Psalms 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.
3 For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How can we sing the LORD’S song
In a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget her skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.

A while back I heard a song by a band called Sublime. (I know... not a God honoring band at all...) Later, I heard the same thing sung by Sinead O'Conner... It was this Psalm. I looked into it a bit, and apparently quite a few people have used this Psalm in their albums.

Something about this one strikes me. It has a deep meaning in the Jewish culture, but for me, I think its the emotion that the Psalmist uses... It is deep. Verse one delivers the context:

1 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.

The Psalmist is referring to the Jewish people being in captivity. Versus two and three are the story versus.

2 Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.
3 For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

Their captors mocked them by demanding them to sing of the land they had been taken from. Imagine being taken against your will, and then being asked to sing praises about where you were from in the midst of your longing to return. Versus four through six shows the Jewish peoples steadfast and their deep love for Zion.

4 How can we sing the LORD’S song
In a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget her skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

I love to see the steadiness that they have in their love. The Psalmist exclaims that nothing is more important, or to be loved more than his home place.