Psalms of Ascent Explained: Why These 15 Songs Led to Jerusalem
- Thad DeBuhr
- 2 minutes ago
- 14 min read
Study Guide:
Intro to The Psalms of Ascent
Imagine waking up early, gathering your family, throwing what you need for the trip over your shoulder, and walking out the door knowing you won't be home tonight.
There is no car waiting outside. No interstate. No GPS telling you how many minutes until you arrive. You're walking.
Your family isn't alone either. Other people from your town are making the same trip. As you travel, more people join you. Some are relatives. Some are neighbors. Some you may barely know. Children are running around. Older people are moving more slowly. People are carrying food and supplies. Everyone knows where you're headed.
Jerusalem.
Depending on where you live, the journey could take days. The closer you get, the more the landscape changes and the more you climb. Jerusalem sits high in the Judean hill country, so going there really does mean going up.
Along the road, people talk. They tell stories. They remember what God has done. And they sing.
Some of the songs connected with this journey have been preserved in our Bibles.
Open to Psalm 120 and look at the small heading above it:
“A Song of Ascents.”
Now turn to Psalm 121.
Same heading.
Psalm 122.
Same thing.
Keep going and you'll discover fifteen of them in a row, ending with Psalm 134.
They're called the Psalms of Ascent or Songs of Ascents.
Think of them as a little songbook tucked inside the much larger book of Psalms. These songs became closely associated with pilgrims going up to Jerusalem, and Psalm 122 itself pictures the tribes going up to Jerusalem to give thanks to God.
But these aren't just ancient travel songs.
They talk about fear, work, family, disappointment, enemies, waiting, joy, help, friendship, suffering, trust and hope.
In other words, they talk about life.
And over the next fifteen lessons, we're going to walk the road with them.
SETTING THE SCENE:
What exactly are the Psalms of Ascent?
The book of Psalms contains 150 Psalms. Psalms 120 through 134 form a smaller collection within the larger book.
There are exactly fifteen of them.
Every one begins with essentially the same heading:
“A Song of Ascents.”
The word ascent simply means going up.
That's important because Jerusalem was located in the Judean hills. People traveling there talked about going up to Jerusalem. This wasn't only a figure of speech. Depending on where you started, there could be a significant physical climb involved.
These Psalms became closely associated with that movement toward Jerusalem. Scholars continue to discuss exactly how and when the collection developed, so we should be careful not to claim more than we know. What is clear is that pilgrimage to Jerusalem became a major part of Israel's worship life, and the language of “ascending” fits that world naturally.
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WHY WERE PEOPLE TRAVELING TO JERUSALEM?
Traveling to Jerusalem wasn't something Jewish families invented as a fun annual tradition. The roots of it went all the way back to the beginning of Israel as a nation. After God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He gave them a yearly rhythm of celebrations designed to make sure they didn't forget their story.
Think about what God was doing.
These people had spent generations in Egypt. Now they were becoming a new nation.
Their children would eventually have children who had never experienced Egypt, never seen the plagues, never crossed the Red Sea and never eaten manna in the wilderness.
So God built remembering into their calendar.
Some of the celebrations happened at home, but three times each year Israelite men were specifically commanded to appear before God at the place He would choose.
Deuteronomy 16:16 says in the NLT:
“Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters.”
It then says they were to do this at “the designated place of worship.”
You see the same basic command much earlier in Exodus 23:14–17.
So we're talking about a practice whose roots go back to Israel's earliest days after leaving Egypt, traditionally placed many centuries before Jesus.
But here's the important part:
Originally, that destination wasn't Jerusalem.
Jerusalem wasn't even under Israelite control during Moses' lifetime.
God's command was to go to the place God would choose. You see that wording repeatedly in Deuteronomy 16.
Israel's central place of worship moved during its early history. The Tabernacle—the portable worship center Israel carried through the wilderness—was eventually established at places such as Shiloh.
Jerusalem becomes the permanent center much later.
