Sing Loudly

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SING LOUDLY

Ps 137

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, O 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, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!" 8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us — 9 he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

NIV

This is certainly a history lesson about the time Israel was in captivity in Babylon. They were not happy and yet they were expected to sing song of joy for the entertainment of their captors, who demolished their city. This is a song about their thoughts, about how they, in an alien land, a foreigner to the country, are being asked to sing joyful tunes. They dream of their beloved city and desire to return, but at the same time pray for the doom of their captors. How does this apply to us today? What can we learn here about our life? Were we not captives to sin? But then we were not dreaming of a blessed city in which we desired to return. Just we are in an alien land. We are foreigners, aliens ourselves for our citizenship is not of the world, but is in the kingdom of God. We also have a blessed city to which we dream of being in, the new city of Jerusalem which is coming down from heaven. So here we are, in a sense, captive of this world, having to live in it, yet being not of it, being outsiders, foreigners from another land. So do we get too comfortable with our temporary residence? Do we sing the songs the world wants to here? Are we making our plans to make this place the most comfortable place for the remainder of our days? Is our tongue clinging to the roof of our mouth? Does our hand forget its skill? Alas, we are not to allow our tongue to stick to the roof of our mouth or forget the skill of our hands. We are to praise our Lord, and not just inside the confines of some building we have labeled church. We cannot be like Israel in Babylon for we are to be out and about in the world and singing songs of joy, songs of praise for our Lord. Not only are we aliens and foreigners, but we are called to be ambassadors, speaking, singing for our sovereign King. The Lord will repay the world for its evil deeds. It will gets its due. But for now we are here in their land, and we are all about living for our Lord, singing of his wonderful grace and mercy. We are here, telling of his story, his act of reconciliation, the love he showed to the whole world by sending Jesus to the cross to die for the remission of every person’s sin. All is needed is to accept his death and resurrection personally. That is our song, which is a song of joy we are to sing in their land. Let us sing loudly.