Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that is built
As a city that is compact together;
4 To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of [a]the Lord—
[b]An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For there thrones were set for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 “May peace be within your walls,
And prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
This is a hard psalm to read, as the Jerusalem of today bears little resemblance to the Jerusalem of David’s time. Then it was in its glory, and though David fought many battles, it finally knew peace, at least for a time. But it is also a common refrain in Christian circles today, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!”
I’m not certain the people saying that quite understand what they are praying for, so let’s dig a little deeper. And first, let’s go back to the beginning, where the psalmist was glad to go to the house of the Lord. He wasn’t just going to Jerusalem to sight-see as we might today, but he was going to join with the other tribes, to give thanks, and possibly even to seek judgment in a case.
A lot has changed since then, the temple was destroyed, rebuilt, destroyed again, and so on. Now, if you have given your life to God, you are God’s temple, because God dwells within you. It was never intended that God would only dwell inside a building–and He never did. His presence filled the temple, but it could not contain God, not by a long stretch.
Let’s consider the second section, where the psalmist does indeed pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and more. He asks for peace and prosperity for those who love God. He also prays for peace for his family and friends, and seeks their good. Why? For the sake of the temple of God. The focus always turns back to God, rather than a bunch of self-centered requests.
So certainly, pray for Jerusalem, not the city, but the people who live there. Pray that they would find peace, not as the world gives–because that will be a sign of the end of days–but the peace that only comes from God, and a relationship with Him. Pray for all of God’s people, that they also would experience His peace fully, and seek it in your own life as well. In this world of chaos, we may crave a reprieve from the strife, envy, and war, but we ought more to crave true peace, that only God can provide.