Ariel Ben Avraham – JERUSALEM IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS (VI)
“Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands to the temple of Your sacredness.”
(Psalms 28:2)
We must do our part in this process of self-redemption, enabled and strengthened with God’s providence that we ask Him with passionate and fervent prayer.
“O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; let them bring me to the mount of Your sacredness, and to Your sanctuaries.” (43:3)
In Judaism, light is an abstract form referred to God’s goodness, truth, loving kindness, grace, compassion, forgiveness and redemption, among other positive and delivering attributes, traits and qualities. These are certainly moral and ethical principles God wants us to be ruled by, for these are inherent in the goodness that is our eternal bond with Him.
The Psalmist is fully aware of this, hence he prays to God in his yearning to live in the freedom these attributes provide, once we let them lead all aspects and dimensions of consciousness. These are also the ways and means to ascend to the realm where God’s sacredness dwells, which is the Temple of Jerusalem in Zion.
In this sacred awareness only praise and jubilation are the expressions of our thoughts, emotions, feelings, passions and instincts.
And I will come to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy; and praise You in the harp, O God, my God.” (43:4)
There is no other way to fathom, live and experience God’s presence but with the utmost joy to praise, for these are the expressions of being before the Creator of all.
“There is a river, the streams that gladden the city of God, the sacred sanctuaries of the Most High.” (46:5)
The Torah mentions the rivers in the Garden of Eden, and some of our Sages comment that one of them flows beneath the Temple of Jerusalem.
Thus we learn that the place of the lost Paradise is the Land of Israel. They also refer to seas and rivers as metaphors of unlimited traits or qualities, due to their size, or the endless flow of waters.
In this verse the Psalmist remarks the enormous joy that gladdens Jerusalem, the city of God. Is there anything more gladdening than the sacredness of the sanctuaries of the Most High? A river of joy and streams of gladness are indeed part of these Divine dwelling places.
Ariel Ben Avraham Kochav Yaakov, Safed, northern Galilee, IsraelAriel Ben Avraham (f. Zapata) was born in Cartagena, Colombia in 1958. After studying Cultural Anthropology in Bogotá moved to Chicago in 1984 where he worked as a television writer, reporter and producer for 20 years. In the 1990’s he produced video documentaries related to art, music, history and culture such as “Latin American Trails: Guatemala” distributed by Facets.org. Most of his life he studied ancient spiritual traditions and mysticism of major religions, understanding the mystic experience as the individual means to connect with the Creator of all. Since 2004 he studies and writes about Jewish mysticism and spirituality mainly derived from the Chassidic tradition, and the practical philosophy of the teachings of Jewish mystic sages. The book “God’s Love” is the compilation of many years studying and learning Jewish mysticism. The messages of his book are part of the content, exercises and processes of a series of seminars, lectures and retreats that he facilitates in Israel.
