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Psalm One
Hundred Thirty-seven
Psalm 137
Chapter Contents
The Jews bewail their captivity. (1-4) Their affection
for Jerusalem. (5-9)
Commentary on Psalm 137:1-4
(Read Psalm 137:1-4)
Their enemies had carried the Jews captive from their own
land. To complete their woes
they insulted over them; they required of them
mirth and a song. This was very barbarous; also profane
for no songs would
serve but the songs of Zion. Scoffers are not to be compiled with. They do not
say
How shall we sing
when we are so much in sorrow? but
It is the Lord's
song
therefore we dare not sing it among idolaters.
Commentary on Psalm 137:5-9
(Read Psalm 137:5-9)
What we love
we love to think of. Those that rejoice in
God
for his sake make Jerusalem their joy. They stedfastly resolved to keep up
this affection. When suffering
we should recollect with godly sorrow our
forfeited mercies
and our sins by which we lost them. If temporal advantages
ever render a profession
the worst calamity has befallen him. Far be it from
us to avenge ourselves; we will leave it to Him who has said
Vengeance is
mine. Those that are glad at calamities
especially at the calamities of
Jerusalem
shall not go unpunished. We cannot pray for promised success to the
church of God without looking to
though we do not utter a prayer for
the ruin
of her enemies. But let us call to mind to whose grace and finished salvation
alone it is
that we have any hopes of being brought home to the heavenly
Jerusalem.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 137
Verse 1
[1] By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat down
yea
we
wept
when we remembered Zion.
Sat — The usual posture of mourners.
Verse 2
[2] We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst
thereof.
Harps — Harps are here put for all instruments of musick.
Verse 3
[3] For there they that carried us away captive required of
us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth
saying
Sing us one of
the songs of Zion.
A song — Such songs as you used to sing in the temple of Zion.
Verse 4
[4] How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?
The Lord's — Those songs which were appointed
by God to be sung only in his service.
Verse 6
[6] If I do not remember thee
let my tongue cleave to the
roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
If — If I do not value Jerusalem's prosperity more than all
other delights.
Verse 7
[7] Remember
O LORD
the children of Edom in the day of
Jerusalem; who said
Rase it
rase it
even to the foundation thereof.
The day — In the time of its destruction.
Verse 8
[8] O daughter of Babylon
who art to be destroyed; happy
shall he be
that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
Happy — As being God's instrument to vindicate his honour
and
execute his just judgments.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
This plaintive
ode is one of the most charming compositions in the whole Book of Psalms for
its poetic power. If it were not inspired it would nevertheless occupy a high
place in poesy
especially the former portion of it
which is tender and
patriotic to the highest degree. In the later verses (Ps 137:7-9)
we have
utterances of burning indignation against the chief adversaries of Israel
—an
indignation as righteous as it was fervent. Let those find fault with it who
have never seen their temple burned
their city ruined
their wives ravished
and after children slain; they might not
perhaps
be quite so velvet mouthed
if they had suffered after this fashion. It is one thing to talk of the bitter
feeling which moved captive Israelites in Babylon
and quite another thing to
be captives ourselves under a savage and remorseless power
which knew not how
to show mercy
but delighted in barbarities to the defenceless. The song is
such as might fitly be sung in the Jews' wailing place. It is a fruit of the
Captivity in Babylon
and often has it furnished expression for sorrows which
else had been unutterable. It is an opalesque Psalm within whose mild radiance
there glows afire which strikes the beholder with wonder.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat down. Water courses
were abundant in Babylon
wherein were not only natural streams but artificial
canals: it was place of broad rivers and streams. Glad to be away from the
noisy streets
the captives sought the river side
where the flow of the waters
seemed to be in sympathy with their tears. It was some slight comfort to be out
of the crowd
and to have a little breathing room
and therefore they sat down
as if to rest a while and solace themselves in their sorrow. In little groups
they sat down and made common lamentation
mingling their memories and their
tears. The rivers were well enough
but
alas
they were the rivers of Babylon
and the ground whereon the sons of Israel sat was foreign soil
and therefore
they wept. Those who came to interrupt their quiet were citizens of the
destroying city
and their company was not desired. Everything reminded Israel
of her banishment from the holy city
her servitude beneath the shadow of the
temple of Bel
her helplessness under a cruel enemy; and therefore her sons and
daughters sat down in sorrow
Yea
we wept
when we remembered Zion. Nothing
else could have subdued their brave spirits; but the remembrance of the temple
of their God
the palace of their king
and the centre of their national life
quite broke them down. Destruction had swept down all their delights
and therefore
they wept—the strong men wept
the sweet singers wept! They did not weep when
they remembered the cruelties of Babylon; the memory of fierce oppression dried
their tears and made their hearts burn with wrath: but when the beloved city of
their solemnities came into their minds they could not refrain from floods of
tears. Even thus do true believers mourn when they see the church despoiled
and find themselves unable to succour her: we could bear anything better than
this. In these our times the Babylon of error ravages the city of God
and the
hearts of the faithful are grievously wounded as they see truth fallen in the
streets
and unbelief rampant among the professed servants of the Lord. We bear
our protests
but they appear to be in vain; the multitude are mad upon their
idols. Be it ours to weep in secret for the hurt of our Zion: it is the least
thing we can do; perhaps in its result it may prove to be the best thing we can
do. Be it ours also to sit down and deeply consider what is to be done. Be it
ours
in any case
to keep upon our mind and heart the memory of the church of
God which is so dear to us. The frivolous may forget
but Zion is graven on our
hearts
and her prosperity is our chief desire.
Verse
2. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
The drooping branches appeared to weep as we did
and so we gave to them our
instruments of music; the willows could as well make melody as we
for we had
no mind for minstrelsy. In the midst of the willows
or in the midst of the rivers
or in the midst of Babylon
it matters little which
they hung their harps
aloft—those harps which once in Zion's halls the soul of music shed. Better to
hang them up than to dash them down: better to hang them on willows than
profane them to the service of idols. Sad indeed is the child of sorrow when he
grows weary of his harp
from which in better days he had been able to draw
sweet solaces. Music hath charms to give unquiet spirits rest; but when the
heart is sorely sad it only mocks the grief which flies to it. Men put away
their instruments of mirth when a heavy cloud darkens their souls.
Verse
3. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a
song. It was ill to be a singer at all when it was demanded that this
talent should go into bondage to an oppressor's will. Better be dumb than be
forced to please an enemy with forced song. What cruelty to make a people sigh
and then require them to sing! Shall men be carried away from home and all that
is dear to them
and yet chant merrily for the pleasure of their unfeeling
captors? This is studied torture: the iron enters into the soul. It is indeed
"woe to the conquered" when they are forced to sing to increase the
triumph of their conquerors. Cruelty herein reached a refinement seldom thought
of. We do not wonder that the captives sat them down to weep when thus
insulted. "And they that wasted us required of us mirth." The
captives must not only sing but smile
and add merriment to their music. Blind
Samson in former days must be brought forth to make sport for Philistines
and
now the Babylonians prove themselves to be loaves of the same leaven.
