Thankfulness: Sitting on the Shores of Babylon
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Opening -
Happy Thanksgiving Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve?! If you were here last week, Tad made sure to tell you to hold me accountable to to keeping this sermon short so we can all enjoy the wonderful food downstairs! I cannot promise that, but I will do the best I can!
Before we start, let’s go to God in prayer..
(Don’t spend a ton of time here) Talk about what GCC is thankful for (starting with museum up to today), truth be told, we all have things we can be thankful for…
But, what about when things aren’t going great? What about when you don’t feel thankful? The holidays - beginning with Thanksgiving - are a really tough time for some folks.
Maybe they lost of dear loved one at Thanksgiving, or Christmas or New Years. Maybe there is some other tragedy in their life associated with this season. Or maybe things aren’t going the greatest right now and the difficult time they are going through is compounded by everyone expecting them to be thankful and jolly and happy.
If that is you today, I hope this message can help you find a way to thankfulness - even when you are sitting on the shores of Babylon.
So, as odd as it seems, our Thanksgiving sermon today starts with a Psalm of lament.
If you have your Bible, please open up to Psalm 137:
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O 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 set Jerusalem above my highest joy! Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!” O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!
Ok, brief history lesson to set the context of this Psalm.
In 578 BC Babylon destroys the temple (the first temple built by Solomon) and ransacks much of Jerusalem.
A sizeable number of Jews are forceably relocated from Jerusalem/Judah to Babylon. But, unlike the utter destruction of Israel (the northern Kingdom) by the Assyrians 100 years earlier, these deported Jews were allowed to retain their identity and they established a new community in exile. Later, the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians and King Cyrus returned the Jews to Judah so they could rebuild the temple and restart temple worship of Yaweh – in the Second Temple. (it was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD).
So, the author of this Psalm is in Exile in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar.
That is the context, now let’s look at the text itself.
[By the waters of Babylon [Euphrates River], there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.]
Zion is Jerusalem, Jerusalem is the location of the Temple, the Temple is the place of God’s presence. These people feel far from God’s presence – they feel abandoned.
[On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”]
Because they feel far from God and abandoned by Him, they cease to worship, they cease to praise Him. It’s a very natural response. In their minds, they cannot be in God’s presence, because His presence is only in the Temple and the Temple has been destroyed. Their songs are for God, not entertainment. Yet, the Babylonians demanded they joyfully sing their worship songs for them – to put on a performance as it were - to pretend they were happy. (essense of mockery)
[How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O 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 set Jerusalem above my highest joy!]
They haven’t given up on God - they just feel far from Him. They want to worship, but not in mockery. They don’t want to worship without the presence of God. They don’t want to offer forced or false worship for fear of forgetting what worship is truly about and Who it is for.
[Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!” O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!]
(Timeout - just to be clear, they are not wanting to go gather Babylonian babies and kill them by smashing them against rocks) These folks have gone through some horrible experiences. Not only do they feel separated from God, they can’t forget what has happened to them and they want justice, they cry out for justice - a desire for things to be set right, for things to be as they ought, not as they are.
That’s our opening Psalm for today...
So, have you ever found yourself sitting on the shores of Babylon? Feeling far from God. It doesn’t seem like He is listening, doesn’t feel like your prayers are answered - if you can even muster the strength to lift up a prayer? All you want to do is hide and curl up in a corner and cry? Do you know this feeling?
Have you ever found yourself on the shores of Babylon?
This isn’t how I planned my life God!
My finances are a wreck!
My job feels like a dead end!
My marriage is struggling!
I feel like a failure as a parent!
Where are you God?!
I’m not looking for a show of hands, but have you ever found yourself on the shores of Babylon?
If we’re honest, we all have. And what we usually do is lie to everyone around us and try to hide it. We shove it down, put on a smile and act as if everything is fine.
I’m going to do something a little different today, we’re going to take an “intermission” and listen to a song that speaks to this very issue...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz-2o_enEgA
So let the truth be told… interesting concept. It’s simple, right? Wrong! Why is that? Its because we want everybody to think we have it all together, right? Life is good, I’m fine, never better. We especially do this during the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year holiday season. Amen?
Being honest is the only way to fix it… so let the truth be told.
Our natural tendency is to think this means running around and telling everyone our problems - all about how we are on the shores of Babylon. That will not solve the problem. Everyone does not need to know all the intimate details of problems you may have - even in our family like the church. At the same time, running around lying by saying, I’m fine, I’m fine - everything is fine, is no solution either.
So, what are we to do?
First, start with prayer. Be honest with God - and stop kidding yourself, He already knows, but you need to know He knows and that starts by being honest with God in prayer.
