Lift up your head, O Amsterdam!
Cast off your shame like a cloak;
Let it fall from your shoulders
As the shadows fall from the trees under the noonday sun.
Let your righteousness shine like the dawn;
Let your salvation blaze like a burning torch.
Too long have you lived in oppression;
Too long have you allowed lewdness and adultery to taint your every thought.
Your graceful form has been ***** and ravaged,
And unspeakable sins have taken hold of your life.
You have opened yourself up to Corruption;
You have embraced Idolatry like a lover;
You have welcomed Lust into your *****;
You have accepted Rebellion and Calamity as you closest friends;
Captivity and Abuse are constantly biting at your heels.
You have lost sight of your former glory;
You have forgotten you early prestige.
Do you not remember the words spoken over you in your youth?
Can you not recall your previous high standing?
You, O Amsterdam, were once so full of innocent beauty;
Everything you touched was made lovely.
Your skill and your potential were rivaled by no other.
Creativity and reform flowed from your hands like a mighty river,
And the promise of your future shone with the blinding brilliance of the dawn.
You were once a woman of untamed joy and boundless freedom,
Until you allowed fear to creep in and tame you.
You cowered at the feet of Dread and allowed him to harness you.
You surrendered to him your life, your freedom, your spirit, and your morals.
He stripped you of your pride and forced you into passivity,
Tearing away your will and your self dignity.
But you, O Amsterdam, did nothing to resist him.
You stood idly by and watched as your life was reformed by Dread.
You leaned into his changes;
You embraced his foreign ways and made them laws throughout your land,
Allowing everything you once stood for to be transformed.
You were selfish and afraid,
Seeking your own salvation at every expense to others.
And in your schemes for self preservation,
You lost everything.
Through your cowardice and because of your stoicism,
Your power and your control have been removed.
They have been taken from you and given into the hands of the Enemy,
And you have made no efforts to reclaim them.
You have grown lax and frail,
Unable to stop even the most conspicuous of wrongs;
Too feeble to lift even a single finger in defiance.
But do not fear, O Amsterdam!
Cease your trembling and lift up your head!
Set your eyes on the horizon and behold,
For your Savior is near!
The LORD has not forgotten you.
He has not abandoned you in your hour of weakness and despair.
He remembers all of His promises to you,
And He calls you by your True Name.
“I have made you to be a carrier of Freedom,” says the LORD.
“I have created you to be a Woman of Joy.
I have placed a uniqueness and an artistry inside of you,
And you will bear that into the surrounding lands.
“You were hand-crafted, O Amsterdam,
Individually selected by the LORD.
I have called you to be a place of refuge and new beginnings;
I have set you apart to carry a mantel of original and artistic vision.
I have made you a Leader and a Sanctuary,
And your influence will reconstruct the world around you.
“I, the LORD, will hold you in my hand for all to see–
I will renew your beauty and your splendor, and will lift you up to your former glory.
Never again will you be called “Forsaken” or “Desolate”,
For I will bestow upon you a new name.
You shall be known as “The Object of God’s Delight”
And “The Bride of God”,
For the LORD delights in you,
And will claim you as His bride.”
The nations will see your righteousness.
World leaders will be blinded by your glory.
You will walk through the streets of your city,
Your the Darkness will be transformed by the Light.
Your rivers will be refreshed by new streams of living water,
And hope will bloom with the springtime Tulips.
The LORD is reclaiming your territory;
He is marking every door with His seal.
He is bringing Revival like a tidal wave,
And releasing Honor into your streets like a hurricane.
Dignity and Grace will once again be your crown,
And you will commit yourselves to the Lord in triumph.