Plundered
wounded
fettered
carried into captivity and poverty
yet must the
people laugh as if it were all a play
and they must sport as if they felt no
sorrow. This was worm wood and gall to the true lovers of God and his chosen
land. "Saying
Sing us one of the songs of Zion." Nothing
would serve their turn but a holy hymn
and a tune sacred to the worship of
Jehovah. Nothing will content the Babylonian mockers but one of israel's Psalms
when in her happiest days she sang unto the Lord whose mercy endureth for ever:
this would make rare fun for their persecutors
who would deride their worship
and ridicule their faith in Jehovah. In this demand there was an insult to
their God as well as a mockery of themselves
and this made it the more
intensely cruel. Nothing could have been more malicious
nothing more
productive of grief. These wanton persecutors had followed the captives into
their retirement
and had remarked upon their sorrowful appearance
and
"there" and then they bade the mourners make mirth for them. Could
they not let the sufferers alone? Were the exiles to have no rest? The daughter
of Babylon seemed determined to fill up her cup of iniquity
by torturing the
Lord's people. Those who had been the most active agents of Israel's undoing
must needs follow up their ferocities by mockeries. "The tender mercies of
the wicked are cruel." Worse than the Egyptians
they asked not labour which
their victims could have rendered
but they demanded mirth which they could not
give
and holy songs which they dared not profane to such a purpose
sufferings
of the weary and oppressed exiles by their mirth and their indecency. We are
sorry to say that the resemblance still holds betwixt the Jews in a state of
captivity and the Christians in the state of their pilgrimage. We have also to
sustain the mockery of the profane and the unthinking. Ridicule and disdain are
often the fate of sincere piety in this world. Fashion and frivolity and false
philosophy have made a formidable combination against us; and the same truth
the same honesty
the same integrity of principle
which in any other cause
would be esteemed as manly and respectable
is despised and laughed at when
attached to the cause of the gospel and its sublime interests.—Thomas
Chalmers.
Verses
3-4. St. John Chrysostom observes the improvement such tribulation
effected in the Jews
who previously derided
nay
even put to death
some of
the prophets; but now that they were captives in a foreign land
they would not
attempt to expose their sacred hymns to the ridicule of the Gentiles.—Robert
Bellarmine.
Verse
4. How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land How
shall they sing at all? sing in a strange land? sing Jehovah's song among the
uncircumcised? No
that must not be; it shall not be. With one voice they
refuse
but the refusal is humbly worded by being put in the form of a
question. If the men of Babylon were wicked enough to suggest the defiling of
holy things for the gratification of curiosity
or for the creation of
amusement
the men of Zion had not so hardened their hearts as to be willing to
please them at such a fearful cost. There are many things which the ungodly
could do
and think nothing of the doing thereof
which gracious men cannot
venture upon. The question "How can I?" or "How shall we?"
comes of a tender conscience and denotes an inability to sin which is greatly
to be cultivated.
Verse
5. If I forget thee
O Jerusalem
let my right hand forget her
cunning. To sing Zion's songs for the pleasure of Zion's foes
would be to
forget the Holy City Each Jew declares for himself that he will not do this;
for the pronoun alters from "we" to "I." Individually the
captives pledge themselves to fidelity to Jerusalem
and each one asserts that
he had sooner forget the art which drew music from his harp strings than use it
for Babel's delectation. Better far that the right hand should forget its usual
handicraft
and lose all its dexterity
than that it should fetch music for
rebels out of the Lord's instruments
or accompany with sweet skill a holy
Psalm desecrated into a common song for fools to laugh at. Not one of them will
thus dishonour Jehovah to glorify Belus and gratify his vetaries. Solemnly they
imprecate vengeance upon themselves should they so false
so faithless prove.
Verse
6. If I do not remember thee
let my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth. Thus the singers imprecate eternal silence upon their mouths if
they forget Jerusalem to gratify Babylon. The players on instruments and the
sweet songsters are of one mind: the enemies of the Lord will get no mirthful
tune or song from them. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
The sacred city must ever be first in their thoughts
the queen of their souls;
they had sooner be dumb than dishonour her sacred hymns
and give occasion to
the oppressor to ridicule her worship. If such the attachment of a banished Jew
to his native land
how much more should we love the church of God of which we
are children and citizens. How jealous should we be of her honour
how zealous
for her prosperity. Never let us find jests in the words of Scripture
or make
amusement out of holy things
lest we be guilty of forgetting the Lord and his
cause. It is to be feared that many tongues have lost all power to charm the
regations of the saints because they have forgotten the gospel
and God has
forgotten them.
Verse
7. Remember
O LORD
the children of Edom in the day of
Jerusalem. The case is left in Jehovah's hands. He is a God of recompenses
and will deal out justice with impartiality. The Edomites ought to have been
friendly with the Israelites
from kinship; but there was a deep hatred and
cruel spite displayed by them. The elder loved not to serve the younger
and so
when Jacob's day of tribulation came
Esau was ready to take advantage of it.
The captive Israelites being moved by grief to lodge their complaints with God
also added a prayer for his visitation of the nation which meanly sided with
their enemies
and even Urged the invaders to more than their usual cruelty. Who
said
Rase it
rase it
even to the foundation thereof. They wished to see
the last of Jerusalem and the Jewish state; they would have no stone left
standing
they desired to see a clean sweep of temple
palace
wall
and
habitation. It is horrible for neighbours to be enemies
worse for them to show
their enmity in times of great affliction
worst of all for neighbours to egg
others on to malicious deeds. Those are responsible for other men's sins who
would use them as the tools of their own enmity. It is a shame for men to
incite the wicked to deeds which they are not able to perform themselves. The
Chaldeans were ferocious enough without being excited to greater fury; but
Edom's hate was insatiable. Those deserve to be remembered by vengeance who in
evil times do not remember mercy; how much more those who take advantage of
calamities to wreak revenge upon sufferers. When Jerusalem's day of restoration
comes Edom will be remembered and wiped out of existence.
Verse
8. O daughter of Babylon
who art to be destroyed. Or the
destroyer: let us accept the word either way
or both ways: the destroyer would
be destroyed
and the Psalmist in vision saw her as already destroyed. It is
usual to speak of a city as a virgin daughter. Babylon was in her prime and
beauty
but she was already doomed for her crimes. Happy shall he be that
rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. The avenger would be fulfilling an
honourable calling in overthrowing a power so brutal
so inhuman. Assyrian and
Chaldean armies had been boastfully brutal in their conquests; it was meet that
their conduct should be measured back into their own bosoms. No awards of
punishment can be more unanswerably just than those which closely follow the
lex talionis
even to the letter. Babylon must fall
as she caused Jerusalem to
fall; and her sack and slaughter must be such as she appointed for other
cities. The patriot poet sitting sorrowfully in his exile
finds a solace in
the prospect of the overthrow of the empress city which holds him in bondage
and he accounts Cyrus right happy to be ordained to such a righteous work. The
whole earth would bless the conqueror for ridding the nations of a tyrant;
future generations would call him blessed for enabling men to breathe again
and for once more making liberty possible upon the earth. We may rest assured
that every unrighteous power is doomed to destruction
and that from the throne
of God justice will be measured out to all whose law is force
whose rule is
selfishness
and whose policy is oppression. Happy is the man who shall help in
the overthrow of the spiritual Babylon
which
despite its riches and power
is
"to be destroyed." Happier still shall he be who shall see it sink
like a millstone in the flood
never to rise again. What that spiritual Babylon
is none need enquire. There is but one city upon earth which can answer to the
name.
Verse
9. Happy shall he be
that taketh and dasheth thy little ones
against the stones. Fierce was the heart of the Jew who had seen his
beloved city the scene of such terrific butchery. His heart pronounced like
sentence upon Babylon. She should be scourged with her own whip of wire. The
desire for righteous retribution is rather the spirit of the law than of the
gospel; and yet in moments of righteous wrath the old fire will burn; and while
justice survives in the human breast it will not lack for fuel among the
various tyrannies which still survive. We shall be wise to view this passage as
a prophecy. History informs us that it was literally fulfilled: the Babylonian
people in their terror agreed to destroy their own offspring
and men thought
themselves happy when they had put their own wives and children to the sword.
Horrible as was the whole transaction
it is a thing to be glad of if we take a
broad view of the world's welfare; for Babylon
the gigantic robber
had for
many a year slaughtered nations without mercy
and her fall was the rising of
many people to a freer and safer state. The murder of innocent infants can
never be sufficiently deplored
but it was an incident of ancient warfare which
the Babylonians had not omitted in their massacres
and
therefore
they were
not spared it themselves. The revenges of providence may be slow
but they are
ever sure; neither can they be received with regret by those who see God's
righteous hand in them. It is a wretched thing that a nation should need an
executioner; but yet if men will commit murders tears are more fitly shed over
their victims than over the assassins themselves. A feeling of universal love
is admirable
but it must not be divorced from a keen sense of justice. The
captives in Babylon did not make music
but they poured forth their righteous
maledictions
and these were far more in harmony with their surroundings than
songs and laughter could have been. Those who mock the Lord's people will
receive more than they desire
to their own confusion: they shall have little
enough to make mirth for them
and more than enough to fill them with misery.
