Jerusalem, Jerusalem

I was a child creating kidstuff,

I lied and cheated just enough

to feel the guilt when all alone at home.

I copied homework from friend, Sue

and passed it down the row to Lou.

We knew so little of Jerusalem.



Jerusalem,  Jerusalem



When in the end, I turned a teen

I tried the drug and boozing scene.

With just a few bad trips, it all hit home.

I spent a weekend in the jail

I thought I’d died and gone to hell.

No peace in that place,  no Jerusalem.



Jerusalem,  Jerusalem



So glad was I when they said to me

let’s go to church as family.

It was belief that brought us to Shalom.

We’d fought like cats and dogs for aye

There had  to be a better way.

True contentment began at Jerusalem.



Jerusalem,  Jerusalem



Of course, there is a God above!

I know Him as the God of love.

He  made the rules and guides us on to home.

He wrote the law, then paid the price

Son, Jesus  came as sacrifice

so we could know the way to Jerusalem.



Jerusalem,  Jerusalem



In church, I learned to place me last,

to put God first;  now when they ask,

“How come on Sundays you never stay at home?”

I am someone who saw the light

no longer scared to say what's right -

I’ve found the peace that comes in Jerusalem.



Jerusalem,  Jerusalem



I did not take Christ’s name in vain

I am a Christian with much to gain

and thus I greet you with a hearty Shalom.

I cannot keep Christ to myself

I cannot put Him on the shelf

for He is the Way to blest Jerusalem.



Jerusalem,  Jerusalem



Jerusalem means  place of peace;

Jerusalem needs no police.

we’ll see that when God comes to take us home.

Salvation comes once we have learned

forgiveness never will be earned.

This gift is from the Hope of Jerusalem.



Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Jerusalem.





written by Reason A. Poteet

as a ballad and parody of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah!