Psalm 137: ALL OF IT
Psalm 137:1-6 (Psalm for this morning)
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!”
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!
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!
In 586 B.C. forces of the Babylonian empire overran Jerusalem, destroyed the city, slaughtered inhabitants, and led the leading citizens away into exile. The psalm tells the exiles’ misery as they languish in Babylon, tormented by their captors, longing to be home in Jerusalem.
Not only misery is reflected in Psalm 137, but also rage, the desire for vengeance. We normally read only the first six verses, because the last three verses are startling for a holy song:
| 7 | Remember the day of Jerusalem, O LORD, against the people of Edom, * who said, "Down with it! down with it! even to the ground!" |
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| 8 | O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, * happy the one who pays you back for what you have done to us! |
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| 9 | Happy shall he be who takes your little ones, * and dashes them against the rock! |
During the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, the Edomites (descendants of Esau) had not helped their Judean cousins, had even rejoiced at Jerusalem’s fall. Verse seven is about remembrance and retribution.
And verses eight and nine seethe with rage toward the Babylonians: someone will do to you exactly what you did to us.
The exile lasted seventy years, until the Persians defeated the Babylonians and Cyrus king of Persia allowed the exiles to return home to Jerusalem.
If we are shocked by the last three verses of Psalm 137, we might look around us. As we move toward the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 atrocity, we are still involved in war against those who so violated us. Some three thousand died that day. In our vengeance, retribution, and determination, tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, have died since 9/11, and we are not done yet. This makes the last three verses of Psalm 137 more understandable and less liable to our judgment. When it comes down to it, we are no different from the psalmist. If we are shocked by the ugliness of the psalm’s ending, we might look around us.
Let us pray for the nations of the world: that there may be justice and peace on the earth.
And until there is justice and peace on the earth, let us be honest with ourselves and sing the entire psalm, all of it.
Sabbath: shalom.
Tom+