Psalms 137 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Psalm 137

How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?

137:1   By the waters of Babylon,
    there we sat down and wept,
    when we remembered Zion.
2   On the willows¹ there
    we hung up our lyres.
3   For there our captors
    required of us songs,
  and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4   How shall we sing the LORD’s song
    in a foreign land?
5   If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    let my right hand forget its skill!
6   Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
  if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy!
7   Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
    the day of Jerusalem,
  how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
    down to its foundations!”
8   O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
    blessed shall he be who repays you
    with what you have done to us!
9   Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
    and dashes them against the rock!

Footnotes

[1] 137:2 Or poplars

Commentary

Possibly the latest of all the Psalms, written at the time of exile, remembering Zion in Babylon.

v1: Time of mourning and sorrow; Judah's sin had led to the Babylonian captivity, Ps 120.5; dwelling amongst the ungodly, but this was the result of living like the ungodly.

v2-3: Mocking to be endured, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" Such hymns of praise reminded them of past blessings, and brought sorrow of heart, see Ezra 3.12-13. Jewish songs were clearly known beyond the borders of Israel; this was a characteristic of their worship.

v4: Remembrance without joy and mirth; the people had turned from God, and now suffered outside His blessing. They could not sing His songs.

v5: More important to remember Jerusalem than to sing; songs without real faith are meaningless; compare 1 Cor 13.1-3.

v6: It may have been that suffering in Babylon caused the people to turn their minds back to Jerusalem. To dwell in a pagan kingdom would make the people appreciate the privilege of serving the true God.

v7: Blatant persecution from Edom, see Obad 10-14. Like Babylon, Edom was guilty of physical cruelty.

See 1 Kings 8.48; the Jew in exile, like Daniel, turned his eyes to Jerusalem, even as we turn our eyes to Christ.

v8-9: Cruelty of Babylon to be returned upon her own head, Jer 50.18. C.S.Lewis comments that these verses present an allegory of ungodly attitudes that develop in our hearts; we should deal with them early, before they grow.