April 1
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PSALM 137
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres.3 For there our captors required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!
7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said,
“Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock! – Psalm 137:1-9
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PSALM 137 LAMENT OVER THE ENEMY’S MOCKERY
A poem inspired by this psalm by ILMA
O Lord, I plead you to take notice of the enemy’s scoffs
They make fun of us and want us to defy our worship of you
Through our songs of praise and adoration, they mock us
They want to turn our worship of you into a performance
Do not allow the gifts you gave us to entertain their wicked souls
Expose it Lord, so everyone will see their schemes and ploys.
How long O Lord will you let these mockeries go on?
We only want to praise and glorify you alone
Give us grace to withstand their wickedness
Help us to be unstained by the world systems
Keep us strong to continue to exalt you, O Lord
Do not allow their derision to keep us away from your love.
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think this community lament sounds very intense? What event was verse 8 referring to? Is it justified for the psalmist to ask God to punish the enemy?