How could they continue to sing the songs of Hashem, which were supposed to be sung in the Temple, in the exile?Their answer was an oath to never forget Yerushalayim. Psalm 137:8-9. which is true of literal Babylon, called the destroying mountain, Jeremiah 51:25; and of mystical Babylon, the destroyer both of the bodies and souls of men, Revelation 11:18; happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us; meaning Darius the Mede, as Kimchi; or rather, or however who must be added, Cyrus the Persian, as R. Obadiah; who were ordered by the Lord to retaliate her, and do as she had done to others, Jeremiah 50:15; and in so doing pronounced happy, being the Lord's shepherd, raised up in righteousness to perform his pleasure, Isaiah 44:28; and here wished success by the godly Jews. Lyrics written by [Traditional] Language English Comments Psalm 137 (Greek numbering: Psalm 136) is one of the best known of the Biblical psalms. If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. (i) "nudate", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt. Psalm 137 is in the context of the Jewish exile in Babylon (Psalm 137:1) where they had been taken as slaves after the Babylonians burned down the city of Jerusalem. The mourning of the exiles in Babylon. King David did not write this psalm with Negative Theology in mind. (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';fnames[3]='ADDRESS';ftypes[3]='address';fnames[4]='PHONE';ftypes[4]='phone';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Powered by Headway, the drag and drop WordPress theme, (c) Copyright Religious Affections Ministries, I am pleased to add a resource to the growing collection of Tune My Heart, During this time of Advent and Christmas, the church rightly turns its attention to the, Kevin T. Bauder If the ghost of Christmas past is composed of the memories of, It is the end of another great year for Religious Affections Ministries. The psalm is in 3 parts. This is the context for Psalm 137. Words in boxes are from the Bible. I don’t see how this would be a righteous thing to do even IF the Jews were in a foreign land. Verse 1. They were God’s people in a strange land; they had no homes, no place for worship; they were a unique people with a unique identity, but they were aliens and strangers. Stockium, p. 447. According to the Midrash Shocher Tov, Psalm 139 was written by Adam.Verses 5 and 16, for example, allude to the formation of the First Man. (a) "qui veluti in acervos nos redegerunt", Tigurine version, Grotius. It should not be forgotten, especially by those who have never known exile, dispossession or the rape of people and land." It reflects the sorrows and thoughts of one of the captives, either during the captivity itself, or shortly afterward when the memories of the terrible experience were still fresh in the psalmist's mind. This ultimately resulted in civil war after Solomon’s death, and the nation divided into two, Judah in the south ruled by Solomon’s son Rehoboam, and Israel in the north ruled by Jeroboam. Background and themes. How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land? This means that we can say when the *psalmist wrote Psalm 137. He is poetically leading us to feel disgust at what is going on in the exile. They stedfastly resolved to keep up this affection. So Pindar (h) calls the chief, principal, and greatest part of joy, , the beginning of joy, the top and perfection of it. What might the people of Israel have been missing? The hymnwriter John L. Bell comments alongside his own setting of this Psalm: "The final verse is omitted in this metricization, because its seemingly outrageous curse is better dealt with in preaching or group conversation. This verse actually gives us a lot of information. Because of their increasing idolatry, God raised up the nation of Babylon to invade the nation, and finally in 586 the city of Jerusalem along with the Temple were utterly destroyed, and in a series of deportations the people were taken captive to Babylon. They knew you would ultimately deliver them, and in the meantime, they knew you would comfort them and sustain them as they awaited their day of salvation. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us. The psalm uses words like weeping beside willow trees. that is, to weep over the calamities of Jerusalem; which might be thought, if the songs of Zion were sung; or to pray for the restoration of her prosperity and peace; as the church of Christ may be said to be forgotten, when men forget to mourn over its breaches, and show no concern for the reparation of them; or at the death of principal persons, which they lay not to heart; or at the great decay of religion in those that survive; or at the sins of professors, and their disregard to the word and ordinances: also when they forget to pray for her happiness in general; for the good of her members in particular; and especially for her ministers, that they may have assistance and success; and for a blessing on the word and ordinances, and for the conversion of sinners; and when they forget the worship of the Lord in it, and forsake the assembling of themselves together; let my right hand forget her cunning; her skill in music, particularly in playing on the harp; see 1 Samuel 16:16; the harp was held in the left hand, and struck with the right; and that more softly or hardly, as the note required, in which was the skill or cunning of using it. Now, however, the Hebrews found themselves in a cultural situation that was hostile to their religion and pure worship. 137. It reflects the sorrows and thoughts of one of the captives, either during the captivity itself, or shortly afterward when the memories of the terrible experience were still fresh in the psalmist's mind. The *psalmist is the person that wrote the psalm. They cannot humour their proud oppressors, Psalm 137:3,4. This sets David apart from others. It was customary for Jews to gather for worship by a river due to the necessity of ceremonial washings—this was a practice that continued for the building of synagogues later. He is an elder in his church in Fort Worth, TX where he resides with his wife and four children. Many discussions on the purpose of the Psalms and what it means for the Scriptures to be 'divinely inspired' inevitably look at this passage. He says that if he forgets the true worship of God, then may it be that he loses his skill to play the lyre or to sing, for he does not want to use these skills except in the praise of Yahweh. Requirements from Acts 1:21–26 (Part 1 of 2), Some Thoughts about the hymnal Cantus Christi. Perhaps it was when David was king, or up to 500 