Psalms 137
A lament of exiles longing for Jerusalem in Babylon.
Psalm 137 opens with one of Scripture's most vivid laments, exiles who "sat down, yea, we wept" beside the rivers of Babylon and hung their harps on the willows. It stands in sharp contrast to the joyful mercy refrain of Psalms 136, shifting from praise to grief.
By rivers of Babylon -- There we did sit, Yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
On willows in its midst we hung our harps.
For there our captors asked us the words of a song, And our spoilers -- joy: `Sing ye to us of a song of Zion.'
How do we sing the song of Jehovah, On the land of a stranger?
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, my right hand forgetteth!
My tongue doth cleave to my palate, If I do not remember thee, If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Remember, Jehovah, for the sons of Edom, The day of Jerusalem, Those saying, `Rase, rase to its foundation!'
O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the happiness of him who repayeth to thee thy deed, That thou hast done to us.
O the happiness of him who doth seize, And hath dashed thy sucklings on the rock!