“Remember, O Lord, against the children of Edom the day of
Jerusalem; who say, ‘Raze it, raze it, down to its foundation’.”
(Psalms 137:7)
The psalmist knows very well the enemies of Jerusalem, the children of
the heathen nations descendant from Esau/Edom. They represent the lowest
thoughts, emotions, feelings, passions and instincts, that prey on goodness to
satisfy their insatiable materialistic fantasies and illusions, and fight to
impose the rule of wickedness and the destruction of human dignity, making
goodness subservient to evil. Here, the “day of Jerusalem” refers to the final
redemption of the Jewish people, and the day when the Messianic era begins.
“I bow down toward Your sacredness [Temple], and give thanks to Your
Name, for Your loving kindness and for Your truth. For You have magnified Your
promise above all Your Name. In the day that I called, You have answered me,
You have encouraged me in my soul with strength.” (138:2-3)
The Creator’s promised final redemption, to make goodness rule and
prevail in the material world, is evoked again to the point that the psalmist
calls it greater than His Name.
It is a clear allegory to the greatness of
God’s goodness that He will reveal in the Messianic era. It will be bigger than
what we already know about His goodness, which is His Name.
He hears David’s prayer and answers him with the assurance that
encourages him to live with a strengthened soul for the Messianic era, when we
will see the magnificence of unfathomable qualities of His goodness. Being the
Jewish people the inheritors of this divine promise, led the psalmist to exalt
this sublime reality.
“Happy are the people whose destiny is this, happy are the people whose
God is the Lord.” (144:15)
This verse summarizes the origin,
essence, purpose and fate of Israel, with the exact words in their exact
meaning. In this awareness we only have words of thankfulness and praise, also
stated in the next verse.
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