There is always that within a man, as deeply seated as is the desire to wander—the desire for a home, for a place that belongs to oneself, a shelter away from the world.”
–Louis L’Amour (Dark Canyon)
“For we live before You as foreigners and temporary residents in Your presence as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.”
–1 Chronicles 29:15 (HCSB)
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I have made it a point in my career to study the lives of the POWs, some from World War II, but most from Vietnam. They went through horrific trials and tortures, and through it all most of them said that there were two things that kept them going: Faith and Hope. In countries far from home they still believed that America would bring them home. They had faith in the country and hope for their future. In almost all cases they also had faith in God who would see them through the difficulties and if they did die in captivity that He would bring them to their eternal home. Psalm 137 is a psalm of a people far from home hoping that the Lord would intervene and bring them back to their homeland.
1 — By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
2 — We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it.
3 — For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, and those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 — How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land? (NKJV)
This psalm shows the despair of those who suffered the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. It is one of deeply felt emotion. (NKJV Study Bible) John Bunyan wrote many years ago, “You that are called born of God, and Christians, if you be not criers, there is no spiritual life in you.” There comes a point in many lives of believers where they are overcome with grief and cannot offer praise to God. We know, as Paul often said, that we should praise God in all circumstances and trials, but sometimes a person is overcome.
It seems that this psalm was written as they traveled back to their homeland, or were already back in Israel. Jerusalem, the temple, the once great city of God was in ruins, what was there to sing about? The memories of the past, Jerusalem the way it once was, added to that the bitter days of captivity. How can one sing with that on their mind? They put aside their harps, their instruments having no use for them. There would be no singing in Babylon.
Verse 3 seems to indicate that they were taunted by their masters: “Sing, sing,” they demanded. “Sing the songs of your homeland.” Then they must have laughed knowing the condition of the captives. Many refused to sing on the basis that they were in a foreign land, a place of unclean soil. Many did not have hope and it is hard to sing when hope is missing. “Making joyful music to the Lord in a foreign land was so difficult that the captives refused to make music at all.” (NKJV Study Bible)
There was another issue. Many of the Jews were satisfied living in Babylon. Some were living better than they had before the captivity. Many “had married Babylonian spouses and become assimilated into Babylonian culture. They had forgotten Jerusalem.” (William J. Petersen) Song, what songs? They had forgotten therefore they knew not the songs of Zion.
This should bring us to the present. We need to take a good, hard look at our own lives. Christians are to look to heaven as their home, our Jerusalem. Yes, we haven’t been there, as many of the Israelites who were born in a foreign land had never been to Jerusalem. We have a choice: to moan, to forget, to not have hope, or to rejoice and praise the Lord despite our being away. Perhaps it is sin that darkens your vision, faith, and hope. Robert Murray McCheyne said, “Every true Christian loves praise. But when the believer falls into sin and darkness, his lyre is on the willows, and he cannot sing the Lord’s song, for he is in a strange land.”
It would do us good to remember that we are pilgrims on this earth. This world is not our home, we’re only passing through. Are we too comfortable in our “Babylon” here on earth? Maybe you think, “Heaven, a nice thought, but I don’t really have time to think of it.” Remember! Remember that we are in exile, pilgrims in a foreign land waiting for the Lord to come and take us home. Do not lose hope; never let your faith falter. Be like Paul and Silas and dare to sing praises while in prison, the prison of this earth. Be like this psalmist who knows “he can’t let his mouth go dry; he must not let the negative memories of captivity overwhelm his memories of joy.” (George Wood)
“A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still I may sing:
‘All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.'”
–Louis L’Amour (Dark Canyon)
“For we live before You as foreigners and temporary residents in Your presence as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.”
–1 Chronicles 29:15 (HCSB)
————————————
I have made it a point in my career to study the lives of the POWs, some from World War II, but most from Vietnam. They went through horrific trials and tortures, and through it all most of them said that there were two things that kept them going: Faith and Hope. In countries far from home they still believed that America would bring them home. They had faith in the country and hope for their future. In almost all cases they also had faith in God who would see them through the difficulties and if they did die in captivity that He would bring them to their eternal home. Psalm 137 is a psalm of a people far from home hoping that the Lord would intervene and bring them back to their homeland.
1 — By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
2 — We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it.
3 — For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, and those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 — How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land? (NKJV)
This psalm shows the despair of those who suffered the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. It is one of deeply felt emotion. (NKJV Study Bible) John Bunyan wrote many years ago, “You that are called born of God, and Christians, if you be not criers, there is no spiritual life in you.” There comes a point in many lives of believers where they are overcome with grief and cannot offer praise to God. We know, as Paul often said, that we should praise God in all circumstances and trials, but sometimes a person is overcome.
It seems that this psalm was written as they traveled back to their homeland, or were already back in Israel. Jerusalem, the temple, the once great city of God was in ruins, what was there to sing about? The memories of the past, Jerusalem the way it once was, added to that the bitter days of captivity. How can one sing with that on their mind? They put aside their harps, their instruments having no use for them. There would be no singing in Babylon.
Verse 3 seems to indicate that they were taunted by their masters: “Sing, sing,” they demanded. “Sing the songs of your homeland.” Then they must have laughed knowing the condition of the captives. Many refused to sing on the basis that they were in a foreign land, a place of unclean soil. Many did not have hope and it is hard to sing when hope is missing. “Making joyful music to the Lord in a foreign land was so difficult that the captives refused to make music at all.” (NKJV Study Bible)
There was another issue. Many of the Jews were satisfied living in Babylon. Some were living better than they had before the captivity. Many “had married Babylonian spouses and become assimilated into Babylonian culture. They had forgotten Jerusalem.” (William J. Petersen) Song, what songs? They had forgotten therefore they knew not the songs of Zion.
This should bring us to the present. We need to take a good, hard look at our own lives. Christians are to look to heaven as their home, our Jerusalem. Yes, we haven’t been there, as many of the Israelites who were born in a foreign land had never been to Jerusalem. We have a choice: to moan, to forget, to not have hope, or to rejoice and praise the Lord despite our being away. Perhaps it is sin that darkens your vision, faith, and hope. Robert Murray McCheyne said, “Every true Christian loves praise. But when the believer falls into sin and darkness, his lyre is on the willows, and he cannot sing the Lord’s song, for he is in a strange land.”
It would do us good to remember that we are pilgrims on this earth. This world is not our home, we’re only passing through. Are we too comfortable in our “Babylon” here on earth? Maybe you think, “Heaven, a nice thought, but I don’t really have time to think of it.” Remember! Remember that we are in exile, pilgrims in a foreign land waiting for the Lord to come and take us home. Do not lose hope; never let your faith falter. Be like Paul and Silas and dare to sing praises while in prison, the prison of this earth. Be like this psalmist who knows “he can’t let his mouth go dry; he must not let the negative memories of captivity overwhelm his memories of joy.” (George Wood)
“A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still I may sing:
‘All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.'”
–Harriett E. Buell