WEBVTT 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:03.600 Begin with a question for you this morning. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:06.959 Are you glad to go to the house of the Lord? 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.560 Are you glad to get up and come to church? 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.560 When your alarm goes off in the morning and it's raining outside? 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:20.079 And you've got to get some kids here early to sing in the particularly cute children's choir? 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.559 Are you still glad to go to the house of the Lord on those mornings? 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:36.640 When things are going difficult in your life, when you have perhaps conflict with friends, when there's maybe even struggle or conflict with people at church, are you still at that moment glad to go to the house of the Lord? 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:40.560 And I hope the answer for you is yes. 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:43.439 I know there's some weeks and maybe you you don't want to go. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:50.079 Some weeks you're dealing with doubt or discouragement in your life, and you maybe you'd rather not go to church, and those are the weeks where you make yourself go anyway. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:56.799 And I mean, don't you just know it that every time you make yourself go to church, you feel built up in the Lord and encouraged by his word? 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.799 And that's why this Psalm begins with a declaration. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:03.439 I was glad when they said, let's go to the house of the Lord. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:09.439 I mean, you can tell a lot about a person by their attitude towards going to church. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:17.760 Maybe you've had this encounter with one of your neighbors where you meet them and you're talking to them for the first time and they find out you're a Christian and you can almost see it on their face. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:21.280 They're saying by their face, don't invite me to church. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:22.400 Don't invite me to church. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:23.599 Don't invite me to church. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.560 And you say, Hey, you should go to church with us sometimes. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:29.200 And they say, Oh, they did it. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:35.519 Are you glad to go to the house of the Lord? 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:39.840 You know, we live in a time where we go to the house of the Lord. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:42.719 We go to worship in church every week. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:50.319 Some of us make a five-minute drive, some of you make like a 20-minute drive or something crazy from a place like Woodbridge or somewhere. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:54.079 20 minutes, you gotta put a DVD in for the kids. 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:57.120 It's so far away that Woodbridge place is. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:02.319 And still, are you glad to go to the house of the Lord? 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:08.080 You know, this verse is written not about going once a week to church. 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:13.199 This verse was written about going three times a year, if able. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:19.439 Passover, Pentecost, feast of the of the booze, which is spring, summer, fall. 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:23.120 Some people would have to travel weeks to get there. 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:25.759 Some people are going from the opposite side of the Black Sea. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:30.159 Some people are going to the far from the far-fung parts of the Arabian desert. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:31.439 They're walking. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:37.439 It could take, it could take up to two weeks from some of those places to walk all the way to Jerusalem. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:44.240 And by the way, this is a world without minivans, without DVDs, without Google Maps, without AAA, and without McDonald's. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.319 It's a world without deadbolts. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:52.159 It's a world without ring on your doorknob with no security system. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:55.520 So you pack up your family. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:00.639 You load them all together, and you walk for weeks to Jerusalem. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:05.520 And you hope that when you get back, your house is still there. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.039 Oh yeah, also your business is not making any money. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.759 Hopefully, wolves didn't eat your sheep. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:15.520 Hopefully you don't get ambushed on the way. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:17.360 This is a dangerous, dangerous journey. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:19.919 Hopefully you don't fall among robbers. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:24.319 Hopefully you don't get ambushed, and hopefully your stuff doesn't get stolen when you're gone. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:25.360 That's this journey. 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:36.479 So now imagine the person who's working in the field, sweating under the sun, but at least his house is right there, his family is right there, his world is right there, up on the other side of the Black Sea. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:50.479 Or imagine the sheepherder down on the very fringes of the Arabian desert, just trying to make a meager living down there, and a group of Jewish pilgrims come by and say, Hey, you should walk with us for a few weeks to Jerusalem. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:56.000 At that point, are you going to say, I was glad when they said, Let's go to the house of the Lord? 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:00.000 That's what this verse is describing. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:27.360 And did I mention, by the way, that in the exile, when these psalms were sung, in the 400 years of exile, as they were going to Jerusalem three times a year, that the temple, for some of it, was in ruins, that it had been destroyed, and then when it had been rebuilt, it was small and meager, that there was no king in Israel, there were no, in the sense, prophets in Israel, there was no word of God coming from Jerusalem. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:39.759 There was no descendant of David sitting on the throne in Jerusalem, and still they went, and still they went, and still they went, time after time after time, going to the house of the Lord. 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:44.160 And they begin with this declaration. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:50.240 I was glad when they said to me, Let's go to the house of the Lord. