Psalm 122 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 122 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!"
Verse 2Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Verse 3Jerusalem-built as a city that is bound firmly together.
Verse 4To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
Verse 5For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.
Verse 6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.
Verse 7Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers."
Verse 8For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, "Peace be within you."
Verse 9For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.
Devotion
These days and weeks before Christmas are often hectic. It’s hard to slow down or find a moment for silence. Then we read the words of this psalm, “peace be within you.” How refreshing it is to hear a blessing of peace. With schedules too full, tensions in relationships and a troubled world around us, we yearn for peace.
Some of that peace comes when we rest; even if only for a few daily moments. If we also pray, reflect and worship, we can find a bit of the peace in this psalm.
Peace is not just an end to the hectic pace of our lives, it is something we find as we rest in God. We can get so busy preparing to celebrate Jesus’ birth that “the peace which passes all understanding” is forgotten. Soon we will sing hymns of peace that tell of silence, quiet streets and the birth of child of promise.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, you came among us to bring peace to all. Help us, we pray, to find that peace today and each day as we walk with you. Then, finding greater peace, send us to be peacemakers.