The execrations of good men are terrible things
for they are not lightly
uttered
and they are heard in heaven. "The curse causeless shall not
come; " but is there not a cause? Shall despots crush virtue beneath their
iron heel and never be punished? Time will show.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. Observe that this very Psalm in which the question is asked
"How can we sing?" is itself a song
one of the Lord's songs
still.
Nothing can be more sad
more desponding. It speaks of weeping in the
remembrance of Zion; it speaks of harps hung upon the willows by exiles who
have no heart to use them; and yet the very telling of these sorrows
of this
incapacity for song
is a song still. We chant it in our congregations now
hundreds and thousands of years after its composition
as one of the Church's
melodies
as one of the Lord's songs. It gives us a striking example of the
variety
of the versatility of worship
even in that department which might
seem to be all joyous
all praise. The very refusal to sing may be itself a
song. Any real utterance of good thoughts
whether they be thoughts of gladness
or thoughts of sorrow
may be a true hymn
a true melody for the congregation
even though it may not breathe at every moment the very thought of all the
worshippers. "How shall we sing?" is itself a permanent hymn
an
inspired song
for all the churches.—C. J. Vaughan.
Whole
Psalm. This Psalm is composed of two parts. The first is
an heavy
complaint of the church
unto Ps 137:7. The other is an heavy imprecation and a
prophetical denunciation against the enemies of the church
unto the end of the
Psalm.—Robert Rollock.
Whole
Psalm. What a wonderful mixture is the Psalm of soft melancholy and fiery
patriotism! The hand which wrote it must have known how to smite sharply with
the sword
as well as how to tune the harp. The words are burning words of a
heart breathing undying love to his country
undying hate to his foe. The poet
is indeed
"Dower'd
with the hate of hate
the scorn of scorn
The love of love."
—J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Whole
Psalm. Several of the Psalms obviously refer to the time of the
Babylonian captivity...The captives' mournful sentiments of pensive melancholy
and weary longing during its long and weary continuance constitute the burden
of the hundred and thirty-seventh. It was probably written by some gifted
captive Levite at the time. Some suppose it to have been composed by Jeremiah
the prophet of tears
and sent to his countrymen in the land of their exile
in
order to awaken fond memories of the past and sustain a lively hope for the
future; and certainly the ode is worthy even of his pen
for it is one of the
sweetest
most plaintive
and exquisitely beautiful elegies in any language. It
is full of heart melting
tear bringing pathos. The moaning of the captive
the
wailing of the exile
and the sighing of the saints are heard in every line.—W.
Ormiston
in "The Study
" 1874.
Whole
Psalm. Here
1.
The melancholy captives cannot enjoy themselves
Ps 137:1-2.
2. They cannot humour their proud oppressors
Ps 137:3-4.
3. They cannot forget Jerusalem
Ps 137:5-6.
4. They cannot forget Edom and Babylon
Ps 137:7-9.—Matthew Henry.
Verse
1. By the rivers of Babylon. The canals of Babylon itself
probably (comp. Ps 137:2.)—William Kay.
Verse
1. By the rivers. Euphrates
Tigris
Chaboras
etc.
and the
canals which intersected the country. The exiles would naturally resort to the
banks of the streams as shady
cool and retired spots
where they could indulge
in their sorrowful remembrances. The prophets of the exile saw their visions by
the river. Eze 1:1 Da 8:2 10:4.—"Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological
Review
" 1848.
Verse
1. By the rivers. The bank of a river
like the seashore
is
a favourite place of sojourn of those whom deep grief drives forth from the
bustle of men into solitude. The boundary line of the river gives to solitude a
safe back; the monotonous splashing of the waves keeps up the dull
melancholy
alternation of thoughts and feelings; and at the same time the sight of the
cool
fresh water exercises a soothing influence upon the consuming fever
within the heart.—Franz Delitzsch.
Verse
1. By the rivers. The peculiar reason for the children of
Israel being represented as sitting at the streams is the weeping. An
internal reference of the weeping to the streams
must therefore have been what
gave rise to the representation of the sitting. Nor is this reference difficult
to be discovered. All languages know of brooks
or streams of tears
compare in
Scripture
La 2:18; "Let tears run down like a river day and night";
La 3:48; also Job 28:11
where inversely the gushing of the floods is called weeping
(Marg.). The children of Israel placed themselves beside the streams of Babel
because they saw in them the image and symbol of their floods of tears.—E.
W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
1. We sat down. Among the poets
sitting on the ground is a
mark of misery or captivity.
Multos
ilia dies incomtis moesta capillis
Sederat.—Propertius.
With locks unkempt
mournful
for many days
She sat.
O utinam ante tuos sedeam captiva penates.—Propertius.
O
might I sit a captive at thy gate!
You
have the same posture in an old coin that celebrates a victory of Lucius Verus
over the Parthians.
We
find Judea on several coins of Vespasian and Titus in the posture that denotes
sorrow and captivity.—From Joseph Addison's Dialogues on Medals.
Verse
1. Sat down implies that the burst of grief was a long one
and also that it was looked on by the captives as some relaxation and repose.—Chrysostom.
Verse
1. We wept when we remembered Zion. A godly man lays to heart
the miseries of the church. I have read of certain trees
whose leaves if cut
or touched
the other leaves contract and shrink up themselves
and for a space
hang down their heads: such a spiritual sympathy is there among Christians;
when other parts of God's church suffer
they feel themselves
as it were
touched in their own persons. Ambrose reports
that when Theodosius was sick
unto death
he was more troubled about the church of God than about his own
sickness. When Aeneas would have saved Anchises' life
saith he
"Far be
it from me that I should desire to live when Troy is buried in its ruins."
There are in music two unisons; if you strike one
you shall perceive the other
to stir
as if it were affected: when the Lord strikes others a godly heart is
deeply affected
Isa 16:11: "My bowels shall sound like an harp."
Though it be well with a child of God in his own particular
and he dwells in
an house of cedar
yet he grieves to see it go ill with the public. Queen
Esther enjoyed the king's favour
and all the delights of the court
yet when a
bloody warrant was signed for the death of the Jews she mourns and fasts
and
ventures her own life to save theirs.—Thomas Watson.
Verse
1. For Sion only they wept
unlike many who weep with the
weeping and rejoice with the joy of Babylon
because their whole interests and
affections are bound up in the things of this world.—Augustine.
Verse
1. Let us weep
because in this life we are forced to sit by the
waters of Babylon
and are yet strangers and as it were banished and barred
from being satisfied with the pleasures of that river which gladdens the city
of God. Alas
if we did consider that our country were heaven
and did
apprehend this place here below to be our prison
or place of banishment
the
least absence from our country would draw tears from our eyes and sighs from
our hearts
with David (Ps 120:5): "Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech
and am constrained to dwell in the tents of Kedar." Do you remember how
the Jews behaved themselves in the time of their exile and captivity
while
they sat by the rivers and waters of Babylon! They wept
would not be
comforted; hanged up their harps and instruments. What are the waters of
Babylon but the pleasures and delights of the world
the waters of confusion
as the word signifies! Now when the people of God sit by them
that is to say
do not carelessly
but deliberately
with a settled consideration
see them
slide by and pass away
and compare them with Sion
that is to say
with the
inconceivable rivers of pleasure
which are permanent in the heavenly
Jerusalem; how can they choose but weep
when they see themselves sitting by
the one
and sojourning from the other! And it is worthy your observing
that
notwithstanding the Jews had many causes of tears
the Chaldeans had robbed
them of their goods
honours
countries
liberty
parents
children
friends:
the chief thing
for all this
that they mourn for is their absence from Sion
—"We
wept when we remembered thee
O Sion"—for their absence from
Jerusalem. What should we then do for our absence from another manner of
Jerusalem! Theirs was an earthly
old
robbed
spoiled
burned
sacked
Jerusalem; ours a heavenly
new one
into which no arrow can be shot
no noise
of the drum heard
nor sound of the trumpet
nor calling unto battle: who would
not then weep
to be absent from thence!—Walter Balcanqual
in "A
Sermon Preached at St. Maries Spittle
" 1623.
