Psalms 122:6 Commentary: The Call to Pray for Jerusalem's Peace

Psalm 122 is one of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120, 134), sung by pilgrims traveling up to Jerusalem for the annual feasts. The superscription attributes it to David, though some scholars suggest a later date; the Cambridge Bible notes that the ‘fond mention of Jerusalem’ and the ‘thrones of the house of David’ point to a time when the Davidic dynasty was still flourishing. In verses 2, 5 the psalmist describes a city built ‘compact together,’ where the tribes gather to give thanks and where justice is administered from David’s thrones. This picture of unity and order sets the stage for the call in verse 6.

Jerusalem’s name was popularly understood to mean ‘teaching of peace’ or ‘foundation of peace,’ making the prayer for its shalom a wordplay embedded in the city’s identity. The Hebrew verb sha’al (‘ask for’) can also mean ‘greet’ or ‘inquire after the welfare of,’ as when one salutes another with shalom. Keil and Delitzsch explain that to ‘ask for the peace of Jerusalem’ is to ‘find out her prosperity by asking’ and to be animated by the wish that she may prosper. The surrounding verses extend this intercessory spirit: in verse 7 the poet calls for peace within the walls and prosperity within the palaces, and in verses 8, 9 he grounds his prayer in love for brothers and for the house of Yahweh. Cross-references like Jeremiah 29:7, where the exiles are commanded to seek the peace of Babylon, reinforce the principle that a city’s welfare is bound up with the welfare of those who pray for it.

The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Cambridge Bible mentions that one medieval manuscript reads Hebrew 'tents' (ohaleykha) instead of 'those who love you' (ohaveykha), but no ancient version supports that reading, and it appears to be a scribal coincidence. The Septuagint (LXX) renders the verse in a way that echoes the phrase 'the things which belong to peace' (τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην), a phrase Jesus later uses over Jerusalem in Luke 19:42. This is a translational nuance rather than a variant. The Masoretic text is stable.

Jewish tradition has always read this verse as a literal call to pray for Jerusalem's peace, incorporated into daily prayers and the Birkat HaMazon (Grace after Meals). The early church, following the apostles’ hermeneutic, often interpreted Jerusalem allegorically as the church or the heavenly city (cf. Galatians 4:26). Augustine and many medieval commentators read the verse as a prayer for the peace of the Church on earth. Reformation figures like Calvin and Matthew Henry continued this spiritual reading, applying the promise of prosperity to the soul’s rest in God. In the modern era, a renewed emphasis on the literal meaning has emerged alongside Christian Zionism, while mainline and liturgical traditions still often sing or pray the verse in relation to the Church. The verse appears in hymns such as ‘Crown Him with Many Crowns’ and in the Anglican Prayer Book’s prayers for the Church.

Three-point outline

1. The Command: Pray for Peace. The verb is a plural imperative, God’s people together are to ask for the welfare of His chosen city. The peace (shalom) includes not only absence of war but prosperity, justice, and wholeness. Intercession is the primary act of love when we cannot do more.
2. The Promise: Those Who Love Prosper. The verb yishlayu (from shalah) carries the nuance of being at rest, tranquil, at ease. The promise is not necessarily financial wealth but a deep-rooted peace that flows from loving what God loves.
3. The Motivation: Love for God’s House and People. Verses 8, 9 root the call in love for ‘brothers and companions’ and for ‘the house of Yahweh our God.’ Prayer for the church’s peace is not an optional add-on; it flows from covenant belonging.

Five-point outline

1. Recognize Jerusalem as God’s chosen city, a type of His dwelling place among His people.
2. Understand shalom as holistic well-being, spiritual, social, physical.
3. Engage in corporate prayer: ‘Pray for the peace’ is plural, a community calling.
4. Trust the promise: those who love Zion will find their own souls at rest.
5. Extend the pattern to the church today: pray for the peace of your local congregation, the wider body of Christ, and the heavenly Jerusalem.

Illustration hooks

• Neighborhood watch meeting: When residents gather to pray for their street’s safety and flourishing, they enact the heart of this verse, asking for peace in the place where they belong.
• Interceding for a hospital patient: You may not be able to cure, but you can ask for complete health (shalom). The act of praying ties your love to the person’s welfare.
• A gardener preparing soil: The alliteration in Hebrew is like a gardener tilling the same sound into the earth, each word echoing another, rooting peace into Jerusalem’s identity.

Questions your congregation is asking

• Does this verse mean I must support the modern nation of Israel, or is Jerusalem a symbol for the church?
• If I pray for Jerusalem, does God promise me financial success? What kind of prosperity does ‘they shall prosper’ mean?
• How do I pray for peace when the world around me is in conflict, does my prayer actually change anything?

This verse calls us into a life of intercession rooted in love. The psalmist does not command from a distance; he invites us to join a chorus of pilgrims who have prayed for Jerusalem for centuries. As you discuss, remember that shalom is thicker than our word ‘peace’, it means everything made whole. The promise to those who love is that they will share that wholeness.

Discussion questions

1. Read Psalm 122:6 in several translations (WEB, KJV, YLT, BSB). What differences stand out? How do the different renderings affect your understanding?
2. The Hebrew verb sha’al can mean ‘ask,’ ‘inquire about,’ or even ‘greet.’ How does that range of meaning expand what it means to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’?
3. Barnes argues that the prosperity promised is primarily peace, ‘quietness or rest.’ How does that challenge our culture’s obsession with financial success?
4. Jeremiah 29:7 commands exiles to seek the peace of Babylon. How are those two commands, pray for Jerusalem and pray for Babylon, related? What does that say about God’s heart for all cities?
5. The psalmist gives two motives for his prayer: ‘for my brothers and companions’ sakes’ and ‘because of the house of Yahweh our God’ (vv. 8, 9). Which motive resonates with you more today? Why?
6. Some see Jerusalem as a literal physical city; others see it as a type of the church. Does a choice matter practically, or can both meanings stand together?
7. What would it look like for your small group to ‘pray for the peace’ of your own city this week, not just for safety, but for genuine wholeness and justice?