Monday, May 21, 2012

Song Meanings: A Spirit of Burning



Lyrics



By the river of Babylon I sit and weep

Among the willows I remember my home
My captors ask me to sing them a song
Demanding joy from my broken bones

In smoke and in flame
In a spirit of burning He’ll come
To heal this bloodstained land
Bringer of Hope
Through the centuries we will sing
The praises of Your mighty hand

What joy lies waiting in this foreign land
Where unending sin destroys my soul?
I cannot lift my voice here in this pit
For true song transcends my earthly role

Rejoice not over me, my enemy
When I fall down, I shall rise again
When I sit in darkness and cry out in gloom
Yahweh will cast His light into my eyes
Then you, yes you, will see Him, too
You who boast in my defeat
You will be trampled down into the mud
Down like the mire of the streets

Meaning


I wrote this song during a difficult year of my life. My family and I had moved into a new neighborhood that some outsiders are afraid to visit, and we felt isolated. My former church (into which I had been baptized and with which I had celebrated my marriage and the birth of my first child) had dissolved. I had faced other personal tragedies that many of you have also experienced. I won't list them here.

During this eye-opening time, my reading included the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel), the Cold War (For the Soul of Mankind: the United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War), and Church History (the Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity). Studying the history of nations reveals one predominant theme: human beings are capable of enacting horrendous violence. And paradoxically, we argue and curse and war over how we might perfect ourselves and our society. The victors attempt to bend people to their philosophy, in some cases oppressing and murdering millions of people for the sake of “the greater good.” 

We are forever bound to toil in failed self-deification unless we can admit that the only path to absolution is the one God laid out centuries ago. But the act of this salvation was not beautiful. The Messiah willingly allowed His body to be broken, enduring insults and whips, spears and nails, biting words and demoralizing betrayal. And while His return will bring ultimate glorification, it will not be beautiful to human eyes. It will also be terrifying.

This violent rescue inspired the lyrics for “A Spirit of Burning.” Christ will return in smoke and flame, terrifying His enemies and ravishing His beloved. His justice will bring death and destruction but also joy and peace. It is difficult to hope for these things because I do not share God’s divine understanding of true justice. And, though I bear Christ's righteousness and am therefore saved from God’s wrath, I still commit the same sins that incited His wrath to begin with. I have done nothing to exempt myself from this terrifying end. It is only by God’s divine providence, not any good within me, that I will escape.

Perhaps that is why “A Spirit of Burning” sounds desperate and pained even as its lyrics proclaim the glory of God’s mighty hand.

In some ways, I identify with the Jewish exiles in Psalm 137. I long for the promise of redemption laid out in Isaiah 4. The Jews cried out for the restoration of their former home, the beautiful Jerusalem where they had forsaken the loving mercy of their God. God promised to restore them, to lead them in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, just as He had led the Israelites out of Egypt. I identify with their anger and frustration. Yet, in these moments of anger, I must recognize that God alone has the righteousness and eternal perspective required to carry out judgment on evil and to eliminate sin from the world. I must rest that He will reveal His justice at the time He has decided.

“A Spirit of Burning,” in the vein of Psalm 137 and Isaiah 4, laments my temporary exile in a fallen world and looks forward to the restoration of all things by a loving but jealous God. It will be beautiful and terrifying, merciful and just.


-Aaron

Biblical References: Psalm 137, Isaiah 4, Revelation 19–22

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