Project 119: Psalm 137 & Psalm 138
| Project 119 | Amy Hirsch
Morning: Psalm 137
Psalm 137 (ESV):
How Shall We Sing the LORD’s Song?
1 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the LORD’s song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!
God,
I confess that sometimes it is hard to sing. The Israelites experienced this in Babylon; they had been taken to a foreign land, far from home, in captivity. Te Babylonians pillaged their country and their people. They killed their children. They took advantage of their women. They ransacked the promised land that the Israelites held so dear.
I may not be in such a situation today, but I can empathize in some ways with the Israelites. I have seen unspeakable hurt. I have witnessed seemingly insurmountable tragedies. I can testify that evil seems to reign on every corner. I turn on the TV and hear of another atrocity. I read the news and hear another story of a person being taken advantage of - a person made in Your image. I have felt the sting of death as my loved ones leave this earth, and I have wept as I’ve watched the devastating effects of sin wreak its havoc on so many lives. And in those
places, Lord, I confess that I cannot sing. Like the Israelites, I hang my harp on the trees as my tormentors mock me, asking me where my God is. I know where You are, Father, but sometimes I wish You would have intervened before things became so broken. Everything seems beyond repair.
But even though I cannot sing, I will remember. I will remember the hope of Jerusalem, of a place where You dwell with Your people, of a city that will exist in perfect peace. I would rather be mute and paralyzed than forget this hope, for what other hope do I have in this mess except for You?
And Lord, I do cry out against those who do evil. I confess that sometimes it’s much easier to bring my praises to You, and more difficult to bring my frustrations, my anger, even my feelings of hate and rage. But as the Israelites came to You in verses 7-9 of this psalm, so I also lay those before You my anger against those who have caused great hurt in my life and in the lives of those I love, and my frustration with the brokenness I see when I look around the world. God, will You intervene? Will You repay them for their evil? Will You have the last word? Will evil overcome?
Just as You promised You would judge Babylon for her harshness against Jerusalem, so You promise that You, by no means, will clear the guilty on their own accord. A day of judgment is coming. And the saints in heaven cry along with me, asking “How long You will wait until You avenge the blood of Your children?” And You tell us all to wait a little longer, but as we wait, we know that we can trust that Your judgments are true and just, and Your timing is perfect.
And even as I wait for that great day of reckoning, I pray for my enemies and for those who persecute me. Lord, I confess that this is exceedingly hard and that my heart is so hardened against them. But I trust that the Holy Spirit is praying and groaning with me in this, and that by praying for them, perhaps You are working too in my heart, to help me to love my enemies just as You loved me when I was Your enemy! You sent Christ for me when I was lost in my sin, far from You. Could You work the same kind of miracle in the lives of these people who have
caused such pain in the world? Would You work in their hearts to convict them of their sin and to bring them to repentance and faith? Would You use their stories as a remarkable tale of Your redemptive power? And Lord, even as I see the sins of others so easily, I confess that sometimes my vision is quite off when it comes to my own sin. I repent, Father, of today’s evil thoughts, words, and works.
Lord, we wait in hope for the day when we will sing of Your songs again in Your city, the New Jerusalem - in a place that will know no captivity, no injustice, no war, and no suffering. Until then, in seasons of singing and in seasons of sorrow, we pledge that we will cling to You. You are our only hope - in life and in death. Amen.
Evening:
Psalm 138 (ESV):
Give Thanks to the LORD
Of David.
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.
4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5 and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.