Verse
1. We remembered Zion. It necessarily implies they had forgot
else how could they now remember! In their peace and plenty the had but little
regard of Zion then.—John Whincop
in a Sermon entitled
"Israel's
Tears for Distressed Zion
" 1645.
Verse
1. Nothing could present a more striking contrast to their native
country than the region into which the Hebrews were transplanted. Instead of
their irregular and picturesque mountain city
crowning its unequal heights
and looking down into its deep and precipitous ravines
through one of which a
scanty stream wound along
they entered the vast
square
and level city of
Babylon
occupying both sides of the broad Euphrates; while all around spread
immense plains
which were intersected by long straight canals
bordered by
rows of willows. How unlike their national temple—a small but highly finished
and richly adorned fabric
standing in the midst of its courts on the brow of a
lofty precipice—the colossal temple of the Chaldean Bel
rising from the plain
with its eight stupendous stories or towers
one above the other
to the
perpendicular height of a furlong! The palace of the Babylonian kings was more
than twice the size of their whole city; it covered eight miles
with its
hanging gardens built on arched terraces
each rising above the other
and rich
in all the luxuriance of artificial cultivation. How different from the sunny
cliffs of their own land
where the olive and the vine grew spontaneously
and
the cool
shady
and secluded valleys
where they could always find shelter
from the heat of the burning noon! No wonder then that
in the pathetic words
of their own hymn
"by the waters of Babylon they sat down and wept
when they remembered thee
O Zion." Of their general treatment as
captives we know little. The Psalm above quoted seems to intimate that the
Babylonians had taste enough to appreciate the poetical and musical talent of
the exiles
and that they were summoned occasionally to amuse the banquets of
their masters
though it was much against their will that they sang the songs
of Zion in a strange land. In general it seems that the Jewish exiles were
allowed to dwell together in considerable bodies
not sold as household or
personal or praedial slaves
at least not those of the better order of whom the
Captivity chiefly consisted. They were colonists rather than captives
and
became by degrees possessed of considerable property. They had taken the advice
of the prophet Jeremiah (who gave them no hopes of speedy return to their
homes): they had built houses
planted gardens
married and brought up
children
submitted themselves as peaceful subjects to the local authorities:
all which implies a certain freedom
a certain degree of prosperity and
comfort. They had free enjoyment of their religion
such at least as adhered
faithfully to their belief in Jehovah. We hear of no special and general
religious persecution.—Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868)
in "The
History of the Jews."
Verse
1. They sat in silence; they remembered in silence; they wept in
silence.—J. W. Burgon.
Verses
1-6. Israel was a typical people. 1. They were typical of God's church
in all ages of the world. And
2. They were typical of the soul of every
individual believer. This Psalm is composed for Israel in her captivity. Let us
go over it
taking its typical meaning.
1. When
a believer is in captivity he has a sorrowful remembrance of Zion. So it
was with God's ancient people: "By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat
down
yea
we wept
when we remembered Zion" (Ps 137:1). In the last
chapter of 2Ch 36:14-20
we find the melancholy tale of Judah's captivity. Many
of their friends had been slain by the sword—the house of God was burned—the
walls of Jerusalem were broken down—and they themselves were captives in a
foreign land. No wonder that they sat down and wept when they remembered Zion.
So it is often with the believer when led captive by sin—he sits down and weeps
when he remembers Zion. Zion is the place where God makes himself known. When a
poor awakened sinner is brought to know the Saviour
and to enter through the
rent veil into the holiest of all
then he becomes one of the people of Zion:
"A day in thy courts is better than a thousand." He dwells in Zion;
and the people that dwell therein are forgiven their iniquity. But when a
believer falls into sin he falls into darkness—he is carried a captive away
from Zion. No more does he find entrance within the veil; no more is he glad
when they say to him
"Let us go up to the house of the Lord." He
sits down and weeps when he remembers Zion.
2. The
world derides the believer in his captivity. So it was with ancient Israel.
The Chaldeans were cruel conquerors. God says by his prophet
—"I was but a
little displeased
and they helped forward the affliction." Not only did
they carry them away from their temple
their country
and their homes
but
they made a mock of their sorrows. When they saw them sit down to shed bitter
tears by the rivers of Babylon
they demanded mirth and a song
saying
"Sing us one of the songs of Zion." So is it with the world and the
captive Christian. There are times when the world does not mock at the
Christian. Often the Christian is filled with so strange a joy that the world
wonders in silence. Often there is a meek and quiet spirit in the Christian
which disarms opposition. The soft answer turneth away wrath; and his very
enemies are forced to be at peace with him. But stop till the Christian's day
of darkness comes—stop till sin and unbelief have brought him into
captivity—stop till he is shut out from Zion
and carried afar off
and sits
and weeps; then will the cruel world help forward the affliction—then will they
ask for mirth and song; and when they see the bitter tear trickling down the
cheek
they will ask with savage mockery
"Where is your Psalm singing
now?" "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." Even Christ felt this
bitterness when he hung upon the cross.
3. The
Christian cannot sing in captivity. So it was with ancient Israel. They
were peculiarly attached to the sweet songs of Zion. They reminded them of the
times of David and Solomon—when the temple was built
and Israel was in its
greatest glory. They reminded them
above all
of their God
of their temple
and the services of the sanctuary. Three times a year they came up from the
country in companies
singing these sweet songs of Zion—lifting their eyes to
the hills whence came their help. But now
when they were in captivity
they
hanged their harps upon the willows; and when their cruel spoilers demanded
mirth and a song
they said: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a
strange land?" So is it with the believer in darkness. He hangs his harp
upon the willows
and cannot sing the song of the Lord. Every believer has got
a harp. Every heart that has been made new is turned into a harp of praise. The
mouth is filled with laughter—the tongue with most divine melody. Every true
Christian loves praise—the holiest Christians love it most. But when the
believer falls into sin and darkness
his harp is on the willows
and lie
cannot sing the Lord's song
for lie is in a strange land.
(a)
He loses all sense of pardon. It is the sense of pardon that gives its
sweetest tones to the song of the Christian. But when a believer is in
captivity he loses this sweet sense of forgiveness
and therefore cannot sing.
(b)
He loses all sense of the presence of God. It is the sweet presence of
God with
the soul that makes the believer sing. But when that presence is
away
the Lord's house is but a howling wilderness; and you say
"How can
we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"
(c)
He loses sight of the heavenly Canaan. The sight of the everlasting
hills
draws forth the heavenly melodies of the believing soul. But when a
believer sins
and is carried away captive
he loses this hope of glory. He
sits and weeps
—he hangs his harp upon the willows
and cannot sing the Lord's
song in a strange land.
(d)
The believer in darkness still remembers Zion
and prefers it above his
chief joy. He often finds
when he has fallen into sin and captivity
that
he has fallen among worldly delights and worldly friends. A thousand pleasures
tempt him to take up his rest here; but if he be a true child of Zion he will
never settle down in a strange land. He will look over all the pleasures of the
world and the pleasures of sin
and say
"A day in thy courts is better
than a thousand"—"If I forget thee
O Jerusalem
let my right hand
forget her cunning."—Condensed from Robert Murray M'Cheyne
1813-1843.
