A Prayer for Israel — sacred illustration
✶ Our Bible Moments No. 264 / 272

Our Nation

A Prayer for Israel

Psalm 122:6-7

Psalm 122:6-7 comes from a song of ascents of David, traditionally sung by worshipers going up to Jerusalem, calling them to pray for the city’s peace.

Lord, You call us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and I pray for it today. May there be peace within its walls and safety in its streets and homes. Protect Israel from violence and terror, and guard every innocent life in the land and among its neighbors. Comfort all who grieve. Give leaders wisdom to seek peace, and bless all who love Jerusalem. Let Your peace rest on the city and on all its people. Amen.

Psalm 122:6-7 comes from a song of ascents of David, traditionally sung by worshipers going up to Jerusalem, calling them to pray for the city’s peace.

The Scripture

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper. May there be peace within your walls, and prosperity inside your fortresses.””

— Psalm 122:6-7

Prayer points from Psalm 122:6-7

  1. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as Psalm 122 asks.
  2. Ask God to protect Israel and every innocent life in the region.
  3. Pray for comfort for every family that grieves.
  4. Ask God to give leaders wisdom to seek peace.
  5. Pray, as Paul did, that many in Israel would come to know Jesus as Messiah.
  6. Pray for followers of Jesus in the land, Jewish and Arab, to shine with His love.

About this verse

Psalm 122 is a song of ascents, traditionally sung by worshipers going up to Jerusalem. It opens with gladness at the call to go to the house of the LORD, and with feet standing in the city’s gates. Then the psalm calls the worshipers to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” and gives them the words to pray: peace within its walls, prosperity inside its fortresses. The psalmist wishes the city peace “For the sake of my brothers and friends” and seeks its good “For the sake of the house of the LORD our God.” Christians still pray this psalm for Israel and Jerusalem, the land where Jesus taught, died and rose again, and the people through whom God gave the Scriptures and the Messiah. The apostle Paul, himself a Jew, wrote, “my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation.” Praying for the peace of Jerusalem also means praying for everyone who lives there and nearby: protection, comfort for the grieving and an end to violence. This prayer is for anyone praying for Israel, Jerusalem and all the people of the land.

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