David captured Jerusalem and made it his capital around 1000 BC. He later brought the Ark of the Covenant there. Then his son Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, which was dedicated around the mid-900s BC.
That's when Jerusalem really becomes central to this story.
Solomon says at the Temple dedication in 1 Kings 8:29 NLT:
“May you watch over this Temple night and day, this place where you have said, ‘My name will be there.’”
Now the command to gather at God's chosen place had a recognizable destination:
Jerusalem.
SO WHAT WERE THE THREE BIG FESTIVALS?
These are sometimes called the pilgrimage festivals because they brought Israelites together before God.
First is: PASSOVER — REMEMBER WHAT GOD RESCUED YOU FROM
Passover takes us all the way back to the night Israel left Egypt.
God had heard the cries of people living in slavery and rescued them. Exodus 12 describes the first Passover meal and tells Israel to continue remembering it.
Exodus 12:14 NLT says:
“This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the LORD.”
Imagine being a child hundreds of years later.
You weren't in Egypt.
Your parents weren't in Egypt.
Your grandparents weren't in Egypt.
But every year your family essentially retold the story:
We were slaves. God rescued us. We are here because God brought us out.
By Jesus' time, Jewish families were still doing this.
That's why Jesus goes to Jerusalem at Passover.
Luke 2:41–42 NLT gives us a wonderful glimpse:
“Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual.”
Don't miss those two little phrases:
“Every year.”
And:
“As usual.”
For Jesus' family, this wasn't extraordinary.
This is what they did.
Jesus grew up making this journey.
And Nazareth to Jerusalem wasn't a quick trip. Depending upon the route, you're talking roughly 70–90 miles and several days of travel on foot.
That makes Luke 2 feel very different.
Mary and Joseph didn't load twelve-year-old Jesus into the SUV and drive to Jerusalem.
They joined the pilgrims.
Next one is: Feast of WEEKS — REMEMBER WHO PROVIDES FOR YOU
The second major festival was called the Festival of Weeks, or Shavuot.
It was connected with the grain harvest.
Deuteronomy 16:10 NLT says:
“Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest to honor the LORD your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him.”
This celebration happened seven weeks after the beginning of the grain harvest, which is why it became known as the Festival of Weeks.
Later, Greek-speaking Jews called it Pentecost, connected with counting fifty days.
The basic idea was very practical:
Look at what has grown.
Look at what you have.
Remember where it ultimately came from.
God provided.
And once again, people gathered to celebrate.
That's why Acts 2 begins:
“On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place.” — Acts 2:1 NLT
And then we're told Jerusalem contained Jews who had traveled from nations throughout the known world.
Acts 2:5 NLT says:
“At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem.”
Then Luke gives this huge list of places.
Parthia.
Media.
Mesopotamia.
Cappadocia.
Egypt.
Libya.
Rome.
Crete.
Arabia.
By the first century, this had become international pilgrimage.
That's the Jerusalem Jesus knew.
Then after that came: BOOTHS — REMEMBER WHO TOOK CARE OF YOU ON THE ROAD
The third festival has several English names.
Festival of Shelters.
Festival of Booths.
Tabernacles.
The Hebrew name is Sukkot.
This one is especially interesting for our Psalms of Ascent series because it remembered Israel's journey.
Leviticus 23:42–43 NLT says:
“For seven days you must live outside in little shelters... This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt.”
Think about that.
God didn't want Israel merely remembering the destination.
He wanted them remembering the journey.
Your ancestors lived on the road.
They didn't have permanent homes.
They didn't always know where tomorrow's food would come from.
They had to depend upon God.
And God got them through.
So once every year:
Remember the road.
That makes this festival especially powerful background for a collection of songs associated with traveling toward Jerusalem.
WHEN DID ALL THIS START?
Around 1400–1200 BC — More Than 1,200 Years Before Jesus
This goes way back. Somewhere around 1,200–1,400 years before Jesus was born, Israel was already being taught to celebrate these yearly festivals. This began in the days of Moses, when the Israelites had just come out of slavery in Egypt. They weren't traveling to Jerusalem yet—Jerusalem wouldn't become their central place of worship until hundreds of years later.
