The Songs of Ascents
by Terry Wane Benton
Psalms 120-134
There is a special grouping of Psalms that were often used to prepare the Israelites for making the worship at the temple very special. It was like anticipating the worship to ensure it would not be a vain and wasted moment. You sang or meditated on what would be accomplished or enjoyed by ascending that mountain to the place of worship. You prepared your mind and heart for the occasion. As you “ascended” up the mountain to the Jerusalem temple, these were songs you would sing and reflect upon, and these meditations prepared your mind and heart for the worship occasion.
A great thing we might learn from this is that we too might better engage our hearts for true worship (John 4:21-24) if we prepared to ascend with our hearts to the “heavenly Jerusalem.” There are things we need to get out of the way before we can worship acceptably, like critical attitudes toward others or unresolved conflicts that block goodwill. Jesus said to settle things with your brother “and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23f). Can you ascend immediately into “true worship” in spirit and truth with unresolved conflicts eating at your heart? God sees this and expects us to come into assembled worship with a clear mind and conscience and with determination to put our best into the songs, prayers, communion, fellowship, and edification of listening and learning.
Have we ascended the spiritual mountain of worship if we always go home empty? Isn’t it emptiness that we brought, and therefore emptiness we return home with?
In the coming days and weeks, let us learn something from these Psalms of Ascents that might help us learn to ascend, draw nearer, and come better prepared for our assemblies so that we are always bringing something to the assembly, and what we bring helps us to return home justified before God, with a heart filled with good things. If you put nothing in, you get nothing out! If you put great things into even the preparations of heart, you will get a lot out of the assembled worship of the Lord’s House, His great church that He gave His all for!
Let us learn to ascend to greater heights of faith, hope, and love and to worship God sincerely in spirit and truth!
Psalms 120
"In my distress I cried to the LORD,
And He heard me.
Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.
What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?
Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With coals of the broom tree!
Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech,
That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.
I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war."
This Psalm contemplates ascending to the Temple Mount with the hope of just escaping all the turmoil experienced in his regular environment down below. The thought of getting to God's House to escape all the lies, deceit, backstabbing, and woes back down in regular life. People in Meshech and Kedar speak of hate and war. It sounds a lot like our environment! The anticipation of drawing near God’s presence brought thoughts of peace and security, a reprieve from anxiety and turmoil.
Going to God’s house to unload the sins and burdens and come back home justified before God was nice to anticipate as one ascended the steps toward the temple. “I am for peace,” and God’s house is all about peace within, getting the mind adjusted and refocused.
That should be our thoughts when assembling with God’s spiritual house today.
What do you think about on the way to God’s assembly?
Psalms 121
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore."
Why am I ascending this hill? The writer reminds himself that he is going up to Temple Mount to get the help God gives. God’s temple is in the hills, and therefore, God’s representative presence is there.
What greater source of help is there than the Creator of heaven and earth? Who knows more, and who knows better how to give us the help we need? Who is more dependable in giving us the right kind of help? He doesn’t slumber or sleep, so you don’t catch Him at a bad moment when He is just not alert enough to your needs. The keeper and preserver of your soul is there for you!
You are going up because His provisions for your soul are supplied largely in the provisions of His wisdom that will be expounded upon at the assembly. Sometimes a timely word of encouragement comes from various servants, priests, teachers, readings, expositions from God’s word. It is up there as we draw near to God! It is not wise to miss the assembly because you miss the opportunity for God to reach your soul with timely words of soul-preserving power. The thoughts of getting closer by heading up are thoughts of soul preservation in a world that will rob you of spiritual preservation if you forsake the assembling.
Are you looking to the hills of God, the higher ground of spiritual help, or are you moving toward weakness and worldliness? Are you ascending or descending spiritually in faith?
Psalms 122
"I was glad when they said to me,
'Let us go into the house of the LORD.'
Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the LORD,
To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the LORD.
For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
'May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.'
For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, 'Peace be within you.'
Because of the house of the LORD our God
I will seek your good."
As one ascended to the Temple Mount, there was gladness at the thought of the tribes of Israel coming together to the “Testimony,” the faith-building Testimony of God. The revealed word of God was testimony, which formed the basis of conviction, guided the judges on thrones to give proper judgment, and kept the house of David and the coming related Messianic hope before them. The promise of peace was related to the house of God, which was good.
