Introduction
Today we come to Psalm 137, which is a psalm that has made it into the pop charts when Boney M released it as a single in 1978 with ‘Brown Girl in the Ring’ as the B-side. The Boney M version was a cover of a song recorded by The Melodians in 1970. Other covers have been recorded by Daniel O’Donnell, Sinead O’Connor and Steve Earle among others. And Don Mclean recorded a different version of the psalm for his American Pie album. And so, it’s a psalm which is well-known, even if many who know the song may not realise it was originally a psalm.
And it’s well-known among Bible students for the last two verses, where the psalmist pronounces a blessing on the one who takes Babylon’s children and dashes them against the rock. We’ve come across this kind of thing before in the psalms, when the psalmist prays for the destruction of his enemies. But never before does the psalmist speak in this way about children. And so, the end of the psalm is shocking. But it begins with the sorrow and sadness of God’s people who have been taken away from the Promised Land to exile in Babylon.
Verses 1 to 4
Turn with me to verses 1 to 4. The psalmist says in verse 1 that they have sat down by the rivers of Babylon. We’ve been studying the book of Ezekiel on Sunday evenings. Ezekiel was among the first group of exiles to Babylon and in the very first verse of his book he refers to the Kebar River. That’s where he received a vision of the glory of the Lord. And as well as the Kebar River, there was also the Euphrates and the Ahava and there were lots of other canals for irrigating the land and for transporting goods. And so, the psalmist and his fellow exiles sat down by these rivers and they wept. They wept whenever they remembered Zion. He’s referring to Mount Zion and to Jerusalem which sat on top of it.
And they’re weeping because they’ve been taken from Jerusalem into exile. Because they rebelled against the Lord and were unfaithful to him, and because they refused to repent and to return to the Lord, God brought on them all the curses which he warned them about and he let the Babylonians invade the land and conquer Jerusalem and take them captive.
And now, when they remember what they’ve lost, they feel like weeping.
But look at verse 3: their captors — the Babylonians — are demanding that they sing joyful songs about Zion. And what the Babylonians are doing is this: they’re rubbing salt into their wounds. They’re adding insult to injury. The exiles are already feeling sorrowful because God has sent them into exile. But now their captors are making fun of them. They’re mocking them and they’re mocking their God. The Babylonians presumably want them to sing a song like Psalm 46 where they sing that God is their refuge and strength and an ever-present help in trouble. And they sing that they will not fear, because God is with them. It’s a terrific psalm. But the Babylonians are now laughing at them, because it seems to the Babylonians that their God wasn’t able to help them and that they were fools to trust in him. And so, they’re rubbing salt into their wounds, making them feel even more miserable by mocking them and their God.
And so, the exiles will not sing those joyful songs about Zion. As the psalmist says in verse 4: ‘How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?’ And as it says in verse 2, they’ve hung up their musical instruments on nearby trees. They will not play for the Babylonians.
And it’s not because they think their God has failed them. Their God has not failed them. On the contrary, they failed their God. They were unfaithful and disobedient and they’re now suffering God’s curse on them for their disobedience. And so, the reason they don’t want to sing those joyful songs about Zion is not because they think their God has failed them. It’s because they don’t want to give the Babylonians the opportunity to mock their God. They don’t want to give these pagans the opportunity to blaspheme the Lord their God. And so, they refused to sing for their captors.
Verses 5 and 6
In verses 1 to 4, the psalmist referred to ‘we’ and ‘our’: we sat down and wept; we remembered Zion; we hung our harps and so on. In verses 5 and 6, he refers to ‘I’ and ‘my’: If I forget Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you.
He’s pronounces a curse on himself if he forgets Jerusalem. And since he’s a musician, his curse involves his work. So, may he forget how to play his instrument and may he forget how to sing if he forgets Jerusalem.
And the way for him to forget Jerusalem is to make his home in Babylon: to settle down there and to become like the Babylonians and to join them in the worship of their false gods. That’s the temptation he and the other exiles faced. And no doubt fitting in with the Babylonians would result in an easy life for him and his fellow exiles. Think how much easier it would have been for Daniel’s three friends if they fitted in with everyone else and if they bowed down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. They wouldn’t have been thrown into the fiery furnace. Think how much easier it would have been for Daniel if he fitted in with everyone else and if he prayed to the Emperor as he was commanded to do and not to the Lord. He wouldn’t have been thrown to the lions.