Second, be honest with those who are close to you about what you are feeling and going through. Maybe that is your lifegroup, or your spouse, or your mom or dad, maybe it is your best friend, maybe it is one of the elders here at GCC; go to someone you can talk to in confidence. We have a number of trained counselors here at GCC - maybe that is where you start. And if you are the person receiving the information, you keep their confidence. Amen?
Still, doing both of those things doesn’t mean everything is going to be instantly fine - it probably won’t. It may take time for things to resolve, it may take work on your part, it may require a change of behavior - it may require nothing, or something completely different. Every situation is unique.
Now, I know this is going to be hard to believe, but the brilliant folks God used to collect, compile and organize the Psalms knew this too - which is why Psalm 137 is sandwiched between Psalm 136 and Psalm 138. I know, deep theoloy here - 137 lands between 136 and 138 - right? But, God did not leave us with Psalm 137, a Psalm of lament, without some guidance.
Let’s start with Psalm 136… Please open up your Bibles and follow along…
Psalm 136 (ESV)
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever;
To Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever;
To Him who by understanding made the heavens, for His steadfast love endures forever;
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His steadfast love endures forever;
To Him who made the great lights, for His steadfast love endures forever;
The sun to rule over the day, for His steadfast love endures forever;
The moon and stars to rule over the night, for His steadfast love endures forever; ...
It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever;
And rescued us from our foes, for His steadfast love endures forever;
He who gives food to all flesh, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Did you catch a theme running through Psalm 136? I know it might have been hard to spot, but do you think we are supposed to remember something about God’s steadfast love while we are sitting on the shores of Babylon?
Let the truth be told! God’s steadfast love endures forever. And, can you guess what Hebrew word steadfast love is? (it’s one of my recurring preaching themes) Hesed - yes!
Hesed is a covenental, relational, never changing, kind, merciful redeeming love that acts for the interest of others without considering “what’s in it for me.” Jesus is the embodiment of hesed love.
Truth be told - this is God’s love for you; His unquestioning, unchanging, unfailing, eternal steadfast love - Something we can all be thankful for - yes? Despite our circumstances - Amen?
Before we land on the shores of Babylon, Psalm 136 hammers home that God loves us. It proclaims God’s steadfast, hesed, love 26 times before we reach the shores of Babylon in Psalm 137, before the “dark night of the soul” (as it were) described there. So, can we agree, when we are on the shores of Babylon, we don’t need to just tell God about it in prayer, we don’t need to just tell someone close to us about it, but we also need to remember God’s hesed love for us. Amen? We have something to be thankful for in the midst of trials - Amen?
But, God doesn’t just leave us with remembering His hesed love while we are on the shores of Babylon. Please open your Bibles to Psalm 138:
Of David. I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
No matter what you might be feeling, or thinking or experiencing, God has not abandoned you...
When you are feeling far from God - His steadfast love endures forever;
When it doesn’t seem like He is listening - His steadfast love endures forever;
When it doesn’t seem like your prayers are answered - His steadfast love endures forever;
When all you want to do is hide and curl up in a corner and cry - His steadfast love endures forever;
When your finances are a wreck - His steadfast love endures forever;
When your marriage is a wreck - His steadfast love endures forever;
When you feel like a failure as a parent - His steadfast love endures forever;
When it seems like you will never be able to reconcile with your mother, or father or brother, or sister, or aunt, or uncle or children - His steadfast love endures forever;
When your life isn’t turning out like YOU planned - His steadfast love endures forever;
When you are sitting on the shores of your Babylon - His steadfast love endures forever!
Because of this truth - the truth of God’s hesed love - I can: :-)
Psalm 138 (ESV)
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart... sing your praise… and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted your name and your word above all things. On the day I called, you answered me; you increased the strength of my soul. ... for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly... Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life… your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Despite my circumstance, I can be thankful; despite my troubles, I can be thankful; regardless of how I feel, I can be thankful; even when I am sitting on the shores of Babylon, I can be thankful. And for that, we can all be thankful… and all God’s people said - Amen.
Today we are going to celebrate communion, celebrate and remember Jesus’ life, death, burial and resurrection on our behalf. Remember the hesed love of God in Jesus.
Before we partake of the elements, I want us all to take a couple minutes and let the truth be told to God in prayer. Whatever has been weighing on you, whatever is troubling you, whatever is bothering you, take a couple minutes to examine yourself and be honest with God. Let us do that now...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2jb2YD_IjU
Corinthians reading
Prayer
Being thankful doesn’t offer a way around pain, it offers a way through it.