“Blessed is the Lord from Zion that dwells in Jerusalem, praise the
Lord.” (Psalms 135:21)
Once again, the psalmist proclaims God’s presence in Jerusalem. He blesses
Him, for He is the Source of all blessings. In this awareness we praise Him
forever.
“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept when we remembered
Zion.” (137:1)
In prophecy, the psalmist evokes the children of Israel’s exile in
Babylon, where they lamented their estrangement from the house of their God.
The remembrance of Zion was all they had, hoping to return to their permanent
bond that will be fully fulfilled in the Messianic era.
“For there [in Babylon], our captors requested from us words of song.
‘Sing for us the songs of Zion’.” (137:3)
The captors of the Jewish people are aware of the qualities inherent in Israel’s
spirituality. The nations can recognize them in the praises to their God. They
know that these songs are a soothing balm that harmonizes thoughts, emotions
and feelings, something unique to the traits of goodness all the nations covet.
Yet, to subject them to their materialistic attachments, obsessions and
addictions.
Ultimately, in Israel’s final redemption, they will appreciate goodness
in its ethical and moral principles, aimed to elevate the dignity they owe to
the human condition in this world. The fact that they recognize the beauty of
the “songs of Zion” is a first step to later embrace the essence that makes
these songs the way they are.
The “songs” that Israel sings are pure praise of
the traits and attributes of goodness, when it manifests in life, making it an
exultation of God’s love.
“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign soil? If I forget you, O
Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill. Let my tongue cleave to my
palate, if I don’t remember you; if I set not Jerusalem above my greatest
joy.” (137:4-6)
God’s song is also Israel’s, therefore it must be sung for each other,
and no one else; neither in a place other than His house. In the name of the
children of Israel, King David wonders about the aberration of trying to bond
with God’s love out of His Promised Land, Jerusalem, and the Temple, the place
of His dwelling.
This bond is referred here as God’s “song”. Hence forgetting Jerusalem
is equivalent to forget our Father in Heaven, which means to live without the
goodness represented by the ‘skill” of the right hand. The same goes for our
speech, for without God’s goodness in our thoughts, words are meaningless. These
verses reveal why Jerusalem is the greatest joy, for His loving kindness dwells
in her.
No comments:
Post a Comment