De hemel is - Beurtzang naar psalm 104 = The Heavens - Antiphonal song from Psalm 104 , 1978 - 1981

Huijbers' choice of melody, in Gregorian psalm tone 2D, is from the seven Advent Great O Antiphons (December 17-24), to symbolize the immanent - and imminent - arrival of the new messianic era. Those seven glimpses of the past look ahead to the Second Coming, the return of the Risen One, which is already happening in our own times. Baptismal catechesis teaches that Jesus is present now in the community whenever we gather to hear the word, to pour the waters of baptism, and to break bread together, and when we respond to his mandate of establishing justice in the world. Contemporary theologians often refer to this as the emergent messianic dynamic. Each year, at Easter and Christmas, reincarnation is celebrated once again, the rebirth of the Risen One in the community of the baptized. These liturgical celebrations take place in totem time, an ever-recurring historical event which transcends space and time, past-and-future-always-now. Because of Jesus' resurrection and in our baptism, he is forever entangled in our DNA.

Oosterhuis alluded to this in an earlier song, Zomaar een dak - Only A Roof (What Is This Place), where he indicates that the greatest miracle is not transubstantiation, but the fact that the assembly has continued to gather week after week for 2,000 years, despite dungeon, fire, and the sword. His choice of verses from Psalm 104 speaks clearly of the renewal of a broken world for which we have been given responsibility. This is the task of Faith, which is not cerebral knowledge but committed discipleship. Psalm 104 refers to the renewal of creation in the Spirit, a fulfillment of the story of the Exodus, when YHWH demonstrably intervened in human history to break down structures of injustice. - Tony Barr