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:53.279 The temple was in Jerusalem, of course. 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:54.959 Jerusalem is the center of this. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.639 It's the theme of this little short Psalm, Psalm 122. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:00.319 Jerusalem is mentioned several times. 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:02.319 You see this in verse 2. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:04.800 Our feet have been within your gates, O Jerusalem. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:08.720 Verse 3, Jerusalem was built as a city, held firmly together. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:12.399 Verse 6, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:16.639 This is a psalm that is about going to Jerusalem. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:20.879 You need to appreciate that there is no other city like Jerusalem. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:38.079 Headquarters of, you know, focal point in the sense of both Islam and Judaism and Christianity, with the Dome of the Rock there in Islam, and of course the Temple Mount there and the Wailing Wall in Judaism, the place where Christ comes from in Christianity. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:44.000 Draw a 900-mile circle, a 900-mile radius around Jerusalem. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:48.800 This is a small portion of the earth's surface, a small portion of the land mass of the world. 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:57.199 But inside of that, you encompass Athens, Istanbul, Antioch, Beut, Damascus, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Cairo, and Mecca. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:04.160 So much of Western civilization, culture, religion comes from that tiny place. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:07.120 Maps often have Israel in the center. 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:11.680 For many years it was called the kind of the navel of the world. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:16.720 It was considered the bull of civilization, that Mediterranean basin. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:19.759 This is where that comes from. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:28.319 Jerusalem, when it's introduced in the Bible, there's 465 Old Testament prophecies that will take place or be fulfilled in Jerusalem. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:29.279 About Jerusalem. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:30.399 465. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:35.360 In the New Testament, there's another 24 prophecies about Jerusalem. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:40.399 Many of those, almost 500 prophecies, have already been fulfilled, but some will be fulfilled in the future. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:45.199 Taken all together, the Jerusalem is mentioned 800 times in the Bible. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:47.439 This is no mean city. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:51.759 That's why the Psalm has such a powerful impact. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.399 Jerusalem means literally city of peace. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:59.439 Salem is how it was pronounced back in Genesis when you encounter Melchizedek, who's the king of Salem. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:01.759 Remember, he was going to war against the king of Sodom. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:08.240 This was a battle of good versus evil, righteousness versus versus sin. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:11.439 And the king of Salem prevails. 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:17.600 Over time, the Hebrew letter sin shifted to a sheen, and now you don't say Salem, you say Shalom. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.199 This is that word, the city of peace, the city of Shalom. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:31.199 And this was one of the psalms they would sing as they were walking and walking and walking every year to Jerusalem. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:33.040 It's a pilgrimage psalm. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:34.879 And so I want to look at it this morning. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:40.560 I want to give us an outline for it as we go through our own pilgrimage to Jerusalem in this psalm. 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:44.720 And we're going to look at Jerusalem as past, Jerusalem is present, and Jerusalem is future. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:46.560 It's past, present, and future. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:49.120 And you'll notice that last week we had a similar outline. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:53.519 We looked at the past, future, and presence of the topic of that psalm. 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:57.519 And you think, why the similar outlines? 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:00.879 Because a pilgrimage psalm lends itself to that kind of reflection. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:05.439 A pilgrimage psalm lends itself to thinking about where you're going and that you've been there before. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:06.720 And you see this even in verse 1. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:09.759 I was glad when they said to me, let's go to Yahweh's house. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.879 So he's excited about making the walk to Jerusalem. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:17.120 But then notice verse 2, our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:19.439 So he says, I was glad when they said, Let's go. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:21.839 I've already been there many times. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:23.920 You understand this? 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:27.279 Your family has any rituals or traditions, like summer vacations. 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:29.839 Maybe you always go to the outer banks in the summer. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:34.320 And your kids say, I was glad when mom said, let's go to the outer banks. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:35.440 Why were you glad? 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:37.519 Because we've been there many times. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:38.799 Even on the car ride. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:40.480 Are we going to do the same things we did last summer? 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:41.039 Yes. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:42.720 Are we going to stay in the same kind of place? 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:43.120 Yes. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:45.600 There's an excitement because about what you've done there before. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:47.120 Are we going to do new things also? 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:47.600 Yes. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:50.639 And you think, what is it going to be like when your kids go on vacation there? 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:58.240 It's natural to think that kind of thing with these kind of rituals, what it was like before, what it's like now, and what's it going to be like in the future? 