How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. 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. Psalm 137:4-6
God’s own people were led captives by their enemies, driven to places against their will. It was sin which caused it and even in their miseries the taunts of those who hated them were vicious. As they were slaves in Babylon the mockery against them ceased not. The following psalms speaks thus “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when wed 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 sons of Zion.” ( V1,2 ) That was it and this psalm was written before the fall of this great nation. In times of prosperity they prospered, but as their sins increased so did their sufferings. They were eyed with envy since Ishmael’s time and their sins only bought them pain and misery. The cruelty of those who hated them were also fierce and it was their destruction they desired.
To this the scripture states “Remember, O Lord, what he Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “ Tear it down ,”they cried, “ tear it down to its foundations.” O daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us- he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks. “ ( Psalm 137:7-9 ) This first phase speaks of mockery, the second of God’s love for Jerusalem, while in the third the scripture of the enemies’ cruelty and their destined destruction. This is what it is and in this we find God’s favor rested greatly on Israel. The trails of what they faced made them remember the prosperity of the past and the honor they enjoyed when their relationship with God was good. The language of it depicts salvation to God’s people, while it speaks of destruction against the enemies of God. The core message in this scripture is that as there are sins in this world tribulations will not be absent, neither persecutions but with God on our side we shall emerge victorious. For though there are sufferings the joy within us is greater and even if there are threats God’s favor on us is greater. The Lord desires intimacy with Jerusalem and as God’s elected our prayers must be deep rooted in the truth. God desires this of us.
Ambrose.J.Chakre