Israel receives instructions for these yearly festivals.
Exodus 12 — Passover.
Exodus 23:14–17 — three annual festivals.
Leviticus 23 — detailed festival calendar.
Deuteronomy 16 — instructions about gathering at God's chosen place.
But Jerusalem isn't the destination yet.
Around 1000 BC — DAVID MAKES JERUSALEM THE CAPITAL
David captures Jerusalem.
He brings the Ark there.
Jerusalem becomes Israel's political and increasingly spiritual center.
Around the mid-900s BC — SOLOMON BUILDS THE TEMPLE
Now there's a permanent Temple in Jerusalem.
This gives Israel a central destination for national worship.
From this period onward, the idea of “going up to Jerusalem” becomes increasingly significant.
586 BC — THE TEMPLE IS DESTROYED
Babylon conquers Jerusalem.
The Temple is destroyed.
Many Jews are taken into exile.
That interrupts the whole system.
But eventually some return.
516 BC — THE SECOND TEMPLE IS COMPLETED
The Temple is rebuilt.
Jerusalem again becomes the center of Jewish worship.
Over the following centuries, pilgrimage to Jerusalem grows again.
BY THE TIME OF JESUS — IT'S AN OLD TRADITION
Jesus was born around the end of the first century BC.
By His lifetime, Solomon's Temple had been built roughly a thousand years earlier.
Even if we measure from the rebuilding of the Temple after the exile, Jewish pilgrims had again been traveling to the Temple in Jerusalem for roughly five centuries.
So when twelve-year-old Jesus joins His parents traveling to Jerusalem for Passover in Luke 2, He's participating in something very old.
And it continued throughout His life.
John repeatedly places Jesus in Jerusalem during the festivals.
John 2:13:
“It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem.”
John 7:2 describes the approaching Festival of Shelters, and later Jesus goes to Jerusalem for it.
And, of course, Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem happens at Passover.
NOW PICTURE WHAT THIS WOULD HAVE FELT LIKE
This brings us back to our opening illustration...
Imagine your family doing this every year.
Your grandparents did it.
Their grandparents did it.
Generations before them did it.
You know the road.
You know the stories.
And you're not traveling alone.
Your neighbors are going.
Your relatives are going.
People from the next village are going.
As roads begin converging toward Jerusalem, your little group gets bigger.
Then bigger.
Then bigger.
You're hearing different accents.
Meeting people from different places.
Sharing food.
Sleeping along the road.
Watching children play.
Helping older travelers.
Talking.
Praying.
And singing.
Then after days of traveling, someone finally sees something in the distance.
Jerusalem.
Now imagine hearing Psalm 122:
“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’”
And then:
“And now here we are, standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem.”— Psalm 122:1–2 NLT
Now the Psalm has dirt underneath its fingernails.
You've walked the road.
You've climbed the hills.
And now your feet are actually standing inside Jerusalem.
That's why this background matters so much for the Psalms of Ascent.
We aren't just reading fifteen pieces of ancient poetry.
We're listening to songs that became associated with a people who knew what it meant to leave home, travel together, climb toward Jerusalem, remember what God had done, and keep putting one foot in front of the other until they arrived.
And that's where the connection to following Jesus becomes so powerful.
You leave somewhere.
You're heading somewhere.
You don't arrive instantly.
You travel with other people.
And you keep walking in the same direction.
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Why Context Changes Everything
It's easy to open the Bible, grab one sentence and immediately ask:
“What does this mean to me?”
But there's a better first question:
“What did this mean to them?”
Before Psalm 121 was something printed on a coffee mug, it was a song written in an ancient world where travel could be difficult and dangerous.
Before Psalm 122 became a verse about going to church, it celebrated Jerusalem as the place where Israel gathered.
Before Psalm 125 used mountains as an illustration, people approaching Jerusalem could actually see mountains surrounding the city.
When we understand their world, the pictures become clearer.
