Where Is The Passion?
Psalms 137
August 28, 2022
Tonight we come to the 137th Psalm.
As you likely noticed from the initial reading,
It is a very RAW and somewhat SHOCKING Psalm even.
Peggy was working on picking out songs for Tommy to lead tonight and she read Psalms 137 and then asked, “What songs go with that?”
You really have to wonder what to sing in response to a verse like:
(9) “How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock.”
It’s an intense Psalm.
Indeed some are quick to cast a skeptical view to such a Psalm,
As they do with all the imprecatory Psalms.
It never ceases to amaze me the people who will
Stand in judgment of such a Psalm as unbiblical
When the same God who wrote the N.T. wrote this Psalm as well.
I again stand by what we have said so many times.
God’s word does not contradict itself,
Nor does God’s word expire,
Nor does God regret anything He has said.
• This Psalm remains the word of God.
• This Psalm says exactly what God intended to say.
• This Psalm is just as authoritative and inspired today as it was when it was
written.
The New Testament does not nullify the message of this Psalm,
Instead the New Testament illumines it and explains it and reenforces it,
As it does with all the Old Testament passages.
We are not about to rip out this Psalm
Simply because it is filled with raw emotion.
Isaiah told us:
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
And Jesus said:
Matthew 5:18-19 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
We certainly don’t want to be guilty of that.
So, tonight, as with all the imprecatory Psalms, we study it.
• We also believe it.
• We meditate upon it.
• We apply it.
• We obey it.
Not only that, but we are EXTREMELY GRATEFUL for such Psalms.
I do actually appreciate a quote from Charles Spurgeon as he was making an observation about this Psalm:
“Let those find fault with it who have never seen their temple burned, their city ruined, their wives ravished, and their children slain; they might not, perhaps, be quite so velvet-mouthed if they had suffered after this fashion.”
(Spurgeon, Charles [The Treasury of David; Psalms CXXXVII; Hendrickson Publishers; Peabody MA] pg. 226)
The reality is that people in this sin-cursed world
Do face such unspeakable tragedies.
There have been plenty of people throughout history
Who have suffered fates such as these.
And our God has not left us without Scriptures
Which address us in our pain and grief.
God wrote this song for His people in their suffering,
And though we would genuinely hope to be spared from such a pain,
We are grateful God has met us in the midst of such pains with a song.
BUT LET’S BEGIN simply in understanding what is going on here
And then we’ll make some application for our lives.
The setting of the Psalm is apparent.
Clearly it is a Psalm written from those inside the Babylonian exile.
So let’s take a second and understand what it is that they witnessed.
TURN TO: 2 KINGS 25:1-11
And that is a really “G” rated version of what happened.
• Psalms 137 says a mouthful when it speaks of babies being seized and dashed against a rock.
Jeremiah spoke of the horror:
Lamentations 5:11-13 “They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected. Young men worked at the grinding mill, And youths stumbled under loads of wood.”
It was a horrific day in Israel.
And Psalms 137 is written by the eyewitnesses of these events.
• They saw it
• They lived it
• They survived it
And now they are living as slaves in a foreign land.
• Their temple has been burned
• Their city has been destroyed
• Their families have been slaughtered
• Some of these women have been raped
• Some of these women have seen their babies smashed to death
AND NOW THEY ARE IN BABYLON.
Certainly we remember WHY all this happened.
Israel abandoned God and worshiped idols, and this was her punishment.
But it was terrible none the less.
Lamentations 4:11-13 “The LORD has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations. The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem. Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous;”
This is God’s judgment for their sin.
But it is almost unthinkable that it has happened.
But what we find in this song is that the Babylonians
Took great pleasure in rubbing salt in the wound.
(3) “For there our captors demanded of us songs, And our tormentors mirth, saying “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
You COULD look at this
• As the Babylonians simply wanting some entertainment from their captives.
• Like they just wanted to hear some singing and harp playing.
AND THAT WOULD BE BAD ENOUGH.
It would certainly be cruel to expect people in such grief
To get up and perform a song of jubilation as though all was well.
