RR Psalm 55:19 Part 10

Rabbi’s Note:  I want to write to you today about a piece of modern Israeli (and consequently, Jewish) folklore.  Since I returned from Israel, I can’t get  the song, Jerusalem of Gold, out of my head.  This is strange because we didn’t hear it even once while we were there in Israel or since.  Here is a link to a recording of the song in Hebrew with subtitles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH8gtdDA5x0 . Here’s another link with the Hebrew morphed into English. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPv6DwoPLt0    

Here is yet another link to the write up of the song on Wikipedia.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_of_Gold  The song was written just days before the Six Day War in 1967, at a time when all of the Jerusalem Old City and East Jerusalem (including the Temple Mount and Western Wall) were under Jordanian  and off-limits to all Jews.  That dividing line is the result of the armistice that ended the 1948 War for Independence.  After Jerusalem was liberated, 19 years later, in 1967, a verse was added to the song to include that reality.  

Why am I telling you about this?  I believe that to be an effective witness to any people group (including Jewish people) we must value what their culture values, especially those things that are valuable to the kingdom of God.  The song Jerusalem of Gold (Yerushalyim Shel Zahav) is a good fit. End RN.

________
Shalom,

Psalm 55:19 He will redeem my soul in shalom from the battle against me. For many are striving with me.

Before we “dive in” to the verse of today, let’s review something I passed over (no pun intended) mentioning about our verse for yesterday.  Verse 18 starts with this… Psalm 55:18a Evening, morning and noon.  Notice the order matches God’s order from the beginning.  Genesis 1:5b … So there was evening and there was morning—one day.  God’s day starts with sundown.  We tend to start our day at sunrise, exactly opposite from God.  Lesson to be learned, start with the end in mind.

Now let’s move on… The first Hebrew word of verse 19 is Padah, translated as redeem or ransom.  This is a word that goes beyond “purchase” (in which currency is exchanged for goods).  The connotation (difference) is to “buy back” what was previously owned.  We are redeemed by Yeshua’s finished work.  We were stolen from God by Satanic deception, but returned and restored to God through the last Adam, Yeshua.

1Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

Ephesians 1:7 In Him (Yeshua) we have redemption through His blood—the removal of trespasses—in keeping with the richness of His grace.

When David wrote Psalm 55, he was in a “battle” for his life against a growing hoard of enemies including his son, Absalom, and his advisor, Ahithophel.  He knew the greater reality is the spiritual battle.  We should remember that too about our own struggles.  

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

What’s left?  Armor up in the spirit.  Shalom shalom.

Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Thu18-Jun-20263rd of Tamuz, 5786
Nu 17:1-9[16-24]; 28:11-15  Jer 44-45Ezr 42 Co 6(Lk 5)