"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.’" Psalm 122:6

At his entry into Jerusalem on the way to the cross, Jesus looked over the city and wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!" (Luke 19:42)

We do not usually turn to The Psalms as source for biblical peace teachings. How unfortunate, for this treasury of prayer and song is also rich in the message of God’s will as peace.

One of the briefest of all the psalms, Psalm 133, begins, "How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!" The psalm ends, "For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore."

Psalms 122 and 133 belong to a collection of psalms sung by pilgrims on their way to the temple in Jerusalem. So we expect this rejoicing over a particular city which had power to draw the family and clan together in bonds of peace.

But the psalms, gathered into this book after the experience of Exile when national hopes were dashed, convey a much broader hope for peace.

After Psalm 1 invites us to come to attention and ground our lives on God’s law, Psalm 2 opens with a wide-angle lens, "Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?" The psalmist answers critically, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed…." Then, this even broader perspective: "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath…." Finally, this warning:

"Now, therefore O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
with trembling, kiss his feet…."

What are we to make of this royal psalm, a psalm about the king and its open criticism of earthly kings, launching us into the Book of Psalms? The messianic character of Psalm 2 is well established as pointing to one who was yet to come. Note also Psalm 110. These two psalms are used broadly in the New Testament.

The royal psalms are nationalistic poetry. But Jacob J. Enz has called attention to how the New Testament writers appear to have deliberately ripped these metaphors out of their context of nationalism, earthly power and brutality "and used them to compose a new hymn of imperialism, the imperialism of love and truth and righteousness and judgment." (The Christian and Warfare. Herald Press, 1972:72)

Does the New Testament’s use of this psalm as a pointer to Jesus as the Messiah deliberately invite us to go back and read the whole psalm? What is the Messiah’s way? Is it not ultimately the way of humility and suffering as revealed in Jesus the heaven-approved Messiah?

How do the squabbles among the nations look from God’s perspective? How foolish must "cold war" politics appear? What if God’s sovereign Lordship over the earth is not to be mocked? Will unchecked military buildup between nations become the means of God’s wrath on the rebellion of humanity? Wherein lies security? Where is our refuge?

Psalm 20, another royal psalm, offers a similar caution about pride in military might. In this urgent prayer for the king before going to battle, we find these words, "Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God." (v.7)

These verses refer to the holy war tradition, a reminder that Israel’s greatest weapon was trust in the LORD. According to the Torah, Israel was forbidden to have a standing army, and Deuteronomy 17:6 speaks against keeping many horses. That changed with Solomon (1 Kings 10:26-29). But Israel was often reminded of the holy war tradition, with God as the deliverer, through the stories of Gideon (Judges 7:2ff.) and David and Goliath (1 Sam. 17:45), as well as later prophets (Is. 30:15-17; 31:1-3; 37:23-36). The issue of a battle rests with God, and not in the size and quality of the military equipment (Ps. 33:16,17; 46:10-11).

Psalm 33 underscores that truth in a wonderful section beginning with verse 10: "The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever…." Verses 13-19, about the "eye of the LORD," are among the most interesting in this psalm. The LORD’s discerning gaze on "all…all…all" as over the king’s reliance on "great…great…great," builds up to the contrast of verses 18-19:

"Truly the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love…."

Even now, in a corrupt world, force does not have the last word! All human power, however great, does not determine history. Even the most formidable weapons are nothing more than a lie in terms of security.

Yet there is more to peace than security. There is also justice. Psalm 72 is a central, pivotal psalm in the middle of the Psalter. We find in Psalm 72 a prayer for the king, a prayer for justice and that the king may "defend the cause of the poor of the people," and "give deliverance to the needy." (v. 4) "In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound." (v. 7)

This conjunction of peace and righteousness is found at the heart of Psalm 85:

"Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people….
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him,
And will make a path for his steps." (v. 10-13)

Finally, we come to Psalm 146. It is not surprising that the end of the Psalter returns to the theme which lies at its theological heart—the reign of God (Pss. 93, 95—99). Psalm 146, a hymn of praise, opens with an acclamation to God. But in verse 3 the psalmist suddenly says, "Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help." Why? Could it be that all this earthly glory is simply rubbish? It’s irrelevant. It’s tangential to the reality. Forget all the earthly glory and think only of the majesty of God! In contrast to the self-centeredness of our culture, in which we assume "it is all up to us," the psalms and the gospel challenge us to be God-centered.

The Psalter, which opens with a warning about "nations conspiring" and "peoples plotting in vain," now ends with a mighty crescendo of praise in Psalms 146—150. The implication is clear. Let us not put our trust for peace, for security, for life--in anything less than the God of all!

Written: 8/11/01

Comments about this article may be e-mailed to: John Fisher, johnjf@goshen.edu, or to James Waltner jwaltner@tln.net

HTML editing by Lon Sherer, lonhs@goshen.edu

SFP published: 8/15/01

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