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.279 And so it is with this pilgrimage psalm to Jerusalem. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:04.559 Our feet have already been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:07.440 Let's begin by looking at Jerusalem's past. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:09.600 Verse 2, as I mentioned, is nostalgic. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:11.200 It wants you to go back into time. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:13.440 It wants you to think about where Jerusalem came from. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:17.759 As I mentioned, you are introduced to it with Melchizedek, the king of Salem. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:19.840 But it's not called Jerusalem. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:21.200 It's not called a city at this point. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:26.720 Not until the book of Joshua do you encounter it as a city, and then it's not obviously a Jewish city. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:29.919 Abraham and the patriarchs left Israel. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:31.759 The patriarchs go to Egypt. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.440 The Israelites are led in deliverance out of Egypt by Moses. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:38.159 They cross the Red Sea, they go through the wilderness wanderings. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:39.840 They're going to cross back into Israel. 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:44.399 They cross the Jordan River in between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee, right at Jericho. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:46.960 They cross the Jordan River, they march around Jericho. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:49.600 The walls fall, they conquer their first city. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:51.519 From there, they're supposed to spread out. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.559 They're supposed to go north up towards the Sea of Galilee. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:58.720 They're supposed to go west and down towards the Mediterranean basin. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.000 They're supposed to go south down towards the Dead Sea. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:05.120 And they're supposed to move in these twelve tribes and take their land. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:08.799 What are they going to find? 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:12.879 There's people that live there and don't want to welcome the Israelites. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:17.120 One of the first groups of people we encounter are those that live in Jerusalem. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:21.759 They're ruled by a king, Adonai Zedek, which means Lord Zedek. 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:23.759 He's the one who rules over Jerusalem. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:25.759 Jerusalem is up in the mountains, by the way. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:27.600 It's in a bowl up in the mountains. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:31.519 So you have to walk up to it and then it's enclosed, it's encircled. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:34.320 This king hears about the fall of Jericho. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:36.080 He knows the Jews are on the march. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:42.399 So he actually goes south and he goes down to Lakish and some, you know, through modern-day Bethlehem and then Lakeish. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:47.279 And he makes up a treaty with these five kings and makes an alliance. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:51.360 And these five kings get their five armies and they're going to go ambush the Israelites. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:57.759 The Israelites hear about this and they take their own shortcut and they get Jerusalem from the other side. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:03.120 They conquer Jerusalem and they chase down Adonized and the five kings and their armies and conquer them. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:08.399 This is the battle, you know, in Joshua chapter 9, where Joshua prays that the sun would stand still. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:09.279 This is that battle. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:13.440 He wants the sun to stand still in the sky so they can conquer Jerusalem. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:20.799 And then when God stops the rotation of the earth and keeps all the trees from flying off and violates all the laws of physics, but they work for God. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:23.039 You know, God doesn't work for them, they work for Him. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:27.360 God keeps the world together, prolongs the day, and Joshua wins his battle. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:28.159 It goes into night. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:34.399 Joshua wants the moon to stand still, to illumine them, so they can keep pillaging and keep up their victory. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:35.919 And so God grants that request. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:40.879 The moon stands still, just like the sun stood still, and they defeat Jerusalem. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:44.080 But then they forget one thing. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:46.399 They forget to actually move in. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:51.840 They conquer Jerusalem and they go about their business of conquering Israel, but they don't actually occupy it. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:53.519 And so the years go by. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:59.360 When the book of Judges begins, Joshua's gone, and Jerusalem has fallen back into enemy hands. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:00.879 They have to go fight it again. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:05.679 And this time the Israelites defeat Jerusalem and they burn it to the ground. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:07.919 And they forget to move in. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:09.519 And so it falls back. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:13.039 This time the Jebusites move in and they make it their own city. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.360 And again, this is strategically located. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:20.399 It's in the middle of the connection between Europe and Asia and Africa. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:22.720 Those three continents come together right in Jerusalem. 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:26.320 There's two different ways to get from Africa up into Asia and Europe. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:30.960 There's two different highways, one along the Jordan River, one along the Mediterranean Sea. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:32.639 Jerusalem's in between both of them. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.440 If you weren't looking for Jerusalem, you wouldn't find it. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:38.639 It's protected up there in the mountains. