#889 Psalm 137 Sing to Us

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 ESV

A Psalm of Lament.

- This plaintive ode is one of the most charming compositions in the whole Book of Psalms for its poetic power. If it were not inspired it would nevertheless occupy a high place in poesy, especially the former portion of it, which is tender and patriotic to the highest degree. In the later verses (Ps 137:7-9), we have utterances of burning indignation against the chief adversaries of Israel, --an indignation as righteous as it was fervent. Let those find fault with it who have never seen their temple burned, their city ruined, their wives ravished, and after children slain; they might not, perhaps, be quite so velvet mouthed if they had suffered after this fashion. It is one thing to talk of the bitter feeling which moved captive Israelites in Babylon, and quite another thing to be captives ourselves under a savage and remorseless power, which knew not how to show mercy, but delighted in barbarities to the defenceless. The song is such as might fitly be sung in the Jews' wailing place. It is a fruit of the Captivity in Babylon, and often has it furnished expression for sorrows which else had been unutterable. It is an opalesque Psalm within whose mild radiance there glows afire which strikes the beholder with wonder. C. H. Spurgeon

By the waters of Babylon - This would most likely be a reference to the great Tigris and Euphrates or one of their tributary rivers. 

There we sat down and wept - A common practice of the Jews in captivity, removed from home, their temple far away in ruins and no synagogue for them in Babylon, so they seek a place of solace, the river. It is never the building made with hands, true worship is from the heart, and it is the apostate heart that tears the building down. 

…12 From there we went to the Roman colony of Philippi, the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer. After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14 Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.… Acts 16: 12-14

…20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.… John 4: 20-22

When we remembered Zion - It is important here to place ourselves in the shoes of the writer, and I think the significance of such an approach will become more clear towards the second half. This was a place of pilgrimage as seen in the songs of ascent preceding. Families from all over Israel would walk together in bands, meeting friends from afar, traveling and singing together, worshiping freely and openly along the way. This was the capital of government, where David built his house, and Solomon built the temple. As I drive by many a church, in a country that has enjoyed religious freedom for quite some time, I am reminded at how quickly this goes away, how quickly it is taken for granted. Many of these buildings were full and overflowing in my youth, and when the pastors' and elders' hearts became lifted by the numbers, the message changed to accommodate the head count. They were more afraid of empty seats then empty messages. They spoke less of sin, of repentance unto salvation, of dying to self, and more of self fulfillment and prosperity. These men became entertainers, borrowing their messages from a corrupt culture, mimicking motivational speakers, and creating a cliche Christianity. It stings bitterly now, it hurts deeply, because I was only there for the fish and the bread myself. 

…12 Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.” 13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men. 14 Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”… Isaiah 29: 12-14

25 When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” 26 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”… John 6: 25-27

On the willows there we hung our lyres - Weeping willows for sure. They set aside their instruments of praise for the guttural instruments of mourning.  

…6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up, and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone, and the greenery is no more. 7 So they carry their wealth and belongings over the Brook of the Willows. 8 For their outcry echoes to the border of Moab. Their wailing reaches Eglaim; it is heard in Beer-elim.… Isaiah 15: 6-8

For there our captors required of us songs - "Entertain us." Talk about insult upon injury, and are we all not at some point willing to kick a man when he is down? 

…24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead.” 25 And while their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison to entertain them. And they stationed him between the pillars. 26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.”… Judges 16: 24-26

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land - Paul and Silas sang in prison, praising God in and through their trials, these in Babylon had not yet found such hope. Admirably they refuse the stumbling block that lays before them, the defiling of the sacred for the sake of entertaining the uncircumcised.

- St. John Chrysostom observes the improvement such tribulation effected in the Jews, who previously derided, nay, even put to death, some of the prophets; but now that they were captives in a foreign land, they would not attempt to expose their sacred hymns to the ridicule of the Gentiles. --Robert Bellarmine.

1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red;’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times!…

4 A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away. Matthew 16: 1-4

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill - Every rock, every tree, every man and his ability is to the glory of the One Who made them.

- To sing Zion's songs for the pleasure of Zion's foes, would be to forget the Holy City Each Jew declares for himself that he will not do this; for the pronoun alters from "we" to "I." Individually the captives pledge themselves to fidelity to Jerusalem, and each one asserts that he had sooner forget the art which drew music from his harp strings than use it for Babel's delectation. Better far that the right hand should forget its usual handicraft, and lose all its dexterity, than that it should fetch music for rebels out of the Lord's instruments, or accompany with sweet skill a holy Psalm desecrated into a common song for fools to laugh at. Not one of them will thus dishonour Jehovah to glorify Belus and gratify his vetaries. Solemnly they imprecate vengeance upon themselves should they so false, so faithless prove. C. H. Spurgeon

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth - That would be a blessing for me on so many occasions, but here the players and the singers go on strike, as should be our pain over forgetting the body of Christ, watering down the gospel, counting His great work as a small matter in comparison to our fleshly wants. They refuse a situational ethic, not bowing to present circumstances, but holding to that blessed hope of Zion. The culture is different here, but God is still sovereign. We have sinned, let us not sin the more. 

Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites - These were the children of Esau, who was the brother of Jacob, whose name became Israel. They did not side with their closest of kin, but of Jerusalem, they said, "lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!" They now call out to God to remember this, asking for His justice. What horrors this writer has seen. I am reminded again of the siege of Samaria.

