A 1,000 MilesA 1,000 Miles Songstory by Will Spires
Intro Verse1 I'm a 1,000 miles away, Oh HaShem hear my prayers, Mighty to save The news of blood and bombs and lies Breaks my heart as rockets light up Your sky O' de-do de-do... Verse 2 O' King, Helper, Savior and Shield, Baruch ata HaShem, Shield of Abraham Abundantly able to save, behold us please redeem us for Your Name's sake Bridge: Therefore we will give thanks to You O' LORD and we Will sing Your praises unto Your Name.... Chorus: You heal us! Save us! For You are our praise! The GOD of salvation we bow down and give thanks! You heal us! Save us! For You are our praise! Your lovingkindness brings shalom to our days! We call upon You LORD, Who is worthy to be praised. You illuminate the dark, and lift us up above the ones who cling to violence... Bridge: Therefore we will give thanks to You O' LORD and we Will sing Your praises unto Your Name.... Chorus: You heal us! Save us! For You are our praise! The GOD of salvation we bow down and give thanks! You heal us! Save us! For You are our praise! Your lovingkindness brings shalom to our days! Bridge: Therefore we will give thanks to You O' LORD and we Will sing Your praises unto Your Name.... Chorus: (softly) You heal us! Save us! For You are our praise! (building)The GOD of salvation we bow down and give thanks! (fortissimo)You heal us! Save us! For You are our praise! Your lovingkindness brings shalom to our days! Chorus: You heal us! Save us! For You are our praise! The GOD of salvation we bow down and give thanks! You heal us! Save us! For You are our praise! Your lovingkindness brings shalom to our days! O' de-do de-do...O' de-do de-do... On June 12th 2014 Hamas terrorists kidnapped three Israeli teenage boys from a bus/hitchhiking stop in an Israeli settlement in Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion; 19 year old Eyal Yifrach, 16 year old Gilad Shaar, and and 16 year old Naftali Fraenkel who were hitchhiking back home. They never made it. Parents, friends, teachers and loved ones never got the chance to see them again. The IDF initiated Operation Brother’s Keeper. Approximately two weeks later, and on June 30th, Israeli search teams found the bodies of the three missing boys in a field northwest of Hebron. They had apparently been killed shortly after their abduction. In response to the murder of these three young men, and in response to the some 450 rockets Hamas had fired from Gaza at Israel (www.idfblog.com), Operation Protective Edge was initiated by the IDF. To quote an article published in The Jerusalem Post online version, on August the 27th, 2014 reads “since the beginning of July, 82,201 IDF reservists were called up during the war. For 50 days of war, the home front and soldiers on the front lines were battered by thousands of rockets and mortar shells, small armed groups in Gaza fired 4,564 projectiles at Israel. During the war 70 people were killed on the Israeli side, including 64 soldiers. Gaza health officials said more than 2,100 people were killed in the Strip in the fighting and many thousands more were wounded. The destruction of Hamas attack tunnels was a central goal of the operation and the IDF said that 32, every one it identified, were eliminated. According to Magen David Adom, there were 842 Israeli casualties during the fighting. Six civilians were killed by rocket or mortar strikes and 36 were wounded by shrapnel, including the 10 who were seriously injured, 6 who were moderately injured, and 20 who sustained light injuries. Also 159 people were injured while running for bomb shelters, and 581 were treated for shock. In addition, nine people were killed in three terrorist attacks in Israel”. There, riveted to my television screen I sat aghast as the evening news showed the faces of these three young missing Israeli teenage boys were now reported to have been discovered, their dead bodies found just northwest of Hebron, murdered by Hamas. One online source, The Guardian, suggests that Hamas funneled money to begin construction on what have been dubbed as the Terror Tunnels as far back as the early 2,000’s, like an underground city of underground tunnels and bunkers branching from Gaza to Jerusalem numbering in the hundreds. Used to smuggle weapons, drugs, and people and also for the launching of surprise terror attacks on Jews. For years now Hamas have also been launching Qassam rockets at Jerusalem and since 2006. The anguish, and the fear, and the outrage reached across the miles, into my heart, burning my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I was overwhelmed with emotion, and I could only imagine what all my Jewish brothers and sisters must be experiencing first hand. How can anyone walk down the street to go to Synagogue or the market? How can anyone feel comfortable on the city bus or in their own home at night? The alarms are sounding again to alert everyone to move to the nearest bomb shelter. To allow yourself to become plagued by fear, is to surrender to the enemy. I felt another wave of emotion and yet so helpless to do anything at all. I cried out to The God of Abraham, Isaac and Ya’akov. My God, I’m so small, and I’m so far away. For all of this emotion, despite the heavy burden my heart