Psalms 122:1

1. I was glad Literally, A light of joy was in my face. A characteristic testimony that the religion of the Hebrews, according to the liturgy of Moses, induced joy and praise, not a sordid superstition, as the heathen slanderously charged. (TACITUS, History, B. 5, § 4.) The past tense gives us a retrospection, which some take as evidence that the language is that of a pious Jew in exile. But the whole tone of the psalm is that of present joy, as if written immediately after receiving the call to go to the house of God. On the invitation, Let us go, see Deuteronomy 33:19; Isaiah 2:3. House, here, is to be understood of place, or the tent containing the ark. See note on Psalms 116:19. Delight in the worship of God springs from the love of God, and makes the way to the house of prayer pleasant. See notes on Psalms 84:5-8