I don’t know if you have ever studied the Psalms of Ascent: Psalms 120–134, traditionally known as Pilgrim psalms and irrevocably associated with Succoth (Tabernacles), when they were sung as part of the ‘Ceremony of Water Drawing’ on the 8th and greatest day of the feast. One psalm sung on each of the 15 steps that led up to the Temple.

The Psalms of Ascent occupy a special place in my heart. It was at a conference to study these psalms that I met my great friend and teacher, Dwight Pryor of blessed memory. I treasure these psalms, particularly in times when I feel I need to press on into God himself, when I need to draw near. I enjoy the progression of thinking and process within them. But outside of all of that there are times when I wonder why fifteen? So here are some reasons why, and other helpful facts I have found, researched and had presented to me: 

Fifteen observations about the Psalms of Ascent.

• 1. Fifteen is the number of Yah, which is the short form of Yahweh (Yud, Heh, Vav, Heh), the personal name of the God of Israel which he revealed to Moses in Exodus 3. In Hebrew, every letter is a number. The two letters of Yah—yud and heh—have the numerical values of 10 and 5. They add up to fifteen.
• 2. The Psalms (or Songs) of Ascent were always sung at the night-service before the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles on the fifteenth day of the month. The Feast of Tabernacles started at sundown and ran right the way through the night. (In the Hebrew calendar, the day starts at 6pm in the evening, and night precedes day, which means that the fifteenth night is the night before the fifteenth day.)
• 3. There are three major biblical feasts beginning with Pesach (Passover). Pesach happens on Nisan 15 and commemorates the events of the Exodus. Within Pesach, celebrated in the home, the night-time is a key element with the full moon ensuring there is ample light for the miraculous deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians.
• 4. The third great pilgrim festival, Succoth (Tabernacles), happens six months after Pesach on Tishrei 15. Tishrei celebrates God’s provision for Israel whilst they were travelling to the Promised Land, and for his provision within the Promised Land. Again, the moon is full for Succoth and the festival which entails living in ‘succah’ or booths that are open to God’s sky is very much night oriented.
• 5. Another reason why there are fifteen Psalms of Ascents, is that there were fifteen steps in the temple, leading up from the Lower Court to the Upper Court of Israel. (In fact, these fifteen steps are still there to this day, buried intact beneath the seventh-century steps that lead up to the Dome of the Rock.) And the Levites sang the fifteen Psalms of Ascents on these fifteen steps. In fact, they sang one Psalm on each step, going up. And as they did so, they acted out a pilgrimage within the Temple at the same time as the Israelites came up to the great Feast. 
• The Levites sang the fifteen Psalms of Ascents on these fifteen steps. In fact, they sang one Psalm on each step, going up.
• 6. It was the Merarite Levites who sang these psalms in the Temple. The cantor sang the first part of each verse and the choir replied with the second part. We call this responsory singing. It was common all over the ancient east. There was a choir of Levites and Israel believed the Lord loved the sound of a choir praising him together.
• 7. These fifteen songs are believed to have been first sung as a cohesive unit on the night before the dedication of Solomon’s Temple which took place on the morning of the Feast of Tabernacles, on the fifteenth of Tishri, in the year 959 BC. The first psalm, Psalm 120, was sung early in the morning, around 1 or 2 a.m., and the last psalm, Psalm 134, was sung just before dawn broke.
• 8. Levites sang these psalms every year for almost 1,000 years, from the dedication of Solomon’s temple in 978 BC to the destruction of the second temple in AD 70. The only break was following the Babylonian destruction of the Temple and exile in 586 BC and stretching until the return following Cyrus’ announcement of the right of return in 551 BC.
• 9. There are a few internal echoes of the original life setting of these fifteen psalms. For instance, Psalm 120 was sung in a courtyard before setting off on pilgrimage, with the psalm telling how they were going to depart from evil circumstances to go up to Jerusalem.
• 10. Psalm 121’s, “I lift my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?” refers to the hills of Jerusalem and the temple nestling there. The Merarite Levites, the singers, lived across the Jordan, bordering what is now Syria. As they travelled west to Jerusalem, they travelled uphill from the Jordan Valley, and saw Jerusalem among the mountaintops. When they sang in the Temple, they were singing of their journey, and the journey of all Israel, looking upwards toward the new and glorious heavenly Temple, the dwelling place of YHWH their God.
• 11. Psalm 122’s “Our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem”, the thoughts were of the pilgrims entering the city and seeing the new Temple for the first time.
• 12. Psalm 130’s, “I wait for YHWH…more than watchmen for the morning”, the view would be of the last guard of watchmen standing around them on the temple walls, as they waited for the sun to rise.
• The view would be of the last guard of watchmen standing around them on the temple walls, as they waited for the sun to rise.
• 13. Psalm 134’s “Bless YHWH, all servants of YHWH, who stand by night in the house of YHWH,” was the final song to the ‘Cohanim’ who were ministering through the night in the Temple.
• 14. A further extra-biblical tradition of the eastern church is that Mary, the mother of the Lord, was taken to the temple when she was three years old. As she entered the Court, she ran up to these fifteen steps and danced on them. Then she ran straight up the steps to the great gate, the Nicanor Gate, and up to the Temple building. She wasn’t supposed to do that. Only ‘Cohanim’ serving in the Temple were permitted. Notwithstanding that, everyone was so amazed by her behaviour, and everyone loved her so much, that no one rebuked her. This episode can be found in Chapter 6 of The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary and Chapter 4 of The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew.
• 15. Fifteen psalms on fifteen steps on the fifteenth night, in the Name of the God whose name Yah has the numeric value of fifteen. Can you imagine yourself there? A warm evening under the light of a full moon. The air is full of feasting, worship and joy in The Lord. Levites are singing these fifteen psalms inside The Temple, this is the fulness of the Psalms of Ascents.