Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One

According to the inscription of the Hebrew Bible (in the Vulgate and in the LXX no author is named) this psalm belongs to David. Its composition should be dated to the time when the Ark of the Covenant had already been moved to the newly built tabernacle in Jerusalem, when this city was built up and when the journeys of the Hebrews to this national sanctuary were begun and established, a journey that was supported and encouraged by David. The place of this psalm among that group of them, most of which were written during the captivity or shortly after it, does not contradict the inscription, since this psalm, as a national song, could be used by the Hebrews with particular intensity during the return from captivity and after the captivity when journeying to Jerusalem. To consider it written in a later era (of or after the captivity) is not permitted by those passages in the content of the psalm where it speaks of the complete order and greatness of Jerusalem, of the establishment in it of judgment and the strengthening of the house of David (Ps 121:2-5), which then did not exist, but there was much disorder. The name of the tabernacle “the house of the Lord” (Ps 121:1) does not contradict the origin of the psalm from David, since he frequently applies this name to the tabernacle and even to that of Moses (cf. Ps 5:8 and others).

I rejoiced when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord” (1). Here we stand in the gates of Jerusalem, a city built throughout, where the throne of David stands and to which all the tribes flow (2–6). Ask for peace and prosperity for Jerusalem for the sake of my brothers and for the sake of the house of the Lord, our God (7–9).

Psalm 121:1. I rejoiced when they said to me: “Let us go to the house of the Lord. An indication of the custom of “three times a year during a journey to Jerusalem for the great festivals to worship the Lord.” This custom, observed even during the time of the Judges, was especially restored during the times of David. These words could, of course, be repeated also by the Hebrews returning from the captivity or even before the end of it, when they were filled with a burning desire to return to their native Palestine and to see the sacred places.

Psalm 121:2. Behold, our feet stand in your gates, Jerusalem, Psalm 121:3. Jerusalem, built as a city, joined in one, The city of Jerusalem is represented as being enclosed by a wall with gates constructed in it; it is joined in one, that is, built with buildings closely adjoining to each other. Jerusalem was not such at the return and for a considerable time after the return from the captivity, when its walls and houses were in ruins.

Psalm 121:4. To which the tribes go, the tribes of the Lord, according to the law of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord. The psalm’s indication of the tribal division of the Hebrew people also speaks in favor of an earlier composition than the time of the captivity; in David’s time the tribal division still existed, but after Rehoboam, and especially during the captivity, such division disappeared.

Psalm 121:5. There stand the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. “Thrones of judgment, thrones of the house of David.” David established strict justice upon ascending to the throne, and to unite all his subjects under his authority, he granted the right to each one, dissatisfied with the decision of their case by the heads of the tribes, to appeal to the king in Jerusalem, by which Jerusalem became in the eyes of the people a city of true “judgment.” From David, a new royal line began, and the throne began to pass to his descendants, there stand the “thrones of the house of David.”

Psalm 121:6. Ask for peace for Jerusalem: may those who love you be blessed! Psalm 121:7. May peace be within your walls, prosperity in your palaces! Psalm 121:8. For the sake of my brothers and my neighbors I say: “Peace be with you! Psalm 121:9. For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God, I desire good for you. The strength, power, and beauty of Jerusalem, peace in it as the central and chief city of the Hebrews, are the foundations of the prosperity of all Judea, the entire people, which is why each pilgrim prays to God for the preservation for Jerusalem of the indicated mercies both for the sake of his fellow Hebrews and “for the sake of the house of the Lord,” for the preservation of the holiness and greatness of this place as a pledge and sign of the people’s faithfulness to their Lord.