Psalm 122:6 NKJV
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
The Blessings of Praying for Jerusalem’s Peace
My Notes
Scripture: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you.’” — Psalm 122:6 NKJV
Jerusalem’s very name means “foundation of peace.” David exhorts God’s people to pray that her condition would match her title—an abode of peace, secure and tranquil under God’s blessing. The city was the center of worship, justice, and national unity, so its peace was vital for the prosperity of all Israel.
To pray for Jerusalem was to pray for the flourishing of God’s people, for the stability of worship, and for the reign of justice. Today, this command extends to the church—the spiritual Jerusalem. We are called to pray for her peace, unity, and prosperity, that she may be free from division, jealousy, and strife, and that her witness may shine brightly in the world.
The promise attached is profound: “May they prosper who love you.” The Hebrew conveys the idea of security, tranquility, and rest. Those who love Zion—who cherish the church, who labor for her peace—will themselves enjoy peace. As Paul writes: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1 NKJV). This peace is not merely external but internal: peace with God, peace of conscience, peace in life’s storms, peace in death, and eternal peace in glory.
Praying for the peace of Jerusalem is both a duty and a delight. It is intercession for the church’s purity, unity, and mission. It is also a prayer for Christ, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV), to reign fully in His people. As Jeremiah 29:7 commands: “Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
When we pray for the church’s peace, we participate in God’s promise. Prosperity—whether spiritual or physical—flows to those who love and serve His house. As Obed-Edom’s household was blessed because of the ark (2 Samuel 6:11 NKJV), so God blesses those who honor His presence today.
Key Takeaways
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Jerusalem’s name means peace; prayer seeks to align her condition with her title.
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Praying for peace is interceding for worship, justice, unity, and mission.
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Those who love Zion will themselves enjoy peace and security.
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Peace is both external (prosperity, stability) and internal (peace with God, peace of conscience).
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Christ, the Prince of Peace, fulfills this prayer in His church.
Cross References (NKJV)
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Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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Jeremiah 29:7 – “And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
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Isaiah 9:6 – “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
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2 Samuel 6:11 – “The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.”
Meditation Questions
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How can I actively pray for the peace and unity of the church today?
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What does it mean for me to “love Zion” in practical, daily ways?
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In what areas of my life do I need to rest in the peace of Christ?
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How can I encourage others to join me in praying for the church’s prosperity and peace?
Prayer
Abba, I lift my prayer for the peace of Your people, the church. Unite us in love, guard us from division, and prosper all who cherish Your house. Grant me peace with You, peace in my conscience, and peace in life’s storms. May Your presence bring security and rest to all who love Zion. Let my prayers and actions promote the unity and prosperity of Your kingdom until the day we dwell in eternal peace with You. I ask for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Proverb for Today
My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your nearest kin, Proverbs 7:1-4 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Bill
NOTE: As I started looking at this scripture, I realized I had never looked at the meaning of Jerusalem. What I found for Strong’s H3389 on the Blue Letter Bible website was:
יֲרוּשָׁלַ֫םִ, יְרוּשָׁלַ֫יִם 644 proper name, of a location Jerusalem (in Assyrian Urusalim, Tel Amarna, ZimZA, 1891, 252, 254; Ursalimmu, COTGlossary;
Ιερουσαλημ; √ and meaning dubious; Rel Ew and others derive from יְרוּשׁ שׁלם possession of peace (or Salem’s possession); Thes and others from יָרָה, i.e. יְרוּ + שָׁלֵם a foundation of peace; GrillZAW, 1884, 134 ff. foundation of Shalem (Shalem = God of peace, = י׳)
To shorten this, it’s either possession of peace, foundation of peace, or foundation of Shalem (Shalem = God of peace)
Posted on 12/7/2025 by Bill Stephens
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Summary of Commentaries:
