This psalm was likely written during or shortly after Israel’s exile into Babylonian captivity.
“By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, ‘Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!’ O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” (v1-4,7-9)
Funny, I don’t remember hearing any speakers teach on this psalm, possibly because it’s pretty uncharacteristic of God’s followers to bless someone who kills children (v9). That seems pretty vengeful. One might wonder how this psalm even made it into the Bible.
In captivity Israel wept, and did not play their instruments of praise (their harps were hung on the trees and the Babylonians mocked them). Do we struggle with praising the Lord when we’re in the midst of sin’s consequences? I know I do.
What we need to keep in mind is Israel was pretty bitter about their captivity, for a number of reasons. Reasons may have included harsh treatment, destruction of Jerusalem, deaths of loved ones (including some of their children), and their convicted hearts for their sin that was so great, God allowed His people to suffer greatly.
This bitterness and anger is possibly why they wished vengeance upon Edom (who celebrated Israel’s fall) and Babylon (their captors). I think it’s God’s divine imprint on us that causes us to crave justice, and it’s the sin nature’s twist on that righteous anger, that causes us to want vengeance.
My learning for today is to examine if there are any areas of my life in which I am not praising God. Those areas, in which I’m probably struggling with a twisted understanding, need to be submitted to God and lifted up in praise. By lifting up all of our circumstances and struggles to God in praise, we can acknowledge He has allowed these things so that we may grow closer to Him.
Father God, praise be to You O Lord God Almighty, the King of Israel and provider for Jacob. We remember how You have allowed struggles into our lives – some because those around us have sinned, and some because we have sinned. You lovingly allow these circumstances so that we can be drawn closer to You through them. Father please grant us the strength and eyes to focus on You in the midst of all circumstances, to take our harps from the trees and praise You on the banks of foreign rivers, for You are our God. In the powerful and redeeming name of Jesus we ask this, amen.
P.S. Now I need to figure out how to get this out of my head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta42xU2UXLA
~ Conqueror in Training