But that is NOT what is going on here.
THIS IS A MOCKERY.
It is to say, “Why don’t you sing one of those great songs about your triumphant God now!”
Jeremiah spoke of this as well.
Lamentations 2:15-16 “All who pass along the way Clap their hands in derision at you; They hiss and shake their heads At the daughter of Jerusalem, “Is this the city of which they said, ‘The perfection of beauty, A joy to all the earth’?” All your enemies Have opened their mouths wide against you; They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up! Surely this is the day for which we waited; We have reached it, we have seen it.”
THEY ARE MOCKING.
• Sing us some great song about your great lasting city!
• Sing about how your God reigns forever!
• Sing about blessing and glory and splendor of His temple!
• Sing to us about Zion, David’s city, and how beautiful it is!
Those are the sort of things that are being demanded
Of these broken and grieving refugees.
For all intents and purposes they are in a concentration camp
And being told to boast about the greatness of their God.
And in response to this antagonistic evil
THESE JEWISH REFUGEES HAVE MADE A DECISION.
They have decided to go down to the river and get rid of their harps.
(1-2) “By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it We hung our harps.”
There were many rivers and aqueducts in Babylon
And here these refugees have retreated to one.
Having heard the mocking of the Babylonians,
It only brought their grief again to the surface.
And now, as they are alone they again break into weeping and groaning.
• It is a harsh and fresh wound.
• They grieve over what they have just experienced.
And it is there by the river that THEY MAKE A DECISION.
THEY WILL NOT SING!
And they begin to throw their harps into the cypress trees there by the river.
This isn’t to hide them, this is to get rid of them.
• This is a defiant stand against their tyrant captors.
• It is like the Colonials throwing tea into the harbor.
• They have been told to sing and they have refused and are throwing away their harps.
• As they fling their harps into the trees they explain their conviction.
(4-6) “How can we sing the LORD’S song In a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget her skill. 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.”
They refuse to let God be mocked.
They refuse to let God or His city be the focus of scorn and derision.
They would rather give up the skill of harp playing.
They would rather their tongue go mute.
• They are going to remember Zion.
• They are going to remember God.
• They are going to focus on His promises.
And as they prepare to go back to the city,
(for they know their captivity has only just begun)
As they prepare to go back to the city they cry out with their imprecation.
(7) “Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, “Raze it, raze it To its very foundation.”
The book of Obadiah helps us understand why these refugees are so upset with Edom.
Obadiah 1:10-14 “Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered with shame, And you will be cut off forever. “On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem— You too were as one of them. “Do not gloat over your brother’s day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast In the day of their distress. “Do not enter the gate of My people In the day of their disaster. Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity In the day of their disaster. And do not loot their wealth In the day of their disaster. “Do not stand at the fork of the road To cut down their fugitives; And do not imprison their survivors In the day of their distress.”
These people remember
• How the Edomites joined in with the Babylonians on the day of slaughter.
• How they might have escaped where it not for the Edomites who stood at the
fork in the road to cut down survivors.
• How the Edomites gloated as their temple was burned and they were led
away into exile.
They remember them chanting to the Babylonians,
“Raze it, raze it to its very foundation.”
And they cry out for God to remember what they did.
The implication is of course for judgment.
And then they cry out against Babylon.
(8-9) “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. How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones Against the rock.”
This isn’t so much of a prayer as it is an expectation.
We have read even in the New Testament:
Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
They know that our God will repay every man “according to his deeds”.
And they gladly proclaim that day here.
Their proclamation isn’t simply the cry of a bitter soul.
Their cry is a Scriptural one.
Jeremiah 51:56 “For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men will be captured, Their bows are shattered; For the LORD is a God of recompense, He will fully repay.”
And this is what these refugees are banking on.
• They loudly proclaim that it will be a blessed day when the Babylonians are no more.
• They loudly proclaim that it will be a blessed day when God’s justice is poured out on them as well.
So you understand now the song and its setting.
• It is a people who have suffered greatly.
• They are being mocked and told to sing.
• They defy their orders and throw away their harps.
