This psalm raises three great themes worth pondering. The author dreams, the author weeps, and the author sings. It is no wonder that the people wept, for the people of Israel were forced against their will to go into exile from Israel to Babylon. It is also no wonder that the people sang, for they could not forget the land of Zion. And it is no wonder that the people dreamed, for they dreamed of the day when they would be allowed to return home.
These three themes lead to three questions every leader can ask:
- What do I dream of?
The psalmist remembered Zion, where he longed to live again. What are the dreams of your heart? What would you do if you had no fear?
- What do I weep over?
The psalmist weeps over life in Babylon and captivity in that place. What brings you to tears? What kind of need stirs up passionate emotion in you?
- What makes me sing?
The psalmist sang of the blessings and the righteousness of God. What would you most love to sing about? What fills you with joy and releases great gladness?
Psalm 137
The lament of the captives in Babylon
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.