I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built like a city
joined together in unity.
That is where the tribes go up—
the Lord’s tribes!
It is the law for Israel
to give thanks there to the Lord’s name,
because the thrones of justice are there—
the thrones of the house of David!
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“Let those who love you have rest.
Let there be peace on your walls;
let there be rest on your fortifications.”
For the sake of my family and friends,
I say, “Peace be with you, Jerusalem.”
For the sake of the Lord our God’s house
I will pray for your good.
Psalm 122
Friends,
My heart breaks with the news coming out of the Holy Land this week.
I think daily of many friends and their families who live in Palestine and Israel – and about how the cost of this violence is being born by the innocent.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land issued a statement about the current war being waged, and offered the following advice:
“It is important to remember that the violence today is not isolated. It is connected to larger context and a longer history. As a church, we advocate for non-violence; but we also believe it is crucial to understand the circumstances in which violence emerges.:
Remember that the violence did not just begin this week – it has been ongoing for 75+ years. What is happening now cannot be understood apart from the background from which it emerged.
The violence and human rights violations by Israel do not excuse the targeting of civilians by Hamas. And neither do the crimes by Hamas excuse the targeting of civilians by Israel. But we must seek to understand the big picture.
As people of faith, we must avoid the way of thinking that makes one “side” all good and the other side all evil. We know that the human condition is more complicated than that!
And more importantly, we know that everyone who lives in Israel and Palestine is a beloved child of God.
We know that in any war, those who suffer most are the innocent – the ones not connected to the decision making and the violent rhetoric.
May we avoid the temptations of escalating violence, of villainization, and of retribution.
Let us together work and pray for true justice in the land we call “holy,” that all people might know the peace of God.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Pray for the salaam of Gaza and the West Bank.
Pray for the shalom of Israel.
Pastor David