Verses
1-2. The Psalm is universally admired. Indeed
nothing can be more
exquisitely beautiful. It is written in a strain of sensibility that must touch
every soul that is capable of feeling. It is remarkable that Dr. Watts
in his
excellent versification
has omitted it. He has indeed some verses upon it in
his Lyrics; and many others have written on this ode. We have seen more than
ten productions of this kind; the last
and perhaps the best
of which is Lord
Byron's. But who is satisfied with any of these attempts? Thus it begins:
"By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat down
yea
we wept
when we remembered
Zion." These rivers were probably some of the streams branching off from
the Euphrates and Tigris. Here it is commonly supposed these captive Jews were
placed by their task masters
to preserve or repair the water works. But is it
improper to conjecture that the Psalmist refers to their being here; not
constantly
but occasionally; not by compulsion
but choice? Hither I imagine
their retiring
to unbend their oppressed minds in solitude. "Come"
said one of these pious Jews to another
"come
let us for a while go
forth
from this vanity and vileness. Let us assemble together by ourselves
under the refreshing shade of the willows by the watercourses. And let us take
our harps with us
and solace ourselves with some of the songs of Zion."
But as soon as they arrive
and begin to touch the chords
the notes—such is
the power of association—awaken the memory of their former privileges and
pleasures. And
over whelmed with grief
they sit down on the grass; and weep
when they remember Zion; their dejected looks
averted from each other
seeming
to say
"If I forget thee
O Jerusalem
let my right hand forget her
cunning. If I do not remember thee
let my tongue cleave to the roof of my
mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." But what do they with
their harps? The voice of mirth is heard no more
and all the daughters of
music are brought low. Melody is not in season to a distressed spirit. "Is
any afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing Psalms." "As
he that taketh away a garment in cold weather
and as vinegar upon nitre
so is
he that singeth songs to a heavy heart." They did not
however
break them
to pieces
or throw them into the stream—but hanged them up only. They
hoped that what they could not use at present they might be able to resume as
some happier period. To be cast down is not to be destroyed. Distress is not
despondency.
"Beware
of deperated steps; the darkest day
Live till to-morrow
will have passed away."
"We
hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof." Let us pass from
the Jew to the Christian in his Spritiual Sorrows. He who preach well
says
Luther
must distinguish well. It is peculiarly necessary to discriminate
when
we enter upon the present subject. For all the sorrows of the Christian are not
of the same kind or descent. Let us consider four sources of his moral sadness.
1.
The first will be physical.
2. The second will be criminal.
3. The third will be intellectual.
4. The fourth will be pious.
—William Jay in "The Christian Contemplated."
Verse
2. "Our harps." Many singers were carried captives:
Ezr 2:41. These would of course carry thier instruments with them
and be
insulted
as here. Their songs were sacred
and unfit to be sung before
idolaters.—From "Anonymous Notes" in James Merrick's Annotations
1768.
Verse
2. "Willows." All the flat
whereon Babylon stodd
being by reason of so many rivers and canals running through it made in many
places marsh
expecially near the said rivers and canals
this caused it to
abound much in willows
and therefore it is called in Scripture the
"Valley of Willows"; for so the words in Is 15:7
which we translate
"the brook of the willows
"ought to be rendered.—Humphrey
Prideaux (1648-1724)
in "The Old and New Testament Connected
"
etc.
Verse
2. "Willows." The Weeping Willow of Babylon
will grow to be a large tree; its branches being long
slender
and pendulous
makes it proper to be planted upon the banks of rivers
ponds
and over
springs; the leaves
also
are long and narrow; and when any mist or dew falls
a drop of water is seen hanging at their extremities
which
together with with
their hanging branches
cause a most lugubrious appearance. Lovers' garlands
are said to have been made of a species of this willow
the brancehs of which
are very slender and pliable; and the the plant itself has always been sought
after for ornamental plantations
either to mix with others of the like growth
in the largest quaters
of to be planted out singly over springs
or in large
opens
for the peculiar variety occasioned by its mournful look.—John Evelyn
(1620-1706) in "Silva; or
A Discourse of Trees."
Verse
2. "Willows." It is a curious fact
that during the
Commonwealth of England
when Crowmwell
like a wise politician
allowed them
to settle in London and to have synagogues
the Jews cam hither in sufficient
numbers to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles in booths
among the Willows
on the borders of the Thames. The disturbance of their comfort from the
innumerable spectators
chiefly London apprentices
called for some protection
from the local magistrates. Not that any insult was offered to their persons
but a natural curiosity
excited by so new and extraordinary a spectacle
induced many to press too closely round their camp
and perhaps intrude upon
their privacy.—Maria Callcott (1788-1842)
in "A Scripture
Herbal
" 1842.
Verse
2. "Willows." There is a pretty story told about
the way in which the Weeping Willow was introduced into England.* Many years
ago
the well-known poet
Alexander Pope
who resided at Twickenham
received a
basket of figs as a present from Turkey. The basket was made ofthe supple
branches of the Weeping Willow
the very same species under which the captive
Jews sat when they wept by the waters of Babylon. "We hanged our harps upon
the willows." The poet valued highly the small slender twigs as assoicated
with so much that was interesting
and untwisted the basket
and planted one of
the branches on the ground. It had some tidy buds upon it
and he hoped he
might be able to rear it
as none of theis species of willow was know in
England. Happily the willow is very quick to take root and grow. The little
branch soon became a tree
and drooped gracefully over the river
in the same
matter that its race had done over the waters of Babylon. From that one branch
all the Weeping Willows in England are descended.—Mary and Elizabeth Kirby
in "Chapters on Trees
" 1873.
*The
two preceding extracts would seem to prove that this story is not true; at
least Evelyn's willow is evidently the weeping willow
and would seem to have
long been known.
Verse
2. "In the midst thereof." This is most naturally
understood of the city of Babylon; which was nearly as large as
Middlesex
and had parks and gardens inside it.—William Kay.
Verse
3. "They that carried us away captive required of us a song;
" or rather
as it should be rendered
"the words of a
song." They see no inconsistancy in a religion which freely mixes with the
world. In their ignorance they only require "the words of a song;
"its heavenly strain they have never caught. "They that wasted us"
required of us mirth." Remember
it is this worldly element which wasteth
or lays on heaps
whether so far as our own hearts of the church of God is
concerned. But
true to his spiritual instincts
the child of God replies
"How shall we sing Jehovah's song in the land of a stranger?"
and then
so far from being utterly cast down or overcome
rises with fresh
outburst or resolution and intenseness of new vigour
to utter the vows of
verses 5 and 6. For
after having passed through such a spiritual conflict
we
come forth
not wearied
but refreshed; not weaker
but stronger. It is one of
the seeming contradictions of the gospel
that the cure of weariness
and the
relief of heavy-ladenness
lies in this—to take the cross upon ourselves.
After the night long conflict of Israel
" as he passed over Peniel
the
sun rose upon him
"and that though "he halted upon his
thigh."—Alfred Edersheim.
Verse
3. "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." No music
will serve the epicures in the prophet but temple music: Am 6:5
"They
invent to themselves instruments of music like David." As choice and
excellent as David was in the service of the temple
so would they be in their
private feasts. Belshazzar's draughts are not half so sweet in other vessels as
in the utensils of the temple: Da 5:2
"He commanded to bring forth the
golden and silver vessels that were taken out of the house of God." So the
Babylonian humour is pleased with nothing so much as with one of the songs
of Zion; not an ordinary song
but "Sing us one of your songs of
Zion." No jest relisheth with a profane spirit so well as when
Scripture is abused
and anmde to lackey to their sportive jollity. Vain man
thinketh he can never put hunour upon his pleasures
and scorn enough upon God
and holy things.—Thomas Manton.
Verse
3. "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." The
insulting nature of the demand will become the more conspicuous
if we
consider
that the usual subjects of these songs were the omnipotence of
Jehovah
and his love towards his chosen people.—William Keatinge Clay
1839.
Verse
3. The Babylonians asked them in derision for one of the songs of
Zion. They loaded with ridicule their pure and venerable religion
and
aggravated the sufferings of the weary and oppressed exiles by their mirth and
their indecency. We are sorry to say that the resemblence still holds betwixt
the Jews in a state of captivity and the Christians in the state of their
pilgrimage. We have also to sustain the mockery of the profane and the
unthinking. Ridicule and disdain are often the fate of sincere piety in this
world. Fashion and frivolity and false philosophy have made a formidable
combination against us; and the same truth
the same honesty
the same
integrity of principle
which in any other cause would be exteemed as manly and
respectable
is despised and laughed at when attached to the cause of the
gospel and its sublime interests.—Thomas Chalmers.
