Psalm 137:3-4

Psalm 137:3-4

Sing the songs of Zion

What a horrible place to be in! Taken captive by an oppressive regime, the Israelites were transported to Babylon, a land of pagan deities with temples and sacrifices to Marduk, Ishtar, Nabu et al. The Israelites only had one God and now they were exposed to a culture that was pantheistic and that was steeped in superstition and idol worship.  Faith in YAHWEH was at the very heart of what the Jewish people lived for, their Temple and their holy city were sources of great national pride and now they were learning the lessons of their disobedience and their neglect. They had taken God for granted and lived with little regard for His laws, now they were exiles in Babylon and the shame of their foolishness hit home very hard. To add insult to injury the Babylonians asked to hear their psalms, their songs of joy, they wanted to be entertained by the Jewish musicians and singers, they demanded to listen to one of Zion’s songs. It was a hard call, and no one wanted to be involved, “How can we sing the Lord’s songs in a foreign land?” 

Do you remember how Paul and Silas were imprisoned in Philippi and, languishing in the darkness and deprivation of the local jail, they decided to start singing songs to the Lord – at midnight! That could not have been easy, but it reversed their situation because an earthquake hit the city and the prisoners all staggered out into the night air, free and marvelling at the courage of their fellow inmates. 

There is a difference between singing the Lord’s songs as demanded by our enemies and singing His songs in their faces, by faith. The Jews had an attachment to a place and were lost and broken when removed from it. We who know the Lord can testify that He is with us everywhere and anywhere and there is no place where His songs cannot be sung. The whole world belongs to Him and His Spirit’s presence is with us however dark the surroundings. If we are in any kind of prison, let’s sing. I found myself singing His praises in an MRI Scanner recently, all fear disppeared!  Hallelujah!

 

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