Psalm 137
“By The Waters Of Babylon” “This psalm needs no title to announce that its provenance was the Babylonian exile. Every line of it is alive with pain, whose intensity grows with each strophe of the appalling climax” (Kidner p. 459). It looks like the Psalm is written some time after the captivity and the writer is remembering what life in Babylon was like. “In pathetic but beautiful language the exiled psalmist mourned the plight of those who wept in a strange land and could not sing their songs of Zion. Opposite to his intense love for Zion was his hatred for the destroyers of Zion; so he turned to voice imprecations against Edom and Babylon who had destroyed the city of God” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 890).
Life In Captivity 137:1 “By the rivers of Babylon”: “The scene has the vividness of first-hand experience. The waters of Babylon included a system of canals across the huge plain, a landscape alien enough in any circumstances to natives of the hills and valleys of Judah” (Kidner p. 459). One such community of Jews was settled by the river Kebar (Ezekiel 1:1; 3:15). 137:1 For many Judeans, life in Babylon was good, in fact the vast majority of Jews who went into captivity decided to stay there even after Cyrus allowed the Jews to return. The prophet Jeremiah had encouraged them to make a living, to increase in number, and to seek the peace and prosperity of the land (Jeremiah 29:4-9). Yet even in the midst of plenty, they wept and mourned over what had happened to Jerusalem. 137:2 “We hung our harps”: The harps are hung up both because of the sadness the exiles experienced and out of loyalty to Jerusalem. Note that distress is not the same thing as despair. “Although the exiles were unable to sing the songs of Zion in Babylon, they nevertheless did not break their harps in pieces or throw them in the stream. Instead they hung them on the poplars, presumably saving them for what would surely be a better day. This is faith that is determined never to forget Jerusalem” (Boice p. 1189).
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