I stand on the walls of Jerusalem
As the armies march toward the city
I know why they’ve come and what they’ll do
And my heart cries out desperately
Why, Oh Lord? Why must I speak
In prophecies of destruction and loss?
They hate me, mock me, call me a traitor
And I sometimes wonder if it’s true
Yet this I call to mind
When only a youth the Lord called me
As one set apart from the womb
“Go to the nations and speak for me
Uproot, tear down, build and plant”
I sit on a hill by burning Jerusalem
Watching the armies march away
A line of captives hooked together
Is hauled off to a distant land
And I ask aloud: “Why Lord?!
Why did my words have to come true?
There’s nothing left but a stream of tears
And a mouth full of dust”
Yet this I call to mind
The Lord’s compassion never fails
His faithfulness ever constant
It is good for a man to carry
The weight of the yoke in his youth
I wander the streets of lonely Jerusalem
Where the children used to play
Time has passed but yet it remains
Bereft of the mothers who nursed it
And I find the question “Why”
Taking hold of me again
If what God said is true
There’s still a long time to wait
Yet this I call to mind
Days of a new covenant, a new law,
And a new people are coming, says the Lord
They all, least to great, will know me
And Jerusalem will live again, new
I kneel at the desolate temple mount
And I pray for that day and I hope