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The Church's Prayer for Peace in Jerusalem

The Church's Prayer for Peace in Jerusalem

The command "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" appears in Psalm 122:6, a pilgrimage song that celebrates the city as the center of Israel's worship and judicial life [1]. The Hebrew name Jerusalem itself carries connotations of peace—related etymologically to shalom—and the city is identified in Genesis 14:18 with Salem, meaning "peace" [2, 3]. This linguistic foundation establishes Jerusalem not merely as a geographical location but as a symbol of divine order, communal harmony, and eschatological hope.

The Biblical Foundation

The psalmist's exhortation to pray for Jerusalem's peace emerges from the city's role as the site of God's sanctuary and the gathering place of the tribes of Israel. The prayer is motivated by love of family and God's dwelling place [6]. The specific petition extends beyond the city's walls to encompass the well-being of its inhabitants: "Peace be within thy walls" [7]. This concern is both practical—seeking protection from enemies and unity among residents—and theological, recognizing that Jerusalem's peace reflects the covenant relationship between God and his people [5].

Matthew Henry observes that this prayer is accessible to all believers: "Those that can do nothing else for the peace of Jerusalem can pray for it" [5]. The act of intercession becomes a participation in God's purposes, acknowledging that peace is "the gift of God, and for it he will be enquired of" [5]. The prayer is not self-centered; John Gill notes that it calls praying souls to move beyond singular and selfish concerns to pray "for all saints, and for the church of God in general" [4].

Patristic Interpretation and the Church

Early Christian interpretation extended the meaning of Jerusalem beyond the literal city to encompass the church itself. Augustine, in his exposition of Psalm 122, addresses those who sit in judgment—the "seats" of authority—urging them to "enquire ye the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem" [10]. For Augustine, this inquiry involves discerning who has performed deeds of charity, thereby identifying those who belong to the true Jerusalem. The prayer for peace becomes inseparable from the pursuit of justice and mercy within the Christian community.

In The City of God, Augustine identifies peace as "the end of our good," quoting Psalm 147:12-14 to describe God strengthening Jerusalem's gates and making her borders peace [11]. This eschatological vision transforms the prayer for Jerusalem's peace into a longing for the eternal peace that constitutes the perfection of the saints. Augustine elsewhere speaks of believers being "made citizens of Jerusalem, the city of God," who will see God "in eternal peace" [13].

The Church as the New Jerusalem

The prophetic tradition in Isaiah 62:1 intensifies this concern: "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest" [12]. John Gill interprets Zion and Jerusalem in this passage as referring to "the church in Gospel times," citing Hebrews 12:22 as warrant for this typological reading [12]. The speaker—whether God himself or his prophetic representative—refuses silence until the church's glory, prosperity, and safety are secured. This interpretive move, common in Protestant exegesis, transfers the covenantal promises attached to physical Jerusalem to the universal church.

The early epistle attributed to Clement addresses James as "bishop of bishops, who rules Jerusalem, the holy church of the Hebrews," explicitly identifying the Jerusalem church with the broader concept of God's holy city [9]. This patristic usage demonstrates how quickly "Jerusalem" became a designation for the church's spiritual reality rather than merely its geographical origin.

The Enduring Practice

The prayer for Jerusalem's peace thus functions on multiple registers within Christian tradition. It honors the historical city where God placed his name, acknowledges the Jewish roots of Christian faith, and expresses hope for the church's unity and flourishing. Rashi's commentary preserves the Jewish understanding: "Request the welfare of Jerusalem and say to her, 'May those who love you enjoy tranquility, and let there be peace in your wall'" [8]. Christian interpretation has both preserved this literal sense and expanded it typologically, seeing in Jerusalem's peace a figure of the church's eschatological rest and the final reconciliation of all things under Christ's reign.

