Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?

5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. (KJV)

Read Isaiah chapter 13 and 14 to fully understand this psalm.

As I read verse three “for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” it reminds me of the scene in the movie The Return of the Kings where Pippin is ask to sing a song of his homeland. His reply was simple “that we do not have songs for great halls and evil times.” The seventy years that Judah spent in captivity were times that gave three generations the time to reflect on their relationship with God. They were living in a land that was not their home. They also knew that through the writings of the prophets that God will redeem them and would also destroy Babylon.

As believers we are also in the same place as Israel was in Babylon. We are not of this world, yet we live in this world. We should be looking forward to the new heaven and the new earth. The songs we sing are those that speak of our redemption. These songs of the Blessed Assurance that we have found in Christ.