scripture

PSALM 137^*

Sorrow and Hope in Exile

I

1By the rivers of Babylon

there we sat weeping

when we remembered Zion.^a

2On the poplars in its midst

we hung up our harps.^b

3For there our captors asked us

for the words of a song;

Our tormentors, for joy:

“Sing for us a song of Zion!”

4But how could we sing a song of the LORD

in a foreign land?

II

5If I forget you, Jerusalem,

may my right hand forget.^c

6May my tongue stick to my palate

if I do not remember you,

If I do not exalt Jerusalem

beyond all my delights.

III

7Remember, LORD, against Edom

that day at Jerusalem.

They said: “Level it, level it

down to its foundations!”^d

8Desolate Daughter Babylon, you shall be destroyed,

blessed the one who pays you back

what you have done us!^e

9^*Blessed the one who seizes your children

and smashes them against the rock.^f

* [Psalm 137] A singer refuses to sing the people’s sacred songs in an alien land despite demands from Babylonian captors (Ps 137:1–4). The singer swears an oath by what is most dear to a musician—hands and tongue—to exalt Jerusalem always (Ps 137:5–6). The Psalm ends with a prayer that the old enemies of Jerusalem, Edom and Babylon, be destroyed (Ps 137:7–9).

* [137:9] Blessed the one who seizes your children and smashes them against the rock: the children represent the future generations, and so must be destroyed if the enemy is truly to be eradicated.

a. [137:1] Ez 3:15; Lam 3:48.

b. [137:2] Is 24:8; Lam 5:14.

c. [137:5] Jer 51:50.

d. [137:7] Jer 49:7; Lam 4:21–22; Ez 25:12–14.

e. [137:8] Is 47:1–3; Jer 50–51.

f. [137:9] Hos 14:1.