SING THE LORD’S SONG

Psalm 137:1-9 / Keywords 137:4

How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?

 

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.

1. The people of Israel were in Babylon because God was punishing their sin. They were unfaithful to the LORD and would be in exile for seventy years. Meanwhile, the people remembered Zion. Though they were tormented by their uncaring captors, they could not forget Jerusalem. The Babylonians enjoyed listening to the songs the Israelites sang, but they could never know the depth of pain they experienced, being cut off from their land and cut off from their God. The Israelites were in a foreign land, but they still considered Jerusalem their highest joy. They still considered the LORD as worthy of their songs of praise.

 

2. The exiles remembered how they were despised and humiliated, not only by the Babylonians, but also by the neighboring countries. The Israelites were powerless to do anything, but they could pray. They entrusted to the LORD all of their deepest agonies. They put their hope in God and prayed that he would avenge himself on their enemies in his way and his time.

 

Prayer Lord, heal my sinful heart. Help me to remember your beauty and sing with hope in your faithfulness.

One Word Sing the LORD's song