Quote of the Day: Psalm 122

Winding up his Middle-East tour, Barack Obama made a surprise pre-dawn visit to the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall, in Jerusalem yesterday, placed a prayer on a slip of paper in one of the cracks, while he and his wife read a Psalm, Psalm 122. This is part of a larger unit of Psalms called the "Songs of Ascents" (Psalms 120-134). Songs of Ascents tend to be shorter than other Psalms, and may have been sung by the Levitical choir on the steps of the temple. This particular Psalm calls for peace, and, I thought, if the Psalm is going to be in the news, why not make it the quote of the day?

I was glad when they said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the LORD!"
Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, built as a city
which is bound firmly together,
to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
"May they prosper who love you!
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers!"
For my brethren and companions' sake
I will say, "Peace be within you!"
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your good.