• And the only declaration they are willing to give is a declaration of God’s word
regarding the coming judgment of those who afflicted them.
THAT IS THE SONG.
The question for us is:
WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM A PSALM LIKE THIS?
And the answer is: THE CONVICTION OF THE AFFLICTED
To put it another way, we learn something of passion and zeal
And what that looks like in a world where your values
And convictions are mocked and disrespected.
When you live in a culture
• That mocks God and relegates His people to nothing more than entertainment.
• Where the church has lowered herself to something far less than a sanctified place of worship and has instead become a cheap knock off of the world’s style of entertainment.
• Where hostility and animosity are growing toward God’s people.
• Were the day may soon come where we suffer great atrocities at the hands of godless men.
What will our conviction be on that day?
What will our passion be then?
What must our passion be now?
Looking at this Psalm let us learn from them a little about
The passion of God’s people in a sinful and mocking culture.
#1 THE PASSION THAT WEEPS
Psalms 137:1-3
We find here our captives fleeing to the river for some solace and quiet and we read, “There we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.”
Certainly the entire traumatic event is remembered.
• For they do mention the death of their children at the end of the song.
But the BIGGEST GRIEF of the song remains
Their grief over the loss of the holy city
And the reproach their God has now fallen under.
• They are grieved by a sinful world…
• They are grieved by a mocking world…
• They are grieved by a world which has no fear of God…
And they wish with all their heart that they could
Return to a place where such things were the norm.
And they weep for Zion.
Charles Spurgeon also said:
“Do not tell me of zeal that only moves the tongue, or the foot, or the hand; we must have a zeal which moves the whole heart…How can I see souls damned, without emotion? How can I hear Christ’s name blasphemed, without a shudder? How can I think of the multitudes who prefer ruin to salvation, without a pang? Believe me, brethren and sisters, if you never have sleepless hours, if you never have weeping eyes, if your hearts never swell as if they would burst, you need not anticipate that you will be called zealous. You do not know the beginning of true zeal, for the foundation of Christian zeal lies in the heart. The heart must be heavy with grief and yet must beat high with holy ardour. The heart must be vehement in desire, panting continually for God’s glory, or else we shall never attain to anything like the zeal which God would have us know.”
–Charles H. Spurgeon, “Zealots” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 392–393. Spurgeon preached this sermon from Luke 6:15 on July 16, 1865.
And this may be one of the problems that we see in our day.
• Instead of weeping over the corruption of the church…
• Instead of weeping when men fall into sin…
• Instead of grieving over the lack of reverence…
• Instead of grieving over the lack of commitment to God…
It seems that far too many rejoice over it.
They laugh at it.
They even join it.
This is NOT the zeal or the passion of God’s people.
Listen to Habakkuk:
Habakkuk 1:1-4 “The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw. How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.”
Listen to Ezra as people returned to godless marriages:
Ezra 9:2-4 “For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.” When I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering.”
Listen to Jeremiah as he watched the sin of the people:
Jeremiah 9:1-2 “Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers’ lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men.”
Listen to Jesus as He stands over Jerusalem:
Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
Listen to Paul:
Romans 9:1-3 “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,”
• It is a reproach of the church when we are not grieved by sin.
• It is a reproach of the church when we are not grieved by sinners.
• It is a reproach of the church when we are not grieved over disrespect shown to God.
The church should have such a passion.
Isaiah 22:12-13 “Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
There are times when celebration is in order.
And there are times when grief is called for.
These refugees saw God being mocked
And that was a time for grief and weeping, not singing and rejoicing.
This is a passion of God’s people.
It is a passion that weeps.
#2 THE PASSION THAT WITHSTANDS
Psalms 137:4-6
• These prisoners were told to sing and to sing songs of gladness and mirth.
• They instead refused and flung their harps into the trees.
There is a time when God’s people
Must say no to the expectations of the culture.
We live in a day when the culture would have the church accept sexual immorality in nearly every form.
• First we were to accept divorce
• Then we were to accept sexual immorality
• Then we were to accept living together outside of marriage
• Now they want us to accept homosexuality
• And that won’t be all
The culture supports RADICAL FEMINISM.
