Advent Devotional December 1, 2025

Scripture

Psalm 122

1 I was glad when they said to me,“ Let us go to the house of the Lord!”2 Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together.4 To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.7 Peace be within your walls and security within your towers.”8 For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

Devotion

The Rev. Dr. Louis Nyiri '96/'24

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’”

These words resonate with me, for they are words we use each week to begin worship. Before any announcements or greetings, we speak this call and response to bring ourselves into God’s holy presence. Hearing these words signals it is time to calm our inner conversations that we might be open to an encounter with God’s gracious and gratitude-inducing presence in our midst. It is a signal to be open to God’s peace.

Psalm 122 was originally sung by pilgrims on the way to celebrate one of Jerusalem’s major festivals. Thereafter, it became a song of praise for the city and a prayer for the city’s well-being. We could use a song like this today.

As I type these devotional words, the news of late has been riddled with bad-news events; shootings, natural disasters, war, nefarious behaviors by power players, racism, sexism, and xenophobic acts are often the lead stories on our news outlets. We could use a song of peace like Psalm 122 today.

Peace of the city . . .

Peace within your walls . . .

Peace within [us] . . .

What a blessing to remember during Advent that the one whom we prepare to meet is also the one in whom we rejoice, for this One is the very One who will “. . . Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace” (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel).

Prayer

Ever-loving and ever-giving God, we thank You for Your peace which entered this world in the cry of a tiny child. We pray that Your peace be known once again, and as the song goes, “may it begin with us.” In Jesus’ name, the Prince of Peace, we pray, amen.