Psalms 137 Summary & Study Guide

The hundred and thirty-seventh psalm is an intense and sorrowful lament of the exiles in Babylon. It opens with the visceral image of displacement: "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion." The setting is a world of forced performance; the captors mockingly demand "one of the songs of Zion," but the exiles hang up their lyres on the "willow trees," asking the defining question: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?" It is a portrait of a soul who refuses to "assimilate" to the culture of the enemy.

The narrative movement is a series of vows of "Remembrance." The psalmist declares that if he forgets Jerusalem, his right hand should forget its skill and his tongue should stick to the roof of his mouth. He sets Jerusalem above his "highest joy." The psalm concludes with a startling and violent cry for judgment against the "Edomites" and the "daughter of Babylon," calling for a "blessing" on the one who repays them for what they have done. The movement is from the "tears of the exile" to the "thirst for justice," showing that the "Love of Zion" creates a "Holy Hatred" for that which destroys it. It is a song of uncompromising loyalty to the home that was lost.

The theological claim of this psalm is that "Memory" is a spiritual weapon against the "Temptation" of the foreign land. It teaches that the "Song of the Lord" cannot be commodified for the entertainment of the wicked. The "Willows" are a symbol of the silence that is necessary until the return to the sanctuary. To "remember" is to maintain a "Zion-centered" identity in a "Babylon-centered" world. True joy is found in the city of the King, not the palaces of the captors. Our identity is His City.

The True Exile who "wept" over Jerusalem and was mocked by His captors as He was led to the Cross is Jesus Christ. Christ bore the "Highest Joy" of the Father's presence yet entered the "Foreign Land" of our sin so that we could be brought home. This psalm reminds us that because of Jesus, our "Right Hand" has not been forgotten, and our "Tongue" has been loosed to sing the songs of the New Jerusalem. We are invited to "remember" Him in our own moments of displacement, knowing that our King has already judged the "Babylon" of this world. Our life is His Return.