A great song begins, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.‘” The song is Psalm 122, written by David. Psalms 120-134 are all titled, “A Song of Ascents” and were traveling tunes sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for one of three required annual festivals.

For David, “they” said it was time, maybe they were friends, maybe counselors. He doesn’t identify them but he receives their message. “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” The “house” was the tabernacle, the only worship center of its kind for the Jews, located in the capital city of Jerusalem. The tabernacle (and after David, the Temple) was a designated and special place of worship, the placed God promised His presence and blessing even if men turned toward it, let alone when they came to it.

Psalm 122 celebrates the house of the LORD and all that the city around it represented. Jerusalem was the rally point for all the tribes (verse 4). It was the seat of kings (verse 5). Her walls offered peace and security (verses 6-7) and the entire atmosphere made a man more affectionate toward and committed to the good of his brothers and friends (verses 8-9).

Singing Psalm 122 on the ascent to the city for worship promoted positive images and associations and feelings. It made them think of unity, authority, security, and God’s presence. No wonder David said, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD’“!

We are Gentiles, not Jews. We’re the church, not a nation under God like Israel. We do not have one place that God promises His special presence like the tabernacle. We do look forward to the New Jerusalem, but our songs of ascent look toward a different house.

Unlike the architectural structure that David visualized, God’s house is the people; we believers are the building. Paul used this imagery to encourage the Gentiles about how much they belonged.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19–22)

We are the “household of God,” built on the cornerstone of Christ and a foundation of prophets and apostles. As such, we are a “structure,” we are the “holy temple,” a “dwelling place for God.”

Peter also called “God’s people” (1 Peter 2:10) a “spiritual house” built on Christ (1 Peter 2:6-8).

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4–5)

The tabernacle (then Temple) was God’s dwelling place, now He dwells in and among us by His Spirit. His people came to the house of the LORD to worship. We are the house of the Lord. For what purpose? It’s the same: “to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

There is no doubt that each living stone makes living sacrifices (think Romans 12:1) and that those acts of worship come in a variety of vocations and locations (for example, Romans 12:3-8). But, it’s when we worship together that we see the whole house in its corporate glory.

We are like pre-fab pieces that assemble together to make a great structure, then we disassemble for further purposes in scattered places. Our gathered worship isn’t the only way we worship, but it is the only time we do it all together. It’s unique, it’s special, and it ought to make us glad when someone says, “Let’s go do church.” Or better, “Let us go worship as the house of the Lord.”

Trinity Evangel Church turns five years-old next weekend. From the beginning we’ve been purposeful about using more ingredients in our Sunday morning services than only singing and sermons. At the start of each new year I’ve also preached a message or more on the subject of corporate worship, sort of like reading a cookbook. Usually you just eat. Sometimes knowing what goes into the meal increases thankfulness, hunger, and even tastiness.

Here we are at the beginning of 2016 and it’ll be at least this week and next that we’ll talk some about our meetings with God.

When someone says to you that it is time to assemble as the house of the Lord, it ought to make you glad because it evokes heartening thoughts. Just as the tabernacle in Jerusalem reminded David of good things, there are at least five hallmarks of our house that make us glad to assemble and to offer spiritual sacrifices in worship.

A House of Station

We assemble because we were assigned to do it. What distinguishes our assembly is the eternal, sovereign, Triune, gracious, loving, and glorious God who reigns over us and who calls us one day every seven to gather and meet with Him.

He created the bodies for us, the ground and gravity and light and trees for wood for pews, and the weekly cycle of work and worship because He wanted to. He defines the Who of worship (from whom and to Whom), the when of worship (the first day of the week, the Lord’s day), and a good part of where (with others) and what (in the name of Jesus by the Spirit guided by Word and following His ordinances). He most certainly revealed why: He’s worthy to be praised.

The psalmist asked, “What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8) Our worship begins with the same question. The first sin was an overreach of station. Adam transgressed his place of honor because he would not accept the honor that comes with humility before God and obedience to Him.

We live in a world that we cannot control. The globe spins one way and not another by God’s design, power, and delight. The oceans obey the boundaries He sets, the mountains rise when He says how high. We hear and see and taste and touch only what He wants us to, only because He gave us faculties to, and only when He sustains them to.

The Lord made heaven and earth. He is God and we are not. He is great and we are great only by derivative. This God is our help. His steadfast love endures forever. He gives grace to the humble and turns toward those who fear Him. Our station as image-bearers is good. We belong here because He built us to worship together and calls us to it. When we think of being the house of the Lord, we should think about being His house.

A House of Mercy

Our finite station is fine. God gave us limitations as a gift; He likes our restraints and not because He fears rivals. It’s not much of a threat when You have to give your enemy being and breath with which to fight.

Finiteness is good, rebellion is not. When we see more of His majesty, we see more of how much we don’t match Him and we see how much our unbelief and disobedience mock His position. His holiness is amazing, and dreadful if we’re without it. His sovereignty is so complete that we cannot escape. His standards are perfect and beautiful and we can’t get close on our own.

