Those who love the church are prosperous

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’  Our feet are standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that is built As a city that is compact together; To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD-- An ordinance for Israel-- To give thanks to the name of the LORD.  For there thrones were set for judgment, The thrones of the house of David.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you.  May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces.’  For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, ‘May peace be within you.’  For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.” (Psalms 122) 

            One of the books by Philip Yancey is “Church: Why Bother?”  In the book, Philip Yancey said of the community in the church : ‘The fundamental foundation of the Christian community, the reconciling love of God, transcends all nations, races, classes, ages and genders in the world.  Community comes first.  The conflict and problems that separate us are later.’  Although the church is a community of various people, the church of God's family must seek unity in that diversity.  ‘How beautiful is the church when everything is different but the same is united into a community!’ (Yancey).  I personally dream of such a beautiful community.  I am dreaming of the church that faithfully keeps on the unity of the Holy Spirit in diversity, not division.

                In Psalms 122: 6, this is what the psalmist David said: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.”  Here “Jerusalem” symbolizes the church (Park).  That is to say, those who love the church will be prosperous.  That's right. Those who love the church are prosperous because God is with them.  Then, what do those who love the church do?  I would like to take two lessons from Psalms 122.

First, those who love the church are happy to go to church.

                Look at Psalms 122:1 – “I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD.”  The psalmist David was glad when he was invited by his friends to go to the house of the Lord that is the temple of the Lord.  What was the reason?  

(1)   The first reason is because of what was previously ruined in the temple of the Lord was now repaired (Park).

Look at Psalms 122:2, 3: “Our feet are standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that is built As a city that is compact together.”  What does it mean?  The psalmist David saw the Jerusalem temple being rebuilt, which had been destroyed.  That was why he rejoiced and rejoiced.  This should be our joy.  Those who love the church should rejoice and rejoice when the fallen church repents and is beautifully restored (Park).  Isn’t this our joy that the church is cleansed and renewed by the true reformation of the fallen church?  In the meantime, how joyful it will be when the church, which is the body of the Lord, becomes the clean bride-like church well-prepared to welcome Jesus, the Bridegroom, by the work of the Lord.

(2)   The second reason why the psalmist David was happy to go up to the temple of God was because he wanted to worship God with thanksgiving.

Look at Psalms 122:4 – “To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD-- An ordinance for Israel-- To give thanks to the name of the LORD.”  When David saw the rebuilt holy city of God with the good hand of God (Neh. 2:18), he was happy to go up to the temple of God and worship Him with thanksgiving in his heart.  In addition, when David saw many people in the city of Jerusalem (Ps. 122:3) and righteous politics were practicing (v. 5), he rejoiced and gave thanks to God (Park).

                This should be our mind and our heart.  As we experience the Lord's cleansing and rebuilding of the church, we must rejoice in worshiping God with thanksgiving as we go up to the temple of the Lord.  In addition, as we see the Lord makes His church to grow and to practice the right church politic by bringing revival to His church, we must be happy to go up to His church and worship God with thanksgiving in our heart.  Only those who love the church and those who taste the work of what God is doing in our church will be able to go up to the temple of the Lord with joy and thanksgiving and will worship God.  In the midst of the joy of worship, we will love the church more than before.

Second, those who love the church seek the peace and prosperity of the church.

                Look at Psalms 122:6-8: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.  ‘May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces.’  For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, ‘May peace be within you.’”  The psalmist David blessed Jerusalem because he loved Jerusalem.  And that blessing was Jerusalem's peace and prosperity.  Here, “peace” refers to peace between God and man and peace between man and man.  In other words, those who love Jerusalem prayed for peace in Jerusalem.  Those who love Jerusalem sought the blessing of peace, while the psalmist David also longed for the God's blessing of prosperity.

                If we love the church, we must bless it.  We who love His church must bless the church and seek God’s peace of the church.  Peace is the hallmark of the church, which is the Lord's body that He is with us and He builds (Park).  There must be spiritual peace in the church.  There should be peace not only in our relationship with God, but also in our relationship with our fellow church members.  In the meantime, the body of the Lord should be prosperous because the Lord Emmanuel is with us.

                This is what the hymn “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord” says in verses 1 through 3: (v. 1) “I love Thy Kingdom, Lord, The house of Thine abode, The Church our blest Redeemer saved With His own precious blood,” (v. 2) “I love Thy Church, O God; Her walls before Thee stand, Dear as the apple of Thine eye, And graven on Thy hand” and (v. 3) “For her my tears shall fall, For her my prayers ascend; To her my cares and toils be given, Till toils and cares shall end.”  We who love His church must rejoice and rejoice that the church is transformed into a clean and purified church as the bride of Jesus, the Bridegroom.  When we witness the Lord's establishing work in His church, we cannot help but to go up to the temple of the Lord with joy and worship God with thanksgiving in our heart.  We must also seek the peace of our church that we love.  In seeking God's peace, we too should seek peace in our relationship with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  In the meantime, we must seek their blessing for the church (v. 9).  May our church be filled with the blessings of peace and prosperity of God.