Psalm 122:6 calls God’s people to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, the city of worship and justice. Its name means “foundation of peace,” and prayer seeks to align her condition with that title. Those who love Zion will themselves enjoy peace—security, rest, and prosperity. This includes peace with God, peace of conscience, and eternal peace in Christ, the Prince of Peace. Praying for the church’s unity and flourishing brings blessing to God’s people and strengthens their witness.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” Peace was her name, pray that her condition may verify her title. Abode of Peace, peace be to thee. Here was a most sufficient reason for rejoicing at the thought of going up to the house of the Lord, since that sacred shrine stood in the centre of an area of peace: well might Israel pray that such peace should be continued. In a church, peace is to be desired, expected, promoted, and enjoyed. If we may not say “Peace at any price,” yet we may certainly cry “Peace at the highest price.” Those who are daily fluttered by rude alarms are charmed to reach their nest in a holy fellowship and abide in it. In a church, one of the main ingredients of success is internal peace: strife, suspicion, party spirit, division—these are deadly things. Those who break the peace of the church deserve to suffer, and those who sustain it win a great blessing. Peace in the church should be our daily prayer, and in so praying, we shall bring down peace upon ourselves; for the Psalmist goes on to say,
“They shall prosper that love thee,” or, perhaps, we may read it as a prayer, “May they have peace that love thee.” Whether the passage be regarded as a promise or as a prayer matters not, for prayer pleads the promise, and the promise is the ground of prayer. Prosperity of soul is already enjoyed by those who take a deep interest in the church and cause of God: they are men of peace, and find peace in their holy endeavors: God’s people pray for them, and God himself delights in them. Prosperity of worldly condition often comes to the lovers of the church if they are able to bear it: many a time, the house of Obed-edom is blessed because of the ark of the Lord. Because the Egyptian midwives feared the Lord, therefore the Lord made them houses. No man shall ever be a permanent loser by the house of the Lord: in peace of heart alone. If in nothing else, we find recompense enough for all that we can do in promoting the interests of Zion.
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Enduring Word
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: David exhorted pilgrims coming to the Holy City to pray for the peace of the city. Jerusalem’s name itself marks it as the city of peace (Hebrews 7:2), but in reality, it has known much war and conflict, which continue to this day. It is good to pray for the often-elusive peace of Jerusalem. (Guzik)
May they prosper who love you: David continued by giving a prayer for Jerusalem. The prayer included a blessing for those who love the city, and a direct request for peace and prosperity for the city. (Guzik)
i. Kidner on peace and prosperity: “They are the proper fruits of justice, the subject of verse 5.”
ii. “This is the form of prayer that they are to use: ‘May prosperity ever reside within thy walls, on all the people that dwell there; and tranquillity within thy palaces or high places, among the rulers and governors of the people.’” (Clarke)
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Albert Barnes
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem – The prosperity, the welfare of Jerusalem – for peace is everywhere the image of prosperity and happiness. Compare Psalms 51:18. This is the language which those who were going up to the city – to the house of the Lord – addressed to each other, expressing the joyful feelings of their hearts at their own near approach to the city. It breathes the desire that all would pray for the peace and prosperity of a city so dear to their own souls, where the worship of God was celebrated; where God himself dwelt; where justice was administered: a city of so much importance and so much influence in the land. To us now it inculcates the duty of praying for the church: its peace; its unity; its prosperity; its increase; its influence on our country and on the world at large. It is a prayer that the church may not be divided by schism or heresy; that its members may cherish for each other right feelings; that there may be no jealousies, no envyings, and no jars; that the different branches of the church may regard and treat each other with kindness, with respect, and with mutual recognition; that prosperity may attend them all.
The shall prosper that love thee – Or rather, They shall have peace that love thee; or, May they have peace that love thee. The word prosper conveys an idea which is not in the original. The Hebrew word means to be “secure,” “tranquil,” “at rest,” spoken especially of one who enjoys quiet prosperity, Job 3:26; Job 12:6. The essential idea is that of quietness or rest; and the meaning here is, that those who love Zion will have peace; or, that the tendency of that love is to produce peace. See Romans 5:1. The prayer was for “peace;” the thought in connection with that was naturally that those who loved Zion would have peace. It is indeed true, in general, that they who love Zion, or who serve God, will “prosper” (compare the notes at 1 Timothy 4:8), but that is not the truth taught here. The idea is that they will have peace: peace with God; peace in their own consciences; peace in the prospect of death and of the future world; peace amidst the storms and tempests of life; peace in death, in the grave, and forever.
