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Advent Season · First Sunday of Advent · Year A

Psalm 122

Psalm 122

November 30, 2025

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, Edward Lear
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, Edward Lear, 1859Google Art Project
Lear, better known for nonsense verse, was a working topographical painter who travelled the Levant. The city is drawn from the east with the accuracy of a surveyor.Jerusalem, built as a city that is bound firmly together. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.Edward LearBest remembered for nonsense verse, but by trade a topographical painter and ornithological draughtsman who travelled constantly.Google Art ProjectRecorded through an online image archive; the holding institution is not named with the image.Google Art Project
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelMatt. 24:36-44Mt 24:36-44
EpistleRom. 13:11-14Rom 13:11-14
Old TestamentIsa. 2:1-5Is 2:1-5
PsalterPs. 122Ps 122

Overview & Insights

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” (Psalm 122:1)

Like other psalms of ascent, this one contains hints of pilgrimage. The call, “Let us go to the house of the LORD,” signals their journey’s departure, and the declaration, “our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem,” signals their arrival in the holy city. The description of the tribes “going up” (Hb. lh , v. 4) uses a key term for the worshipers’ ascent to Yahweh’s mountain (cf. 24:3). The voice of a representative liturgist is evident. The speaking “I” in verse 1 shifts to “our” in verse 2. In verse 6, the speaker issues an imperative to a group of listeners. The psalm opens with joy expressed over the thought of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (vv. 1–2), then praises Jerusalem itself (vv. 3–5), and finally encourages pilgrims to bless the city (vv. 6–9). The psalm should be read in conjunction with other Songs of Zion.

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Take it further: Psalm 122

Commentary

Commentary on Psalm 122Commentary on Ps 122 Working Preacher

Reads this Song of Ascents as fitting for the start of a new church year, with the pilgrim's 'let us go to the house of the Lord' echoing Isaiah 2's invitation.

Psalm 122 CommentaryPs 122 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Reformed preaching commentary on the psalm's pilgrimage joy and prayer for Jerusalem's peace as the Advent 1 psalm response.

Psalm 122 CommentaryPs 122 Commentary Enduring Word (David Guzik)

Verse-by-verse commentary on this Song of Ascents, covering the pilgrim's gladness at going to the house of the Lord and the prayer for Jerusalem's peace.

Background & Word Study

Psalms 122:1-9Ps 122:1-9 Sefaria

Hebrew/English text of the Song of Ascents with linked rabbinic and Talmudic commentary on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

The Church Fathers

Psalm 122 - CatenaPs 122 - Catena Catena Bible

Patristic comments on the Song of Ascents' joy at going up to the house of the Lord and its prayer for Jerusalem's peace.

Questions preachers ask

Why is a pilgrim song about Jerusalem read in Advent?

Psalm 122 is sung on the way, by people who can already see the gates but have not yet arrived. That is the season’s own position, which is why the psalm’s gladness is forward-looking rather than settled.

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