One of the things I have seen Christians do often is read a verse of the Bible and “rest in it.” Make no mistake, I have often been just as guilty.
Psalm 122 has one of those beloved verses. Psalm 122:6 says:
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Those who love you will prosper.”
It’s a beautiful verse. It is certainly worth remembering and praying.
But there is more to the Psalm than verse 6.
One of the things I have done more than 35 times now is read through the Bible in one year. This isn’t to say that I don’t stop for in-depth study of smaller sections. I do. But I also like to read the WHOLE Bible.
One year, during that reading, Psalm 122:9 registered with me:
“For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God, I will seek your good.”
Wait a minute, I thought. The Temple isn’t there anymore.
It hasn’t been there since Titus and the Roman army destroyed it in A.D. 70. That’s a very significant event, especially when we remember what Jesus said about the Temple.
In Matthew 24:2, Jesus said:
“You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”
Mark records the same prediction:
“Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down.”
And Luke records:
“As for these things which you see, the days will come in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down.”
Jesus said the Temple would be destroyed.
And it was.
I once read a fascinating book about the destruction of Jerusalem by George Peter Holford, published in 1805. Its wonderfully long title is:
“The Destruction of Jerusalem, an Absolute and Irresistible Proof of the Divine Origin of Christianity: Including a Narrative of the Calamities Which Befel the Jews, So Far as They Tend to Verify Our Lord’s Predictions Relative to That Event.”
Holford’s argument was that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple provides powerful historical confirmation of Jesus’ predictions concerning that event.
So here I am, reading Psalm 122 and thinking about the house of Yahweh.
But where is that house today?
The Temple is gone.
And this is where the New Testament gives us something important to consider.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:16–17:
“Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.”
We are God’s temple.
Notice that Paul is speaking to the church collectively. The people of God are God’s dwelling place because God’s Spirit dwells among them.
That brings me back to Psalm 122.
“For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God, I will seek your good.”
I don’t think that means we simply erase Jerusalem from the Psalm and substitute the word “church.” Psalm 122 was written about Jerusalem, the city where God’s people gathered and where the Temple stood.
But as Christians, we read the Psalm knowing what happened afterward. The Temple was destroyed, just as Jesus said it would be. And the New Testament tells us that God’s dwelling place is no longer centered in a building of stone.
God dwells among His people.
So what does it mean for us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem?
I absolutely believe we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I pray for the peace of the entire Middle East. And I believe that true and lasting peace ultimately requires something that politics, armies, treaties and human diplomacy cannot manufacture: the transforming love of Christ.
But perhaps Psalm 122 should also make us look closer to home.
If God’s people are now described as His temple, then shouldn’t we also care deeply about the peace, unity and spiritual well-being of the Body of Christ?
“For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God, I will seek your good.”
That sounds incredibly relevant today.
Perhaps praying for the peace of Jerusalem should never become an excuse to ignore the peace of God’s people standing beside us.
Perhaps seeking the good of God’s house means seeking the good of His people.
And perhaps that is one reason we should be careful not to “rest” on verse 6 and miss everything else Psalm 122 has to say.
Psalm 122 is a song about Jerusalem, worship, peace, and the house of Yahweh. But reading it today raises an important question: What does it mean for us to seek the good of God’s house when the Temple is no longer standing?
Listen to the words of Psalm 122 and consider them anew.
#Psalm122 #SongsOfAscent #Psalms #Bible #Scripture #Prayer #Peace #Worship
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