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 rewards thee as thou hast served us.

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

Read Isaiah chapter 13 and 14 as well as Jeremiah chapter 29 to fully understand this psalm. 

Reading 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 asked 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. 

I can image a old man reading this psalm and then recalling the words from the letter which Jeremiah the prophet had sent to the exiles in Babylon (Jeremiah chapter twenty-nine).  In this letter he told the captives to build houses and take wives for their sons and give your daughters to husbands to bear sons and daughter.  He was one of the first to be born to here in exile seventy years ago.  He now also recalled Jeremiah’s word from the Lord that stated” When seventy years have been completed for Babylon I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you to bring you back to this place.” Now in the year 538 B.C. this old man has just witness the proclamation sent out by Cyrus king of Persia to rebuild the temple again in Jerusalem.  The joy he must have in his heart seeing the words of the many prophets fulfill in this proclamation.   

As believers we are also in the same place as Israel was in Babylon during this time. After hearing the gospel and by faith experiencing the redeeming salvation from God, we now realize that our desires are no longer for the things of this world.  As Israel was looking for this promise return to Jerusalem, so should we be looking forward to the second coming of our Lord.  However, while we are in this world waiting for our coming Lord we should also strive living a productive life to seek the welfare of the place in which the Lord has placed us.  At the same time, we can also look forward to the new heaven and the new earth.  The songs we sing are those that speak of our redemption and our future with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth.