Meditation

Hi there,

Yesterday's verses were a profound lament, but today the tone shifts dramatically to an exhortation to remember Jerusalem and to take bitter revenge.

When you write out "Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks", you can't look away and pretend it isn't there. I found the David Gusek video I linked to below really helpful to understand why these lines are included and what they really mean.

The mention of dashing infants against rocks is a horrific image, but it wasn't a vengeful thought. This was precisely what the Babylonian army had done to the babies of Jerusalem during the siege (​18:59 in the video)​. The poet is essentially crying out, "May you experience the exact horror you inflicted on us."

This is why the practice of copying out the words is so profound. We can't write these words out without grappling with them, and in so doing, we gain a deeper insight.

Today's text is Psalm 137: 5-9 Today's verses are in black. I've provided yesterday's in grey for context.

Psalm 137

¹ By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. ² There on the poplars we hung our harps,

³ for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. ⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”

⁸ Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. ⁹ Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Encouragement

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

Psalm 126:5-6

Andy​

God's Word In Your Hand

I often use David Guzik's "Enduring Word" commentary to support my devotions. If you have time over the next two days, it's well worth hearing his exposition of this psalm.

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