Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 122

I was glad - It was a subject of joy to me. The return of the happy season when we were to go up to worship filled me with joy. The language is expressive of the happiness which is felt by those who love God and his sanctuary, when the stated season of worship returns. The heart is drawn to the house of prayer; the soul is filled with peace at the prospect of being again permitted to worship God.

Who the speaker here is, is not known. It may have been David himself; more probably, however, it was designed by him to be used by those who should go up to worship, as expressive of their individual joy.

When they said unto me - When it was said to me. When the time arrived. When I was invited by others to go. The announcement was joyful; the invitation was welcome. It met the desires of my heart, and I embraced the invitation cheerfully and joyfully.

Let us go into the house of the Lord - Up to the place where God dwells; the house which he has made his abode. If the psalm was composed in the time of David, this would refer to the tabernacle as fixed by him on Mount Zion; if at a later period, to the temple. The language will admit of either interpretation. Compare the notes at Isaiah 2:3.

Our feet shall stand within your gates, O Jerusalem - We will enter the sacred city. It appears now in full view before us—its walls, its palaces, its sacred places. We will not stand and gaze upon it at a distance; we will not merely be charmed with its beauty as we approach it; we will accomplish the object of our desire, and enter within its walls and gates.

So the believer approaches heaven—the New Jerusalem above. He will not merely admire its exterior and look upon it at a distance, but he will enter in. He draws nearer and nearer to it, and as he approaches it when he is dying, its beauty becomes the more charming to his view, and the joy of his heart increases as he now feels the assurance that he will stand within its gates: that he will enter there and dwell there forever.

So said Dr. Payson, when approaching the end of life: “The celestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam upon me, its breezes fan me, its odors are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. Nothing separates me from it but the river of death, which now appears but as an insignificant rill, that may be crossed at a single step, whenever God shall give permission.

The Sun of Righteousness has been gradually drawing nearer and nearer, appearing larger and brighter as he approached, and now he fills the whole hemisphere—pouring forth a flood of glory, in which I seem to float like an insect in the beams of the sun; exulting, yet almost trembling, while I gaze on this excessive brightness, and wondering with unutterable wonder why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm.” Works, i. 407. See also the exquisite description of the glories of heaven, familiar to all, as described by Bunyan, as the Christian pilgrims were about to cross the river of death.

Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together - literally, “joined to itself together;” that is, when one part is, as it were, bound closely to another part, not scattered or separate. The walls are all joined together, and the houses are all united to one another so as to make a compact place.

The ground occupied by Jerusalem never could be large, as it was surrounded with valleys, except on the north, and hemmed in with hills, so that, from the necessity of the case, when it became the capital of the nation, it was densely crowded. This, moreover, was usual in ancient cities, when they were made compact for the sake of defense and protection.

Where the tribes - The twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

Go up - To the great feasts and festivals of the nation. See Exodus 23:17. This language of “going up” is similar to what would be used anywhere regarding the capital of a nation—as it is now of London—but it was literally true of Jerusalem, since it was elevated far above most parts of the land.

The tribes of the Lord, to the testimony of Israel - The “ark of testimony;” the ark in which were the tables of stone, containing the law considered as God’s testimony or witnessing to justice, right, equity, duty, truth. See Exodus 16:34; Exodus 25:16, 21; Exodus 40:3, 20; Exodus 30:6, 36; Exodus 31:18.

To give thanks to the name of the Lord - To worship Yahweh—the name often representing the Being himself. A main part of Hebrew worship was praise, and therefore, this often represents the whole of worship.

For there are set — Margin: Do sit. The Hebrew is, “For there sit thrones for judgment.” They are established there; or, that is the appointed place for administering justice.

Thrones of judgment — Seats for dispensing justice. The word “throne” is now commonly appropriated to the seat or chair of a king, but this is not necessarily the meaning here. The word may denote a seat or bench occupied by a judge. The meaning here is that Jerusalem was the supreme seat of justice, the place where justice was dispensed for the nation. It was at once the religious and the civil capital of the nation.

The thrones of the house of David — Of the family of David, who performed the office of magistrates or who administered justice. The family of David would naturally be employed in such a service as this. This office, Absalom — who had not been appointed to it — earnestly desired, so that he might secure popularity in his contemplated rebellion. Oh that I were made a judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! (2 Samuel 15:4).