Verses
3
4. St. John Chrysostom observes the improvement such tribulation
effected in the Jews
who previously derided
nay
even put to death
some of
the prophets; but now that they were captives in a foreign land
they would not
attempt to expose their sacred hymns to the ridicule of the Gentiles.—Robert
Bellarmine.
Verse
4. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Now
is it not true that
in many senses
we
like the Jewish exiles
have to sing
the Lord's song in a strange land? If not a land strange to us
then
all the more strange to it—a land foreign
so to say
and alien to the
Lord's song. The very life which we live here in the body is a life of sight
and sense. Naturally we walk by sight; and to sing the Lord's song is possible
only to faith. Faith is the soul's sight: faith is seeing the Invisible: this
comes not of nature
and without this we cannot sing the Lord's song
because
we are in a land strange to it. Again
the feelings of the present life are
often adverse to praise. The exiles in Babylon could not sing because they were
in heaviness. God's hand was heavy upon them. He had a controversy with them
for their sins. Now the feelings of many of us are in like manner adverse to
the Lord's song. Some of us who are in great sorrow. We have lost a friend; we
are in anxiety about one who is all to us; we know not which way to turn for
tomorrow's bread or for this day's comfort. How can we sing the Lord's song?
And there is another kind of sorrow
still more fatal
if it be possible
to
the lively exercise of adoration. And that is
a weight and burden' of unforgiven
sin. Songs may be heard from the prison cell of Philippi; songs maybe heard
from the calm death bed
or by the open grave; but songs cannot be drawn forth
from the soul on which the load of God's displeasure
real or imagined
is
lying
or which is still powerless to apprehend the grace and the life for
sinners which is in Christ Jesus. That
we imagine
was the difficulty which
pressed upon the exile Israelite; that certainly is an impediment now
in many
to the outburst of Christian praise. And again
there is a land yet more
strange and foreign to the Lord's song even than the land of unforgiven
guilt—and treat is the land of unforsaken sin.—Condensed from C. J. Vaughan.
Verse
4. The Lord's song—in a strange land. It was the contrast
it
was the incongruity which perplexed them. The captives in Babylon—that huge
unwieldy city
with its temple of the Chaldean Bel towering aloft on its eight
stupendous stories to the height of a furlong into the sky—the Israelite
exiles
bidden there to an idolatrous feast
that they might make sport for the
company by singing to them one of the far famed Hebrew melodies
for the
gratification of curiosity or the amusement of the ear—how could it be done? The
Lord's song—one of those inspired compositions of Moses or David
in which
the saintly soul of the king or the prophet poured itself forth in lowliest
loftiest adoration
before the one Divine Creator
Redeemer
and Sanctifier—how
could it be sung
they ask
in a scene so incongruous? The words would
languish upon the tongue
the notes would refuse to sound upon the disused
harp. Such Psalmody requires its accompaniment and its adaptation—if not
actually in the Temple courts of Zion
yet at least in the balmy gales of
Palestine and the believing atmosphere of Israel.—C. J. Vaughan
in
"The Family Prayer and Sermon Book."
Verse
4. The Lord's song. These songs of old
to distinguish them
from heathenish songs
were called God's songs
the Lord's songs; because
taught by him
learned of him
and commanded by him to be sung to his praise.—John
Bunyan.
Verse
4. Many were the sad thoughts which the remembrance of Zion would
call up: the privileges they had there enjoyed; the solemn feasts and happy
meetings of their tribes to worship there before the Lord; the Temple—"the
beautiful house where their fathers had worshipped"—now laid waste. But
the one embittering thought that made them indeed heavy at heart
silenced
their voices
and unstrung their harps
was the cause of this calamity—their
sin. Paul and Silas could sing in a dungeon
but it was not their sin brought
them there: and so the saints suffering for the name of Christ could say
"we are exceeding joyful in all our tribulation." There is no real
sorrow in any circumstances into which God brings us
or where he leads and
goes with us; but where sin is
and suffering is felt to be—not persecution
but—judgment
there is and can be no joy; the soul refuses to be comforted.
Israel cannot sing beside the waters of Babylon.—William De Burgh.
Verse
4. There is a distinction between us and God's ancient people; for
at that time the worship of God was confined to one place; but now he has his
temple wherever two or three are met together in Christ's name
if they
separate themselves from all idolatrous profession
and maintain purity of
Divine worship.—John Calvin.
Verse
4. It is one of the pathetic touches about the English captivity of
King John II of France
that once sitting as a guest to see a great tournament
held in his honour
he looked on sorrowfully
and being urged by some of those
about him to be cheerful and enjoy the splendid pageant
he answered with a
mournful smile
"How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange
land?"—Polydore Virgil
—1555.
Verse
5. If I forget thee
O Jerusalem. Calvary
Mount of Olives
Siloam
how fragrant are ye with the Name that is above every name! "If
I forget thee
O Jerusalem!" Can I forget where he walked so often
where he spake such gracious words
where he died? Can I forget that his feet
shall stand on that "Mount of Olives
which is before Jerusalem
on the
east?" Can I forget that there stood the Upper Room
and there fell the
showers of Pentecost?—Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse
5. Let my right hand forget her cunning. There is a striking
and appropriate point in this
which has been overlooked. It is
that
as it is
customary for people in the East to swear by their professions
so one who has
no profession—who is poor and destitute
and has nothing of recognized value in
the world—swears by his right hand
which is his sole stake in society
and by
the "cunning" of which he earns his daily bread. Hence the
common Arabic proverb (given by Burckhardt) reflecting on the change of
demeanour produced by improved circumstances:—"He was wont to swear `by
the cutting off of his right hand!' He now swears `by the giving of money to
the poor.'"The words
"her cunning"
are supplied by the
translators
in whose time cunning (from the Saxon "cannan"
Dutch konnen
"to know") meant "skill"; and a
cunning man was what we should now call a skilful man. In the present case the
skill indicated is doubtless that of playing on the harp
in which particular
sense it occurs so late as Prior:
"When
Pedro does the lute command
She guides the cunning artist's hand."
Modern
translators substitute "skill"; but perhaps a term still more general
would be better—such as
"May my right hand lose its power."—John
Kitto
in "The Pictorial Bible."
Verse
5. Let my right hand forget. Something must be supplied from
the context...the playing on the stringed instrument
Ps 137:2
whether the
right hand should be applied to the purpose or not
was the point in question.
Then
the punishment also perfectly accords with the misdeed
as in Job 31:22:
If I
misapplying my right hand to the playing of joyful strains on my
instrument
forget thee
Jerusalem
let my right hand
as a punishment
forget
the noble art; and then also Ps 137:6 fits admirably to what goes before: May
my misemployed hand lose its capacity to play
and my tongue
misemployed in
singing cheerful songs
its capacity to sing.—E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
6. If I do not remember thee. Either our beds are soft
or
our hearts hard
that can rest when the church is at unrest
that feel not our
brethren's hard cords through our soft beds.—John Trapp.
Verse
6. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Literally
"if
I advance not Jerusalem above the head of my joy." If I set not
Jerusalem as a diadem on the head of my rejoicing
and crown all my happiness
with it.—Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
7. Remember
O LORD
the children of Edom
etc. The Jews were
their brethren: Ob 1:10 Am 1:11. They were their neighbours
Idumea and Judea
bordered upon one another: Mr 3:8. They were confederates with the Jews (Jer
27:3: an Edomitish ambassador was at Jerusalem)
who
together with the
ambassadors of the other kings there mentioned
were strengthening themselves
with Zedekiah against Nebuchadnezzar; see Ob 1:7. For them
therefore to
revenge themselves for former wrongs done them upon the Jews
and that in the
day of their calamity
this made their sin exceedingly sinful—William
Greenhill
1591-1677.
