Week 5
Day 4

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Psalms about the New Church

Peace in the Church

Psalm 122

A song of the ascents, of David.

I am glad when they say to me,

Let us go to the house of Jehovah.

Our feet are standing within Thy gates,

O Jerusalem;

Jerusalem is built as a city

That has cohered to herself as one;

Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah,

A testimony to Israel, to confess the name of Jehovah.

For thrones sit there for judgment,

The thrones for the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem;

They shall be tranquil who love thee.

Peace be in thy ramparts,

Tranquility within thy palaces.

For the sake of my brothers and my companions,

I will now speak, Let peace be within thee.

For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God,

I will seek good for thee.

Jerusalem (v. 3)

TCR 782:4. That “Jerusalem” here means a church about to be established by the Lord, and not the Jerusalem inhabited by the Jews, is evident from the particulars of its description in the passages quoted; as that Jehovah God was to create a new heaven and a new earth, and after that Jerusalem; and that she should be a crown of glory and a royal diadem; that she should be called holiness, a city of truth, the throne of Jehovah, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that should not be taken down; that there the wolf and the lamb are to feed together; that the mountains there will drop down new wine, and the hills flow with milk, and Jerusalem shall abide to generation and generation, with many other things. It is also said of the people there that they are holy, that they are all written unto life, and shall be called the redeemed of Jehovah. All these passages, moreover, treat of the Lord’s coming, especially of His second coming, when Jerusalem is to be such as is there described; for until then she was not married, that is, made the bride and wife of the Lamb, as the New Jerusalem is said to be in the Apocalypse.

A testimony to Israel, to confess the name of Jehovah (v. 4).

AE 392:10. “Jerusalem” signifies the church in relation to doctrine, which is said to be “built” when it is established by the Lord. “As a city that is conjoined together” signifies doctrine in which all things are in order, “city” meaning doctrine. “Thither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah,” signifies that in it are all truths and goods in the complex. “A testimony to Israel, to confess to the name of Jehovah,” signifies the confession and acknowledgment of the Lord there. “For there are set thrones for judgment” signifies that Divine truth is there, according to which judgment is executed.

Peace in thy ramparts, tranquility within thy palaces (v. 7).

AE 365:35. “Jerusalem” does not mean Jerusalem, but the church in relation to doctrine and worship. “Peace” means everything of doctrine and worship, for when these are from a heavenly origin, that is, out of heaven from the Lord, then they are from peace and in peace, from which is evident what is meant by “ask for the peace of Jerusalem.” And as those who are in that peace are said to be “tranquil,” it is also said, “Let them be tranquil who love thee,” that is, who love the doctrine and worship of the church. “Peace be within thy rampart, and tranquility within thy palaces” signifies in the exterior and in the interior man. For the exterior man with the things that are in it, which are natural knowledges and delights, is like a rampart or fortification to the interior man, since it is outside or in front of it and protects it. And the interior man with the things that are in it, which are spiritual truths and goods, is like a palace or house, since it is within the exterior. Therefore the exterior things of a man are signified by “a rampart,” and his interior things by “palaces”.... “For the sake of my brothers and companions” signifies for the sake of those who are in goods and in truths from them, and in a sense abstracted from persons it signifies goods and truths.... “The house of Jehovah our God” signifies the church in which these things are.

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