Psalm 137 — What Is My Highest Joy?
Introduction: Since the opening verse of this psalm speaks of captives who were in Babylon, it was clearly written about four centuries after those psalms written during the reigns of David and Solomon. Chapter 36 of 2 Chronicles gives the history of a rapid final decline of faith in Jerusalem that continued over about 22 years after the death of King Josiah. Jehoiakim “did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God.” Nebuchadnezzar ultimately destroyed the temple, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and carried those who escaped the sword away to Babylon for seventy years.
NOTE: Scripture passages are from the World English Bible.
A — Worship Musicians Were Captives in Babylon
Psalm 137 “1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows in its midst, we hung up our harps. 3 For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’”
Comments: The psalmist and his companions hang up their musical instruments on the willow trees, and sit down by the waters of Babylon. Since they had carried their instruments on the long journey from Jerusalem to Babylon, they were likely among the skilled musicians who had ministered at the temple. Considering the violent overthrow of their beloved Jerusalem, the place of honor for the Lord, only brought tears to their eyes, and removes all desire to make music. Singing with joy before the LORD had been the commission for all those appointed to this service beginning about four centuries earlier in the time of King David. 1 Chronicles 15:16 “David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of music, stringed instruments and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy.” Fervor for the LORD had waxed and waned as many different kings reigned in Judah. From the words used by the writer of the psalm, he looked upon the Babylonian demands to be in terms of taunting and mocking.
B — Can We Sing Praise in a Foreign Land?
Psalm 137 “4 How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. 6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you; if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.”
Comments: The psalmist seems to be realizing that his just penalty for forgetting Jerusalem would be to lose his skill to play his instrument, or to be unable to open his mouth in song. He is telling God that he wants all that Jerusalem has meant to him, to remain the highest among all joy he can have. Songs of praise can become an ingrained part of our thoughts that renew our spirit. Psalm 43:5 “Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: my Saviour, my helper, and my God.” Jeremiah knew the captives needed to hold onto their faith. Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose trust Yahweh is.” Lamentations 3:24 “Yahweh is my portion, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him.” If being a Christian, we have received the gift of eternal life by the grace of God, the appropriate question in difficult times should be “how can I not sing (or speak) praise to my Savior even in a foreign land?” Christians are temporarily in a foreign land regardless of where they may be on this present earth. Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
C — Wait for the Lord to Repay His Enemies
Psalm 137 “7 Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, ‘Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!’ 8 Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who rewards you, as you have served us. 9 Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.”
Comments: Moses recorded the words of the Lord as an early indication of the Lord’s inescapable vengeance to his enemies who have rejected his grace. Deuteronomy 32:39–43. Isaiah had prophesied the eventual punishment for the Chaldeans for their devastation of Jerusalem. Isaiah 13:16–19 describes the brutal destruction of Babylon including the same imagery of verse 9. Jeremiah was guided by the Holy Spirit to specify that the Babylonian captivity would last seventy years, and also to record that the LORD would bring vengeance upon Babylon. Jeremiah 51:5–6 “For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God… for it is the time of Yahweh’s vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.” King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon himself came to this conclusion after the LORD humbled him: Daniel 4:35 “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or ask him, What are you doing?”
Reflections in Prayer
Lord Jesus, I admit before you that in times of disappointment I may fail to draw upon your word that I might praise you without waiting for conditions to change as I would like. I want to be in your word so routinely that virtually any circumstance that might come upon me would remind me of a parallel in the experience of one or more of the saints whose stories are recorded in the history of scripture. I truly believe Lord Jesus that you have secured eternal life for me through the grace of your death, burial, and resurrection. My hope is therefore in the faith you have given me to believe that I too will be resurrected to a new life that will give me eternal freedom from the power of sin in the flesh. This psalm has assured me that you established your truth in the distant past, and it is confirmed by those things already fulfilled in the New Testament record, and those that will be fulfilled at the end of time. As long as I have breath may I remember to always return to give you praise. Amen and Hallelujah!
Published 20 May 2012