What Happens When You Lose Your Song
Notes
Transcript
1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps Upon the willows in the midst thereof.
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.
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her cunning.
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.
7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; Who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee As thou hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh And dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
Introduction
Introduction
This is one of several Psalms which refers to the Babylonian captivity. It’s filled with deep anguish, moving devotion, and bitter denunciation.
These believers in Babylon were believers in bondage. The words indicate a burning heart of undying love for Jerusalem and unquenched hatred for the foe, which is Babylon.
Where once they had been overjoyed with the fresh fragrance of freedom, now the sour stench of slavery filled their nostrils.
Now, instead of enjoying blessings, they were enduring burdens. Fruitfulness had turned to bareness; happiness had turned to bitterness; joyfulness had turned to brokenness.
For context, the children of Israel had been carried away into captivity by the Babylonians.
Now the reason they had been carried away was not because of their weakness but because of their wickedness. They had fallen away from the living God. God had allowed their defenses to be broken down and used a pagan nation to bring them to their knees to break them and to bring them to repentance.
Now that should not surprise you. Because Babylon always leads to bareness.
Babylon always leads to bitterness and Babylon always leads to brokenness.
That is, if you are a child of God. The only people who are happy in Babylon are Babylonians.
Babylon in the Bible is a picture of the world in all of its iniquity. It is a picture of the world in all of its idolatry. It is a picture of the world in all of its immorality.
The name Babylon means confusion. Now, these people were in Babylon but their hearts were in Zion. They were weeping because they “remembered Zion” (verse 1). They could not get Zion out of their minds.
Zion is another name for Jerusalem. The name Jerusalem means “City of Peace”.
If we go down through this Scripture, you will see the Jews were:
Sad - V. 1
Silent - V. 2
Slaves - V. 3
Strangers - V. 4
Sick - V. 5-6
Israel had gotten to a place where they could no longer sing.
One of the marks of a spirit-filled person is by their music and by their song,
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
If you want to know how spirit filled someone is, just ask them what kind of music they listen to.
Music is a ministry of influence that can be used to either draw us close to God or draw us away from him.
That's why when people backslide they quit singing.
This morning, for just a little while, I want to look at what happens when you lose your song...
I-There is no victory in your battles
I-There is no victory in your battles
1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion.
What a pitiful picture is presented in these first two verses!
Here we find grown men and women weeping over lost privileges.
· They wept over the death of so many loved ones.
· They wept over the loss of almost everything they owned.
· They wept over the destroyed city of Jerusalem and her great temple.
· They wept over the agony of a forced march from Judea to Babylon.
· They wept over the cruelty of their captors.
· They wept over the loss of such a pleasant and blessed past.
· They wept over the forced captivity of their present.
· They wept over the bleak nature of their future.
· They wept over their sin that invited such judgment from God.
They certainly had cause to weep .
The reason the children of Israel were in such a sad condition was, as we already mentioned, because they had been taken captive...
They had lost the battle to the enemy…Whenever we allow things to take us captive, we lose our song!
Have you ever noticed that the songs of God are songs of deliverance?
Do you know where the first song in the Bible is found?
It is found in the fifteenth chapter of Exodus. It is called the Song of Moses.
The occasion was the crossing of the Red Sea. These people had been in bondage in Egypt for over 400 years. Egypt is a picture of sin. But when these people had been freed from Egypt, when they had been redeemed from their sin, they sang.
But when we are taken captive by our sin, we will have no victory in our battles...
There’ll be no victory over sin...
There’ll be no victory over Satan...
There’ll be no victory over self...
You will never have a song until you allow God to give you victory!
II-There is no value in your belongings
II-There is no value in your belongings
2 We hanged our harps Upon the willows in the midst thereof.
The cause of their grief was the remembrance of their beloved Zion far across the desert.
The word "remembered" implies they had forgotten . In their peace and plenty, they had
neglected their precious possessions.
When they had their privileges, they failed to appreciate them and use them ; when they lost these privileges, they saw their value.
The well is never prized until it is dry.
The same is true of us here today...
When we lose our song, we always want to cast aside the valuables that God has given us...
Our Bible
Our Church
Our Prayer Life
Our Fellowship With The Saints
When we lose our song, we see no value in our belongings...
III-There is no vision of blessing
III-There is no vision of blessing
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a strange land?
Our song is what gets us through the tough times…Our song is what helps us see a brighter day…
You may not have money, but your song can still bless you!
You may not have friends, but your song can still carry you!
You may not have health, but your song can still strengthen you!
You may not have freedom, but your song can set you free!
But when you lose your song, you lose your blessing.
Though their conquerors wanted them to sing for their own amusement, the song simply wasn’t there.
The songs of God’s people were more than performances; they came from their relationship with God. It was impossible for them to sing those songs in a foreign land.
F.B. Meyer took the idea of not being able to sing and used it as an admonishment for Christians:
“You have ceased singing lately. The joy of your religious life has vanished. You pass through the old routine, but without the exhilaration of former days. Can you not tell the reason? It is not because your circumstances are depressed, though they may be; for Paul and Silas sang praises to God in their prison. Is not disobedience at the root of your songlessness? You have allowed some little rift to come within the song of your life, which has been slowly widening, and now threatens to silence all. And you never will be able to resume that song until you have put away the evil of your doing, and have returned from the land of the enemy.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
A.J. Gordon was a great preacher who lived many years ago. He was out taking a walk one afternoon and he saw a dirty faced, barefoot little boy carrying a rusty bird cage.
In that bird cage was some sparrows. Gordon, who was a nature lover, stopped that little boy and said, “Where did you get those birds?” He said, “I trapped them.” He said, “What are going to do with them?” He said, “I don’t know, I’m going to play with them.”
Gordon said, “Well then what are you going to do with them?” He said, “I guess I’m going to kill them.” Gordon said, “Well would you like to sell them?” Little ol’ boy said, “Mister, you don’t want these birds. They ain’t no good to you or anybody. They’re just little field sparrows.”
Mr. Gordon said, “I know what they are. I just asked you if you wanted to sell them.” Little boy said, “Well, what would you give me for them?” Gordon said, “I will give you $2.” Little boy said, “Mister, are you crazy or something?” He said, “No, I mean it. I will give you $2.” He said, “Mister, for $2 you can not only have the birds, you can have the cage.” Mr. Gordon said, “Thank you, son, thank you.”
And that great pastor, A.J. Gordon, took that bird cage full of frightened birds, waited until that little fellow left. He then walked into an alley where no one could see him and he opened the door on that rusty cage where those frightened birds were, he knocked on the bottom of that cage, and Gordon said that one by one those little birds came to the perch of that rusty cage that was opened, spread those little wings and flew away.
Gordon said he watched those birds circling higher and higher in the sky. That all of a sudden one by one they began to chirp and they began to sing. And A.J. Gordon said it was almost as if he could hear them sing just one song “Redeemed, Redeemed, Redeemed”.
That should be our song today! We ought to always have a song!
Maybe you are saying within yourself, “Things just aren’t like they used to be! I don’t get anything out of church any longer. It seems as though the things of God are not as exciting as they used to be. I just don’t have any joy.”
If that is you, there is hope at the feet of the Savior. Come to Him today if you have never been saved. Come home if you have wandered away from Him. Either way, He will receive and restore you!
Come get your song back today!