Hang Up My Harp? Never!

During their sojourn in Babylon, the Judean exiles lamented, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?" (Ps 137:4) According to Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible , "They yearn for Zion, the center of their religious practice and the source of their joy. But Zion has been destroyed and deserted, and their harps, instruments for expressing praise and joy, have been hung up on the willows. The sorrow of the exiles is aggravated by the fact that their captors force them to sing a song of joy when they have no reason to rejoice. The exiles refuse to sing a song of Zion when ordered to do so by their captors because this would mean mocking and making a caricature of the Lord.... What the poet wants to say is: I refuse to sing as my captors tell me to sing. It is nevertheless impossible for me to forget Jerusalem. I can do no other than sing about Jerusalem, the pinnacle of my joy."

How could those exiles not sing about Jerusalem? How can I not do likewise? Jerusalem, my happy home! Jerusalem, my destiny! This valley of tears is surely an exile from our true home, for here we have no enduring city but seek the one that is to come (Heb 13:14). We have a building from God, St. Paul tells us, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Cor 5:1). And that, for me, is ample cause for great and constant rejoicing.

Yes, life is often hard, and the night is long. It is good to remember what Oswald Chambers reminds us, that the song bird is taught to sing in the dark. I, too, am a song bird, and God teaches me to sing in the night I spend on this earth. Each passing moment brings me closer to the break of day, to the Radiant Dawn from on High. I may weep and mourn, I may groan under my burden, longing to be clothed with my heavenly dwelling, but I know the one in whom I've placed my trust (2 Tim 1:12). He alone is my strength and my song, my praise and my salvation (Ps 118:14). He calls me unto Himself, as He calls each one of us, and, thankfully, we do not walk alone for "the journey makes us one" (Jerusalem My Destiny, Rory Cooney).

And so, I will sing. Yes, I can and I will! My voice may tremble and my pitch be flat, I may forget the melody and stumble over the words, but I will sing praise to my God while I live (Ps 146:2). Never ever will I hang up my harp or refuse to sing!

To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb,
Who is the great I AM,
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.

What Wondrous Love Is This? (American Folk Song)