Psalm Meditation 1052 Proper 15 August 16, 2020 Psalm 137 1 By the rivers of Babylon—there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our harps. 3 For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! 6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. 7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!” 8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! 9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock! (NRSV) One of the most devastating weapons of war is humiliation. I takes several forms, including rape, dehumanizing treatment, killing children in front of their parents, and forcing the captive to sing or recite a happy verse as a reminder that they are not going to be happy for a long time. In the biblical era, it was common to take community leaders into exile, away from their communities. Most people considered their divinities to be confined to their home area. Taking people away from familiar geography also took them away from their divine support system. Exile and the other forms of humiliation heaped on one another made for demoralizing conditions. The psalmist was one of many who believed that the Lord was not confined to a particular locality. Faith practices had to be done in secret to avoid punishment for practicing a foreign religion in the home territory of the established deities. These exiles continued to worship the Lord, and to remember their homeland with hopes of returning as everyone's fortunes shifted. People would rather not sing than be forced to sing joyful songs for the entertainment of their captors and oppressors. At the same time, they pledged to remember the Lord and their homeland for as long as it took to get back there. Humiliating others through cruelty and violence is great fun for some people. It is not confined to one culture or religion. There is that leaning in people of every culture and area. One of the gifts that people of faith give to a culture is to minimize the violent tendencies of the people. It is one thing to fantasize about crushing the heads of the children of our enemies and adversaries, and quite another to carry out that kind of violence. The Lord is one who encourages gentleness and love in the face of violence, despite our desire for violent revenge on those who treated us with violence and humiliation. August 10, 2020 LCM