Martin Luther on Psalms 122:2-3

Verse. 2. Our feete shall stand in thy gates O Ierusalem.

The Prophete Dauid reciteth here the common voyce of the godly, that they would now abide & stedfastly perseuer in ye house of the Lord which he had appointed in Ierusalem, and would not wander any more from place to place as they had done, because ye Lord had there stablished his Sanctuary, which before was often times remoued & had no ceraine resting place. This stablishing and continuing of the Sanctuary in one certaine place preuailed much for the confirmation of their faith. For like as when ye Arke was caried from place to place, their faith was alwaies wauering and vnstedfast: euen so after that God had chosen vnto him selfe a certaine habitation, he gaue thereby vnto them a more sure & manifest testimony that he would be their euerlasting defender and protector. Whereby their faith was stablished and confirmed for euer. It is no maruell then that the people with such great reioycing and thankfulnes vnto God, do promise that their feete should now stand sure and stedfast in the gates of Ierusalem, which were wont to runne hither & thither. Truth it is that the arke did long continue in Silo. But because the Lord had made no promise concerning that place, there could be no stabilitie of faith in the harts of the people. Psal. 13[illegible: 1 letter] And againe, because it was said of the Mount Sion, This is my rest for euer: here wil I dwel, for I haue delight therin: the faithfull being surely grounded vpon this word, were bolde to say that their feete should neuer remoue againe, but stand stedfast & sure in the gates of Ierusalem and in the house of the Lord: for this standing signifieth a constant & a continuall abiding for euer.Standing feete what they signifie.

But now for as much as Christ, in whom dwelleth the fulnes of the goodhead, and which is ye true Immanuel dwelleth emongst vs, we haue a farre greater cause to reioyce then the Israelites had. Wherefore we maye seeme vnthankful, yea blockish and senseles, if this promise: I am with you vnto the end of the worlde, do not stirre vp our hearts to great ioy and gladnes, especially if we see it thankfully and with publike consent receiued of the people. For that which we rehearsed euen now concerning the rest of the Lord, is altogether fulfilled in the person of Christ, as it appeareth in the 2. chapter of Esay: His rest (saith he) shalbe glorious. Where he speaketh not of the buriall of Christ (as some doe fondly imagine) but of the excellency and dignitie of the church, which should afterwards follow. The glory and bewtie whereof since by the great mercy of God we haue seene, Let vs be thankfull therefore, and besech him that he will make perfect that he hath begun in vs, that our feete may alwayes be standing in the courts of the Lord, in the Church and congregation of the faithfull, where we may find God, where we may heare him calling vs, teaching vs, comforting vs, and succouring vs.

Verse. 2. Ierusalem is builded as a citie where the people may come togither to worship God.

This verse is an exposition or amplication of the verse that goeth before. As if he said: our fete shall stand in thy gates (I say) O Ierusalem, which flourishest and increasest in all felicitie. For where the word of God flourisheth, there shall the common welth prosper, according to the saying of our sauiour Christ: First seeke the kingdom of God, & all things shalbe ministred vnto you: and yet so notwithstanding, that this saying also of our sauiour remaineth alwaies true answering vnto Paule: 2. Cor. 12. My power is made perfect through weaknes. For albeit ye world doth dayly vexe & trouble the church many waies, yet notwithstanding ye more the aduersaries go about to destroy & pluck downe, To pluck downe & to oppresse the Church is to build it vp. the more doth the word of God edifie & build vp. To pluck downe then, to destroy, and to ouerthrow ye church is nothing else (if you consider ye counsel & purpose of God, and the end that followeth thereof) but to build vp, to plant, to water and to encrease the Church. The Decians, Maximines, and Domitians, those bloody and mighty tyrannes, howe cruelly went they about to abolish for euer, the name of Christ? But the word and the Church of God, as a palme tree, the more it was oppressed, the more it flourished and encreased, maugre their malice and tyranny, as the figure of the people of Israell doth declare. Exod. 1. For so sayth Moises: The more the Egyptians did vexe them, the more they multiplied and grew. To this agreeth also the saying of the olde Church: that the Church is watered with the blood of Martyrs. The cause of this miraculous building is, that where so euer God is beleued and his word had in due reuerence and regard, there must needes followe a victorie, albeit the Sainctes be destroyed, slayne, and seeme vtterly to perish: yea albeit God him selfe seeme to haue forsaken them, and with them to be oppressed and ouercome. For so it is with God, that when he seemeth most weake, then is he most strong, & when he is oppressed in his Saincts, then specially he liueth, triumpheth, and is exalted in them, and in diminishing he most mightely increaseth.