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John Gill
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,…. This is said to the persons that solicited the psalmist to go into the house of the Lord; to the truly godly among the tribes that went thither to worship; to his brethren and companions, for whose sake he wished well to Zion; to praying souls, who should not be singular and selfish; not only pray for themselves, but for others; for all saints, and for the church of God in general; for Jerusalem, not merely literally considered; though as that was the metropolis of the nation, and many of them the psalmist addresses were inhabitants of it, it became them to seek and pray for the peace of it, their own peace being concerned in it; see Jeremiah 29:7; but for the spiritual and heavenly Jerusalem, the church of God, and for the peace of it; that Christ, the Man, the Peace, the Peacemaker, who then was not come, might come; that the members of it might enjoy spiritual peace in their son is, and might have peace one with another, and be at peace with their enemies; and enjoy the abundance of peace and prosperity, which will be in the latter day; and will lie in freedom from persecution, in a destruction of antichrist and all the the enemies of the church; in the purity of Gospel truths and ordinances, and the spread of them; in numerous conversions of Jews and Gentiles; in the unity of the Lord’s people in sentiment, worship, and affection; and in a large increase of spiritual light and holiness: all which should be earnestly prayed for by the well-wishers of the cause of Christ; see Isaiah 62:6. There may be an allusion to the name of Jerusalem, which signifies “they shall see peace”; and it should be prayed for that they might. The argument enforcing this duty exhorts us to follow:
they shall prosper that love thee; that love Jerusalem, the church of God; that love Christ, her King; the saints, her citizens; her laws and ordinances; and the word of the Lord that goes out of her, and is ministered in her: which is shown by an attendance with her on them, and by their prayers for her prosperity and welfare: and such prosper in their outward affairs, as Obed-edom and his family were blessed for the sake of the ark he took in and took care of; and in their spiritual affairs their souls prosper, as Gaius’s did, and as such do who are favored with the discoveries of the love of God, with an application of pardoning grace and mercy; have a spiritual appetite for the word; when their graces are in lively exercise, their corruptions are subdued, spiritual light and zeal for truth are increased, inward strength is renewed, communion with God is enjoyed, and they are fruitful in every good work.
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Matthew Henry
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for the welfare of it, for all good to it, particularly for the uniting of the inhabitants among themselves and their preservation from the incursions of enemies. This we may truly desire, that in the peace thereof we may have peace; and this we must earnestly pray for, for it is the gift of God, and for it he will be enquired of. Those that can do nothing else for the peace of Jerusalem can pray for it, which is something more than showing their goodwill; it is the appointed way of fetching in mercy. The peace and welfare of the gospel church, particularly in our land, is to be earnestly desired and prayed for by every one of us.
We are here encouraged in our prayers for Jerusalem’s peace: Those shall prosper that love thee. We must pray for Jerusalem, not out of custom, nor for fashion’s sake, but out of a principle of love to God’s government of man and man’s worship of God; and, in seeking the public welfare, we seek our own, for so well does God love the gates of Zion that he will love all those that do love them, and therefore they cannot but prosper; at least their souls shall prosper by the ordinances they so dearly love.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” By praying for Jerusalem’s peace is meant such serene times wherein the people of God might enjoy his pure worship without disturbance. The Church has always had her vicissitudes, sometimes fair, and sometimes foul weather; but her winter commonly longer than her summer; yea, at the same time that the Sun of peace brings day to one part of it, another is wrapped up in the night of persecution. Universal peace over all the churches is a great rarity.
—William Gurnall.
“They shall prosper that love thee.” Seeing they prosper that love and bear affection to Jerusalem, let men learn to show goodwill unto Christ’s church, though as yet they be no ripe scholars themselves in Christ’s school: though they be not grown to perfection, let them express a good affection. A goodwill and inclination, where strength yet faileth, is accepted, and a ready disposition is not rejected: though thou be not yet of the saints, yet love the saints. If thou likest and lovest that thou wouldst be, thou must be that hereafter which yet thou art not. The little bird before she flieth fluttereth with her wings in the nest: the child creepeth before he goeth: so religion begins with affection, and devotion proceedeth from desire. A man must first love that he would be, before he can be that which he loveth. It is a good sign when a man affecteth that which he expects, and doth favor that which he would more fully favor. He that loveth Sion shall prosper: he that loveth virtue shall increase and prosper in it. The day of small things shall not be despised (Zec 4:10), neither shall the smoking flax be quenched (Mat 12:20); but the smoke shall bring forth fire, and fire shall break forth into a flame.
—Andrew Willett (1562-1621), in “Certaine Fruitfull Meditations upon the 122 Psalme.”
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