Nehemiah's Request

The occupant of the oval at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in Washington has whipped up a clusterfud of confusion and destruction in Iran. All hell seems to be breaking loose, but this is nothing new. In 1979, when Iranians took control of our embassy in Tehran, I was pondering those events, trying to comprehend the historical precedents that had provoked such rage among the Iranian people. Considering history. . . ancient history, as documented in that ancient book, the Bible, I turned to the chapter that had been written by a Hebrew named Nehemiah. He was serving as an aide to Artaxerxes, the Persian king, in Susa, the capitol city; it was a far cry from his home in Jerusalem. 

Nehemiah had written, back in those ancient times, an account of his request to King Artaxerxes, a document that is now included in the biblical canon. The biblical account of their conversation is found in chapter two of the book of Nehemiah. The king asked his aide, Nehemiah: "Why is your face sad, though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart? What would be your request?" Nehemiah replied: "If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it." That was then, a long, long time ago, in a kingdom far away. Nowadays, things are different. Oh, how times have changed! That ancient cooperation between a Jew and a Persian king is a thing of the past. In 1979, our American embassy in Tehran Iran was attacked by Iranian zealots. They held as hostages, our US State Department ambassadors and staff, for 444 days. At that time, I wrote a song about the circumstances surrounding our diplomats and other peacemakers in the Middle East region. The song, December '79, included these lines: "There's a Jew on the one side, Muslim on the other, and Abraham in between. Open the Koran; open the Torah, but look at John 3:16. He (Jesus)came to show us that all men are brothers, however it may seem." I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus, who teaches: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Now in this day and time, we see something different happening there, between Israel and Iran . What it is ain't exactly clear; there's prez with some bombs over here, telling the Iranians to beware. Stop, hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down!. . .  But my song, now 46 years old, is still relevant; it is a plea for peace. It includes these words: Sons of Isaac, come together; sons of Ishmael too; come and behold the Lamb of God, who came to see us through; He came to bring us the sword of the Spirit, in the tradition of Abraham. Sword of the flesh, soon obsolete, He brings peace to the family of Man. We've got a song to sing; we've got a bell to ring; we've got a loving king in Jesus! You can listen to the December '79 recording, when, with a little help from me friends, we recorded it in Asheville. Here's the link on http://www.careyrowland.com  http://www.micahrowland.com/carey/WeGottaSong.mp3 King of Soul