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:42.320 In a perfect position to go down to those two highways, though. 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:45.360 And now the Jebusites live in it? 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:48.799 Remember when I mean it's a pagan city. 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:56.879 Even later in the book of Judges, this might interest you, that there was a Levite and his concubine, which is not okay, but that's Israel in the days of the judges. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:02.879 They're traveling through Israel, and it gets nighttime, and it's a dangerous place to be outside of Jerusalem. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:04.639 It's just, it's nothing out there. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:06.799 There's no trees out there, it's just rolling hills. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:09.200 It's perfect for thieves and bandits to hide in. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:14.399 And the Levite is nervous about this, and his concubine is nervous about this, and the closest city is Jerusalem. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:16.559 And they say, let's go to Jerusalem to spend the night. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:19.919 But the Levite says, No, I don't want to go live with a bunch of pagans. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:24.000 Let's go find a city of Jews and go there for the night. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.159 Well, if you remember the story, they go to Gibeah. 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:31.759 The concubine is attacked and violated and murdered. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:36.080 This leads Israel to a civil war where they almost wipe out one of their tribes. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:43.600 They almost destroyed the tribe of Benjamin because Jerusalem was inhabited by the heathen, so to speak. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:46.559 The Israelites in reality were worse than they were. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:52.240 When David defeats Goliath, remember he puts Goliath's armor and his sword up on the wall in Bethshan. 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:53.759 Remember what he does with Goliath's head? 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:58.799 He cuts off Goliath's head and takes it to Jerusalem and drops it off in Jerusalem. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:01.519 That's like the ultimate mic drop right there. 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:04.480 It's a warning to the Jebusites in Jerusalem. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:06.159 Hey, don't mess with the Jews. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:07.120 Don't mess with us. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:08.879 You want to know what happens to people who mess with us? 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:11.039 Here's a giant's head, thunk. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:19.840 It wouldn't be till David became king, I think the sixth or seventh year of his reign is king, where he was finally able to conquer Jerusalem. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:23.600 And David did not make the same mistake that Joshua and Caleb had made. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:25.120 David moved in. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:29.360 And the Lord told David that I'm going to make this city special. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.720 I'm going to put my name on this place, unlike any other place in the world. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:36.720 That's recorded in 2 Kings 21, verse 7, which is long after David is gone. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:38.960 Solomon is gone by 2 Kings 21. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:42.559 But the prophet's letting you know this was told to David way back earlier on. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:52.799 Yahweh said to David, 2 Kings 21, 7, In this house in Jerusalem, in which I've chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name there forever. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:58.159 David, when he conquered Jerusalem, he made it their capital. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:02.000 And to appreciate that, think of America's history. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.799 When we became a nation, we needed a capital. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:09.759 The southern states didn't want it in the north, the northern states didn't want it in the south. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:16.720 And so it fell to Congress and then George Washington to find a place where it wasn't in the north or the south. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:17.759 Make a new city there. 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:19.200 Just don't make it in the north or the south. 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.759 And they nestle it right on the border there. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:24.799 David had the same dynamic. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:26.480 He comes to authority. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:30.000 He couldn't put the capital in any of the twelve tribes that were already there. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:31.519 He needed a new place. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:42.399 A city that this far didn't fall under the authority of one of the twelve tribes, since he chose Jerusalem, which was in the land that Judah should have possessed, but the Israelites had not moved into it yet, and he makes that the capital. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:45.440 That will be the place. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:48.559 But then something interesting happens. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:49.840 Notice just in verse 1 again. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:53.600 I was glad when they said to me, Let's go to the house of Yahweh, let's go to the house of the Lord. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:57.039 Notice in the inscription, who wrote this psalm? 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:00.559 David wrote this psalm. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.600 Did David ever see the temple? 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:06.799 No. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:09.840 The house of the Lord didn't exist in David's life. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:12.320 There was a tabernacle, but there was no temple. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:14.080 And David wanted to build one too. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:15.840 David thought, you know, the Lord is homeless. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:21.440 I've got a nice house, I've got a nice palace, but there's no there's no temple for the Lord and for his ark to dwell in. 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:23.759 He even tried to move the ark into Jerusalem. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:25.279 That did not go well, remember? 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:26.879 Uzzah struck dead. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:27.519 David quits. 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:29.360 David's like, nobody can work for you, God. