Psalm 122 verses 6-9 (NIV)
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels. ”
For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your prosperity.
The psalmist encourages prayer for the peace of Jerusalem. He lists many reasons for doing so – for the sake of all who lived within it’s walls, and then, for him specifically, for his family and friends. But also because it was the place where the Lord dwelt in His Holy Temple.
When the people were taken into captivity in Babylon, they too were encouraged to pray for the peace and prosperity of the place where they would be living and working for the next seventy years.
Surely for us too then this is a pattern for us also to follow. Of course we must pray for those that we love, but we, and they are impacted by those round about us, as well as the things that affect the place where we live, so surely it’s right that we should pray for them too. Finally we must pray for the church, both the wider church of God and the place where God has put us. It’s easy to get insular and think that we should only be concerned with the people and things closest to us, but we see here, and in many other places in the Bible, that our responsibility extends much further and that’s something that, as ambassadors of Christ, we should take care not to forget.
Dear Lord,
Thank You that You are concerned with everything and everyone around us. Help me to be likewise and to pray, as You lead, and not just for my nearest and dearest. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.