Psalm 122 urges admirers to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem." If you've ever pondered exactly what that implies, and what you ought to pray for, we can encourage you. Beneath, we have replicated two articles that initially showed up in the Jews for Jesus Newsletter. We trust they will furnish you with a more profound comprehension of what it implies for Christians to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem."
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem… " Have you at any point pondered precisely what that implies? This 6th verse of Psalm 122 is often used to inspire Christians to love and proselytize God's antiquated individuals, Israel. The second 50% of the verse, "… they might succeed who cherish thee" (KJV), appears to guarantee God's unique gift upon the individuals who pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Other interpretations, nonetheless, read "May the individuals who cherish you be secure" (NIV), or "May they succeed who adore you" (NASB). Rather than a prophetic guarantee, these substitute versions appear to be a reprobation to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, demonstrating what this prayer ought to incorporate. From the first Hebrew, either interpretation is legitimate on the grounds that the words for the subjunctive inclination and future tense are indistinguishable.
The King James interpretation comes nearest to rewording God's guarantee to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, "And I will favor them that favor thee… ." However, the other versions of Psalm 122:6-7 similarly bolster the thought, in that we are advised to pray for something that is as per God's will as put forward in another part of Scripture. The substitute readings can advance a superior comprehension of praying for the peace of Jerusalem. Then, as a further guide, the whole psalm ought to be considered.
The Setting of Psalm 122
Keeping in mind the end goal to comprehend Psalm 122, and verse 6 specifically, we should return to the season of King David. Three times each year, on the three noteworthy celebrations, hordes of Israelites came to adore at the "Place of the Lord." In David's chance, it was not yet a sanctuary (that was left to his child Solomon to assemble), yet it most likely was more detailed than a minor field tent.
As the bunches of explorers advanced upward toward Jerusalem, they no doubt sang the gathering of Psalms 120-134 known as the Songs of Ascent. Psalm 122 depicts their blissful expectation of being in God's home and in Jerusalem itself, the point of convergence of Israel. This differentiated symbolism of the enthusiastic, vivacious masses of Israelites and the serious, curbed glory of God's home gives the setting to Psalm 122. In present day terms, if Manhattan were a site of love rather than of business and home, a psychological picture of a large number of workers gushing into the city may depict what the Psalmist was imagining: waterways of guests merging on the focal point of the country.
What Did Prayer for Peace Entail?
Verse 6 is most likely the best known segment of Psalm 122. The Hebrew words for "peace," "security" and "Jerusalem" are altogether related. Shalom (peace) originates from a root signifying "entire" or "finish." what's more, Jerusalem most likely signifies "City of Peace." It is therefore a figure of speech that the Psalmist approaches prayer for the shalom of the city of shalom.
Today the expression "peace" bears all the more a negative undertone, inferring nonappearance of war or other fiendishness forces, a state to be accomplished when the sum total of what foes have been pulverized. In spite of the fact that this could be one Old Testament undertone, the idea is more extravagant and undeniably positive, suggesting material and otherworldly prosperity, amicability and assention as a blessing from God. In this manner, the thought in the second piece of verse 6 is that the individuals who pray for Jerusalem's peace ought to consequently get practically identical favors, a wholeness and an amicability in their own lives.
As those pioneers moved toward Jerusalem, the rough ways afforded them perspectives of the encompassing farmland, their kindred voyagers underneath, and maybe even the fringes of a foe country not too far off. To them, "peace" recommended the suspension of war, as well as the whole prosperity that originated from agreement amongst man and God, man and neighbor, man and self, and man and nature.
In verse 7 the "dividers" would have incorporated the bulwarks, canals and other fortifications of Jerusalem. "Strongholds" or "castles" show the city's noticeable structures. It is vital to take note of "inside" here and in verse 8. Once more, it isn't reprieve from war, yet an inner amicability that the Psalmist has as a main priority. (His longing is all around set, for antiquarians disclose to us that civic establishments regularly fall not in view of outer forces, but rather on account of their own interior rot.)
Motivations to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
In verses 8 and 9 the Psalmist gives two purposes behind craving the peace of Jerusalem. Prayer for this sort of peace — add up to concordance and fulfillment — requested the prosperity of Jerusalem's tenants ("For my brethren and associates' sakes, I will now say, Peace be inside thee") and for the continuation of the Lord's home as the correct place of love ("Because of the place of the LORD our God, I will look for thy great").
