A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
4 Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will seek your good.
David presents a paradigm of petition for the peace of Jerusalem and the Jewish people. His emphasis on this central notion of “peace”—one that is permanent, complete, and inclusive—is indicated by his repetition of this key term three times throughout the Psalm (a three-fold repetition signifying the “utmost” of something). … This petition will only be fully (and permanently) fulfilled on that day when the divine King establishes His throne on the site of the Temple in Jerusalem (see Ezekiel 43:7), whereafter not only the tribes of Israel, but those “who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts” (Zechariah 14:16). — Wechsler, pages 294-295.
compact (v.3) = united, joined
testimony (v.4) — her, the law as the testimony of God
The judgment here in view (v.5), consistent with David’s emphasis on superlative “peace,” is ultimately that perfectly righteous judgment attending the eternal rule of the messianic King, the Lord of Righteousness Himself . (David’s use of the plural form of “thrones” may also allude to the twelve thrones on which the apostles will sit to participate with Christ in judging the 12 tribes [see Matthew 19:28]). — Wechsler, page 295.
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The exhortation to pray the peace of Jerusalem (v.6) includes not simply the location, but the Jewish people. … The link between Jerusalem/Zion is so close that the former is often employed as a personified substitute for her Jewish residents or the Jewish people in general. The statement “May they prosper who love you” (v.6) hearkens to God’s contingent promise to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you” (Genesis 12:3). More than for the sake of his brothers and his friends (i.e., his fellow Israelites), David’s prayer is ultimately motivated for the sake of the house of the LORD—i.e., for the sake of the LORD Himself—since the final, future advent of true peace to Jerusalem and the Jewish people, as of blessing to those who bless them, is ultimately a confirmation (and vindication) of God’s faithfulness to do what He has said He will do (cf. 2 Samuel 7:10-13; Jeremiah 23:3-8; Ezekiel 37:11-14, 24-28; Zechariah 14:9-11, etc.). — Wechsler, page 296.
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The Psalm looks forward to the time when all the tribes of Israel go once more to Jerusalem. When this prophecy shall be fulfilled, wars will have ceases, Satan will be bound and locked in the abyss, and the King of kings rules from David’s throne. The pilgrims will come from the ends of the earth to worship in Jerusalem, but all the sons of Abraham will make their homes in the land that God gave them for ever. … Jerusalem will be the world center; the restored tribes will all be united with one heart to worship the King (Isaiah 2:2-4). — Phillips, page 297.
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