November 23, 2008

• REMEMBERANCE DAY (2)

  Churches in the Netherlands remembered Remembrance Day with Psalm 43.

  Remembrance Day was on a Sunday this year. All churches could have sung or heard a sermon about Psalm 43. This Psalm had a special meaning in Remembering. A group of ministers in the area of Dordrecht took the initiative to write a letter to recommend this was of remembering for the following reason.

  Psalm 43 was heard in the prison in Scheveningen on March 13 1941. This prison had the name Oranje Hotel (Hotel Orange) and was known for the terrible things that happened to prisoners there.

  On this day in March, 67 years ago, 18 men were taken out of their cel. Their destiny was the execution site "De Waalsdorpervlakte" close to The Hague (http://www.erepeloton.nl/). The Nazi's wanted to set an example, after giving much publicity about this group's execution, for the Dutch nation. This execution became well-known also because Jan Campert wrote a poem that became famous, called 'the eightteen deaths'. Several of these 18 men were Reformed people who were used to go to church and sing psalms in church and at home. Knowing that their life on earth would end, and that they would meet their Saviour soon, these 18 people started to sing when they we let out of their cel 601, while the Nazi's and other prisoners listened:

  O God, grant me Your vindication.
  Lord, plead my cause, defending me
  Against a cruel, ungodly nation;
  And from a crooked generation
  That loves deceit and treachery,
  Save me and set me free!

  Send forth, O God of my salvation,
  Your light and truth to be my guide
  And lead me to my destination:
  Your holy hill and habitation,
  Where I with You will safely hide
  In shelter You provide.

  Then, at Your sacred altar standing,
  My hands to You in prayer I’ll raise.
  With harp and voice, in worship blending,
  Your courts resound; while psalms, ascending
  To You, my highest joy, bring praise
  For all Your wondrous ways.

  Psalm 43: 1, 3 and 4 (Book of Praise)

  

  Here (picture above), their singing ended when eighteen shots were fired...
  but they continued praising their Lord in heaven.
  We are still singing Psalm 43 - maybe next time you do so, you remember the 18,
  who had this Psalm on their lips when they were promoted to glory.

  • 8:49 pm
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