But the psalmist wants to resist the temptation to fit in with the pagans around him and he wants to be the kind of person who is always yearning for Jerusalem and who wants to get back home and to join the rest of God’s people to worship him in the temple. He wants to be the kind of person who regards being in Jerusalem as his highest joy. He wants to be the kind of person who is not satisfied until he’s back home in Jerusalem.
Verses 7 to 9
And in verse 7 he asks the Lord to remember Edom. The Edomites were descended from Esau, while the Israelites were descended from Jacob. And so, the Edomites and the Israelites were related to one another. But instead of loving the Israelites, the Edomites hated them. And when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, the Edomites were delighted. And so, the psalmist is asking the Lord to remember what they did and how they, as it were, encouraged the Babylonians to tear Jerusalem down to its foundations. And be asking the Lord to remember, he means he wants the Lord to remember to judge the Edomites for what they did and said. Remember what they did and punish them accordingly.
That’s verse 7. And in verses 8 and 9, he addresses the Daughter of Babylon. It was common in Bible times to liken a city to a woman. And if the city was like a woman, then the inhabitants of the city were her daughters. And so, the psalmist is addressing the people of Babylon. And he says about them that they are doomed to destruction. Though for a time they have triumphed over Jerusalem, the day is coming when they will be destroyed.
And the psalmist then goes on to pronounce a blessing on ‘he who repays you [i.e. the Babylonians] for what you have done to us’. And so, he’s not seeking personal revenge, but for justice to be done. He wants the Lord, who is the judge of all the earth, to pay the Babylonians back for what they have done. He saying to the Lord: punish them for what they have done to Jerusalem.
Yes, the Lord sent the Babylonians to punish his people for their unfaithfulness. However, just because the Lord used the Babylonians to punish his people doesn’t mean they were blameless. What the Babylonians did to Jerusalem and its people was wrong, because they were so cruel and bloodthirsty and ruthless. But God was able to use their sins for his own good purpose. And having accomplished his own good purpose, the day will come when he will punish the Babylonians for what they have done wrong.
The psalmist is therefore saying: pay back the Edomites and pay back the Babylonians. And then he pronounces this blessing on he who seizes their infants and dashes them to the rocks. In ancient times, it was normal for victors to kill the children of their victims, because the victors didn’t want the children taking revenge on them when they’re adults. That doesn’t make it right, but it’s what was done in those days. But I think we also need to bear in mind that the reference to infants comes after a reference to the Daughter of Babylon. The phrase ‘Daughter of Babylon’ is an idiom or an image which refers to the inhabitants of the city. And therefore when the psalmist refers to the infants of the Daughter of Babylon, he’s probably using an idiom or image to refer not so much to children, but to all those who are like the inhabitants of Babylon. So, may all those who are like them be dashed to the rocks. May all those who are like them be destroyed. He’s anticipating a time when Babylon will be destroyed and God’s people will be set free.
Conclusion
This psalm is a reminder that the world is made up of two kingdoms: there’s the kingdom of satan and there’s the kingdom of God. Babylon represents the kingdom of satan and all that is evil in the world and which opposes the Lord our God. And Jerusalem represents the kingdom of God. And these two kingdoms are at odds with one another. And while the kingdom of satan might triumph for a time, in the end Babylon will be destroyed. Satan’s kingdom will come to nothing and satan and all who belong to him will be seized and sent away from the presence of God to face unbearable sufferings for ever. But all who regard the kingdom of God as their highest good and who yearn for eternal life in the presence of God will be rewarded with the vision of God in the heavenly Jerusalem in the new heavens and earth. And this is a reward which we do not deserve and cannot earn, but which we receive through faith from Christ our Saviour who gave up his life on the cross to pay for our sins and to bring us to God. While we go on living on the earth, we’re to be the best citizens we can be, just as Daniel and his friends were the best citizens they could be while they were in Babylon. But just like Daniel and his three friends, and just like the psalmist, we’re not to forget that, above all, we’re citizens of God’s kingdom. And while this world is full of good things for us to enjoy, we’re to remember that our highest joy and our greatest pleasure is awaiting us in the life to come in the presence of our great God and Saviour.
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