No sound but only silence
Psalm 74
(KINGSFOLD)
(KINGSFOLD)
1 No sound but only silence now,
no vista - just a void;
your house of prayer reduced to ash,
invaded and destroyed.
What scenes of desolation, Lord!
But how could you depart,
abandoning your worshippers
the treasure of your heart?
2 Succeeding waves of terror still
unleashed across the world
leave havoc in their wake, as shots
are fired and missiles hurled.
When peace collides with turbulence
we hear the cries, "How long?"
Have mercy Lord, and intervene
for those who suffer wrong.
3 Shall hatred triumph evermore?
Our God, Stretch out your hand:
eradicate the evil powers
and let your honour stand.
Creator of the universe
who brought the stars to birth,
you sent us Christ your only Son,
Redeemer for the Earth.
4 Your name is scorned, yet Lord, we seek
your Spirit’s help today:
equip the church to show your love
to those oppressed, we pray:
when violence rages, doubts disturb,
protect them from despair
till Christ returns, his justice rules,
and praises fill the air!
Keyboard Demo:
Tune: KINGSFOLD
Metre: 8.6.8.6 D Key: Em
words © Emma Turl / admin. ChurchSongs.co.uk
arrangement © John Turl / Jubilate
CCLI: 7247428
Sources: Psalm 74; Lamentations 2:5-9; Matthew 5:2-12; Matthew 24:6-10; 2 Corinthians 1:20; 2 Peter 3:8-9; Revelation 12:10
Themes: church, devastation, future, lament, mercy, questioning, violence
This hymn, though founded on Psalm 74, is written from a New Testament perspective. The context is a song of lament, generally presumed to have been aroused by the outpouring of grief in Jerusalem when in 587 BC enemies from Babylon ravaged and burnt down the temple of the LORD which his worshippers had built with elaborate care as his holy dwelling-place. They mourned and asked questions, wanting to know whether they had grieved God so much that he would never return to them. But we know, all these centuries later, that there was a remnant who stayed faithful to him, and that after Jesus Christ his Son ascended to Heaven the temple was replaced by the invisible church where Jesus reins in the hearts of all who acknowledge and belong to him. Meanwhile wars have become even more destructive and widely recorded across the world, and the church is persecuted (as he warned us would happen). We still await the Day of the LORD to which the close of the psalm refers; but through his Spirit Christ is with his suffering church, as he promise he would always be. He will come again in his glory to reign in justice on Earth.