…28 Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’ 29 So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” 30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.… 2 Kings 6: 28-30

- They wished to see the last of Jerusalem and the Jewish state; they would have no stone left standing, they desired to see a clean sweep of temple, palace, wall, and habitation. It is horrible for neighbours to be enemies, worse for them to show their enmity in times of great affliction, worst of all for neighbours to egg others on to malicious deeds. Those are responsible for other men's sins who would use them as the tools of their own enmity. It is a shame for men to incite the wicked to deeds which they are not able to perform themselves. The Chaldeans were ferocious enough without being excited to greater fury; but Edom's hate was insatiable. Those deserve to be remembered by vengeance who in evil times do not remember mercy; how much more those who take advantage of calamities to wreak revenge upon sufferers. When Jerusalem's day of restoration comes Edom will be remembered and wiped out of existence. C. H. Spurgeon

…9 Then your mighty men, O Teman, will be terrified, so that everyone in the mountains of Esau will be cut down in the slaughter. 10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever. 11 On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them.…

…12 But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress. 13 You should not enter the gate of My people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over their affliction in the day of their disaster, nor loot their wealth in the day of their disaster. 14 Nor should you stand at the crossroads to cut off their fugitives, nor deliver up their survivors in the day of their distress.… Obadiah 1: 9-14

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed - It is the law, do this and you shall live, an eye for an eye. Israel broke God's law which brought judgment upon them, and they were no longer safe from their enemies, but once again led into captivity. There is a principle also of do unto others as you would have them do unto you and let the punishment fit the crime. History tells of the horrors of conquerors, putting babies on the end of spears, raping the conquered, working them to the point of death. God had put, in His law to the Jews, measures against such, that these means go beyond justice. What this poet has seen, things I do not wish to contemplate, but here it is, and I write from the comfort of my home, with AC, running water, indoor plumbing, plenty of food, a wealthy man by much of the world's standard. I live in a country where people are worried about how to entertain their kids during a pandemic where 6.6 million people have filed for unemployment. I live in a country where I have enjoyed much freedom and have had the right to defend my wife and children from those who do not respect the law or lives of others. I say all this because this is one of the passages I use to use to justify my desire to hold an atheistic world view. "If there is a just God out there, then how can there be so much injustice in the world? Why do You not destroy the wicked?" I didn't think myself wicked by my standard.

- It is interesting that the psalmist did not make this a prayer to God as he did regarding Edom in the previous verse. Perhaps he regarded the judgment of Babylon to be so certain that it didn’t need his prayer, only his pronouncement, especially in light of other prophecies. Enduring Word

Cyrus, king of Persia, fulfills this when he takes over Babylon and allows those Jews, that would, go home and rebuild the temple. Ezra chronicles part of this return and rebuilding. 

Blessed shall he be who repays you for what you have done to us - Cyrus was considered blessed for this, but the Jewish people would encounter problems with the inhabitants in the land, and again those that remained in Persia would also later encounter those who would seek their genocide. The rule of men is always flawed, unstable, yet we are always looking for a hero among us.

Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock - Picture that, I can't even imagine myself saying that. I was listening to David Platt the other night, as he narrates from his journal, a trip he took to the Himalayas. There was a village his group came to that was unusually lacking in young girls. It wasn't because of genetics, that the people there only threw boys, no, they had baby girls too, but the young women were absent now. In the Third World, diseases, that we treat relatively easily here, wipe out large portions of the population there, but that wasn't what took all these little girls. These people are poor, hungry, many orphaned, but there are cities further down in the valleys, that have "work" for them. Men from the city will go to these mountain towns, offer the parents of an 8 year old girl 100 dollars, the equivalent of half a years salary there, to purchase her for "work" in the city, and many give the promise of returning her home from time to time to bring back more money and visit. Little girls, and I am going to spare you the details of what happens to them every day and just leave it at sex trafficking. But, you ask, how do the parents not figure it out, how do they not know? Well, I ask myself, have I ever been to a strip club? I wasn't raised that way, but yes, many times. At one time I thought it was wrong, and I do now, but I justified it by it being legal, it being consensual, their choice, "supporting single moms", and no one was getting hurt. When I was little my mom took me to a Right to Life meeting where I saw a video of what abortion actually looks like. I saw the little head, the hands and feet, I knew it was a human being. When I was older I looked at what people called a woman's choice and filed under "reproductive rights", and thought how silly, how unscientific, reproduction has already occurred, your killing someone who has information from two different people, their own DNA, their own identity, a person. I knew that, but the first time a girl told me she was pregnant, I wanted so bad to justify what was already legal in my country. It was inconvenient at the time, I wasn't ready for this, I had more things to accomplish, other girls to sleep with, I was trying to justify what I plainly knew as wrong and sacrifice someone else to my idols. Have I ever cheated on my wife? No, I say that quickly and honestly, but what about by God's standard? He says, "if you look at a woman to lust after her you have already committed adultery in your heart." Then yes, that's me too. I think a lot of the parents know, but like so many of us they live in a world of situational ethics. We all know this stuff goes on, but we justify it in our hearts, ignore it, pretend it isn't happening, think what can I do, this is God's fault somehow even though He is the One saying don't do these things, that He hates these things, but we are numb to it. I don't want you to read this hoping that you have an emotional response. I don't want you to read this thinking there is no hope, but I want you to read it from an eternal perspective, in light of what God has declared, "that there is none righteous, not even one." And now, after looking at the history of human depravity, turn and look at the Cross.

Jeremiah 24