The author of Psalm 137 is not known and as we read this particular Psalm we see that it is about an individual who may have been in exile and as they weep over the bitterness of captivity their heart is hardened and they do not know how they can possibly be joyful or even sing joyfully at that particular moment in time. Have you ever felt like that? Of course, you have. We all have.
To give you some history about this psalm, the Edomites were related to the Israelites, both nations having descended from Isaac and his father Abraham. Although Israel shared its southern border with Edom, there was bitter hatred between the two nations. The Edomites did not come to help when the city of Jerusalem was besieged by the Babylonian army. In fact, they rejoiced when the city was destroyed.
God destroyed Babylon and its offspring for their proud assault against God and his kingdom. The Medes and the Persians destroyed Babylon in 539 B.C. Many of those who were oppressed lived to see the victory. The phrase about the infants in verse 9 is harsh because the psalmist s crying out for judgment: "Treat the Babylonians the way they treated us."
Psalm 137 / New International Version
ReplyDelete1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.
7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us -
9 he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.