• Men are no longer to be men.
• The culture calls that toxic masculinity.
• Women are to be the new men.
And the church is supposed to accept it?
They are right now, this year, having discussions in the executive committees of the Southern Baptist Convention about whether or not women can be ordained as pastors.
Such a discussion did not come from reading Scripture.
Scripture is clear about that.
That discussion came from the culture.
2020 gave us a preview of what could be on the horizon
When the government for the first time since the founding of America
Decided to try its hand at closing church doors.
They used a pandemic as their excuse,
But don’t think for a second that Satan is satisfied.
The world has always been anti-christ
And that means that there are times
When we must boldly and unapologetically stand against them.
• There comes a time when we must say “No”
• There comes a time when we drive our stake in the ground and refuse to move.
• There comes a time when we take our harp and fling it into the tree and tell them that we will not take part in the blasphemy of our God.
And this has been the passion of God’s people throughout history.
Do you remember those 3 Hebrew boys?
Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Do you remember their friend Daniel?
Daniel 6:10 “Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.”
Do you remember the apostles?
Acts 4:18-20 “And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Do you remember Peter standing against Simon the Magician?
Acts 8:20-21 “But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.”
Do you remember Paul rebuking Peter?
Galatians 2:14 “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Or how about the Reformers?
When Luther was told to recant:
“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason – I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”
https://www.luther.de/en/worms.html
What about the martyrs throughout the centuries who have died because they refused to bow to the culture?
This is a passion that the church must soon rekindle.
And certainly what about the Passion of the Lord who stood toe to toe with Pharisees and Sadducee and Chief Priest and even Pilate and Herod but who did not back up for one second regarding who He was.
This is a passion of the church.
This is a passion of God’s people.
It is the passion that stands against the culture.
The Passion that Weeps, The Passion that Withstands
#3 THE PASSION THAT WARNS & WAITS
Psalms 137:7-9
I have told you many times
Regarding my usage of the imprecatory Psalms.
• When I am angered and even enraged, I take these Psalms and I pray them to God.
• I am grateful for God truly knows if my anger is selfish or righteous and He can correct me.
We do not take our own revenge.
• The Hebrew boys didn’t try to assassinate Nebuchadnezzar…
• Daniel didn’t try to overthrow Darius…
• The apostles didn’t lead a bloody crusade against the Sanhedrin…
• They did exactly what Paul said, they waited on God and left room for His wrath.
We do not take our own revenge.
• And indeed we even pray for our persecutors and we bless our enemies.
• We share the gospel with all men and instruct them to repent.
And in this world where we face hostility and rejection
We never throw in the towel or seek to enforce our vengeance.
We wait for the wrath of God.
• We wait for God to deal with those who persecute us.
• We wait for God to reward each man according to his deeds.
BUT LET ME ALSO SAY,
This does NOT mean we are weak and timid and refuse to correct men.
I read you earlier about Ezra’s response to the intermarriage of Israel.
His response was absolutely fitting.
But his response wasn’t the only one.
Nehemiah responded too:
Nehemiah 13:23-25 “In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people. So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.”
We certainly remember Jesus entering the temple:
Mark 11:15-18 “Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS’? But you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.”
We remember John the Baptist calling the religious leaders a “brood of vipers” and warning them about “the wrath to come”
Did JEREMIAH not have a fire in his bones that compelled him to stand and speak to the people again?
We remember STEPHEN boldly standing before the religious elite and declaring:
Acts 7:51-53 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”
And we are called to be people of such passion.
And all the while we wait for God to bring about justice for His elect.
We trust God to make things right.
Our passion is to warn and to wait for God
To come and vindicate His people.
We are passionate about the return of Christ.
We are passionate about the day of judgment.
THAT IS WHAT THIS PSALM TEACHES US.
That God’s people have always been a passionate people,
And that is ok and even necessary.
• Weep for the blasphemy that occurs against God.
• Withstand the temptations and influences of the culture.
• Wait for Christ to return and bring justice to the earth.
This is Godly zeal.
This is the calling for God’s people.
