Hang up my harp
In ashes and mourning, don't give up on God's calling
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For 40 years, the people of God had ignored His warnings. Now they knelt on the banks of the Babylon river as the Babylonian soldiers mocked them, urging them to play a song -- but they could only cry:
“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget its skill!
If I do not remember you,
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth-
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy”
Psalm 137:5-6
For the people of God at that time, Jerusalem represented the presence of God in their lives. Now they were being exiled, the smoke rising high as the city of God burned to the ground.
At times in my life, my heart and thoughts have been taken captive by the things of this world, and I found myself far from His purpose. The message of this story was so powerful to me I had to write a song to remind myself: “God is calling, don’t be ensnared by the affairs of this life!”
After many years in exile, the sad truth is many of God’s people had been taken up by the Babylonian way of life. Only a small number stayed true to their God, hoping to one day return and rebuild God’s temple and their home.
After 70 years in exile, some did return to see God’s promises come true. The good news is that no matter the time or extent of being in a “foreign land”, today we can return to God, and through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ - rebuild what has been destroyed.
In the words of Zechariah, "Grace, grace to it!"
Some verses that inspired the song:
“Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ " Zechariah 4:7
Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Matthew 13:22
Further Reading:
2 Kings 25:1-21 | Nehemiah 2: 3-5 | 2 Timothy 2:3-4 | Revelations 18: 2-10 |
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Thank you for this!