The good news is that God has revealed His power and His perfection, and also His patience. He’s given us His law, He’s required total obedience to His rule, and He has shown over and over that He forgives those who repent and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ as their savior. He sent His Son to save His people from their sin. God’s purpose in calling us to worship is to save us for it, not to rub our faces in an impossibility.

Christ is the cornerstone of this house. He is a rock of crushing and of mercy. He is our righteousness, our wisdom, our life. If He is not risen from the dead then we are still in our sins and much to be pitied. We could not deal with our guilt. “But God, being rich in mercy…made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2). “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57)! We are not a house of sin but of house of those to whom God has shown mercy.

When we think about the house we belong to, remember that it is a house of mercy.

A House of Exposure

When God’s Word is opened up it opens eyes and hearts. It’s true that the Word is like food, that through it we’re nourished and taste that the Lord is good. The Word also shows us what the Lord is like and how we need to be (and yet aren’t perfectly) like Him.

James illustrated that the Word is like a mirror. We look into it to see what’s out of place. It’s like a mirror with an outline of what should be on it. We need to change something if we don’t make shape.

This is the principle that we become what we behold. Scripture read and explained shows us God, it reveals Him, exposes Him. The same truth also exposes us.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12–13)

I’ve mentioned before that the Greek word for “exposed” is a form of trachelizo, from which we derive trachea, the throat. The verb meant to “lay bare the neck (as with a sacrificial animal).” Scripture is cutting us up, rearranging the parts, and setting us on the altar as sacrifices for God.

I’ve heard sermons described as information dumps. Back the exegetical truck up and drop the load. I may not be the most dynamic preacher; my use of the sword could be more skillful. But God help me if the message time on Sunday’s becomes a place to hide under (expositional or doctrinal) Bible blankets no matter how well-woven.

Don’t relax because you’re not talking. Don’t stow away your heart because you gathered some truth nuggets for your dogma journal. Don’t hide behind a conviction for “a friend” down the pew or across the aisle who really needs it. We are a house devoted to seeing God and being seen by Him. His Spirit shapes the living stones so that they fit together.

A House of Peace

After all of that, God still wants to eat with us. It happened in the progression of Old Testament sacrifices, too. After the sin offering came the burnt offering which symbolized the sacrifices entire devotion to God. Then came the peace offering in which meat was cooked and pulled off the alter to be shared. It meant that forgiveness and sanctification were accepted, there was peace, so the sacrificer was acceptable to God.

How much more are we drawn near to God in His Son. Now we have peace with God because Jesus died for the dead and rose again so that we could live in and for Him. The communion bread and cup are sharing in fellowship with God. He is glad with us in Christ. We who eat and drink together fellowship as a body; all the pieces of the house are welcome.

The tone of the Lord’s Table is one of gladness in the gospel. We rejoice because Christ has done the work to overcome our distance and bring us close. In Christ, God is our Father, not Judge. He already judged Jesus for our sins so that we could be with Him.

Starting with communion on Sunday mornings would be less helpful. Communion is not more important than the other parts of our worship, but it is the point. Mercy and exposure make us ready to celebrate peace. Not that we weren’t at peace in God’s books, but we easily forget it. We are a house of peace. It ought to make us glad.

A House of Charge

A charge such as this is a special assignment given to a specific people. We are called to worship, to remember our station and salvation and sanctification and sustenance and then we are to go and serve the world for God. If He wanted us assembled all the time, He could have upset the Sabbath principle. He could have made us all elders and teachers, or monks. He could have immediately taken us all to heaven. But He didn’t.

The Israelites, David included, spent most of the year not at the festivals in Jerusalem, and the time spent at those festivals changed how they approached what they did the rest of the year. Their work and neighbors and families and education and image-bearing was oriented by the house of the LORD. We are the house and the house assembled prepares us for the house deployed.

So, house, charge! Charge into gospel sacrifices, into thanksgiving for all things, into industry that brings blessing, and into fruitfulness. The charge is the frontier for faith to obey.

Conclusion

All five of these hallmarks color our house every week like a fresh coat of paint. We are called to worship, we confess our sins, we are consecrated to God as spiritual sacrifices, we communion with Him and His body, and He commissions us out with blessing.

David was glad when they said, “Let us go.” We will not be glad to go, however, under three conditions.

We will not be glad if we are unwilling to deal with our sin. The Father, Son, and Spirit intend to deal with it, the Word confronts it, the gospel addresses it, communion will exacerbate it.

We will not be glad if we prefer to keep God at a distance. God is a much safer sovereign if we think of Him in heaven. When we think of meeting Him, of being in His presence, this presents a problem.

We will not be glad if we only want to watch. The building is not “some assembly required,” say, a preacher and a piano player. We are all worshippers offering spiritual sacrifices, and in this case there’s a lot of worship even when we’re sitting on the bench.

We are built to worship together. We are built together to worship. We worship to be built together. Let us be glad when they say, “Let us go worship as the house of the Lord.”