[Biblemat] S>Series on the Psalms #137

[Jeff S. Smith]

Psalm 137: By the Rivers of Babylon
a gospel sermon by J.S. Smith

Introduction
i. Psalm 137 certainly has an imprecatory tone to it, at least in the  
end. The writer and his cohort seem to be among the Jewish captives  
by the rivers of Babylon, where Nebuchadnezzar had taken them in  
order to conquer Judah in the days of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the sons  
of Josiah.
ii. [Read Psalm 137:1-9.]
iii. Verses 1-6 express a love for Jerusalem and community lament for  
her destruction, while verses 7-9 finish the psalm with an  
imprecation against the Edomites and Babylonians who gloated over its  
fall.

Discussion
I. The Text
	A. How Shall We Sing? (1-6)
		1. the opening verse sets the stage for Psalm 137, finding the  
anonymous writer along the rivers of Babylon where the Hebrew exiles  
remained during and after the demise of Jerusalem
			a. Jeremiah and other faithful men had tried to bring about  
restoration in Judah, but the reformations of Josiah a few decades  
before had worn out what little piety remained in the nation and  
false prophets had assured the people that it didn’t matter anyway  
because God needed them
			b. turns out, they were fatally wrong (2 Chronicles 36:15-21)
		2. and so, like Jeremiah the weeping prophet and probable author of  
the Lamentations, this psalmist finds himself sitting by the river in  
tears while remembering Zion’s former glory
			a. maybe you have suffered the death of someone close to you and  
you can remember not wanting to listen to any music or watch  
television or even visit with other people; your grief was so severe  
that you had no heart for merriment
			b. these exiles simply hang their harps upon the willow trees, so  
disinterested are they in joy
		3. so many of the psalms emphasized fellowship with God and the  
security of Jerusalem, but now that it lay in ashes, all that seemed  
rather hollow
			a. if the Chaldeans were asking the Jews to sing such songs, it  
might be that they were mocking them, just as the crucifiers implored  
Jesus to call upon Elijah to save him
			b. a foreign exile was not the place to sing God’s inspired  
psalms, at least not then
	
	B. Against the Sons of Edom and Daughter of Babylon (7-9)
		1. the transition is sudden and swift in Psalm 137, changing to a  
fiery imprecation against the people of Edom who rejoiced to watch  
Babylon sack the holy city
			a. the Edomites were Israel’s brothers, descended from twins Jacob  
and Esau, but like those two, the nations that sprang from them had  
always had their sibling rivalry
			b. the Edomites dwelt in the clefts of the rock, Petra, its  
capital, being 5000 feet above sea level and seemingly impervious to  
invaders
			c. they could watch from security as Jerusalem was humbled, but  
their complicity in the atrocity went beyond passive observer  
(Obadiah 10-14)
			d. “‘Edom also shall be an astonishment; Everyone who goes by it  
will be astonished And will hiss at all its plagues. As in the  
overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah And their neighbors,’ says the Lord,  
‘No one shall remain there, Nor shall a son of man dwell in  
it’” (Jeremiah 49:17-18).
		2. the psalmist then directs his rage at the daughter of Babylon,  
the conquering nation, on whom he wishes nothing but what she had  
administered to Judah
			a. although God used Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies to  
punish his people in Judah, the conquerors acted according to their  
free will and would face punishment for their brutality and  
presumptuousness (Jeremiah 50:11-16)
			b. the Medes, Persians and a timely drought combined to take away  
Babylon’s luster within a few years


