For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.”¹

Many people struggle to understand why a victim of abuse doesn’t just leave the relationship. There are so many reasons. Enough for the moment to say that leaving is not at all simple.

The Songs of Ascents talk about leaving a place of danger. Of lies and deceit. Like a war zone. Longing to find a place of sanctuary. Leaving abuse is also a pilgrimage – one we should deeply honour, and one where the pilgrim will most likely have mountains ahead.

And in that context, we find Psalm 122. Probably sung by the pilgrims on the first day. The mountains are obvious, but somewhere ahead is freedom and sanctuary.

A tragic reality is not all victims end up in that place of safety. We need to do so much more to help them. Even a casual awareness of stories in the media makes it clear that abuse also takes place in the Christian community – in a community that is called to be a place of sanctuary for the vulnerable. Those parts of the Christian community that are safe are a wonderful treasure. (And, thankfully, many do exist.)

So in this song, with the Christian community in mind, the need for this prayer is as real today as it was thousands of years ago:

May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls.²

Please pray with us for victims of abuse

Please will you join us in praying through this psalm? We long to see more and more victims, and potential victims, able to thrive in a place of sanctuary.

I rejoiced with those who 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

that is closely compacted together.

That is where the tribes go up—

the tribes of the Lord—

to praise the name of the Lord

according to the statute given to Israel.

There stand the thrones for judgment,

the thrones of the house of David.

 

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.”

For the sake of my family and friends,

I will say, “Peace be within you.”

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your prosperity.³

Steve Wade

1. Psalm 122:8
2. Psalm 122:6-7
3. Psalm 122