The Silent Years the Songs of Zion Began to Come Forth in 1976. In
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The Silent Years The Songs of Zion began to come forth in 1976. In 1988, after #109, “Won’t It Be Pretty There In Early Spring” came forth, there was a space of fifteen years where no songs were given. Before the gift of the songs resumed in 2004, experiences began to come forth regarding their return, of which I will relate a few now. My daughter, Sis. Becky Tarbuk had a dream as follows: “It seemed like my mother had been away for a long time and someone was questioning her. My mother held out her arms in which she had a large basket by the handles and smiling she said, “Come and see, come and see now!” God had also revealed dreams, that the fifteen year period between the songs was referred to as “the silent years” as spoken of in song #67, The Homecoming Song, where it says, “and faintly flows some sweet refrain to break the silent years, Oh Father can that song be hers, (Israel’s) I cannot see for all the tears.” We also see, at this time, how the Seed of Joseph are taking hold of The Songs of Zion and cherish them. I believe, as was shown in a vision, that the first 109 songs were an introduction to Zion, as is stated in #86, “The Latter Day Theme, “…Introducing with pleasure, the blest Latter Day Theme.” The new songs from #110 to the present speak more to the fulfillment of Zion and the latter day glory. Sis. Arlene Buffington *Note: We recently discovered that the four hundred years between the Old Testament and the New Testament are also referred to as “The Silent Years.” 110 I’m Taking My Harp From the Green Willow Tree (Psalms 137:1-4) I’m taking my journey, I’ve waited so long, I’m taking my dream and I’m taking my song; I’m taking my freedom, I have to be free, And I’m taking my harp from the green willow tree. No longer require me, this captive a song, With Bab’lon behind me, I’m running along; The music from heaven, It’s running with me, And I’m taking my harp from the green willow tree. They took us for captives, required of us mirth, We wept while we waited for signs of the birth; A nation is budding, at last I can see, And I’m taking my harp from the green willow tree. So come every free man, the passage is clear, Our Father from heaven, He’s taking us there; I’m singing with angels, they’re singing with me, And I’m taking my harp from the green willow tree. Sis. Arlene L. Buffington April 15, 2004 Thursday, April 15, 2004 Brother Bob Buffington was leaving to pick up Brother Jim Moore for conference and I was in the back bedroom. The Lord gave me a thought, “It is time to take down the harps.” It reminded me of the Psalm in the beginning of the Songs of Zion book: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us One of the Songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” -Psalm 137:1-4 I felt the Lord was saying it is time to take down our harps, to sing again and to move along. In Babylon, the children of Israel were mocked and made fun of. They were told to sing the Songs of Zion, but they couldn’t sing them in a strange land. It has been 15 years since the last song was given and many times it has been hard to sing the songs because it felt like we were in a strange land. I ran out to sing the first verse to Brother Bob before he left for conference. Then the Lord gave me the rest of the song. As I was writing, it felt like angels were singing with me. “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us One of the Songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” -Psalm 137:1-4 111 None Can Bring This Kingdom Down Wake the earth and rouse the nations, Let the bells herald the sound: Midst the war a kingdom rises, Midst the ruins a city found Many men have tried to build her, Many more to tear her down: Neither war nor any nation, Ere can bring this kingdom down. Hear the rumbling in the distance, As the warplanes leave the ground; Jesus Christ alone can save us, For His kingdom we are bound. Blow the trumpet Christ is coming, To his kingdom here on earth; Precious nation, precious baby, Ring the bells, proclaim the birth. Chorus: From the dust and from the ashes, Rise majestic from the ground; Nations fall and cities crumble, None can bring this kingdom down. Sis. Arlene L. Buffington April 29, 2004 (exactly 2 weeks later) A day or so before April 29th, I knew the Lord was about to give another song. The words were going over and over in my mind. If I lay down, I could hear the words. Then on April 29th, the Lord gave me all of the words and the music. The song is majestic and sounds like a national anthem. You don’t know if you should stand up and salute or what! I heard trumpets at the beginning of the song where it states “Wake the earth” and also where it says “Midst the war”. When you hear music from heaven, you can’t really describe it. It just astounds you. 112 They Can’t Burn the Flag on Zion’s Mountain Morning breaks to burn away the blackness, And music breaks to burn away the fear; While angels smile to see the scene before them, And singing breaks the silence in the air. Nothing shines as bright as Zion’s mountain, And nothing stands as high as Zion’s hill; And all that enter leave their tears behind them, Where nothing hurts and nothing ever will. There’s no joy that’s greater than is found there, And there’s no love that’s greater any where; No trembling hands nor feeble knees are found there, No blessings greater than the blessings there. Chorus: And they can’t burn the flag on Zion’s mountain, And they can’t take that city on the hill; And they can’t dim the light that shines around her, For all that God has promised He’ll fulfill. Sis. Arlene L. Buffington June 11, 2004 About 14 years prior to this, the words were given to me “They can’t burn the flag on Zion’s mountain and they can’t take the city on the hill”. It was just after the Lord gave “Won’t It Be Pretty There in Early Spring”, although I do not have the exact date. I filed the words with other experiences from the Lord and forgot about it. I was in the middle of a huge cleaning project on June 11th when the words were brought back to my mind by the Spirit of God. I felt there was a song coming, so I picked up my pen and paper and sat down at my dining room table. As soon as I sat down the chorus and then the first verse and the music were given. Three days before this song was given (on a Wednesday), I felt all day that a song was coming forth. We had our Fasting and Prayer meeting and after the meeting, Brother Dan Buffington came to me and said that I would be receiving a song. He had seen a white sheet of paper gently floating down from Heaven and he knew it was a song. The feeling I had when I knew a song was going to be given is much like when you know someone is in the room before you actually see them. You just know. When I was given this song, the Lord used the word ‘blackness’ in one of the verses. Instead of using that word, I thought I would soften the message for our people and substituted the word ‘darkness’ in its place. A few days later, I came to realize that the word ‘blackness’ was the one that needed to be contained within this song. I immediately called Brother Dan Buffington who was typing a copy for me and asked him to correct the wording. When he did this, he heard a woman’s voice say, “I’ve never seen a night as black as this”, words given to me years ago in a poem entitled “The Mother’s Prayer.” 113 Arise and Weep No More Oh, Israel, my lovely child, My nation born this day; All wood and hay and stubble burn, And take the dross away. Oh, Ephraim dear, my pleasant child, Arise and weep no more; The beauty that thy land has lost, Thy Father will restore.