March 21
Reading: Psalm 137
1 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth,
saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the LORD’s song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!
Psalm 137 is a lament that ends with a stunning imprecation. The reader begins in pensive sorrow and ends with eyes wide and mouth agape.
It is essential to understand the historical context of this psalm. To fail here is to misunderstand the message. Israel had a history with Babylon. For years they were oppressed and then they were destroyed, men killed, women brutalized, sons captured and enslaved, daughters stolen. The people who wrote this psalm had been uprooted from their homes and made to walk across a desert to live in a strange land as slaves. They were longing for home. They wanted redemption, vindication, and vengeance. For all three of these desires, they had to wait on the Lord.
What does a person do who has been deeply hurt and family damaged? I am not asking about some personal accusation or insult or being ripped off by a dishonest salesman. I’m not talking about the offense of a nasty neighbor or public embarrassment. I’m not talking about someone stealing your car, running over your dog, and not apologizing for it. Those sorts of experiences are difficult and irritating. But then one moves on, gets over it, and goes on living. These people of ancient Israel had had their lives ripped apart by the Babylonians. Every line of this psalm is alive with pain.
Psalm 137 moves in three steps. The first (vss. 1-3) is weeping. It is alright to cry when you really have something to cry about. The next step (vss. 4-6) is longing for home and remembering what one has lost. Implied here is a request to the Lord for help. “Help me to sing and praise You when I am not feeling thankful, when all I can feel is what I have lost.” This is honest and it is the beginning of the road back to joy, praise, and thankfulness. The final step (vss. 7-9) is a cry for vengeance. “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) This psalm is hoping in God that He will do as He says.