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:30.639 I'm done with this. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.720 It was anything but I was glad to go to the house of the Lord. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:40.240 Then David asks the prophet, asked Nathan, I want to build God a house so that God has a place to dwell in. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:42.159 And Nathan says, Yes, great idea. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:43.279 Start tomorrow, David. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:49.679 And Nathan goes away, and God stops the prophet Nathan and says, Hey, next time pray first, okay, prophet? 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.879 Next time check with me if I want a house. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:57.360 The Lord doesn't live in a temple made by human hands. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:16:58.559 He's not homeless. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:01.759 So Nathan had to march back to David, talk about an awkward conversation. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:06.880 Nathan had to go back to David and say, uh earlier I said God said build a temple. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:08.319 I didn't actually check with him. 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:12.000 Never mind, cancel those plans, shoe out the architects, it's over. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:13.759 You're not going to build it. 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.160 You're a man of bloodshed, Nathan tells him. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:18.960 Your son will build the temple, but you won't. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:22.480 And so David died without seeing the temple. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:28.640 And yet he wrote this psalm prophetically about the day where the temple would exist. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:35.119 Prophetically about the day when the Jews would go three times a year, as it says in verse 4. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:39.279 It was decreed for Israel to go there over and over and over again. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:41.119 I mean, what a special city this is. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:41.839 Look at verse 3. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:44.720 Jerusalem is built as a city that is bound firmly together. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:46.240 That's somewhat its geography. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:48.480 It's surrounded by the hills up there in the mountains. 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:49.839 It's bound firmly together. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:53.119 And, you know, if you've been to Jerusalem, you've had this experience. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:53.759 There's nothing. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:54.799 You're driving through the hills. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:55.599 There is nothing there. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:57.039 There's not even green bushes there. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:58.079 There's just desert. 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.160 Rolling hills of desert. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.119 And you round the corner and now you go through a tunnel. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:06.480 You come out the other side of the tunnel, and boom, there's Jerusalem. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:11.039 The dome of the rock, the gold of it shining in the distance, and it's just incredible. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:13.039 Out of nowhere it strikes you. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:16.079 It's protected, it's nestled in there. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:19.279 The tribes will go up there, it says in verse 4. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:20.400 The tribes of Yahweh. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:21.839 Notice the progression here. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.960 These tribes, these far-flung, the twelve tribes that are far flung. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:27.200 And eventually they'll be in exile. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:31.680 There are people from all over the world, but they're bound together in Jerusalem. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.039 They're tied there. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:37.279 They have a common language there, a common lord there, a common temple there. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:38.880 This is their focal point. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.960 They have such hope for Jerusalem. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:42.880 I mean, it is an ethnically diverse city. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:44.720 Today it's an ethnically diverse city. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:52.160 Even back then, as the diaspora, as the Jews were sent into exile, they begin marrying off in exile. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.160 And, you know, it's a very ethnic. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:19:06.319 When Dider and I went to Jerusalem, we had a group that we brought with us, and we had several Spanish speakers in our group from our church in Los Angeles, and we were nervous: are they going to be able to understand the tour guide and who speaks English with kind of a Hebrew accent? 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:07.519 What's that going to be like? 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.160 And then we get there and we have a Spanish-speaking tour guide. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.400 She was a Sephardic Jew from Spain. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:14.559 Talk about the providence of God. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:16.960 But that's what Jerusalem is like. 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:19.200 The Jews that live there are from all over the world. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:24.319 The police force that was guarding the temple mount the day we were there were all from Yemen. 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:27.359 Hebrew-speaking Yemenites. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:29.920 That's the nature of Jerusalem. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.559 And it was this way even during the exile. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:33.920 People from all over the world. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:39.519 They don't have the same skin color, they don't live on the same continent, but they're bound together tightly. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:44.319 They're the tribes, but they belong to Yahweh, and they're tied together by this temple. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.240 Now, what is it about them that tied it together? 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:50.160 We see this in verse 4. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:51.599 It was decreed for Israel. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.440 This is the prophetic word of God. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:57.279 The prophetic voice of God comes through Jerusalem. 00:19:57.440 --> 00:19:59.440 The prophets spoke about Jerusalem. