rAMBLINGS of A pASSION8 hEART

happy new year! lets start the year with an entry.

..starting with something that has fascinated me for a long time.

I don’t know what is it aboutthe Exile of Israel and Judah…

but it has caught my interest for quite a while already. I even have a soundtrack for it. he he.i think my fascination for it started when I first listened to the soundtrack way back in college (in the ancient times. he he).

It’s musical scores were very distinct.. chord progressions in its melody hinted of a lot of things—a longing and hope.

a longing. The songs were filled with melodies that begins with a sound of longing, and lyrics that described their longing for their lost home..

and mostly a longing for salvation. The people of Israel and Judah, when they were exiled, weren’t treated like princes or princesses! Some, like Daniel and his friends, Queen Esther and Mordecai, and Nehemiah, were included as part of the royal team. but the rest of them were just ‘exiles’.. 2^nd class citizens of the country God lead them in exile to (Assyria and Babylonia).

and hope. the songs, mostly end with hope in it—that someday, they would see their homeland once more. and that the Holy God of Israel had not forgotten them, that their cries would be heard… sooner or later..

psalms 121(A Song of Ascent)

I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

(one of the composers of the songs included this psalm of Ascent, which according to belief were sung during the time when the exiles were traveling back to Jerusalem at the edict of the good king of Persia, Cyrus..and was sang every year after that as part of a Jewish Festival)