I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
The opening verse is Psalms 122:1, which has a preface that tells us it is “A Song of Degrees of David.” As seen in previous posts, the word “degrees” is the Hebrew word ma`alah, meaning the act of elevation. It describes the elevation (rising) of the sun, in the context of the prior posts, which takes us into the presence of the LORD where we now stand. Do you understand the sun has risen? Or are you still in the darkness, held there by the false teaching of the false prophets?
Malachi 4
1 For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the LORD of hosts.
4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet [who has brought the false prophets to self-destruction] before the coming of the great and dreadful day [because it is a days of darkness and not light – when ignorance of God’s presence covers all the earth, and there is no understanding] of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse [utter destruction – by the stone cut without hand].
Here following is the post from 15 December 2017.
He that Built His Stories in Heaven, Has Founded His Troop in the Earth.
Continuing: the title is from Amos 9:6 and refers to the course of the sun through the heavens, and as we know from recent discussions, it is speaking of the plan of God and its times and seasons. The above quoted portion is followed by telling of the LORD calling forth the waters, and pouring them forth upon the earth. The “stories” spoken of are from the Hebrew word ma’alah, only translated as such this one time. All its other uses it is rendered either steps or degrees; steps most often telling of the seven and then eight steps in height going up to the altar of the temple; degree when speaking of the sun’s course through heaven, and of the fifteen (seven + eight) Psalms, 120 thru 134, which are titled, “A Psalm of Degrees.”
Amos 9
5 And the LORD God of hosts is he that touches the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
6 It is he that builds his stories in the heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth; he that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.
7 Are you not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? says the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the LORD God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the LORD.
9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, says the LORD that does this.
13 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that sows seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, says the LORD your God.
As we saw in prior posts, this courses through heaven is first referred to in Amos 5:8, where the LORD is speaking to the men who have turned judgement into wormwood, and have cast down righteousness in the earth. There prior we read of this being what caused the house of Israel to fall, to rise no more, because there is no one to raise her up. It addresses those who have misled her into this condition, speaking of them as/by the places of worship where has been set up idols in God’s place.
This is when the LORD says to all His people, the leader and the led who are worshiping idols they ignorantly think is Him:
8 Seek Him that makes the seven stars and Orion [Pleiades and Orion – see below, referring to Job 38:31 & 32], and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: 9 That strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. 10 They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks uprightly. 11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and you take from him burdens of wheat: you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. 13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. 14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken. 15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, says thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing. 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through you, says the LORD. 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? 21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22 Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 23 Take you away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols. 24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. 25 Have you offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch [who demands you sacrifice your children into its fire] and Chiun [the scar of the fires witness to it] your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves. 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.
We see when the LORD tells these people to seek Him who makes the churches and the gives them their strength, He also says He is the One who, “turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth.”
We see these two verses, (Amos 9:6 It is he that builds his stories in the heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth; he that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name. And Amos 5:8 Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name,) begin telling of the LORD’s plan as the course through heaven, and His way with the His people. We see the process spoken of as the shadow of death being tuned into morning, speaking of the sun rising, after it has been made dark. Both verse go on to tell of this sun rise being as the LORD calls for the waters, and pours them upon the earth.
We understand the darkness is caused by the water not being poured on the earth, in the drought we know is for hearing the word of God. (Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, says the LORD God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.)
We also know this course of the sun (when it rises) when spoken of is referring to Job 38:31 & 32, where we read of the waters being frozen, as if in a stone, referring to Exodus 17 and the rock of Horeb. (Where God’s people were untaught the ways learn in captivity.) There we know the people tempted he LORD, and chided against Moses, asking, “Is the LORD among us, or not?” The LORD answered by making waters (His word) flow from the Rock, and as we know that Rock is Christ.
1 Corinthians 10
1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
7 Neither be you idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
Job 38
12 Have you commanded the morning since your days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 Have you entered into the springs of the sea? or have you walked in the search of the depth?
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto you? or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Have you perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if you know it all.
19 Where is the way where light dwells? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
20 That you should take it to the bound thereof, and that you should know the paths to the house thereof?
21 Know you it, because you were then born? or because the number of your days is great?
22 Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the light parted, which scatters the east wind upon the earth?
25 Who has divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
28 Has the rain a father? or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who has gendered it?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 Can you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades [the seven stars – the church], or loose the bands of Orion [renew their strength]?
32 Can you bring forth Mazzaroth [the sun in its course through the sky] in his season? or can you guide Arcturus [the greater sheepfold – meaning the church of all the saints], with his sons?
33 Know you the ordinances of heaven? can you set the dominion thereof in the earth?
34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send lightning, that it may go and say unto you, Here we are?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? or who has given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 When the dust grows into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
39 Will you hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who provides for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
The Psalms of Degree tell of the course through heaven, starting with our being among those who are attacking with deceitful tongues, being for peace, but when the LORD speaks they are for war. These steps lead to the altar, and ends in unity after the king is crowned (as says Amos 9:11). The final Psalms of the group ends calling on all who have stood with the LORD through the night, to lift up their hands and bless the LORD, as the LORD That made heaven and earth has blessed us from Zion. (37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kills the prophets, and stones them which are sent unto you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, You shall not see me henceforth, till you shall say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the LORD.)
Psalms 120
1 In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto you? or what shall be done unto you, you false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has long dwelt with him that hates peace.
7 I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
Psalms 121
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence comes my help.
2 My help comes from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer your foot to be moved: he that keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper: the LORD is your shade upon your right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil: he shall preserve your soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Psalms 122
1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2 Our feet shall stand within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love you.
7 Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within you.
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.
Psalms 123
1 Unto you lift I up mine eyes, O you that dwells in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
Psalms 124
1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
2 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
6 Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Psalms 125
1 They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abides for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
4 Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.
Psalms 126
1 When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD has done great things for them.
3 The LORD has done great things for us; whereof we are glad.
4 Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.
5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
6 He that goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalms 127
1 Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he gives his beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Psalms 128
1 Blessed is every one that fears the LORD; that walks in his ways.
2 For you shall eat the labor of your hands: happy shall you be, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of your house: your children like olive plants round about your table.
4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
5 The LORD shall bless you out of Zion: and you shall see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 Yea, you shall see your children’s children, and peace upon Israel.
Psalms 129
1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
4 The LORD is righteous: he has cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers afore it grows up:
7 Wherewith the mower fills not his hand; nor he that binds sheaves his bosom.
8 Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.
Psalms 130
1 Out of the depths have I cried unto you, O LORD.
2 LORD, hear my voice: let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
3 If you, LORD, should mark iniquities, O LORD, who shall stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in his word do I hope.
6 My soul waits for the LORD more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
7 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Psalms 131
1 LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.
2 Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.
3 Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever.
Psalms 132
1 LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions:
2 How he swore unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;
3 Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids,
5 Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.
6 Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood.
7 We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, O LORD, into your rest; you, and the ark of your strength.
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness; and let your saints shout for joy.
10 For your servant David’s sake turn not away the face of your anointed.
11 The LORD has sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne.
12 If your children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon your throne for evermore.
13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation.
14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17 There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.
18 His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.
Psalms 133
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
Psalms 134
1 Behold, bless you the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
3 The LORD that made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion.
I close with this addition: Are you as the raven, covered in darkness? Or have you received this needed meat at the LORD’s hand, and come into the light?
Matthew 10
17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues [churches];
18 And you shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles [those who are ignorant of God’s presence among us].
19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
20 For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you.
21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved.
23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, You shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
