Read Psalm 122

Read Psalm 122

I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the Lord’s house.”

²     And now we are here,

standing inside the gates of Jerusalem!

³     Jerusalem is a city restored

in beautiful order and harmony.

⁴     This is where

the tribes come, the tribes of Israel,

to give thanks to the Lord

according to his command.

⁵     Here the kings of Israel

sat to judge their people.

⁶     Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May those who love you prosper.

⁷           May there be peace inside your walls

and safety in your palaces.”

⁸     For the sake of my relatives and friends

I say to Jerusalem, “Peace be with you!”

⁹     For the sake of the house of the Lord our God

I pray for your prosperity.

Think

For the duration of the Old Testament, the New Testament and for the last two thousand years Jerusalem has seldom been the city of peace. I wonder if this Psalmist is not looking forward to future reality – as the writer of Hebrews points out:

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering…

Symbolically Jerusalem is the capital city of God’s Kingdom – it is where God’s throne is – in the temple.

Pray

We pray for the peace of Jerusalem; but not just for the city in Israel, but for the world over which God reigns.  Think of those areas at war at the moment and pray for God’s peace.