II. Some Applications
	A. Remember Zion of Old
		1. imagine again the psalmist sitting by the river, crying over his  
memories of Jerusalem, just as we might sit under a tree and stare at  
pictures of departed loved ones
		2. there is something very human about nostalgia and the  
bittersweet examination of the past, even though most people are  
incapable of remembering that much that was negative existed in the  
past as well
		3. while it is profitable to examine the past and to learn from  
what occurred, it is unwise to dwell upon the past, to relive it  
perpetually and to ruin the future with such melancholy and  
discouragement
			a. the writer of Ecclesiastes said, “Do not say, ‘Why were the  
former days better than these?’ For you do not inquire wisely  
concerning this” (7:10).
			b. the former days almost always seem better because people have a  
way of recalling the positive and forgetting much of the negative  
(e.g., ‘50s nostalgia remembers simplicity and morality, but forgets  
Sputnik and Korea)
		4. God actually told the exiles’ children, “But now I will not  
treat the remnant of this people as in the former days” (Zechariah 8:11)
			a. Ezra tells us that when the exiles finally returned to rebuild,  
“many of … the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a  
loud voice when the foundation of” the second temple was laid because  
it was smaller (3:12)
			b. when the construction resumed 15 years later, they asked, “Who  
is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do  
you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as  
nothing” (Haggai 2:3)?
		5. we might be tempted to remember the churches of Christ as they  
were growing explosively in the middle twentieth century or America  
when it was more religiously-minded, but that trip down Memory Lane  
is not going to do anything to lend us courage and determination today
			b. Jesus told one potential disciple that “No one, having put his  
hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of  
God” (Luke 9:62) and maybe some of that looking back is misguided,  
pessimistic nostalgia, that cripples the disciples who might  
otherwise drive to the future
			c. we must look forward (Phil. 3:12-15)

	B. Tears and Mirth
		1. tears are often associated with weakness or femininity, but  
nothing indicates this psalmist was either of those
		2. there is nothing shameful about weeping, even over significant  
earthly losses such as fellow Christians, beloved objects or affairs  
of state; even Jesus wept over something that he could repair (see  
John 11:35)
		3. Paul reminded the Ephesian elders that he had preached among  
them with tears day and night for three years (see Acts 20:31), but  
it was their parting a few moments later that really brought out the  
emotion of the moment (Acts 20:36-38)
		4. this is where we learn to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and  
weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15)
		5. it is James, however, who most clearly captures the sentiment of  
Psalm 137 for New Testament times (James 5:13-18)
			a. “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose  
under heaven … A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn,  
And a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,4).
			b. you are permitted the luxury of weeping and mourning when  
events demand it, or when your spirit is broken and your heart is  
aching, even if some tell you to cheer up and put on a happy face
			c. yet you must not remain on the riverbank of Babylonian  
depression forever

	C. Standing on the Other Side
		1. the Edomites were convicted of standing on the other side and  
taking pleasure in Judah’s downfall, but the danger of that is that  
God will repay such gloating with an even more severe penalty
		2. consider this warning in Proverbs 24:17-18
		3. and remember that standing idly by as a brother or neighbor  
stumbles to his death is sinful neglect (Proverbs 24:11-12)

	D. Imprecation
		1. it is always the case that Old Testament imprecations against  
enemies make us uncomfortable, and it is no less so when the psalmist  
hopes to see Babylon’s children dashed against the rocks
		2. much of this is due to the fact that Israel was a geographic and  
military nation, with orders to conquer and defend against real foes
		3. when Christ came, he inaugurated a different kind of kingdom,  
not of this world’s type, and distanced it from physical battles and  
confrontations (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:1-6)
		4. the disciples of Christ are thus liberated to pray for their  
enemies and wish for their conversion instead of needing to see them  
bloody and defeated upon a field of battle (Romans 12:17-21)
			a. although Paul quotes from the Old Testament, the proverb has  
much more meaning to someone who knows the peace that comes through  
grace
			b. but imprecation is not entirely missing from the New Testament,  
for in closing his second letter to Timothy, Paul adds, “Alexander  
the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to  
his works” (4:14)
			c. likewise, Paul occasionally places the title of anathema or  
accursed upon those who twisted the Scriptures (see Galatians 1:8-9,  
5:12; 1 Corinthians 16:22)
			d. he warned the Philippians, saying, “For many walk, of whom I  
have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the  
enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction” (3:18-19)
		5. the love that we have for people should never overpower the love  
that we have for God and his word and his will, so that we begin to  
favor tolerance of sin and error that they might not be embarrassed
			a. perhaps if the Lord rewards those who do evil in this lifetime,  
they will be moved to repent and God cannot do other than repay them  
eternally if they refuse him
			b. for those who wrest the Scriptures, there is no indulgence  
(Revelation 22:18-19)

Conclusion
Psalm 137 is almost like two psalms in one, uniting the themes of  
nostalgia for old Jerusalem with the animosity felt toward those  
deemed responsible for its demise. We learn from it to look forward  
with confidence.


JEFF S. SMITH
Evangelist for the Woodmont church of Christ

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