Of such a maner of building speaketh Dauid also in this place: that albeit Ierusalem was compassed about with so many enemies and idolatrous religions, Ierusalem set in the midds of her aduersaries, notwithstanding mightely prospered. notwithstanding there the word of God & true religion flourished. Who then can preuaile against vs, when God is so with vs? And this is the true building of Ierusalem. To the which the Kings gathered them selues, and conspired against it, but they were suddenly driuen backe and could not preuaile. We also in these our dayes by our owne experience haue proued that the more the aduersaries of the word doe rage, the lesse they preuaile against it: yea so much the more it flourisheth and encreaseth. And what else doth Satan our perpetual aduersary bring to passe by his continuall tentations, but driue vs to search the word, to learne to pray, to beleue, to hope, &c. Yea the crosse and oppression of the Christians is the exaltation and triumph of the Church. Let the aduersaries then doe what they li[illegible: 1 letter]t: certaine it is that ye more we are cast downe, the more we are raised vp. For there is no power against the Lorde, Christ our captaine and our head hath a power aboue all power whereby he lifteth vp those that are cast downe: whereby he raiseth the dead to life, and those that are oppressed and ouercome, he maketh able with ioyfull victory to ouercome. For in that he is God, it is his proper office to make all things of nothing, The proper office of God. and likewise of those thinges which be, to make nothing.

Thus Dauid setteth forth the praise and commendation of Ierusalem. For what a great benefite and blessing of God is it, not onely to leaue a certain place where the people may come togither to serue and worship God, but also a certaine sound of the presence of God by the publishing of his word? When he saith: This is my rest, here will I dwel, here will I speake, here shall be my word & my spirite, then all is safe: then what worke so euer it be, though in outward appearance it seeme neuer so smal, it is better then all the treasures of the world: then the cutting away of the foreskin of the priuy mēbers is an acceptable worship vnto God. To take vp a strawe from the earth, if God so commaunded, is a greater & a more excellent worke, and also a worship more pleasing God, then all the glittering works of the whole papacy, which haue no ground of the word of God. This the heathen understood not, and therefore they contemned Ierusalem, and marueled why the people should resort thether certaine times of the yeare, rather then to other cities. Like as Naaman Cirus thought at ye beginning that the waters of Damascus were no worse then the waters of Iordane:4. Kings. 5. but he had no commaundement of the Lord that he shoulde wash him selfe in those waters for the clensing of his leprosie. It is the word alone therefore that maketh a difference betwene the Church of God and the Gentiles, Papistes, and all the Antichristian rable. By this word it iudgeth, it teacheth, it baptiseth, it distributeth the Lords supper, it comforteth, it reproueth, it excommunicateth, &c.

Thus (I say) Dauid extolleth and magnifieth his Ierusalem: first in respect of the spirituall building therof, because there is the kingdom and priesthood, there is the word & worship of the Lord: then also in respect as wel of the material building, as also of those things which pertaine to the good gouernment of a city, as peace and vnitie, lawes and iudgement: but principally he speaketh not of that building, and therfore he saith: It is edified as a city where all may participate togither, that is, may come togither to worship the Lord. For there was no other place in al the world where the people might come togither to celebrate the name of ye Lord, but Ierusalem alone. So that this verse is as an exposition of that place in Exod. VVhere I shall leaue a memoriall of my name, there will I come vnto thee, &c. As if he said: that place is Ierusalem, in the which the people of God must congregate togither, to heare his word, to celebrate his name: where also the Lord him selfe hath promised to dwell: whether the people do flie in all their necessities, to call vpon God for help and succoure, &c. This is the glory of Ierusalem: to the which all the glory of the worlde was not able to be compared. Ierusalem the holy citie. Therfore in S. Matthew it is called holy, & is so magnified here of the Prophet: Albeit it was afterward horribly prophaned of the Gentiles. But why doe the people gather togither in this place?