years after. It is widely accepted that this psalm was written during or shortly after the exilic waves of the Southern Kingdom during the Babylonian captivity of 597 BCE and 587 BCE , … In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. And in both cases, it is the vast minority that actually follow God’s commands; as far as we know, most of the nation forsake the true worship of God. “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”. The Jews in exile were then told to “sing us one of the songs of Zion!” (Psalm 137:1), adding further humiliation and frustration to a defeated people. Many discussions on the purpose of the Psalms and what it means for the Scriptures to be 'divinely inspired' inevitably look at this passage. It is a lament for the disobedience that led to Israel’s captivity in Babylon, the city of sin. This is the key concept that answers the question why did David write Psalm 23. The manner or form in which they were written was metre (g), though some deny it that the Jews had metre: as appears by the different accentuation of them from other writings, and from their being sung vocally and on musical instruments. Woah. They were in exile. Psalm 137 was written by the rivers of Babylon, where the exiled Jews wailed and lamented the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.They wondered how they would continue to endure on foreign soil. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. The occasion of this psalm was the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, and the treatment they met with there; either as foreseen, or as now endured. They, 5 Day Bible Narratives Reading Plan and Family Devotional. (d) Animadv. By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. The latest psalm is probably (137), a song of lament clearly written during the days when the Hebrews were being held captive by the Babylonians, from about 586 to 538 B.C. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions, make it to be David's, and yet add the name of Jeremiah; and the Arabic version calls it David's, concerning Jeremiah: but, as Theodoret observes, Jeremiah was not carried into Babylon, but, after some short stay in or near Jerusalem, was forced away into Egypt; and could neither be the writer nor subject of this psalm: and though it might be written by David under a spirit of prophecy; who thereby might foresee and foretell the Babylonish captivity, and what the Jews would suffer in it; as the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah did, many years before it came to pass; yet it seems rather to have been written by one of the captivity, either while in it, or immediately after it. p. 181. << Psalm 137 | Psalm 138 | Psalm 139 >> (Read all of Psalm 138) Exposition - Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings Hints to the Village Preacher TITLE. Psalm 137:9 shocks: “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!”. When suffering, we should recollect with godly sorrow our … How could they continue to sing the songs of Hashem, which were supposed to be sung in the Temple, in the exile?Their answer was an oath to never forget Yerushalayim. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Fab. They had been there for nearly seventy years – and they were angry; they were dispossessed, broken and homeless. Psalm 137 is the 137th psalm of the Book of Psalms, and ... "Rivers of Babylon", in part based on the opening verses of the Psalm, is a Rastafarian song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. An EasyEnglish Translation with Notes (about 1200 word vocabulary) on Psalm 137. www.easyenglish.bible. These are among the first stories children learn from the Old Testament—Daniel and the Lion’s Den and the Three Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace. (e) "oblita est nostra dextra", Castalio. l. 2. v. 110. God does not tolerate false worship; because the people did not keep his commandments, God allowed the northern kingdom to be defeated by Assyria in a series of invasions until finally, in 722, Assyria completely defeated them and took the people captive. King David, a man after God’s own heart, had defeated Israel’s most threatening enemies and organized plans for the building of God’s Temple in Jerusalem—the center of true worship. David did not write the psalm. Psalms 119:3 speaks of doing no iniquity, while this verse treats of the method of not sinning. Re: Psalm 137:9 - who wrote this? And yet instead, they sat down and wept; they hung up their lyres, the predominate instrument of accompaniment for Temple worship. it is a hymn expressing the yearnings of the Jewish people in exile following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. Psalm 137:5-6 is a self curse used for literary intensity! On occasion there is a relatively good king in the southern kingdom, but for the most part both kingdoms are characterized by false worship. Re: Psalm 137:9 - who wrote this? And translated out of Latine into English by Charles Lumisden, Edinborgh, 1600, 8vo. Written by that faithful servant of God M. Robert Rollok. Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 22 - New Revised Standard Version First of all, David was a Judahite warrior. They had been there for nearly seventy years – and they were angry; they were dispossessed, broken and homeless. I am going to do two things with the psalm; first, I will look at the psalm, and then I would like to look through the psalm and allow it to speak to us today. On the willows there we hung up our harps. .May" These are both Qal imperfects used in a jussive sense. (x) "Amnicolae salices", Ovid. Psalm 137 Perhaps written during the Babylonian Captivity, this psalm communicates a sense of anguish so deep that it cannot be expressed even in the familiar musical lament. Words in brackets, ( ), are not in the *Hebrew Bible. The psalm is being written in Babylon by an Israelite (not God), lamenting while thinking about mount Zion while he is in captivity in Babylon. 1 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. And, of course, inevitably, false worship began to permeate the nation of Israel. We read in verse 1, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.” Zion is synonymous with Jerusalem. Ovid. “by the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept” written during the 70 year Babylonian captivity And pushing toward the end of Book 5. there are 8 select psalms David wrote. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. By the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept when we thought of Zion, our home, so far away. 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