By the Waters of Babylon
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
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By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
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.
Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
Imagine the scene:
This is the worship team from the temple. They sang songs of Zion, about how good it was to be God’s people. How they would always be faithful, and God would always protect them.
They had this word, ‘asre—congratulations, good job, you’re doing it right! You picked the right side!
‘asre is the one who delights in God’s law
‘asre is the one who takes refuge in the king of Israel
'asre is the one who lives in God’s house, the one who trusts in God.
Now they are in Babylon. The city & temple has been destroyed, and they have been taken to Babylon to sing for the court, probably at a victory feast.
The Babylonians laugh and egg them on to sing songs of Zion, but they can’t.
This is a moment of guilt and regret—they did not delight in God’s law. They disobeyed. For them to sing of the blessings of God’s law would be hypocrisy in the extreme.
This is a moment of defeat and shame—they had boasted that their city and God could never be defeated, and now the city is in rubble. To sing of God’s promise to protect them would seem like mockery.
This is a moment of bitterness and resentment—they had been betrayed by people close to them. To sing God’s praises now would deny the injustice they have experienced.
This is a moment of deep suffering and loss—the conquest of Jerusalem was horrific; they have all lost someone. To sing praise of anything would be impossible.
So they ask....
What do we do when we can’t sing God’s praise?
What do we do when we can’t sing God’s praise?
REMEMBER that God’s way is STILL RIGHT. (v. 5-6)
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
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.
The singer makes an oath, with a curse: I will commit to remembering that Jerusalem is my greatest joy.
Jerusalem in rubble is still better than Babylon in power.
This is what he had always been singing:
Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
He takes the oath because this is still true.
He takes the oath because it doesn’t feel true.
When you don’t feel the truth of it, remember the truth of it.
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
RELY on God to set things RIGHT. (v. 7)
Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”
The betrayal of the Edomites was a bitter blow.
The Jews were powerless to do anything about it.
Asking God to remember means asking him to take it up and deal with it in his time.
It means letting go of the resentment, but giving over the justice to God.
REFUSE to be SILENCED. (v. 8-9)
Now we come to the hardest part:
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
To us this sounds like a horrifying escalation, like they are asking for some insanely vindictive, especially evil thing to happen. How can this be in the Bible?
Remember that the Psalms are prayers to God, not promises from God.
The point is not what they feel, but what they do with their feelings.
We too often think we are supposed to pray perfect prayers.
Give to God whatever is in there.
I think these verses are a response to the captors. This is the song they sing.
Imagine the Jewish band in a Babylonian victory party, taking down their harps to sing:
The sing, “Daughter of Babylon, doomed to die...”
Babylon, in the midst of your opulence, remember that you are doomed.
They sing, “Happy” = asre—congratulations, you picked the right side.
You think you’ve won, but whoever conquers you is actually on the right side.
They sing, “happy is the person who repays you for what you have done”
Eye for an eye was the basic principle of justice.
They are praying for justice—using the same terms that God uses (Is. 13)
God has judged you guilty , and you will be punished.
Vivid imagery
God said the same, though he didn’t follow through.
The point is to ruin their party with the reality of what they have done.
Like the Germans being brought to concentration camps
While you have your party, don’t forget the horrible things you did.
The band is refusing to be silenced. They can’t sing praises, but they can sing something.
They sing a song that remembers the joy that they have lost.
They sing a song that calls out for a justice they can’t bring for themselves.
They sing a song that defies the power of darkness.
When you can’t sing praises, sing THE BLUES.
When you can’t sing praises, sing THE BLUES.
Singing the blues is a commitment to hold onto the truth of God’s goodness in the midst of suffering.
This is what Jesus did on the cross. A song of praise was not appropriate, but neither would silence. So he sang a psalm that starts, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
When you are caught in sin and guilt and you feel unworthy to sing God’s praises, sing the blues.
When you are defeated, at rock bottom, and have no victories to celebrate, sing the blues.
When you are bitter and angry, and you can’t pretend to be happy, sing the blues.
When you are suffering and in pain, and you see no reason to be happy, sing the blues.
When you hear someone else singing the blues, listen—because you might not be the Jews in that situation. You might be the Babylonians. And the song might be a warning for you.