And once we understand what the words meant in their world, we're in a much better position to understand how those same truths should shape our world.
Context doesn't make the Bible less relevant.
It helps us stop making the Bible say things it never meant and allows us to see how relevant it actually is.
FOUR WAYS TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED
1. LOOK BACK — What do I understand now?
Before today, what did you think the Psalms of Ascent were?
What did you learn about Psalms 120–134 that you didn't know before?
Does picturing actual people walking toward Jerusalem change how you think about these Psalms?
What part of the historical or geographical setting helped you see the collection differently?
2. LOOK IN — What's happening in me?
If following Jesus is a journey, how would you describe where you are on that journey right now?
Are you moving forward?
Are you tired?
Have you gotten distracted?
Have you stopped somewhere along the road?
Are you trying to follow Jesus while still holding tightly to something He's asking you to leave behind?
Don't worry about where somebody else is.
Where are you?
3. LOOK AROUND — Who is walking with me?
Who actually knows what's happening in your life right now?
Who encourages you to keep following Jesus?
Who can challenge you when you're heading the wrong direction?
And turn the question around:
Who are you helping?
Is there somebody who is a little farther behind you on the road who could use your encouragement?
If your entire relationship with Jesus happens privately, something important is missing.
4. LOOK AHEAD — What's my next step?
Don't try to figure out the next twenty years.
Ask a smaller question.
What's the next faithful step?
Maybe it's forgiving someone.
Maybe it's finally joining a group instead of trying to do everything alone.
Maybe it's opening your Bible tomorrow morning.
Maybe it's apologizing.
Maybe it's becoming generous.
Maybe it's walking away from something you know is pulling you in the opposite direction.
Following Jesus usually doesn't happen through one enormous heroic decision.
It happens through the next faithful step, followed by another one.
Journey Group OR ME & 3 Small Group Discussion Starters:
If you're using this guide with your Journey Group, Me & 3 group, or a few friends, don't feel like you need to work through every question. Start with something that gets people talking and then let the conversation go deeper.
When you picture the ancient pilgrims leaving home and walking together toward Jerusalem, what part of that journey seems most similar to following Jesus today?
Where are you most tempted to expect instant results from God or instant change in yourself?
Who has helped you keep walking with Jesus during a difficult season, and what did that person actually do that helped?
Remember This
FOLLOWING JESUS ISN'T JUST A DECISION YOU MAKE. IT'S A DIRECTION YOU KEEP WALKING.
The ancient pilgrim knew where they were going.
Jerusalem.
They hadn't arrived yet, but they were facing the right direction and continuing to walk.
That's a great picture of following Jesus.
The goal isn't to pretend you've arrived.
The goal isn't to compare your position on the road with somebody else's.
The goal is to keep moving toward Jesus, allowing Him to change the way you think, love, forgive, work, spend, serve, speak and live.
And when you stumble?
Get back up.
When you're tired?
Let somebody walk beside you.
When you don't understand?
Keep trusting.
When the journey takes longer than you expected?
Keep walking.
A long obedience in the same direction.
FINAL THOUGHT
Over the next fifteen lessons, we're going to travel from Psalm 120 through Psalm 134.
We're going to walk with ancient people toward Jerusalem while allowing their songs to teach us how to walk faithfully with Jesus.
We're going to discover songs for the days when we're afraid.
Songs for when we need help.
Songs for when life is good.
Songs for when life hurts.
Songs about work.
Songs about family.
Songs about waiting.
Songs about people.
Songs about hope.
And songs about God.
But tomorrow our journey begins in an interesting place.
Not Jerusalem.
Far from it.
Psalm 120 begins with someone surrounded by lies, hostility and a way of life they no longer want to be part of.
Before the traveler can move toward Jerusalem, they have to leave somewhere else.
And following Jesus often begins the same way.
Before we can seriously talk about where Jesus is leading us, we have to be willing to ask what He's asking us to leave behind.
So tomorrow we'll open Psalm 120 and take the first step.
The road starts here.
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