Temple Baptist Church - 11-2-2025
Psalm 137
Introduction:
A. Tonight, we will look at a Psalm written by those who were held in captivity in Babylon.
1. The psalm does not name its author, but it was clearly written by a Jew in exile, or perhaps by one who had recently returned from Babylon and was recalling the captivity. Some scholars associate it with the era of Ezra or Nehemiah, when the memory of Babylon was still fresh.
2. While anonymous, the writer speaks for the entire nation—“we wept,” “we hanged our harps,” “we remembered Zion”—showing a collective voice of lament and loyalty to Jerusalem.
3. It is the record of a sad time for God’s people as their sinfulness brought about the defeat and captivity of Israel. There is much weeping and looking back at what they had lost.
4. This Psalm is a warning to you and me also. We often do not appreciate what we have until it is lost, when it's too late to pray. God is a gracious God, but He is also a God of judgment.
B. A little history of the Babylonian Captivity.
1. The setting of Psalm 137 is the Babylonian Exile—specifically, after 586 B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, and carried the people of Judah into captivity (2 Kings 25:8–21; 2 Chronicles 36:17–21).
2. Though many Jews were left in Israel to maintain the land and export the fruit and grain to Babylon, these captives were deported to Babylon, where they lived under foreign rule for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11–12; 29:10). It was during this time of national humiliation that this psalm was written.
3. The Book of Daniel describes much that went on during the captivity, as Jews were subjected to much humiliation and suffering. The book of Daniel is also prophetic of the end times, and the Book of Revelation and Jacob’s Trouble.
C. The Land of Babylon, located along the Euphrates River, was filled with canals and waterways. The captives likely sat by these rivers (Psalm 137:1) as they mourned their lost homeland and reflected on the sins that led to this judgment. Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet, was one of the prophets left in the land of Israel. He wrote of the sin, judgment, and heartbreak of Israel in Lamentations 1–5.
D. The Request for Songs was not made for worship; the Babylonian captors mocked them, as they wept, demanding that they sing “one of the songs of Zion” (Psalm 137:3)—a cruel taunt since these songs were expressions of joy and worship in the Temple. These were the holy Psalms that we read today. Singing them in captivity was blasphemy to the exiled Israelites (v. 4).
E. The Psalm is Imprecatory in nature, as God’s people cry for the judgment of God and destruction of Babylon. The Psalm is naturally divided into three distinct sections, which we will look at individually. Now, let us look at the Psalm.
1. Verses 1-3. Remembrance. God’s people are far from their homeland, living in Babylon, a land of idols and false gods. Though a beautiful place, it left God’s people comfortless.
Psalms 137:1-3 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.
a. Verse 1. “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.” Their tears were spiritual ones, not just patriotic. Sinfulness leads the child of God away from the fellowship of God, into a “strange land” where no peace resides. They were not remembering the hills of Judah; they were remembering Zion, the City of God, where they had once worshipped!
b. Verse 2. “We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.” Willows are “weeping trees” as their branches bend low to the ground. Today, we call them “Weeping Willows.” Their instruments of praise hang silent in grief. Their captivity left them cold in heart, distant in prayer, and unfaithful in devotions!
c. Verse 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.” They were mocked by the world. “They carried us away captive … required of us a song … they that wasted us .. Sung us one of the songs of Zion.” The Bybalonians did not want to worship, they wanted Israel to know that their “God” was not able in their eyes to deliver Israel! When we get out of the will of God, the world mocks us.
2. Verses 4-6. Restoration.
Psalms 137:4-6 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.
a. Verse 4. Their Remembered Reverence. “How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?” Here we see the steadfast loyalty of God’s people. They refused to sing the Lord’s songs for the entertainment of heathens. Their silence was not unbelief—it was reverence. Today, we hear the old songs of worship being sung by the world. Wicked movie stars have made albums for the entertainment of the religious. The songs of Zion were not sung for the world; they were the songs of worship by the people of God.
b. Verse 5. They Remembered Jerusalem. “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning” They would never forget who they were. Even in exile, Jerusalem lived in their hearts.
For us today, this is a picture of the believer’s heart set in heaven. We may live in this world, but our affection must remain in Zion above. We must not forget the Lord, His Word, or His promises. The apostle Paul expressed it this way in Philippians 3:20: “For our conversation (our life, our citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
c. Verse 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.” Their joy was not in Babylon, it was in their promise of restoration in Zion one day. The joy of the child of God is not in this world but is in the world to come, the New Jerusalem, the City of God! “This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through, My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue; The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” We know that one day, the King will come and take us home.
3. Verses 7-9. Retribution.
Psalms 137:7-9 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.
1. Verse 7. The Memory of Betrayal. “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, (to demolish) even to the foundation thereof.” The Edomites, Israel’s neighbors, had rejoiced when Jerusalem fell. The psalmist pleads for God’s remembrance — not forgetfulness of mercy, but remembrance of justice.
2. Verse 8. The Prophecy of Babylon’s Fall. “O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.” The Psalmist is not speaking of women or children in general. He speaks Babylon and its people in general. The impending destruction of Babylon was certain. God is just, and the oppressor shall one day be overthrown. The imprecatory language is not vindictive revenge, as vengeance belongs to the Lord, but a longing for divine justice and the triumph of righteousness. The believer’s heart longs for the day when the kingdom of Babylon will fall and Christ will reign in righteousness. One day, prophetically, God will reward the wicked, reward the righteous, and make all things right.
