Psalm 122:1-9 (NKJV)
1 A Son of Ascents. Of David.
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
4 Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
[a]To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will seek your good.
Psalm 122 expresses King David’s heartfelt love for Jerusalem. But the Jerusalem that David loved and for which David prayed for peace has almost nothing to do with the modern city of Jerusalem.
What was it about Jerusalem that David loved? It was the fact that God had established His anointed king there and had chosen that place for His house, for the temple, for the ministry of the priests, for hearing the prayers of His people, for receiving the sacrifices that maintained Israel’s covenant relationship with Him. Under the Old Testament, Jerusalem and her temple were the only place on earth where God promised to be present to hear and to help His people. “Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.”
What else did David love about Jerusalem? It was where the people of God came together to worship the Lord, “where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD…to give thanks to the name of the LORD.”
But Old Testament Jerusalem was a temporary location for a temporary temple, a temporary gathering place for the people of God. The city still exists on our maps, but the house of the LORD is no longer there, or is not exclusively there. Now the house of the Lord is present wherever two or three are gathered in the name of Christ. Now the ministry of the Lord takes place wherever the ministers whom Christ has sent preach His Gospel and administer His Sacraments. Now the people of the Lord—believers in the Lord Jesus—gather all around the world to hear His Word, to sing His praises, and to encourage one another.
So, yes, pray for the peace of Jerusalem! Not the city on the other side of the world, but the true City of God, the Holy Christian Church, where God daily forgives sins to all believers, and where believers, as brothers and sisters in God’s house, give thanks to the Lord for bringing us into the Jerusalem that is above!
Let us pray: O God, we pray for the peace of Your beloved Church, that Your people may be kept safe from harm and that Your Gospel may be freely proclaimed. Amen.