Psalm 22: Pilgrimage

This is one of the great pilgrimage psalms, sung by those heading to Jerusalem to worship. The anticipation, the wonder, the excitement are evident.  Here, the psalmist and his compatriots stand at the gates of the city.  They've almost arrived.  Almost.

So too with Holy Week and Easter.  In just a few days we'll celebrate Holy Week and begin a spiritual and liturgical journey that will bring us to the depths of despair before delivering us to a place of joy and life triumphant.  But we're not ready to start, not yet.  We still have a few days of "ordinary" Lent before us.  We still have time to prepare ourselves for what's to come.  Let's take a moment, let's reflect, let's pray, let's sing a song of peace.  Then we will be better prepared to enter into Jerusalem.

1  I was glad when they said to me, *
“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
2  Now our feet are standing *
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3  Jerusalem is built as a city *
that is at unity with itself;
4  To which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD, *
the assembly of Israel,
to praise the Name of the LORD.
5  For there are the thrones of 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 *
and quietness within your towers.
8  For the sake of my kindred and companions, *
I pray for your prosperity.
9  Because of the house of the LORD our God, *
I will seek to do you good.”

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