- Read Psalm 137 from the ESV.
- Read my Psalm 137 poem from A New Song.
You have been taken from your homes, transported to a foreign land, and forced into slave labor. Your homeland is now only a distant memory as your daily labors crowd out all the joys of the past. You try hard to recall the images of the verdant fields, bustling cities, and your warm home, but all such memories are clouded by the sins of your nation, the foreign invaders, the many deaths, and the chains which tore you from your land and took you to another. And while you don’t speak of such things, especially to your captors, your last thoughts going to bed at night and the first as the sun rises are of your home — your longing to return and the hope that you will not forget.
On one of the rare days you have to relax, you and your fellow slaves head down to the Euphrates River which runs through the center of town. One of your friends has brought a harp to the river in hopes that you might sing some songs of your lost home, but he eventually hangs it up on a tree nearby. You end up only talking of home because your pain is too deep for singing.
As the sun reaches its zenith your group distributes the meager portions of food brought to the river for lunch. And after the food has been distributed and your group settles down to eat, a wealthy Babylonian family passes by. You all know who they are and the power they wield in the city so you keep your eyes averted and don’t speak so as to not draw attention to yourselves. Nonetheless, they stop in front of you and ask about the harp hanging on the nearby tree. They want to hear your type of music and so they command you to sing a song from your homeland. Hesitantly, your friend pulls the harp down and looks around at the group, each of whom is casting unknowing glances back and forth. He plucks the strings randomly for a moment before strumming a familiar chord. The harpist begins to sing a song you’ve not heard before. You want to join in, but you don’t know the words and besides, your mouths are dry with fear. But by the time he sings the short verse a second time, you and your friends finally join in…
By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
I don’t know if anything like that ever occurred, but if it did, I think the song probably sounded something like Don McClean’s song, Babylon (which you can listen to by clicking HERE — something I highly recommend!).
When I read Psalm 137 I imagine the Jewish exiles tried to hold beautiful Jerusalem in their memory but the images of a ransacked temple, pillaged homes, and murdered children came to mind first. They longed to hold on to some hope, but often all they could muster was a prayer that God might enact justice of those responsible for their current plight.
This psalm can cause a great deal of confusion, especially verses 7-9. Why is a prayer to smash babies in the Bible? Does God condemn this or condone this? Is this a model for prayer today? How could it be? I think the answers to those questions come from taking a look back into the history of Edom. The books of Leviticus, Jeremiah, Lamentation, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Joel, and Amos all tell us that Edom was not a friend to Israel and they were to be judged for their evil works. The most heinous of their works was their aiding of Babylon, either passively or actively, as Babylon sacked Jerusalem and tossed their babies over the wall of the city, sending them down to smash on the rocks below. In both Obadiah 15 and in Psalm 137 we find that the punishment on Edom will replicate the horrors they committed against other nations.
But children? Why would God punish children?
As difficult as this might be to put our minds around — and maybe it’s impossible for some — I believe it’s consistent with God’s treatment of many of the wicked nations in the Old Testament. Remember that God told Israel that he had set apart some nations for total destruction when Israel came into the promised land. In fact, Saul’s disobedience with regard to God’s edict of destruction (I Samuel 15) was the last straw before Samuel anointed David as king of Israel. And I realize this is not an easy part of the Bible for most of us to process, but I think there is something we often miss when reading about his decrees of destruction. If it were not for God’s mercy, ALL OF US WOULD BE SET APART FOR DESTRUCTION — each one of us would deserve to be smashed against the rocks.
While I can’t tell you why God does what he does (see Job 38-42), I can tell you that God continually pours out his everlasting love onto his people. Certainly, God allows people to turn their back on him — to harden their hearts — and he gives them over to their sinful desires which ultimately lead to death, but God also offers the gift of eternal life to any who will turn from their wicked ways and follow him.
I wonder if the exiled family singing their song on the banks of the Euphrates realized all of this? I don’t know. But I do know that God has plans for us to prosper. I know that God punishes the wicked. I know that God understands our cries which are borne out of pain and suffering. I know that God is just and merciful. And I know that if those exiles by the rivers of Babylon so many years ago could sing of hope in the face of suffering, we also can sing of hope as we await the coming of the King and his New Jerusalem.
