Israel, with Jerusalem in flames and their temple destroyed, had been taken captive and marched away in chains to a strange and foreign land.
They, known for their songs of worship to God, were now mocked for them. Their response? Lament. Heartache. Despair. Their question? “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”
They “hanged their harps upon the willows,” their worship and merrymaking, literally and figuratively suspended.
The harps that had historically accompanied their praises to God were silenced—put away. They were 𝐧𝐨𝐭, however, destroyed.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭.
It signified hope. Hope that their captivity wouldn’t last forever. Hope that they would, once again, play and sing, free from the bondage that swallowed up their joy.
For all of us who see ourselves in this story, living joyless lives we wouldn’t have chosen, on foreign, unfamiliar terrain, may hope become a flickering flame within our hearts as well.
Fueled by the belief that more awaits beyond our current circumstances, may God’s inextinguishable hope transcend all that holds us captive.
May it whisper promise to us in the darkest nights and spur us on to resistance in the face of all that binds us. May it sustain us in uncertainty and propel us ever forward in our quest for freedom and liberation.
Take down your harps, beloved.
Now is not the time for silence.
Or acquiescence.
Captivity is not your destiny.
With defiant joy, and unrelenting hope, lift your voices. Testify to the power of the One who breaks every chain, and watch them fall one by one.
Take up your freedom.
Take down your harps.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
~ 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝟓:𝟏
“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all -“
~ 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