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Sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land
(Psalm 137)
Andy Nagahara
The background to today’s text, Psalm 137, is an unforgettable event for the Israelites which is the “Babylonian Captivity” (2 Kings 25:2-21). This incident occurred when the people of Jerusalem, the central city of the southern Kingdom of Judah, was occupied by the powerful Neo-Babylonian nation at the time, and were forcibly relocated and were unable to return to their homeland for over half a century. (At that time, Israel was divided into the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel, and the northern kingdom of Israel had already fallen.)
The Babylonian captivity became a memory that was deeply etched in their minds, as a contrast to the memory of their liberation from Egypt.
Let’s read this whole verse first.
1 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, O 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, O 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.
1. What the Babylonian Captivity Brought to Israel
The Babylonian Captivity lasted for about 60 years, some 600 years before the time of Jesus. At that time, Israel was caught between the powerful nations of Egypt and Neo-Babylonia and was under threat from both. The prophets of the time sounded a warning, seeing the main cause of these difficulties not as a result of external enemies, but as Israel’s own rebellion against God.
Isaiah was a prophet who lived before this event, but prophesied this event 100 years before. At the same time, however, there were many easy-sounding false prophets, and the attitude of genuine remorse and a desire to return to God was not widely shared. The country, including Jerusalem, was left in ruins, and the few people who remained were in poverty.
On the other hand, what were the thoughts of the people who were forcibly taken from their towns and deported to Babylon? Given the length of time, it is unlikely that anyone who was an adult at the time of removal would have been able to return home alive.
There is little documentation of this event outside of the Old Testament, and there are many differing opinions about the number of people who were relocated and how they were treated there. There are many views that suggest that the situation was not as harsh as the Old Testament gives us. However, as mentioned earlier, there is no doubt that as a national memory it was deeply engraved in the hearts of the Israelites, alongside the Exodus. Moreover, unlike the Exodus, the ending was not a happy one.
Although the international situation around them enabled them to return home 60 years later, this did not lead to a bright future for them. It can be said that the nation’s suffering continues to this day.
The first four verses express the lament of people who have had their peaceful lives taken away from them and are now forced to live in a foreign land with many restrictions. The demands of those in control and with power are capricious and harsh.
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?
How about imagining it like this? It is an experience like being forced to immigrate to a country where it is forbidden to worship Jesus, being dragged out to some kind of drinking party, only to be ridiculed and told to sing the worship songs we used to sing in church. People can be so cruel. They can mercilessly trample on irreplaceable things that are dear to a person’s heart, such as their faith.
Verses 5 and 6 say that he would be cursed if he ever forgot his longing for Jerusalem, because the people around him were already on the verge of that state. As the captivity progressed, some of the children adapted to Babylonian culture and began to take on Babylonian-sounding names. Even after the captivity was released, some chose not to return.
After verse 7, it is a cry for revenge. It is easy for those who have not suffered as much as they have to criticize, saying, “Perhaps God would not want such cruel vengeance.” People sometimes find themselves in situations that they cannot view objectively. There is no point in criticizing someone for not being able to control themselves.
Of course, God is not the God of one nation, but the God of all people. The psalmist’s desire for revenge is never fulfilled. So that must have been a huge disappointment for them.
However, some of them were made aware of their own disobedience to God. Some people, witnessing the destruction of the temple, realized that they should rely not on the great temple, but on God’s Word, which for them was the Law. Some people reaffirmed that God is not merely their ethnic god, but the one and only God of creation.
This event became a terrifying memory for the people that they could never forget, but without it, Judaism might have remained a religion of the past, recorded in books.
2. What we can learn from this event
Israel has come to the present day with a difficult history. Opposition to the Jews has always been strong. But now the nation calling itself Israel has resorted to tyranny, as if it were practicing the vow of vengeance in today’s verse.
Israel is not the only authoritarian state. In the past, the Babylonian and Roman empires conducted harsh occupations against Israel.
Japan was both a victim and a perpetrator. Japan is currently the only country to have suffered the devastation of an atomic bomb, but even before that, it has been a country that was harsh on prisoners of war, and has a history of forcibly bringing people from China and the Korean Peninsula to work.
The Soviet Union did not allow the surrendered Japanese people to return home immediately, and instead forced them to work in the harsh cold of Siberia in the winter. As a result, many people who could have avoided dying in the war were forced to die in a foreign country after the war.
What about the US and Canada?bWhen World War II began, Japanese people in the United States and Canada were forced to relocate to internment camps in the desert, having their homes taken away from them, despite having citizenship, because they were immigrants from an enemy country. However, Canada and the United States have acknowledged their mistakes and paid compensation to each person who was detained. This is much better than a certain country that is trying to get away with it by saying, “It wasn’t mandatory.”
My point is that it’s not about how some people are particularly cruel or inhumane. Every nation on earth has behaved cruelly and inhumanely at times. To stereotype a person based on a certain race or country is not only wrong but also an insult to God who created those people. There are cruel people, immoral people, and liars in every country.
If you believe in God, you should not be prejudiced against any particular country or race. Instead, we should acknowledge the cruelty and inhumanity within ourselves and in our own countries. If we don’t acknowledge this, we will repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
When Jesus gathered his twelve disciples together and tasked them with his missionary work, he spoke some rather harsh words to them to prepare them for his ministry. These are recorded in the three Gospels other than John. Today I will introduce it to you from the Gospel of Matthew. It teaches us what the world is like for those who follow Jesus.
Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” （Matthew 8:19,20)
And:
“A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!（Matthew 10:24,25)
Also in the same chapter 10, verse 34 says:
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
The earth was a foreign and harsh environment for Jesus. And that means it’s an even more difficult environment to live in for those who follow him. Even in so-called Christian countries, if you truly try to follow Jesus, you will find ridicule and persecution.
For us, no matter where we live on this earth, we are in a foreign land. Our true citizenship is Heaven, the Kingdom of God. Too often injustices and atrocities occur that are far from God’s will, but for those who seek salvation in such places, he came as Jesus and put us to work as his disciples.
God placed the church in this world as a showcase for His kingdom. Because we have the community of the church, which is the body of Christ, we can worship and sing songs for the Lord with joy and from our hearts, not reluctantly, even though we are in a “foreign” world. No matter what circumstances each of us finds ourselves in, we can help and support each other.
Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk cheerfully this week.
(Prayer) Thank you, God. You know everything and will provide for each of our needs.
This world still sees horrible things happening because of human’s sinful nature, but we believe that it is all in Your hands.
Even if something happens that makes us wonder why You would allow it, we trust You and just want to listen to You and do what we need to do, so please tell us your thought.
Please give us the love, patience, and wisdom in order to do so.
In thanksgiving and expectation, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
Those who believe in Jesus and follow him have the citizenship of the kingdom of God. It means being a sojourner in this world. Moreover, they are not there of their own volition like tourists, but are there as people who have been placed there and are living their lives there. Life as a sojourner is subject to various restrictions and can be difficult. However, God has given each of us a mission to live here, and He gives us the strength, joy, and help to live. No earthly authority can ultimately make us submit.
For Discussion
1. What does it mean that our citizenship is in heaven?
2. As believers in Jesus, what can we learn from the Babylonian Captivity?