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:03.039 God's tying his redemptive plan and the prophetic voice to Jerusalem. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:05.839 It was decreed for them from Jerusalem. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:09.119 To give thanks to Yahweh's name from Jerusalem. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:10.880 That's the priestly ministry. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.640 Enabled in order for you to worship, you had to go up to the temple. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:16.319 Your sacrifices had to be given. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:19.599 The priestly function happened in Jerusalem. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.759 The thrones in verse 5 were judgment, were set in Jerusalem. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:29.920 So you have your prophets, your priests, your kings all functioning in Jerusalem. 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:37.920 You know, in the United States, we have our three branches of government: legislative, executive, judicial, and they're supposed to be checks and balances. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:39.680 You remember that day when there were checks and balances? 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:40.640 The good old days? 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:41.759 They checked each other. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:42.799 Yeah. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:45.359 Tell your kids about it one day. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.079 In Israel, it's the same thing. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:51.839 You had your prophets, your priests, and your kings, and they checked each other. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.799 The king, for example, couldn't be a priest. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:57.359 They were different people. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.720 And if the king acted like a priest, God struck him. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:05.519 And you see all three of them functioning here in Jerusalem. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:08.240 The king would reign in Jerusalem. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:14.559 Even when Israel revolted, when the civil war happened after Solomon's death, and ten tribes left. 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.279 They built their own capital, Samaria. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:20.079 The Savior doesn't come through Samaria. 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:22.160 The high priest isn't in Samaria. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:25.119 The prophets barely name it. 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:30.079 The focus is always Jerusalem. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:38.000 Even after the Civil War, after the exile, after Israel's taken into captivity, and the temple is destroyed. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:42.079 The exiles didn't do pilgrimages back to Samaria. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:45.839 They came back to Jerusalem. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.680 That's where the worship happens. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:49.440 That's where the Savior will come from. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:51.279 And you get a hint of that even in verse 5. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:54.000 Thrones, plural of judgment, were set. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:56.559 Thrones of the house of David, thrones plural. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:22:01.440 In other words, the savior will be David's son, David's descendant, but Many, many descendants later. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:03.119 David's writing this. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:04.559 He understands this. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:06.720 His Savior, the Savior is coming later. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.039 There's going to be lots of thrones later. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.839 And the Savior will come. 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:14.480 The priestly worship will happen there. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:16.480 The prophetic voice will be from there. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:18.319 The king will be from there. 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:27.440 And then when the psalm was gathered by Ezra for those in exile to come back on their pilgrimages, this is 400 years after David. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:29.920 Think about what had happened in those 400 years. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:31.119 The temple's gone. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:36.000 When they were doing these pilgrimages back to Jerusalem, there is no temple anymore. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:37.839 It was destroyed. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.680 There's no king in Jerusalem during these pilgrimages. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:42.559 Who's the king? 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:44.799 Cyrus the Persian? 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:47.119 Alexander the Great? 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:49.039 Caesar in Rome? 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:52.000 They're the ones who are ruling over Jerusalem. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:54.720 There's no prophets during this time. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.240 It's 400 years of silence. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:57.279 There's no prophets. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:58.880 There's no king. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:10.799 And still, even though the kings went the way of the Nephilim, still the Jews went on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:13.359 It's not that they love the geography. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:20.799 It's that the kingly and the priestly and the prophetic ministries are co-located in that one place. 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:25.920 I think of Daniel in Babylon. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:31.759 And the Persian king says, You can't pray to anybody, Daniel chapter 6, except me. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:40.160 And Daniel marches right up to his bay window, flings open the doors, and prays to Yahweh by facing where? 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:45.440 What a bold sign. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:50.160 What a bold sign of Daniel's character and his integrity and his faithfulness. 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:53.920 That though the law says don't pray to Yahweh, he will obviously pray to Yahweh. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:57.279 He'll set his face towards Jerusalem and pray to Yahweh. 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:02.480 But on the other hand, isn't it also a little bit sad? 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.319 What's Jerusalem like when Daniel's facing it? 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:07.440 Where's the temple? 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:08.160