God Will Save Zion and Build the Cities of Judah

The fourth and final part of Psalm 69 is the summit of the whole journey. Throughout the psalm King David cried out from deep distress — "the waters are come in unto my soul" — out of persecution, reproach and loneliness. But at the close the voice rises: from personal weeping the psalm ascends to a great hope — the salvation of Zion and the rebuilding of the cities of Judah. David lifts his eyes from "But I am poor and sorrowful" to song, thanksgiving, and a vision of national redemption.

The verse that carries the song's name, and is the heart of this part, is a cry of national hope:

"For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah"

After all the pain, David affirms that even out of ruin and brokenness the Lord will restore and rebuild, and the people will return to dwell in their land. The cry of the individual becomes a prayer of redemption for an entire nation.

This chapter is part of the great journey of the project: to compose, with God's help, the entire Book of Psalms in a diverse, emotional, Jewish, uplifting musical language.

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