Return from Exile: Introduction (3)

Pray Psalm 137.4-6.
How shall we sing the LORD’s song
In a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget its skill!
If I do not remember you,
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

Sing Psalm 137.4-6.
(The Gift of Love: Though I May Speak)
How can we sing, exalt Your Name, or praises bring amid our shame?
If we forget Your Church's fame, O Lord, then let our hands grow lame.

If ever praise forsake my tongue, if Zion's ways no more be sung,
if greater joy by me be found, my lips destroy, no more to sound.

Read Psalm 137; meditate on verses 4-6.

Preparation
1. What did the Babylonians request?

2. How did the psalmist respond?

Meditation
As they trudged in humiliation to Babylon, the ruins of their city and temple a smoking heap behind them, the people of Jerusalem and Judah were heading to 70 years of captivity in Babylon. They would be scattered throughout that vast empire, separated from friends and family, and made to serve their enemies (Jer. 25.11, 12).

But God had great plans for them, and they must work hard to prepare for those plans by increasing in number, being fruitful and productive, and praying even for their neighbors, among whom they lived as captives in a foreign kingdom (Jer. 29.5-11). God promised the people that if, despite their misery, they would look to Him, seek Him, and pray to Him, He would be found by them and would bring them back from their captivity (Jer. 29.13, 14).

But for much of that time in Babylon, the people would endure taunting and oppression, as we see in Psalm 137. They would sorrow and weep for what they had lost, and what they had done to lose it (v. 1). Singing joyfully to the Lord would be difficult (v. 2), but they would not forget the promises of God and the glory of His dwelling among them (vv. 4-6). They would struggle with bitterness, resentment, and feelings of vengeance against their captors (vv. 7-9). But the faithful would not succumb to such affections; instead, like Daniel and his friends, Mordecai and Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah, they would look for ways to serve, keeping their focus on the promise of revival, renewal, and restoration which was to come at the end of 70 years.

In our own time of captivity to the naturalism, materialism, and individualism of our day, we must likewise weep and repent, but also labor to prepare for the day when God will again hear our prayers and revive us. We must be fruitful and increase, looking to the promises of God and seeking Him daily with all our heart. If we will, He will be found by us, and we will realize more of the presence, promise, and power of His Kingdom.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
At least the people in Psalm 137 knew what they had lost.
They were grieved enough to call down curses upon themselves:
“If I forget you Jerusalem...”
“If I do not remember you...”
“If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy” (Ps. 137.5, 6).

I wonder, would the Church today even notice a loss?
Is it the chief joy of its parishioners?
Would its people request severe personal discipline in the event of forgetting the joys of worship?

If there is a problem, there is a solution. With our loving God and Savior, it is never too late to repent.
“Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the righteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him;
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Is. 55.6, 7).

The Church must set aside all the hoopla of health, wealth, and happiness to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” (Matt. 6.33).

Then, we will gladly seek the same attitude toward life that the Apostle Paul wrote about:
“Yet indeed I also count all things loss
for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and count them as rubbish,
that I may gain Christ and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is from the law,
but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness which is from God by faith;
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being conformed to His death, if, by any means,
I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil. 3.8-11).

A definite long slog, but well worth it.
Focus on Jesus. Worship Him.
Have something to remember—if in case, as those folks did, you lose it.

For reflection
1. Do you think the believers you know consider that today’s Church is captive to the spirit of the age? Explain.

2. How would we even know if we had veered off course into a season of captivity to the surrounding culture?

3. How would you know if your own faith had become captive more to culture than Christ?

What we love, we love to think of. Those that rejoice in God, for his sake make Jerusalem their joy. They [are] steadfast[ly] resolved to keep up this affection. When suffering, we should recollect with godly sorrow our forfeited mercies, and our sins by which we lost them…Far be it from us to avenge ourselves; we will leave it to Him who has said, Vengeance is mine. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Psalm 137

Pray Psalm 137.1-3, 7-9.
Pray with sorrow and repentance for the captive condition of the Church in our day. Pray that God will keep you focused on seeking His Kingdom. Pray that God will deliver you from the enemy of your soul and grant you mercy and grace to serve Him well.

Sing Psalm 137.1-3, 7-9.
(The Gift of Love: Though I May Speak)
We sit beside the waters deep in broken pride, to mourn and weep
for Zion's woes and all our sin: How great our foes, without, within!

No songs have we of joy to sing. Our enemy, to taunt and sting,
bids us rejoice, as they oppress: We have no voice to praise or bless.

Remember, Lord Your boasting foes, who hate Your Word and visit woes
on your dear sheep that they may die: Cause them to weep and mourn and sigh.

How blest are You, our sovereign Lord, Who judgment true shall soon accord
to all who seek Your sheep to kill: Preserve the meek who serve You still.

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.