Note how the Psalmist was network disapproved. He said brothers and companions; he alluded to the LORD our God. Furthermore, by requesting peace "inside," he indicated worry for interior agreement between every one of the tenants of the city.
By what means Should We Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem Today?
In the year 70 A.D. an awesome national catastrophe struck the Jewish individuals. As Roman armies cleared downward on the "City of Peace," the Temple, focal point of Jewish love for a large number of years, was annihilated. It has never been modified. Additionally, the Jewish individuals have been scattered over the substance of the globe, with the goal that today just about 33% of the world's Jewish populace lives in Israel. How and what would it be advisable for us to then pray, with neither most of the Jewish individuals nor the Temple any more drawn out in the place where there is Israel? This very change in circumstance enables us to apply the psalm to our current conditions. Truth be told, we could devise a prayer list in light of Psalm 122 that may look something like this:
Pray for the Nation of Israel and for Jerusalem Itself
God guaranteed Abraham that the individuals who favored him would be honored and that the individuals who reviled him would be reviled (Genesis 12:2 and 3). In Deuteronomy 30:7, Moses emphasized the revile, suggesting favoring by difference, and making application to the Jewish individuals overall. How proper, then, to pray for the peace of Israel, the Jewish national country, and for its capital, Jerusalem.
Pray for the Countries Where the Jewish People Have Been Scattered
Barely a nation on the substance of the earth has not had some Jewish occupants at some time. Furthermore, history records that during national trouble or agitation, fault for a specific nation's issues as a general rule fell on its Jewish occupants. Ironicly the expression "substitute," connected to one who is made to endure the brunt of another's missteps, gets from Leviticus, a book given to the world by Jewish individuals in any case! However Jews often have been substitutes of the non-Jewish world. To pray, then, for the countries of the existence where Jewish individuals live isn't just praiseworthy in itself; it will guarantee security and gift for their Jewish subjects.
Pray for the Countries Where Christians Live
At the point when the Temple at Jerusalem was obliterated, the early Jewish professors in Jesus realized that there was not any more a requirement for the Temple with its penances in light of the fact that the Messiah had come as the last forfeit for wrongdoing. In spite of the fact that there is never again a Temple structure in Jerusalem, we Christians are the sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, as the Psalmist prayed for Jerusalem's peace for the purpose of the Temple of God, we should pray for the prosperity of those countries where Christians live. I Timothy 2:1-2 proposes that the welfare of the nations where there are devotees is straightforwardly identified with the straightforwardness with which Christians can carry on with an open way of life of confidence — and henceforth, to the simplicity with which the Gospel can be announced.
Pray for Unhindered Proclamation of the Gospel
Pray that numerous individuals of numerous countries may come to know the God of Israel. What's more, as we end up at ground zero on this prayer list, pray particularly that numerous Jewish individuals, the relatives of the individuals who manufactured the Temple and composed the 122nd Psalm, may come to know their Messiah. At exactly that point will they know genuine peace, as Jesus Himself said when He sobbed over Jerusalem: "… If thou hadst known… in this thy day, the things which have a place unto thy peace! Be that as it may, now they are avoided thine eyes" (Luke 19:42).
Conclusion
In Psalm 122, the essayist completes three things: in verse 6, he admonishes prayer; in verse 8, he talks, verbalizing his assumptions; and in verse 9, he looks for the peace for which he prays, acting to advance it. We who cherish the Lord ought to likewise pray, tell and act, to the end that Jerusalem, and by augmentation whatever is left of the world, may know Him who brings genuine peace. Indeed, pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all that takes after from that — and may you who do as such succeed!
Jerusalem, The Holy City
"By the waterways of Babylon… we sobbed, when we recalled Zion… If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my correct hand forget her finesse. In the event that I don't recall thee, let my tongue cut to the roof of my mouth, on the off chance that I favor not Jerusalem over my central bliss." (From Psalm 137)
Psalm 137 communicates the aching of the Babylonian outcasts for their country, and Jewish idea today still incorporates this longing for Jerusalem.
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What is the persona of that unceasing city? What puzzling emotions grasp the Jewish heart at the specify of that name? Whether or not the listener is the substance and devoted native of a nation other than the territory of Israel.
