Psalms 120 to 134, the ‘Songs of Ascents’ are the songs of the pilgrim caravans. There were three compulsory Jewish feasts in the year, in which every able-bodied man (and his family) was required to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16 v 16). Pilgrims making their way to and from Jerusalem would travel together in caravans, and there were special caravan rallying points (see for example Luke 2 v 41 to 50). ‘Ascents’ may refer to the fact that no matter from what direction you approach Jerusalem, you will always ‘go up’, as the city is surrounded by hills (Psalm 125 v 2).

• Reading Billy Graham’s book on angels, I read from 1 Chronicles 21 v 14 to 17: “14 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”
• Could this be a key to the pandemic – God’s judgment through angels?