Psalm 122

I think it has to be one of the most universal things we believe about God—that He is a peacelover. At least, I don’t know many people who would race to characterize God as a warmonger. (Maybe you do!) Yet one of my favorite Jesus quotes is this one from Matthew 10:34—”Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

To me, this suggests that while God wants peace, He either doesn’t want it or can’t get it under just any circumstances. But I think this psalm gives us some insight into God and peace, for that’s what it’s all about. First, let’s quote a few verses:

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’” (vs 1)

“Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.” (vs 3)

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’” (vs 6-7)

I see three things in these three quotes: community, community, and community. From the first quote, we see that those who end up in Jerusalem are there because they have decided to be there. Even more than that, they’ve decided voluntarily to be there, and they’re happy to be there. From the second quote, we see that those who end up in Jerusalem will end up close together, for it is a compact city. And from the third quote, we see that peace comes because “those who love” the city are the ones within its walls.

You see, God could have engineered universal peace forever simply by creating us to be robots programmed to get along. If He had designed us to never have an argument with each other, there would never have been anything other than peace, and God could have had “peace and quiet” forever.

But God wants love. He wants peace, but He wants love more. Or maybe it’s better to say that He doesn’t want forced peace. If and when He experiences peace, He wants it because He is with a group of individuals who have all decided to live together in community. This is the only way peace can be experienced in a universe of freedom—when each and every person has made an individual choice to live in harmony with others.

That’s the kind of peace God loves. That’s the kind of peace God longs for. And, once this vast war is ended, that’s the kind of peace God will have. And it will last for eternity—not because He programmed us that way, but because we’ve decided to live that way.