I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” (Psalms 122:1)
In the time when Psalm 122 was written, Israel held annual festivals where Jews from all over would journey to the temple in order to worship. The songs would be a way for them to be reminded of the reasons for their journey and the reason for why they longed to worship God in his “house” or temple. Today we may not have a physical temple but we still gather as believers to worship God on the Lord’s Day, Sunday, to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection. Going to God’s house to worship can be seen as a chore or a delight. For the psalmist going to the house of God was a delight. When we begin to see going to the house of the Lord or going to church as a chore we will not be prepared to enter and sing praises to God. If however, we take the approach the psalmist took and approach every worship gathering with eagerness our attitude will lead to praise.