Wrong actions will bring consequences. We all know that, and many of us have experienced that to some degree in our life. When someone goes speeding down the road, they will likely face the consequence of a speeding ticket. If someone spends their school days goofing off, not doing homework or studying for tests, they will likely not graduate with their classmates. A shoplifter can face some prison time, and the person who pulls the trigger and callously kills someone will face the ultimate consequences. Today’s psalm is a lament that was written in response to some consequences that the people of a nation were then experiencing. Let’s take a look at what they said.
Psalm 137 was written by an unknown psalmist, and was written in the aftermath of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the taking of the people of Judah into captivity into Babylonia. Imagine the terrible emotion and grief at not only seeing your beloved capital city razed to the ground, including the great Temple of God, but then also being physically taken captive and exiled many hundreds of miles away into a foreign country. This was a horrible thing to go through!
As bad as that was, though, the Scriptures make it very clear that this wasn’t just a random act of war. This was divine judgment upon the people of Judah for their forsaking Yahweh and turning instead to the worship of false, pagan gods, the gods of the surrounding nations. This was the consequence of their wrong actions and wrong decisions, actions and consequences that the prophets had warned them about, over and over again for many years.
That being said, though, God did not forsake His people. They were in a terrible place, and many of the people turned back to Yahweh, lamenting and repenting of their sins. While displaced in a foreign country, the Babylonians told them to cheer up, to sing some of their songs, and start enjoying life in their new surroundings, but they could not (vs. 1-4). They mourned not only their physical displacement from their homeland, but also the consequences of their sins against God. Today, when Christians see that their sinful behavior has led them to wander away from God and the close fellowship that they once had with Him, they too should repent, grieve, and turn back to Him.
How can we sign the Lord’s songs in a strange land, they asked (vs. 4). True worship is difficult when the heart is burdened by guilt and separation from God. Worship must be pure, reverent, and rooted in truth, not adapted to worldly settings. The captivity in Babylonia cured the people forever from ever turning to pagan gods and idolatry again. The psalmist vowed that they would never forget Jerusalem, God’s city (vs. 5-6). He had unwavering devotion to God’s truth. We, too, must remain faithful to God’s Word and His promises, even when we might be in a hostile environment.
Next we come to the last three verses of this psalm, verses that are difficult to read because of their harsh nature. This psalm is part of several “imprecatory” psalms, psalms which call upon God to come down hard, very hard, on their enemies. However, they are asking God to go after them, not going after their enemies themselves. How many times have we heard someone say “Let me at him for just sixty seconds!”? They are perhaps furious at some criminal who may have hurt their child. They say that, but they don’t go and take the law into their own hands. They are longing for justice. Likewise, our psalmist is asking for justice. The authors of the imprecatory psalms are not asking God for permission to bring vengeance themselves. They are praying for God to bring His vengeance.
The psalmist is angered that the people of Edom, who are the descendants of Esau and thus related to the Jewish people, were joyful when they saw the Babylonians destroy Judah (vs. 7). As brothers, they should have helped them, or at the very least wept with them, but instead they cheered the Babylonians on. His feelings against the Babylonians were even harsher (vs. 8-9), but again, he didn’t act upon his anger, but instead left it with God. God did bring His judgment on Babylonia when they were conquered by the Persians. They had the witness of the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel, but never turned to the Lord.
As we reflect on this rather difficult psalm, as Christians we must examine our own hearts, and turn from sin before judgment comes. Even while living in a corrupt world, we must remain loyal to God’s truth. Don’t ever take vengeance into your own hands. Leave that for God, as He will vindicate His people and judge the wicked in His own time. Finally, remember that sin has consequences. This psalm is a call to holiness, remembrance, and an unwavering hope in the promises of God.
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