John Calvin Commentary Psalms 122:6

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love thee." — Psalms 122:6 (ASV)

Pray ye for the peace of Jerusalem. David now exhorts all the devout worshippers of God to make supplication for the prosperity of the holy city. To stir them up more effectively to such an exercise, he promises that in this way the divine blessing will descend upon them.

The reason why he was so deeply concerned about the prosperity of Jerusalem was, as we have formerly stated — and he again repeats the same thing at the end of the Psalm — because the welfare of the whole Church was inseparably connected with that kingdom and priesthood. Now, as each of us in particular, if the whole Church were to be involved in ruin, must necessarily perish miserably, it is not surprising to find David recommending to all the children of God to cultivate this anxious concern about the Church.

If we wish to order our prayers properly, let us always begin by pleading that the Lord would be pleased to preserve this sacred community. Whoever, by confining his attention to his own personal advantage, is indifferent to the common good, he not only gives evidence that he is destitute of all true feeling of godliness, but in vain desires his own prosperity, and will profit nothing from his prayers, since he does not observe the proper order.

Similar is the meaning of the promise that is added immediately after: They shall prosper that love thee; which, however, may be read in the form of a wish, May those who love thee prosper. But the sense in either case is almost the same. Furthermore, although the Hebrew verb שלה, shalah, which the Prophet here uses, signifies to live in quietness or peace, yet as the Hebrew noun for peace, from which it is derived, is generally used by him for a joyful and happy condition, I have no doubt that he here announces in general to all the godly who have the well-being of the Church near their heart, that they shall enjoy the blessing of God and a prosperous life.

This sentence frequently occurs in the Prophecies of Isaiah, from the 54th chapter to the end of the book (Isaiah 54-66). From this we learn that the curse of God rests upon all who afflict the Church, or plot and endeavor by any kind of mischief to accomplish its destruction.