Verse
7. Remember
O LORD
the
children of Edom
etc. Or all kinds
of evil speaking against our brother
this sin of Edom
to sharpen an enemy
against our brother in the day of his sorrow and distress
this opening of the
mouth wide against him
to exult over him in his calamity
is most barbarous
and unchristian. ...Observe how the cruelty of the Edomites is aggravated by
this time; the most woeful time that ever Jerusalem had
called therefore the
day of Jerusalem. When all things conspired to make their sorrow full
then
in the anguish and fit of their mortal disease
then did Edom arm his
eye
his tongue his heart
his hand
and join all those with the enemy against
his brother. Learn
that God taketh notice not only what we do against another
but when;for he will set these things in order before us; for the God of
mercy cannot abide cruelty.—Edward Marbury
1649.
Verse
7. Remember
O Loud
the children of Edom. Edom shall be
remembered for the mischievous counsel he gave; and the daughter of Babylon
shall be for ever razed out of memory for razing Jerusalem to the ground. And
let all the secret and open enemies of God's church take heed how they employ
their tongues and hands against God's secret ones: they that presume to do
either may here read their fatal doom written in the dust of Edom
and
in the ashes of Babylon.—Daniel Featley (1582-1645)
in
"Clavis Mystica."
Verse
7. In Herod
the Idumean
Edom's hatred found its concentrated
expression. His attempt was to destroy him whom God had laid in Zion as
the "sure foundation."—William Kay.
Verse
7. It may be observed that the Jews afterward acted the same part
toward the Christian church which the Edomites had acted toward them
encouraging and stirring up the Gentiles to persecute and destroy it from off
the face of the earth. And God "remembered" them for the Christians'
sakes
as they prayed him to "remember Edom" for their sakes. Learn
we hence
what a crime it is
for Christians to assist the common enemy
or
call in the common enemy to assist them
against their brethren.—George
Horne.
Verse
7. We are not to regard the imprecations of this Psalm in any other
light than as prophetical. They are grounded on the many prophecies which had
already gone forth on the subject of the destruction of Babylon
if
as we may
admit
the Psalm before us was written after the desolation of Jerusalem. But
these prophecies have not yet been fulfilled in every particular
and remain to
be accomplished in mystic Babylon
when the dominion of Antichrist shall be for
ever swept away
and the true church introduced into the glorious liberty of
the sons of God
at the appearing of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in his
own kingdom.—William Wilson.
Verse
7. Edom's hatred was the hatred with which the carnal mind in its
natural enmity against God always regards whatever is the elect object of his
favour. Jerusalem was the city of God. "Rase it
rase it even to
the ground"
is the mischievous desire of every unregenerate mind against
every building that rests on the elect Stone of Divine foundation. For God's
election never pleases man until
through grace
his own heart has become an
adoring receiver of that mercy which while in his natural state he angrily
resented and refused to own in its effects on other men From Cain to Antichrist
this solemn truth holds always
good.—Arthur Pridham.
Verses
7-9. I do not know if the same feeling has occurred to others
but I
have often wished the latter verses of this Psalm had been disjoined from this
sweet and touching beginning. It sounds as if one of the strings on their well
tuned harps was out of melody
as if it struck a jarring note of discord. And
yet I know the feeling is wrong
for it is no more than what the Lord himself
had foretold and declared should be the final desolation of proud Babylon
itself: yet one longs more intensely for the period when the nations of the
earth shall learn war no more; and every harp and every voice
even those of
the martyred ones beneath God's altar loudest and sweetest of all
shall sing
the Lord's songs
the song of Moses
and the Lamb
in that pleasant land
where
no sighing and no tears are seen.—Barton Bouchier.
Verse
8. O daughter of Babylon
who art to be destroyed. In the
beginning of the fifth year of Darius happened the revolt of the Babylonians
which cost him the trouble of a tedious siege again to reduce them...he
besieged the city with all his forces...As soon as the Babylonians saw themselves
be girt by such an army as they could not cope with in the field
they turned
their thoughts wholly to the supporting of themselves in the siege; in order
whereto they took a resolution
the most desperate and barbarous that ever any
nation practised. For to make their provisions last the longer
they agreed to
cut off all unnecessary mouths among them
and therefore drawing together all
the women and children
they strangled them all
whether wives
sisters
daughters
or young children useless for the wars
excepting only that every
man was allowed to save one of his wives
which he best loved
and a maid
servant to do the work of the house.—Humphrey Prideaux.
Verse
8. Who art to be destroyed. hdwdvh has been explained in a
variety of ways. Seventy: h talaipwrov; Vulg. misera: others
destroyer
powerful
violent
or fierce. Perhaps it best suits the
context to regard it as expressing what is already accomplished: it is so
certain
in the view of the Psalmist
that the ruin will come
that he uses the
past participle
as if the work were now completed. "O daughter of
Babylon
the destroyed!"—"Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological
Review."
Verse
8. He that sows evil shall reap evil; he that soweth the evil of
sin
shall reap the evil of punishment. So Eliphaz told Job that he had seen
(Job 4:8)
"they that plough iniquity
and sow wickedness
reap the
same." And that either in kind or quality
proportion or quantity. In
kind
the very same that he did to others shall be done to him; or in proportion
a measure answerable to it. So he shall reap what he hath sown
in quality or
in quantity; either in portion the same
or in proportion the like. The prophet
cursing Edom and Babel saith thus
"O daughter of Zion
happy shall he be
that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us." The original is
"that
recompenses to thee thy deed which thou didst to us." ...Thus is
wickedness recompensed suo genere
in its own kind. So often the
transgressor is against the transgressor
the thief robs the thief
proditoros
proditor;as in Rome many unchristened emperors
and many christened popes
by blood and treason got the sovereignty
and by blood and treason lost it.
Evil men drink of their own brewing
are scourged with their own rod
drowned
in the pit which they digged for others
as Haman was hanged on his own
gallows
Perillus tormented in his own engine!—Thomas Adams.
Verses
8-9. The subject of these two verses is the same with that of many
chapters in Isaiah and Jeremiah; namely
the vengeance of heaven executed upon
Babylon by Cyrus
raised up to be king of the Medes and Persians
united under
him for that purpose. The meaning of the words
"Happy shall he be
"is
He shall go on and prosper
for the Lord of hosts shall go with him
and fight his battles against the enemy and oppressor of his people
empowering
him to recompense upon the Chaldeans the works of their hands
and to reward
them as they served Israel.—George Horne.
Verses
8-9. It needs no record to tell us that
in the siege and carrying
away of Jerusalem
great atrocities were committed by the conquerors. We may be
sure that
"Many
a chiding mother then
And newborn baby died
"
for
the wars of the old world were always attended by such barbarous cruelties. The
apostrophe of Ps 137:8-9
consequently merely proclaims the certainty of a just
retribution—of the same retribution that the prophets had foretold (Isa 13:16
47:1-15 Jer 50:46; compare
"who art to be destroyed"
Ps 137:8)
and
the happiness of those who should be its ministers; who should mete out to her
what she had measured to the conquered Jew. It was the decree of Heaven that
their "children" should "be dashed to pieces before their
eyes." The Psalmist simply recognizes the decree as just and salutary; he
pronounces the terrible vengeance to have been deserved. To charge him with
vindictiveness
therefore
is to impugn the justice and mercy of the Most High.
And there is nothing to sustain the charge
for his words are simply a
prediction
like that of the prophet. "As thou hast done
it shall be done
unto thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head": Ob 1:15.—Joseph
Hammond
in "The Expositor
" 1876.
Verse
9. Happy shall he be that taketh
etc. That is
so oppressive
hast thou been to all under thy domination
as to become universally hated and
detested; so that those who may have the last hand in thy destruction
and the
total extermination of thy inhabitants
shall be reputed "happy"—shall
be celebrated and extolled as those who have rid the world of a
curse so grievous. These prophetic declarations contain no excitement to any
person or persons to commit acts of cruelty and barbarity; but are simply declarative
of what would take place in the order of the retributive providence and justice
of God
and the general opinion that should in consequence be expressed on the
subject; therefore praying for the destruction of our enemies is totally
out of the question.—Adam Clarke.