This temple house foreshadowed great things ahead, good things. Jerusalem itself foreshadowed the marvelous things God’s people would enjoy in Christ. Peace with God is a wonderful thing. The removal of guilt is a tremendous blessing, and combining that with a spectacular hope of eternal life with God gives us peace of mind regarding our future, present, and past. God takes care of each point in His house, even in the shadow form of the physical temple, but especially when that house becomes fulfilled in Christ and unites the various nations in one body.
We should be glad to enter that greater spiritual house, which provides every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3ff). It is time to go up in this high calling, and that will be very good for all who do! Aren’t you so glad to connect to this house?
Psalms 123
"Unto You I lift up my eyes,
O You who dwell in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the LORD our God,
Until He has mercy on us.
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scorn of those who are at ease,
With the contempt of the proud."
As the Israelite ascended the Temple Mount, he thought of his many reasons for attending, one of which was his dependence on God, like a servant looking for needed things from his master and of the maid depending on the goodness of her mistress. Mercy is the inward need from the God who well understands our burdens for standing up for truth and righteousness.
We ascend from experiences in this world where people show contempt for us. You cannot stand for truth and have all men speak well of you (Luke 6:26). People will either love truth or hate it, and when they find out what you stand for, they will either love you or hate you. It is quite a burden to know people who hate you. People scorn you because they are at ease in not taking a stand. They are proud, too full of themselves to consider truth, for it might show them wrong about something.
God’s house is where the truth is told. It is very refreshing to come up from the valleys below where truth is not allowed and come up to the refreshing environment of God’s house, where truth is promoted to those who want it (I Timothy 3:15). God’s mercy has provided a house to renew our disheartened spirits.
See you at God’s house of mercy and truth!
Psalms 124
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say—
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have gone over our soul;
Then the swollen waters
Would have gone over our soul.”
Blessed be the LORD,
Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth."
Some things can be overwhelming in the valleys away from God’s house. People rise up against us, and that feeling of rejection can feel like streams of anxiety flooding over our souls. Knowing that God is for us keeps us hanging in there and coming up to His house for renewed strength.
There is a way of escape (I Corinthians 10:13) when we look to God, and we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us (Romans 8:31ff). We will not be prey to their teeth! Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Almighty, who loves us and gave Himself in Jesus for us! There is no mightier help for the righteous, so we keep coming back to God’s house!
Our refuge is in the name of the Lord, honored in His exalted house! That is why we ascend to His house, away from the pitfalls and snares in the world below!
Come up to God’s house with me!
Psalms 125
"Those who trust in the LORD
Are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the LORD surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
On the land allotted to the righteous,
Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.
Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
And to those who are upright in their hearts.
As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways,
The LORD shall lead them away
With the workers of iniquity.
Peace be upon Israel!"
Walking up to the Temple Mount, the Israelite would contemplate what he saw, Mount Zion, the surrounding mountains of Jerusalem, and think of how those who trust in the Lord are stable and strong like that Mountain, surrounded and protected by the Lord. Evil rulers would not last long in this place. There may have been an evil ruler occasionally, but it was not long before he was replaced. The good and genuine people would have God’s blessings, and the crooked would be led away with the lawless.
Things just have a way of working out for the righteous who come to this house for God’s blessings and peace. The principle of sowing and reaping has always generally held true: if you sow good and righteous seed in your life, it will produce good results. If you sow to the flesh, you reap corruption and bad consequences. It is not a waste of energy to trust the Lord. Peace to the real Israel of God! Peace comes by trusting and resting assured that God is dependable enough to work things out in His time for us!
Now relax your fears and worries! Put it all in His hands! Trust Him! Let His peace rule in your heart as you commit your trust to Him!
Psalm 126
"When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
Bring back our captivity, O LORD,
As the streams in the South.
Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
He who continually goes forth weeping,
Bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him."
Imagine ascending the Temple Mount after 70 years away in captivity in Babylon! Or imagine having been dispersed in the Assyrian captivity and having been deceived and spiritually captivated by the false religion of convenience of the northern tribes of Israel, getting your eyes of understanding opened. Now you get to worship God in spirit and truth on God’s mountain at God’s house for the first time since your eyes were opened! The joy and excitement were like entering a dream; it was almost surreal that we could now be ascending to God’s temple!
If you had been sowing truth with people, and they ridiculed, hated, and stabbed you in the back, you had been sowing truth in tears. Still, God’s house of truth would always remind you that you will eventually reap in joy, and all the suffering for the cause of truth would be more than worth it (Romans 8:18). The house of God will more than adequately reward the Bible teacher and preacher who did not compromise truth for human praise. The Lord has done great things, even suffering for us and with us, and He will sustain us and awesomely reward His faithful servants!
Go upward and onward with that knowledge!