All The Difference

The psalmist is awash with emotion as he arrives at the edge of the place of worship. In his exultation, he shows a zeal for giving honor to God. He also shows the sense of joy we find in place familiarity and tradition. However, he recognizes eternal truths as yet unseen – coming judgment – and this reality prevents traditionalism from reducing his worship to rote function. He closes with a call to prayer for the place of worship and its environs. Obviously, this applies to Jerusalem, yet a broader application is in order since all peoples are affected by the peace of places of YHWH worship.