Today’s poem follows on from my poem of last Sunday, the second of five lenten poems paralleling the Psalms with Jesus’ movement towards the Cross. Today Jesus continues His ministry in the face of the Pharisees’ and Herod’s threats, but pauses for a moment to mourn over Jerusalem’s refusal to trust in Him. The two psalms echoed here are Psalms 91 and 27, both of which speak of finding rest and shelter in God – a rest and shelter that many refused to find in Jesus.

Qui Habitat Part 2 (Second Sunday of Lent)

Jerusalem, he sang and wept;
Jerusalem, long I have longed
To give you shelter in my wings.
Jerusalem, he wept.

Jerusalem, will you find rest
Underneath almighty wings?
Jerusalem, why won’t you rest
And find your shelter there?

Jerusalem, His voice entreats,
Calls to your heart to seek His face.
Nothing you ask, nothing you seek.
Jerusalem, he wept.

Jerusalem, your prophets killed,
Your king a fox upon the prowl,
One thing I ask; just this I seek:
To find your shelter here.

Jerusalem, he sang and wept;
You will not see me now until
The rocks cry out, Blessed is He.
Jerusalem, he pleads.