If Gawd [sic] is really guidin’ us, as there seems some sense in our believin’, little troubles like water an’ heat an’ dust…an’ the contrariness of men thet [sic] always bobs up…there can’t swerve us from the great issue. Fork yore hosses an’ ride!”
–Zane Grey (The Great Trek)
“For Abraham’s eyes were looking forward to that city with solid foundations of which God himself is both architect and builder.”
–Hebrews 11:10(Phillips)
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We have to be careful to use Jerusalem and Israel to symbolize and be a type of the Church, but there is a time for this. I like what Derek Kidner says, “What Jerusalem was to the Israelite, the church is to the Christian. Here are his closest ties, his brethren and companions, known and unknown, drawn with him to the one center as fellow pilgrims.” This morning we finish with Psalm 122.
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. (NKJV)
Jerusalem, a city often besieged and troubled, and we see that it still is today. We are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and we are told what to pray. But wait, as I wrote to begin, we should also be praying for the Church, the body of Christ. And let me add another analogy, we should be praying for each other and ourselves as we are part of that Church, but also we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. That temple of old where the pilgrims in Psalm 122 were headed in no longer there, but the true believer is now the temple. We should be praying for peace in that temple.
I think then of the words of Jesus when He wept over the city, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:42, NKJV) What a sad conclusion. If not careful, we can get so caught up with praying for Jerusalem that we forget that we are now the temple. Wouldn’t it be sad if Jesus had to say those words over us as believers?
What then is our peace? “Shalom”, as I have written many times, means peace, but much more than that. The term also conveys the notion of completeness–a complete well-being. It is a peace–a well-being–that is completely paid for. When the words of the psalmist were penned he had not the idea of the sacrifice of Jesus to pay completely for our peace. Yes, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, that it be free from trouble, terror and strife, but more so, we should pray for the peace of our soul, that wonderful, inner peace we have with God–may it not go away.
Hmmm, I wonder, perhaps we should look at the words of George Wood, “Pilgrims to the New Jerusalem don’t need to pray for that city. It’s secure. Neither sin, death, nor the devil can ever get inside.” We are on a journey, and I think of the words of that old song:
“Here among the shadows living in a lonely land,
With strangers we’re a band of pilgrims on the move;
Thru dangers burden’d down with sorrows,
And we’re shunned on ev’ry hand,
But we are looking for a city built above.”
–W. Oliver Cooper
Another verse says, “In this land of dangers we are going here and there, We’re simply trusting in the blessed Saviour’s love…”. We are like those pilgrims of old who on their journey to Jerusalem prayed for its peace. Now, however, as pilgrims and citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, “we pray instead that the peace, security, and prosperity of our eternal dwelling place will come to us while we remain on the trail below.” (Wood)
“Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and he is on the throne.”
–Edward H. Bickersteth
———————————-
We have to be careful to use Jerusalem and Israel to symbolize and be a type of the Church, but there is a time for this. I like what Derek Kidner says, “What Jerusalem was to the Israelite, the church is to the Christian. Here are his closest ties, his brethren and companions, known and unknown, drawn with him to the one center as fellow pilgrims.” This morning we finish with Psalm 122.
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. (NKJV)
Jerusalem, a city often besieged and troubled, and we see that it still is today. We are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and we are told what to pray. But wait, as I wrote to begin, we should also be praying for the Church, the body of Christ. And let me add another analogy, we should be praying for each other and ourselves as we are part of that Church, but also we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. That temple of old where the pilgrims in Psalm 122 were headed in no longer there, but the true believer is now the temple. We should be praying for peace in that temple.
I think then of the words of Jesus when He wept over the city, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:42, NKJV) What a sad conclusion. If not careful, we can get so caught up with praying for Jerusalem that we forget that we are now the temple. Wouldn’t it be sad if Jesus had to say those words over us as believers?
What then is our peace? “Shalom”, as I have written many times, means peace, but much more than that. The term also conveys the notion of completeness–a complete well-being. It is a peace–a well-being–that is completely paid for. When the words of the psalmist were penned he had not the idea of the sacrifice of Jesus to pay completely for our peace. Yes, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, that it be free from trouble, terror and strife, but more so, we should pray for the peace of our soul, that wonderful, inner peace we have with God–may it not go away.
Hmmm, I wonder, perhaps we should look at the words of George Wood, “Pilgrims to the New Jerusalem don’t need to pray for that city. It’s secure. Neither sin, death, nor the devil can ever get inside.” We are on a journey, and I think of the words of that old song:
“Here among the shadows living in a lonely land,
With strangers we’re a band of pilgrims on the move;
Thru dangers burden’d down with sorrows,
And we’re shunned on ev’ry hand,
But we are looking for a city built above.”
–W. Oliver Cooper
Another verse says, “In this land of dangers we are going here and there, We’re simply trusting in the blessed Saviour’s love…”. We are like those pilgrims of old who on their journey to Jerusalem prayed for its peace. Now, however, as pilgrims and citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, “we pray instead that the peace, security, and prosperity of our eternal dwelling place will come to us while we remain on the trail below.” (Wood)
“Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and he is on the throne.”
–Edward H. Bickersteth