Read the Psalm 

Experiencing and knowing God’s presence is everything. To be in the house of the Lord is the joy beyond all other joys. It is the essence of life. 

As the prayer of Psalm 122 unfolds, Jerusalem becomes the focus. Jerusalem, of course, is where the temple (the house of the Lord) had been built. Just as Jesus quoted from Isaiah to say that it was a house of prayer for all people, the words of this psalm point to this reality as well: “a city … to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord.” Perhaps, mention of this particular city brings up thoughts and ideas of current geopolitical realities or even idyllic notions of a golden age long gone. The reality is that God had a plan for this city that has never been fully realized. 

As the psalmist extols Jerusalem as a city “bound firmly together” (the idea of security and stability), there is an awareness that it struggles in its mission. Just as war and deceit plagued the land (see Psalm 120), Jerusalem was under threat of the same. When the struggles for power, strength, and control take center stage, the vision of Jerusalem presented in the Scriptures as a place where all are welcome and all can come is in jeopardy. So, there is a prayer for peace. In other words, “may this place which represents the presence of God in its fullness be a place where there are not obstacles and distractions.” 

The final verses of the psalm make this clear: “for my brothers and companions’ sake” and “for the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.” There was a desire to protect and preserve this place of knowing and experiencing God’s presence and love. It was not a political statement but a practical one. It is possible for people to be so wounded and distracted that accessing God is really difficult. In this sense, we pray for peace for others as Paul did in Ephesians 3:14–19:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Notice the repetition of the word strength. Strength, peace, and security is vital if people are going to connect with God. God in His mercy meets us wherever and however we are, and yet there is a practical reality that many struggle to trust God and comprehend the depth of His love because they are distracted by an empty stomach or the lies of the world. 

Do we have a vision for people to experience the love and presence of God that includes peace? Is God Himself the vision we have for ourselves and the world around us? We can be distracted or even resistant to the ways of God, and the invitation is to adopt a lens through which we look at the essence of life as living in His presence – His love. 

The hymn “Be Thou My Vision” beautifully illustrates this:

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me save that thou art.
Thou my best thought by day and by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Hold in your awareness today the vision of God alone as everything. Offer a prayer for peace for others who are seeking Him.

Reflection questions: Take a moment and walk through your day with the lens (vision) of the Lord as everything. What do you see? What arises in the awareness of your heart? How does God as your vision shift things for you?

Prayer: Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; naught be all else to me save that Thou art. Thou my best thought by day and by night; waking and sleep, Thy presence my light. Amen.