Psalms Reading – 5.7.2022
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
Psalm 137 is set in Babylonian exile. It has strong and striking imagery that expresses the raw emotions of their painful state of separation from their homeland. It has three sections. Verses 1-4 is characterized “we” language, verses 5-6 use “I” language, verses 7-9 use “they” pronouns.
The consistent theme that runs throughout is that the psalmist longs for Jerusalem’s return and exaltation, as well as, the destruction of the hostile nations. This is an imprecatory psalm where the psalmist prays that the enemies of God’s people would receive due justice for the evil they have done.
The Euphrates River ran through the ancient city of Babylon, and the region was filled with river branches and canals that flowed from it. They wept as they remembered their beautiful city that has been ravished. They are in exile, but their hearts are still in Zion. The Ukrainians can especially identify well with this psalm today. So many people have had to flee as refugees and so much beauty within their country has been destroyed.
To hang their harps expressed their grief because such instruments are associated with joyful praise. They could not bring themselves to do so in the midst of their raw emotions.
Verses 5-6 offer a bitter prayer asking that the psalmist should lose the very ability to offer praise if he ever were to forget Jerusalem, their place of worship and meeting with God. The concern in forgetting is not that he would not remember that Jerusalem existed but that he would not consider Jerusalem his highest joy. A good exercise for us in these psalms that speak about Zion or Jerusalem is to substitute these names with the name of Jesus for He is to be our highest joy among all other joys of life. What a wonderful way to think about our Lord. He is our highest joy!
The psalm ends by speaking of retributive justice which is punishment that fits the crime. He asks God for justice to be done to these evil nations. It is not unreasonable to think that the psalmist may have had seen their children dashed upon the rocks, because it commonly occurred when one nation conquered another. We may not pray such a specific prayer, but the intent of the psalmist is for equal justice for the crime committed. God’s desire for what is right and good lives on in us as His people.
Memory Verse: Psalm 133:1, How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
Question(s) to Consider: Would we ask for the same judgment upon ourselves if we ever forgot Jesus? Can we honestly say that Jesus is our highest joy? Are you praying for God’s justice to come upon any specific sin or situation?