Sabbath Music - House of Gold

This song has been on my heart for the past couple of weeks:   House of Gold

(as sung by Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott).  At the end of this post, you'll find the lyrics, which were written by Hank Williams, Sr.

This song is so true because you sure can't take it with you.  When I pass on, I'll have no earthly wealth to leave behind.  I will, however, leave behind something much better.  The treasures of love and wisdom are an inheritance that thieves can't steal and moths can't corrupt.  

This graphic touched my heart this week, and it fits with how I'm thinking.  The best things in life aren't things.

This month, I've been reading and meditating on Psalm 119 and found these passages that express my thoughts on what I'll leave behind:

   

The Torah you have spoken means more to me than a fortune in gold and silver.

Psalm 119:72

  

 How sweet to my tongue is your promise,
truly sweeter than honey in my mouth!

(verse 103)

Your word is a lamp for my foot
and light on my path.

(verse 105) 

Therefore I love your mitzvot
more than gold, more than fine gold. 

 Thus I direct my steps by [your] precepts;
every false way I hate.

(verses 127-128) 

The main thing about your word is that it’s true;
and all your just rulings last forever.

. . . my heart stands in awe of your words.
I take joy in your promise,
like someone who finds much booty.

(verses 160-162)

 Those who love your Torah have great peace;
nothing makes them stumble.

(verse 165)

I always say, "I'm rich. . . just filthy rich!"  and I'm leaving it all behind for my children and grandson, and to those with whom I've shared His truth.  They will be rich, too, if they accept their inheritance. 

House of Gold Lyrics:

Some people cheat, they steal and lie 

For wealth and what it will buy

Don't they know on judgment day

All the gold and silver melt away?

What good is gold and silver too 

If your heart's not pure and true? 

Sinner hear me when I say 

You gotta get down on your knees and pray.

 I'd rather be in a deep dark grave,

And know that my poor soul was saved 

Than to live in this world in a house of gold 

And deny my God and lose my soul. 

Some people people cheat, they steal and lie

For wealth and what it will buy 

But don't they know on the judgment day 

All the gold and silver melt away? 

Sinner hear me when I say 

You better get down on your knees and pray

Tonight in the synagogue, Erev Shabbat, we begin the new Torah reading cycle with  Parashat B'resheit (Genesis 1:1 - 6:8).  Simchat Torah will be celebrated tonight, too, with all-night Torah study, food, dancing, and worship.  The Hebrew calendar has turned over to the year 5778, and we're praying for a blessed year ahead.

Good Shabbos to you, Gail-Friends, and have a good week.

*****