Psalm 137

Story Snapshot

The psalm describes exiles sitting by Babylon's rivers weeping as they remember Zion, their harps hung on the willows, unable to sing when their captors demand songs of joy. It vows never to forget Jerusalem, calling down consequences on the psalmist's own hand and tongue if he does. It then asks God to remember Edom's part in the city's fall, and ends pronouncing happy the one who repays Babylon by dashing her children against the rocks.

Main Characters

Story Summary

The psalm opens in a specific place with a specific posture: by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, and we wept when we remembered Zion. Their instruments are hung up on the willows, unused. The reason is given, their captors demanded songs, and not just any songs but songs of joy, sing us one of the songs of Zion. Prisoners were being asked to perform the music of the homeland their captors had destroyed. The psalmist's answer is a question, how can we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? The middle verses turn into an oath sworn against himself: if I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill, let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy. A musician invokes the loss of his playing hand and his singing tongue as the price of forgetting. The psalm then turns outward and asks God to remember, against the children of Edom, the day of Jerusalem, recalling that Edom, a neighboring people related to Israel, urged the destruction on, saying raze it, raze it to its foundation. Finally the psalm addresses Babylon directly, calling her doomed to destruction, and pronounces happy the one who repays her as she served them, ending, happy shall he be who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.

Timeline

• By the RiversSitting down and weeping for Zion.
• Harps on the WillowsInstruments hung up, unused.
• The DemandCaptors ask for songs of joy.
• The QuestionHow can we sing in a foreign land?
• The OathLet my hand forget, if I forget you.
• Remember EdomThe neighbors who urged it on.
• The Hardest VerseA blessing pronounced on killing infants.

Themes

What This Story Means

This psalm has to be read whole, and read honestly. Its final verse is horrifying. It is a blessing pronounced on the killing of infants, and no amount of context makes that sentence anything other than what it says. Several things need holding together at once. First, who is speaking. These are survivors of a siege in which Babylon did exactly this to Judean children; the psalm is not imagining an atrocity but describing one that was done to them and wishing it back. That does not justify the wish, but it explains where it came from, and it means the psalm's speakers are victims rather than aggressors. Second, what the psalm does with the rage. It brings it to God rather than acting on it. Israel had no army in exile and never carried this out; the psalm is a prayer, and prayer is where feelings like this are surrendered rather than executed. That is what the psalm models, not the sentiment but the destination for it, and it assumes God is trustworthy enough to hear the worst of what is in us. Third, the misuse. This verse has been quoted to sanctify real violence, invoked in crusades and pogroms and colonial conquest, and Christians should say that plainly rather than pass over it. It has been used to do to others exactly what it laments. Finally, the tension with Jesus, who told His followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them, and who prayed for His own executioners. The psalm and that command do not resolve neatly, and pretending otherwise helps no one. What Psalm 137 offers is permission to bring God grief and fury that we would not say aloud in company, and a warning about what happens when such words are taken out of prayer and put into hands.

Bringing It Home

• The psalm should be read whole rather than in the half we find comfortable.
• Its final verse is horrifying, and saying so is more honest than explaining it away.
• What the psalm models is the destination for rage, not the sentiment itself.
• This verse has been used to sanctify real violence, which Christians should name plainly.
• God is assumed trustworthy enough to hear the worst that is in us.

Key Verse

Did You Know?

• The psalm was written by survivors of Babylon's destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
• Babylon had done to Judean children what the final verse wishes back on Babylon's.
• Edom, a people related to Israel through Esau, urged the city's destruction on.
• The closing verse has been quoted to justify violence in crusades, pogroms, and conquest.
• Israel, powerless in exile, never acted on the psalm's wish.

Read Next

What This Shows Us About God

• God can be told the truth about what is in us, including the worst of it.
• God is asked to remember rather than being asked for permission to act.
• God receives prayers that people would be ashamed to say to anyone else.

What This Shows Us About People

• We want done to our enemies what was done to us.
• We are capable of blessing what we would condemn if it were done to our own.
• We need somewhere to put rage other than into action or into silence.

A Question to Sit With

Is there rage in me that I have never said to God because I thought He could not handle hearing it?

Prayer

God, this psalm frightens me and I do not want to pretend otherwise. You already know the things I have wanted to happen to people who hurt me or the people I love. I bring them to You rather than carry them out or bury them. Hold what I cannot hold. Do not let my grief become someone else's wound. Amen.