strength and prowess. The internation alist says fraternize. His method of operation is to make friends of all, and forget national distinctions. This is the way Jerusalem can hope to solve her difficulties. The humanist says humanize. Realize the worth of the individual man and strive for nothing more. In the midst of this welter and confusion of tongues, the Psalmist cries out to agonize. Yes, he means pray. Prayer may seem the most useless and futile of all ways of accomplishing things in this our world, but it is definitely and repeatedly the way of God’s appoint ment. All too many other methods have been introduced and tried for the benefit of Israel; this avenue of prayer, of intercession needs to be tried now, and most desperately. How God delights to answer prayer! It is the swiftest thing known to man. When they were putting up telegraph wires in the Shetland Islands a number of years ago, a keen man of business turned to a lad in the crowd, and said, “ What a wonderful thing! When those wires are completed, you will be able to send a message through to Aberdeen, many miles away, and get an answer back in twenty minutes.” “ I do not see anything wonderful in that,” answered the boy. “ Do you know of anything more wonderful?” asked the surprised man. “ I should think I do,” said the boy. “ I have heard of people getting an answer before they sent their message.” “Why, boy, what do you mean by that? How could it be?” “ I have read in my Bible, ‘It shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear’ ” (Isa. 62:6; Jer. 51:50) The second element in the exhortation of David is The Object: Peace of Jerusalem The verse has beautiful plays on words. Jerusalem itself means “ city of peace.” Pray, says he, that her condition may tally and accord with her name. There is a play on the words peace and prosperity which are similar in sound and sense. Peace includes the ideas of welfare, prosperity, and happiness. It is not mere physical well-being of a city, as much as that may mean, but the spiritual welfare of the individual mem bers of the city. Jerusalem is called Salem (peace). (Psa. 76:2.) God wanted His temple a house of peace, as He made plain. David could not build the temple because he was a man of war. Solomon, whose name means peace, had to build it. The account is found in First Chronicles 22:7-10; “And David said to Solomon his son, As for me, it was in my heart to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build a house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for
The Old Wailing Wall in Jerusalem where for centuries the Jews prayed for peace. Under the present occupation this custom is no longer observed.
his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.” Similarly, the Lord wants peace of mind and heart in His city of peace, the city of the Prince of Peace. How God desires the peace of the individual soul! During the World’s Fair in Chicago there was one place in the Tiffany ex hibit that one could never approach, because of the great crowd gathered around it. Torrey said he was there many times, but never could get at the place. He always had to stand on tiptoe and look over the heads of the crowd. What were they looking at? Nothing but a cone of purple velvet revolving on an axis, and toward the apex of the cone a large, beautiful diamond of almost priceless worth. It was well worth look ing at. But Torrey never recalled the scene but what the thought came to him that the single soul of the raggedest pauper on the streets, of the most de graded woman, of the most ignorant boy or girl, is of infinitely more value in God’s sight than ten thousand gems like that. In order to procure peace for them all, the Lord Jesus Christ suffered the death of Calvary. He longs that Jerusa lem may enter into that peace, and such should be the object of our praying. Finally, the last important element in the words of David is The Promise: Prosperity of the Godly The Hebrew word prosper means to be secure, at rest, tranquil. The promise is to those that love Jerusalem. The motive in the ministry of prayer for Israel and Jerusalem, must be unselfish love and concern for their eternal good. As God
said to Abraham, “ I will bless them that bless thee,” so here it is “ they shall pros per that love thee.” Those who see the motive here as mere selfishness, fail to realize that, if Jerusalem is loved for one s own sake, it would not be loving her at all. The reasons that prompted David’s prayers for Zion were love for the brethren, the friends of Jerusalem, and the house of the Lord. There is no doubt of the soul prosperity that the Lord can give when we carry through His purposes. The house of Obed-Edom was blessed because of the ark of the Lord, for which he made place in his home. When we care for the things of God, He will care for our things. Sad to say, there are those who hate Zion. (Psa. 129:5.) Their number seems to increase by bounds. And they are travel ing on rapidly to their doom. They little realize how they incur the wrath of Almighty God upon them in their blind and Satanic fury against the people of God. There is a Jewish proverb: “ None ever took a stone out of the Temple, but the dust did fly into his eyes.” The meaning is clear: no one touches Israel for good without the notice of God, and no one touches them for harm without heaping to himself wrath in the day of judgment for opposing the evident and declared will of God in them. Re member, God has joined together giv ing and receiving, scattering and in creasing, sowing and reaping, praying and prospering. We could multiply the experiences of godly men and women who have proved the truth of this blessed exhortation and promise. They have put God to the test and found He meant every word He said. Let us, then, by the grace and help of God, obey the command to pray and realize thus the blessing that flows immediately from it.
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