ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 FALAITE SIULAI 3, 2026

SAAME 120-132; SAAME 84:1-12

The Sunday gathering of the church for worship is not so much a duty as it is one of God's kind and essential gifts to us.

Ko e fakataha’anga ‘o e lotu faka-Sapate, ‘oku ‘ikai ko ha tu’utu’uni pe, ka e taha ‘o e ngaahi me’a’ofa lelei mo mahu’inga ‘a e ‘Otua ma’a kitautolu.

Though the ostensibly Christian home I grew up in was troubled in many ways, one thing marked my family out, for which I am thankful. My mom and dad were committed to the Sunday gathering of the church for worship, and because my father had hearing loss, we sat right up front. On Saturday night or Sunday morning, there was never a debate about whether we would go to church. For my parents, that decision had been made by their Lord, so their part was not to decide but to obey. Nothing got in the way of Sunday worship. I clearly remember my parents discussing where we would attend church even while on vacation. In fact, many of our vacations were at a summer Christian conference, where there were worship services every day! As a boy, I wasn't particularly spiritually insightful, but I knew that, for whatever reason, my parents thought gathering with fellow believers for worship and instruction was essential.

It's no wonder, then, that I love the words of Psalm 122:1-4:

I was glad when they said to me,

"Let us go to the house of the LORD!"

Our feet have been standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem!

Jerusalem-built as a city

that is bound firmly together,

to which the tribes go up,

the tribes of the LORD,

as was decreed for Israel,

to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

As the psalmist anticipates the journey up to Jerusalem and to the temple, he expresses four attitudes:

Gratitude. The psalmist is not being dragged up the road to Jerusalem. No, he is thankful for this opportunity to give thanks to the Lord. "Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!"

Anticipation. The psalmist is propelled by the anticipation of what is to come: "Let us go!" He knows what awaits him, and he cannot wait to get there.

Enthusiasm. There is no sense of boredom in this psalm. No sense of lifeless duty. There is only joy over what is to come. 

Privilege. "Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!" The writer is saying, "I have been blessed with the privilege of being welcomed into the presence of the Lord for worship."

Are these the attitudes that you carry into Sunday worship? Do you view corporate worship as a gift? Or have you lost sense of the grace it took for you to be included? May God give us hearts that are glad when we approach the gathering of God's children for the most important thing a human can do - worship.