Sources

  1. Psalms “Psalms 122:6 (LEB) — Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be at ease.”
  2. Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Jerusalem — vision of peace”
  3. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Salem — Peace, commonly supposed to be another name of Jerusalem (Gen. 14:18; Ps. 76:2; Heb. 7:1, 2).”
  4. Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 122:5: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,.... This is said to the persons that solicited the psalmist to go into the house of the Lord; to the truly godly among the tribes that went thither to worship; to his brethren and companions, for whose sake he wished well to Zion; to praying souls, who should not be singular and selfish; not only pray for themselves, but for others; for all saints, and for the church of God in general; for Jerusalem, not merely literally considered; though as that was the metropolis of the nation, and many of them the psalmist addresses were inhabitan”
  5. Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 122:6: Here, I. David calls upon others to which well to Jerusalem, Psa 122:6, Psa 122:7. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for the welfare of it, for all good to it, particularly for the uniting of the inhabitants among themselves and their preservation from the incursions of enemies. This we may truly desire, that in the peace thereof we may have peace; and this we must earnestly pray for, for it is the gift of God, and for it he will be enquired of. Those that can do nothing else for the peace of Jerusalem can pray for it, which is something more than showing their go”
  6. Psalms (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Psalms 122:6: 122:6-9 Prayers for the peace of Jerusalem are motivated by love of family and God’s sanctuary.”
  7. Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 122:6: Peace be within thy walls,.... The word say might be supplied; for this, with the following, seem to be petitions the psalmist puts into the mouths of those he desires to pray for Jerusalem's peace; and he directs them to pray in this manner, to take with them such words as these, and pray to the Lord. Jerusalem was a walled city, and so is the church of God; God himself is a wall of fire around her; salvation by Christ is as walls and bulwarks to her; the power and providence of God protect her: within these walls the people of God have a place and a name; all the i”
  8. Sefaria (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) on Psalms 122:6: Request the welfare of Jerusalem and say to her, “May those who love you enjoy tranquility, and let there be peace in your wall.””
  9. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 8: Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts, Epistles, Apocrypha, Decretals — EPISTLE OF CLEMENT TO JAMES: CLEMENT to James, the lord,(1) and the bishop of bishops, who rules Jerusalem, the holy church of the Hebrews, and the churches everywhere excellently rounded by the providence of God, with the elders and deacons, and the rest of the brethren, peace be always.”
  10. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 8: Augustine — Exposition on Psalms — PSALM CXXII.(4) (part 6): unto the seats themselves, "Enquire ye the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem" (ver. 6). O ye seats, who now sit unto judgment, and are made the seats of the Lord who judgeth (since they who judge, enquire; they who are judged, are enquired of), "Enquire ye," he saith," the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem." What will they find by asking? That some have done deeds of charity, that others have not. Those whom they shall find to have done deeds of charity, they will summon them unto Jerusalem; for these d”
  11. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 11.--OF THE HAPPINESS OF THE ETERNAL PEACE, WHICH CONSTITUTES THE END OR TRUE PERFECTION OF THE SAINTS.: And thus we may say of peace, as we have said of eternal life, that it is the end of our good; and the rather because the Psalmist says of the city of God, the subject of this laborious work, "Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion: for He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; He hath blessed thy children within thee; who hath made thy borders peace."(1) For when the bars of her gates shall be strengthened, no”
  12. Isaiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Isaiah 62:1: For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,.... By Zion and Jerusalem, the church in Gospel times is meant, as it often is in this book, and elsewhere; see Heb 12:22, for whose glory, prosperity, and safety, a concern is here expressed. Some take them to be the words of God himself, as the Targum and Kimchi; who seems to be silent and at rest, and even as it were asleep, when he does not arise and exert himself on the behalf of his people; but here he declares he would not be as one silent and at rest, nor let the kingdoms and n”
  13. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 8: Augustine — Exposition on Psalms — PSALM CXXXV.(5) (part 9): to see God in eternal peace, being made citizens of Jerusalem, the city of God.”
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