Umm...Who Rebuilt the Temple?
Okay, maybe that isn’t a problem. Maybe the problem is that no one else pays attention. Maybe the problem is that sometimes the songwriters don’t pay close enough attention.
This morning, we sang the song “Days of Elijah” which includes a good bit of Old Testament imagery. It even refers to God as “riding on the clouds” which I understand is a very ancient image of God, perhaps predating the written Scriptures themselves.
Anyway, if you follow the link above to read the words of the song (or perhaps if you are familiar with it), you’ll notice that it refers to the days of Old Testament figures such as Elijah, Moses, Ezekiel and then...David. That’s where I had the problem.
Here are the exact lines:
And these are the days of Your servant David,
Rebuilding a temple of praise.
Do you see the problem? It’s the reference to David rebuilding the Temple. When exactly did David ever rebuild the Temple? Am I missing something here? Is this supposed to be some kind of Messianic reference that I just don’t get?
While David wanted to build the Temple, God would not allow him to because he was considered a man of war (see 2 Samuel 7). David’s son, Solomon, was the one who built the Temple (1 Kings 5-6). But again, David neither built it, and he certainly didn’t rebuild it.
It’s a pretty basic fact that Zerubbabel rebuilt the temple (completed around 516 BC) as part of the Jewish return from Exile in Babylon (see Ezra 3-6). Pictoral reconstructions of Zerubabbel’s Temple are a staple of any Old Testament resource, such as this one snagged from the NIV Study Bible (via Accordance):
The only other person who had a hand in rebuilding the Temple was Herod the Great in the 1st century BC, but it would a bit odd to sing about Herod in a worship song.
Therefore, I suggest we strive for accuracy in our praise songs. I know it doesn’t flow quite as well, but I recommend that worship leaders everywhere who want to continue using the song “Days of Elijah” change their slides to read
And these are the days of Your servant Zerubbabel,
Rebuilding a temple of praise.
But even if you don’t change the slides, this is the way I’ll be singing it from now on.
And I sing loudly...