Verse
9. Happy shall he be
etc. With all possible might and speed
oppose the very first risings and movings of the heart to sin; for these are
the buds that produce the bitter fruit; and if sin be not nipped in the very
bud
it is not imaginable how quickly it will shoot forth...Now these sins
though they may seem small in themselves
yet are exceedingly pernicious in
their effects. These little foxes destroy the grapes as much or more than the
greater
and therefore are to be diligently sought out
hunted
and killed by
us
if we would keep our hearts fruitful. We should deal with these first
streamings out of sin as the Psalmist would have the people of God deal with
the brats of Babylon: Happy shall he be
that taketh and dasheth thy little
ones against the stones. And without doubt most happy and successful will
that man prove in his spiritual welfare
who puts on no bowels of pity even to
his infant corruptions
but slays the small as well as the great; and so not
only conquers his enemies by opposing their present force
but also by
extinguishing their future race. The smallest children
if they live
will be
grown men; and the first motions of sin
if they are let alone
will spread
into great
open
and audacious presumptions.—Robert South
1633-1716.
Verse
9. Against the stones. That elM signifies a rock
is
undubitable
from the concurrent testimony of all the best Hebrew
lexicographers. Hence it follows
because there is no rock
nor mountain
nor
hill
either in tim city or in the province of ancient Babylonia
that the
locality against which the malediction of this Psalm is hurled cannot be the
metropolis of the ancient Assyrian empire
but must be apocalyptic Babylon
or
Papal Rome
built upon seven hills
one of which is the celebrated Tarpeian
Rock. But the eighth verse emphatically declares that the retributive justice
of God will visit upon apocalyptic Babylon the same infliction which Assyrian
Babylon
and also Pagan Rome
inflicted upon Jerusalem. As therefore
Nebuchadnezzar as well as Titus "burnt the house of the Lord
and tim
king's house
and all the houses of Jerusalem
and every great man's house burnt
he with fire" (2Ki 25:9)
so "the ten horns shall hate the whore
and
shall make her desolate and naked
and shall eat her flesh
and burn her with
fire; and she shall be utterly burned with fire" (Re 17:16 18:8). When the
Canaanites had filled up the measure of their iniquity
Israel received a
divine commission to exterminate the guilty nation. When Papal Rome shall have
filled up the measure of her iniquity
then "a mighty angel will take up a
stone
like a great millstone
and will cast it into the sea
saying
Thus with
violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down": "For her sins
have reached unto heaven
and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her
even as she rewarded you
and double unto her double according to her works: in
the cup which she hath filled fill to her double" (Re 18:5-6). Then shall
issue the divine proclamation: "Rejoice over her
thou heaven
and ye holy
apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her" (Re 18:20).—John
Noble Coleman
in "The Book of Psalms
with Notes
" 1863.
Verse
9. He that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
My
heroes slain
my bridal bed o'erturned
My daughters ravished
and my city burn'd
My bleeding infants dashed against the floor;
These have I yet to see
perhaps yet more.
—Homer's Iliad
Pope's Translation
Book 22
89-91.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1.
1.
A duty once the source of joy: "remember Zion."
2. Circumstances which make the remembrance sorrowful.
3. Peculiar persons who feel this joy or sorrow: "we."
Verse
1.
1.
Zion forsaken in prosperity. Its services neglected; its priests demoralized;
the worship of Baal and of Ashtaroth preferred to the worship of the true God.
2.
Zion remembered in adversity. In Babylon more than in Jerusalem; on the banks of
the Euphrates more than on the banks of Jordan; with tears when they might have
remembered it with joy. "I spake unto thee in thy prosperity
and thou
saidst
I will not hear." "Lord
in trouble they have visited thee.
They poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them."—G. R.
Verse
2.
1.
Harps—or capacities for praise.
2. Harps on willows
or song suspended.
3. Harps retuned
or joys to come.
Verse
2.
1.
A confession of joy being turned into sorrow: "we hanged
"etc. The
moaning of their harps upon weeping willows better harmonized with their
feelings than any tunes which they had been accustomed to play.
2.
A holm of sorrow being turned into joy. They took their harps with them into
captivity
and hung them up for future use.—G. J.
Verse
2. We hanged our harps
etc.
1.
In remembrance of lost joys. Their harps were associated with a glorious past.
They could not afford to forget that past. They kept up the good old custom.
There are always means of remembrance at hand.
2.
In manifestation of present sorrow. They could not play on account of
(a)
Their sinfulness.
(a) Their circumstances.
(c) Their home.
3.
In anticipation of future blessing. They did not dash their harps to pieces.
Term of exile limited. Return expressly foretold. We shall want our harps in
the good times coming. Sinners play their harps now
but must soon lay them
aside for ever.—W. J.
Verse
3. (last clause). Taken away from the text this is a very
pleasant and praiseworthy request. Why do we wish for such a song?
1.
It is sure to be pure.
2. It will certainly be elevating.
3. It will probably be glad some.
4. It will comfort and enliven us.
5. It will help to express our gratitude.
Verses
3-4.
1.
The cruel demand.
a)
A song when we are captives.
b) A song to please our adversaries.
c) A holy song for unholy purposes.
2.
The motive for it. Sometimes mere ridicule; at others
mistaken kindness
seeking by sharpness to arouse us from despondency; often mere levity.
3.
The answer to it
"How can?" etc.
Verses
3-4.
1.
When God calls for joy we ought not to sorrow. The songs of Zion should be sung
in Zion.
2.
When God calls for sorrow we ought not to rejoice. "How shall we
sing?" etc. See Isa 5:12.—G. R.
Verses
3-4.
1.
The unreasonable request: "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." This
was—
a)
A striking testimony to the joyful character of Jehovah's worship. Even the
heathen had heard of "the songs of Zion."
b)
A severe trial of the fidelity of captive Israel. It might have been to their
present advantage to have complied with the request.
c)
A cruel taunt of the sad and desponding condition of the captives.
2.
The indignant refusal. "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange
land?" There is no singing this song by true Israelites—
a)
When the heart is out of tune
as it must necessarily be when in "a
strange land."
b)
In uncongenial society—amongst unsympathetic strangers.
3.
For unsanctified purposes—to make mirth for the heathen. Many so called sacred
concerts pain devout Christians as much as the demand to sing the Lord's song
did the devout Israelites. The Lord's song must be sung only "to the
Lord."—W.H J.P.
Verses
3-4. The burlesque of holy things.
1.
The servants of God are in an unsympathetic world.
2.
The demand to be amused and entertained. Temple songs to pass an idle hour!
Such the popular demand today. Men would have us burlesque religion to tickle
them.
3.
The justly indignant reply of all true men
"How shall we?" Christian
workers have more serious if less popular business on hand.—W. B. H.
Verse
5. The person who remembers; the thing remembered; the solemn
imprecation.
Verse
5. No harp but for Jesus.
1.
The harp consecrated. At conversion.
"One
sword
at least
thy rights shall guard
One faithful harp shall praise thee."
2.
The harp silent:
"Thy
songs were made for the brave and free
They shall never sound in slavery."
3.
The harp restrung above:
"And
I heard the voice of harpers
Harping with their harps."—W. B. H.
Verses
5-6.
1.
To rejoice with the world is to forget the church.
2. To love the church we must prefer her above everything.
3. To serve the church we must be prepared to suffer anything.
Verse
7. The hatred of the ungodly to true religion.
1.
Its cause.
2. Its extent. "Rase it"
etc.
3. Its season for display: "in the day of Jerusalem"—trouble
etc.
4. Its reward: "Remember
O Lord."
WORK
UPON THE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVENTH PSALM
"An
Exposition upon some select Psalms of David." Written by that faithful
servant of God M. Robert Rollok. And translated out of Latine into English by
Charles Lumisden
Edinborgh
1600
8vo. contains a short exposition on Psalm
137. Of little value.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》