point in my life, about which I wrote on this blog. I learned to put myself in these Psalms as the travelers to Jerusalem would have. I learned so much about their richness, which we miss without knowing their history.
At that time I was feeling a call toward home, in more ways than one. I had just visited my childhood haunts in Southern California, and was full of homesickness, and I was feeling the beginnings of a great nesting urge that comes at this age, some have told me. And still I was feeling the homelessness I've felt since we first left the places of our childhood.
In addition, and perhaps most importantly, my heart thought it caught a voice calling me home to my faith.
In the year that has come between these intuitions and my present situation, so very much transpired that seemed to lead in the opposite direction from home. Multiple musical opportunities, which I would have given much for in prior years, especially when the children were babies, presented themselves without my asking. I seemed to have reached a plateau where I found myself interacting with the best of the best in my field, and without so much effort as in the past. They and I were simply there, together, on the same plain. Was this not a sign that I was supposed to take that direction?
So much happened in our family since that time last spring when I knew exactly in what direction I was meant to go. Everything that happened made me doubt. I doubted my intuition. I doubted my abilities. I doubted my identity. I doubted my usefulness. I doubted my marriage. I doubted my God. I followed the rabbit of self-fulfillment down his hole for many months. I leaned unto my own understanding.
In the midst of my explorations, I completely forgot the lessons learned in Stepping Up, totally lost the peace and fellowship of my sisters bonded by that time together in study and prayer. My words about the Psalms of Ascent lay fallow on my blog, and I forgot my own writings which sprang from the depths of my innermost soul.
And God let me wander. Someone has said God gives us enough rope to hang ourselves; or He gives us just enough to go as far as we need away from Him to realize we want to turn around. And when we do, the rope is there. I believe this after this year. God let me go so far down those rabbit holes!
But then by grace I turned around. I heard a whisper, felt a nudge, came to the end of the rope. There was no other choice. I turned around.
I remember the sheer joy in the voices of the choirs I've sung this Psalm with. For years I've wished our director would choose more of the old anthems, as we certainly have the choir to handle them. Last spring I asked her about this one, but haven't seen it emerge. Maybe one day she will think of it, but I remember well enough for myself.
A great shout and a holy joy: "I WAS GLAD..... I WAS GLAD..... I WAS GLAD when they said unto me ......!!"
Yes! I am GLAD!!
"Our feet are standing within thy gates, O Jerusalem!
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They prosper who love thee. Peace be within these walls...."
Amen!
1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.
I love this Psalm, and not least because I first learned it in the choir at Bethany Church of Sierra Madre. Or was it Tustin Pres? I remember it was a great big choir, and they could sing rings around most church choirs at the time.
Years later I encountered it once again in Pennsylvania, where I was singing in the choir of Palm Lutheran Church, so named because it was created on Palm Sunday, though apt because it was located in Palmyra. The director was the organist, and was also Mennonite. I remember before the service that day he brought to mind news from Israel, bombings and war, and said this Psalm anthem was all the more poignant. He urged us to truly be in prayer "for the peace of Jerusalem".
Last year I participated in our Women's Spring Bible Study, in which we studied the Psalms of Ascent in a devotional series by Beth Moore called Stepping Up. It was truly a turning point in my life, about which I wrote on this blog. I learned to put myself in these Psalms as the travelers to Jerusalem would have. I learned so much about their richness, which we miss without knowing their history.
At that time I was feeling a call toward home, in more ways than one. I had just visited my childhood haunts in Southern California, and was full of homesickness, and I was feeling the beginnings of a great nesting urge that comes at this age, some have told me. And still I was feeling the homelessness I've felt since we first left the places of our childhood.
In addition, and perhaps most importantly, my heart thought it caught a voice calling me home to my faith.
In the year that has come between these intuitions and my present situation, so very much transpired that seemed to lead in the opposite direction from home. Multiple musical opportunities, which I would have given much for in prior years, especially when the children were babies, presented themselves without my asking. I seemed to have reached a plateau where I found myself interacting with the best of the best in my field, and without so much effort as in the past. They and I were simply there, together, on the same plain. Was this not a sign that I was supposed to take that direction?
So much happened in our family since that time last spring when I knew exactly in what direction I was meant to go. Everything that happened made me doubt. I doubted my intuition. I doubted my abilities. I doubted my identity. I doubted my usefulness. I doubted my marriage. I doubted my God. I followed the rabbit of self-fulfillment down his hole for many months. I leaned unto my own understanding.
In the midst of my explorations, I completely forgot the lessons learned in Stepping Up, totally lost the peace and fellowship of my sisters bonded by that time together in study and prayer. My words about the Psalms of Ascent lay fallow on my blog, and I forgot my own writings which sprang from the depths of my innermost soul.
And God let me wander. Someone has said God gives us enough rope to hang ourselves; or He gives us just enough to go as far as we need away from Him to realize we want to turn around. And when we do, the rope is there. I believe this after this year. God let me go so far down those rabbit holes!
But then by grace I turned around. I heard a whisper, felt a nudge, came to the end of the rope. There was no other choice. I turned around.
I remember the sheer joy in the voices of the choirs I've sung this Psalm with. For years I've wished our director would choose more of the old anthems, as we certainly have the choir to handle them. Last spring I asked her about this one, but haven't seen it emerge. Maybe one day she will think of it, but I remember well enough for myself.
A great shout and a holy joy: "I WAS GLAD..... I WAS GLAD..... I WAS GLAD when they said unto me ......!!"
Yes! I am GLAD!!
"Our feet are standing within thy gates, O Jerusalem!
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They prosper who love thee. Peace be within these walls...."
Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment