JERUSALEM IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS (XIII)

“For God redeems Zion, and builds the cities of Judah; and they have dwelt there, and have it in possession. And the descendants [lit. seed] of His servants inherit it, and those who love His Name dwell in it.”
(Psalms 69:35-36)

These verses underline the eternal bond between God and Israel. No matter the separation and destruction, He promised to redeem the traits, ways and attributes that both share. These are the “cities” as values and principles where we dwell, which are also our inheritance and possession.

We can understand our descendants as our “seed”, not only as children and grandchildren, but also as the goodness we create with our actions. Thus we assimilate that by being and doing goodness we love God’s Name, which is also the goodness where we are destined to dwell forever.

“Remember Your congregation that You acquired long ago, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance; this mount Zion, [where] Your presence comes.” (74:2)

Again, the promise to redeem Israel is mentioned as the long time God’s acquisition to prevail in goodness as His inheritance. All this happens in Zion as the bonding time and space between God and Israel, where His presence “comes”.

Let’s notice that no matter where Zion and Jerusalem are mentioned in the book of Psalms, every verse quoted is a continuous affirmation of the same principle and message. The verse in 74:2 is the continuation of what is said in 69:35, as it happens with all the remaining quotations.

“Lift up Your steps to the perpetual desolation. Defeat all the evils of the enemy in the sacredness [of Your temple]. Your foes roared in the place where You have met with us. They set up their banners as signs. They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground. They have desecrated the dwelling place of Your Name.” (74:3-4, 7)

King David cries up to God for His complete final redemption from those that pretend to occupy His dwelling place, and to make their lower traits and trends conduct every aspect and expression of consciousness. These are indeed perpetual desolation as the predicament of self-centered materialistic fantasies and illusions.

The verse continues to indicate that only in the sacredness of the goodness that dwells in God’s sanctuary we can defeat all forms and expressions of evil.

By embracing goodness as our essence and true identity, and as the sanctuary where we bond with the goodness of our Creator, there is no evil that we can overturn and transform into something positive to make life even much better.

In order to return to goodness, not only as our real identity but also as our constant redemption, we must begin to remove the labels, banners and signs that define us as what they represent.

These are the negative and destructive traits that desolate what we once believed were the best in us. These are the evils that burn our bond with goodness as our essence and true identity that comes from the goodness that speaks of the Name of God.