can feel, no matter how fervently I desire for Israel’s streets to be safe, I feel so far away, and it creates a brokenness. Pray. Pray, He said. My Father, my Maker, the lover of our souls knows us vastly deeper than we understand ourselves. In a moment I cried out to God—and He responded in comforting reassurance. Pray son, for Israel, I will hear, and I will move. I rushed to my studio. There next to my microphone stand I keep a small hardback copy of an Artscroll Siddur. For a season, when I initially received it I read it every day. I learned the history of The Shemoneh Esrei or Amidah was codified back in the 1st century C.E. and prayed by the men of the Great Asembly as far back as the 5th century B.C.E. I opened the book and began to read The Standing Prayer, “LORD, open my lips, that my mouth may declare your praise”. 20,000 feet up in the air looking down upon a quilted patch of land, somewhere down there, under clouds and tree canopies, under a little tin roof I prayed, praying along with millions of others. And as the breath of those ancient words whispered over my lips mingled with the tears that moistened my beard, I felt the presence of Elohim and His comforting Hand embracing me, and I knew that somewhere in Israel He was doing the same for many people at that moment as well. I continued to pray with kavanah, and as I poured out my heart, I felt my heart revive. The God of Israel poured hope into my spirit, like oxygen pouring into my lungs. These are a small collection of some of the blessings I prayed from The Standing Prayer. The Patriarchs Blessed are You, HASHEM, our God and the God of our forefathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, the great, mighty, and awesome God, the supreme God. Who bestows beneficial kindnesses and creates everything. Who recalls the kindnesses of the Patriarchs and brings a Redeemer to their children’s children, for His Name’s sake, with love. O’ King, Helper, Savior, and Shield, Blessed are You, HASHEM, Shield of Abraham. God’s Might You are eternally mighty, my LORD, the Resuscitator of the dead are You, abundantly able to save. Who makes the wind blow and makes the rain descend; Who sustains the living with kindness, resuscitates the dead with abundant mercy, supports the fallen, heals the sick, releases the confined, and maintains His faith to those asleep in the dust. Who is like You, O Master of mighty deeds, and who is comparable to You, O King Who causes death and restores life and makes salvation sprout! And You are faithful to resuscitate the dead. Blessed are You, HASHEM, Who resuscitates the dead. Redemption Behold please our affliction, take up our grievance, and redeem us with a complete redemption speedily for Your Name’s sake, for You are God, the powerful Redeemer. Blessed are You, HASHEM, Redeemer of Israel. Health and Healing Heal us, HASHEM—then we will be healed, save us—then we will be saved, for You are our praise. Bring complete recovery for all our ailments, for You are God, King, the faithful and compassionate Healer. Blessed are You, HASHEM, Who heals the sick of His people Israel. Acceptance of Prayer Merciful Father, hear our voice, HASHEM our God, pity and be compassionate to us, and accept—with compassion and favor—our prayer, for God Who hears prayers and supplications are You. From before Yourself, our King, turn us not away empty-handed. Be gracious with us, answer us, and hear our prayer. For You hear the prayer of each mouth of Your people Israel with compassion. Blessed are You, HASHEM, Who hears prayer. Thanksgiving We gratefully thank You, for it is You Who are HASHEM, our God and the God of our forefathers for all eternity; our Rock, the Rock of our lives. Shield of our savation are You from generation to generation. We shall thank You and relate Your praise—for our lives, which are committed to Your power and for our souls that are entrusted to You; for Your miracles that are with us every day; and for Your wonders and favors in every season—evening, morning, and afternoon. The Beneficient One, for Your compassions were never exhausted, and the Compassionate One, for Your kindnesses never ended—for we have always put our hope in You. For all these, may Your Name be blessed, exalted and extolled, our King, continually forever and ever. Everything alive will gratefully acknowledge you, Selah! and praise and bless Your great Name sincerely, forever, for it is good. O God of our salvation and help, Selah! The beneficent God. Blessed are You, HASHEM, Your Name is “The Beneficent One” and to You it is fitting to give thanks. A Thousand Miles is a prayer. It is a combination of multiple parts drawn straight from the well of The Standing Prayer, and YHVH gave me this song to comfort me, and I pray that you be comforted by it as well. May we all pray, because prayer can make God move, to redeem, to heal, to save Israel, for His Name’s sake, for His covenant’s sake, for the sake of His word in the face of real enemies, real attacks and real suffering. And prayer changes us—bringing His wisdom, His power, His truth and His shalom into our hearts and into the hearts of His people, even when we feel a thousand miles away. |
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