Psalm 137 reminds me of a time when I worked delivering supplies to marinas as a teenager. I normally drove a van, but if I had large items, I drove the 30-foot truck. I was given no special training or instruction, just a map. On one particular delivery to Brooklyn, I made a wrong turn into a residential street. After a series of one-way streets I ended up on a corner with cars on both sides of the road, unable to make the turn without hitting the cars. As one helpful man shouted as he walked past, “You’re stuck buddy!” I could see the highway, but I was wedged in between cars, in 90 degree summer heat, asking myself, “How did I end up here?” Life has lots of unmarked exits and tight turns and some lead to unpleasant detours. The psalm begins, “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps… our tormentors demanded songs of joy“. I assume this was written shortly after the Jewish captivity in Babylon while the feelings were still fresh. Only complete frustration can cause musicians to hang up their instruments. He writes, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?“. Maybe you are in a place of frustration, and God seems distant?
Many things are too important or valuable to walk away from. He continues, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill… my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth… if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy“. I think he realizes that singers are to sing, writers are to write and drivers are to drive, but with a new understanding. He adds, “Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell“. Their neighboring nation cheered, “Tear it down to its foundations!“. He is wiser for the experience, but rather than let it destroy him, he turns the retribution over to God, “happy is He who repays you for what you have done to us“. Don’t let the scoffers prevent you from completing your purpose.
Psalm 138 explains the result of letting go of the bitterness of the past. It frees up your heart and mind to live life more fully today. “I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart“. Hebrews 12:14 reminds us that bitterness tends to grow and can interfere with every relationship we have. “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many“. I confess that I don’t understand it, but it is true, when we sing a simple song of praise to God, it works like weed killer on that bitter root. He continues, “I will sing Your praise… and will praise Your name for Your love and Your faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your name and Your word“. People say, “But God does not answer my prayers”. I wonder, have you looked at His written Word? The psalmist says, “When I called, You answered me; You made me bold and stouthearted“. Sometimes the stalls in life give us a new perspective, “He looks upon the lowly, but the proud He knows from afar… Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve my life“. Listen to the certainty in these words, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your love, O Lord, endures forever do not abandon the works of Your hands“. You are a work in progress. God has not given up on you!