Ken & Lea's Place

Psalm 137

The 137th Psalm, a hymn of the exiles of Jerusalem during the Babylonian captivity, eloquently expresses the yearnings of the Jewish people for their homeland, their city and their temple - then and now.

This psalm reflects a love of Jerusalem and a hatred for the city’s enemies.

The historical setting is the conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The Babylonians carried off the most intelligent and skilled Judeans into exile. They felt like they were literally cut off from God...this gives the idea that they thought God only dwelt in the holy city.

The "rivers of Babylon" in verse 1 is the Euphrates and its tributaries, the Chebar, and the many canals of the area.

The Chebar River is mentioned in Ezekiel 1:1 "Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God." (Ezekiel 1:3 KJV)

The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.

There are seven other references to this river in Ezekiel.

• (Ezekiel 3:15 KJV) Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
• (Ezekiel 3:23 KJV) Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.
• (Ezekiel 10:15 KJV) And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.
• (Ezekiel 10:20 KJV) This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.
• (Ezekiel 10:22 KJV) And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.
• (Ezekiel 43:3 KJV) And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.

Verse 1 says, "We sat down and wept"...this was the posture of mourners in the ancient near east. They would sit in the dust. The captives had stringed instruments with them, and they hung them in the willows which grew along the river banks.

They remembered Zion, the city of Jerusalem with its Temple. In this sad scene was the Babylonian demand for songs and mirth. They probably thought the Jewish Temple music was quaint and amusing. But the psalmist thought it would be rather traitorous to "sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land." In verse 5 & 6 the psalmist pronounces a curse upon himself if he should forget Jerusalem. he would never be a traitor to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, "City of Peace" has known nearly two dozen wars and destructions since its existence was first known to us from the Biblical record. Abraham's meeting with Melchizedek about 2000 BC reveals that there was in the city (known then as "Salem"), even at that early date. A righteous Gentile king, Melchizedek, ruled there as "priest of God Most High" (El Elyon).

Abraham's family had lapsed into idolatry living in Babylon (Ur of the Chaldees), in spite of his legitimacy of his being in the line of Noah's son, Shem. It is possible that Melchizedek was Abraham's teacher and spiritual mentor who gave Abraham additional information, and possibly even ancient documents, concerning the God of the land of Israel who had called him there.

During the time period after 70 A.D. Jerusalem should have long since fallen into oblivion. This city with no natural wealth, no oil reserves, and no great strategic military value. Ancient trade routes passed up and down the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea or along the Jordan Valley. The "King's Highway" ran North and South on the plateau of Jordan - Jerusalem was out of the way. Why should anyone pass by there?

Today, centers of modern commerce and trade are in Tel Aviv or Haifa. Jerusalem is more of a city of religion, art, culture, and museums than an economically viable regional marketplace or a center of business activity. Yet Jerusalem thrives in our time as a city full of mystical attractiveness and endless fascination.

As never before in history, Jerusalem is at the center of today's headlines. The city which grew up around the small walled-village captured by King David from the Jebusites 3000 years ago is the focal point of never-ending debate among the great superpowers. No other city has been desired and fought over has Jerusalem.

In its history Jerusalem has been fought over by armies of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Ptolemies, Seleucids, Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Crusaders, Mongols, Mamelukes, by the Turks, the British, and the Jordanians. Today the nations of all the world consider it their responsibility and obligation to meddle in her politics and destiny.

As a religious center Jerusalem remains sacred to (and fought over by) all three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is an open secret that the Pope aspires to set up his world headquarters there, having claimed for many years that the Holy Land has all along really been under Roman Catholic "stewardship." UN debates, Arab neighbors, and the PLO urge the "internationalization" of this modest city, though it is no secret that the actually want the city all to themselves without any Jews. All the while, religious pilgrims from all nations continue to flock to the Holy City in droves numbering millions per year.

Thus all the eyes of the world are upon Jerusalem, City of Peace, today as never before. This is a city that has been besieged about forty different times and destroyed (at least partially) on thirty-two different occasions. The rulership of Jerusalem has changed hands some twenty-six times. Since 1948 Jerusalem has experienced four wars. From the time of the establishment of the State of Israel in May of 1948 until 1967, the city was divided. Walls, barbed-wire fences and a desolated strip of non-man's land cut through the very heart of the city, especially excluding the Jews from the Old City and the Temple Mount. During that time the Jewish Quarter was leveled and its synagogues burned. Jewish graves and monuments were desecrated or turned into latrines.

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