Psalm 137:5

Psalm 137:5

If I forget you

It seems likely that some of the Jewish exiles to Babylon had actually disowned their God and had little time for the Holy City of Jerusalem and its rituals. These people may have welcomed a new start in a land that was open to all the gods, indeed some jews remained in Babylon and never returned to Israel. Let’s face it, there are people like that today, who once appeared to have faith but have turned their backs on the Lord and prefer to live as the world lives.

Of course, there were many other exiled Jews who are truly reflected in the sentiments of this Psalm. Their hearts were broken, their livelihoods were gone, their homes and their land were trashed to the ground, and they had no hope of ever being able to return. Their culture and religion had not taught them that God was with them anyway, that He was not dependant on a time and a place. Thankfully, men like Daniel and his friends did understand this. The best that the hopeless majority could do was to make a vow, a vow that they would never forget their homeland, and if they did may they never play the harp again or sing another song to the Lord.

Large numbers of nominal “Christians” left the church during Covid, they realised that their regular attendance did not mean very much, and they didn’t miss their old Sunday morning habits. For others the break was devastating, and they counted down the days to normality and renewed fellowship and corporate worship. So, let’s ask ourselves, how much would it mean to be cut off from our faith and our church and from fellowship, especially if there was no prospect of return? Would we miss it? Would we miss them? Would they miss us?

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