Showing posts with label Psalm 137. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 137. Show all posts
Monday, October 28, 2024
Psalm Meditation 1272
¶Proper 26
¶November 3, 2024
¶Psalm 137
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+137&version=NRSVUE
(NRSVUE)
¶Music is an essential part of life, it gives us rhythm, melody, and harmony that captures our wide variety of moods. It is our way of letting others know what we are thinking and feeling about the emotions in our hearts and the events in the world around us. “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free…” We also sing because we are sad, oppressed, and any number of other emotions that make up the world around us and within. It is a gift we can share with each other to build community with those who share our feelings about the world in which we find ourselves.
¶There are times in which our music becomes a weapon used against us. When an oppressor demands that we sing only happy songs in the midst of our captivity and oppression we find ways to make the happiest of songs into an act of rebellion against those who seek to demoralize us. If nothing else, our songs can be used to remind us that since God is with us, this oppressive time is not the end. It is important to realize, that some of us have no real experience of oppression on the receiving end, and too much on the perpetrating end.
¶We all have some experience with feeling left out and abandoned, so we can take comfort in the psalms, hymns, and songs that remind us that God is with us as a comforting presence in the worst of times. Music gives us the ability to express our frustration and anger against others in ways that most of us will never act on in the real world. Singing it out loud can help us realize that cruelty in response to cruelty is rarely as fulfilling as it seems in our imagination.
¶October 28, 2024
¶LCM
Monday, August 10, 2020
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
Monday, February 6, 2017
Psalm Meditation 869
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
February 12, 2017
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)
Most of the time the music we choose complements our mood in some fashion. When we are depressed and want to wallow in it for a moment we pick sad songs to amplify our mood. When it is time for that foul mood to lift off our shoulders for even a moment we turn to lighter fare. In some moods it is not the song but the singing that makes a difference; the act of lifting our voice in song is enough to lift our spirits and to change our mood. When we are already in a good mood a song can lift that goodness higher yet. All of that goes with having some say in what we are singing. Even in a choir or congregation there is a voluntary note in our participation.
I imagine that being in an oppressive situation and being forced to sing a happy song is a cruel joke played by the oppressor. This is the situation of the psalmist. Captured and carried off, they are forced to sing happy songs of their homeland. In a place where they feel abandoned by God, the psalmist and company are asked to sing a song about how wonderful God is. The intent of the captors is to deepen the funk of those who are already demoralized. And for the psalmist, it seems to have worked. Forced to remember home, the thought of the complete destruction of these captors and families rises to the minds of the captors.
At our best and most faithful there are those who can be transported by music in the midst of dire circumstances. Rather than being depressed by thoughts of home and God they are transported to a place of wholeness and peace in the midst of oppression. Instead of letting the weight of their situation crush the spirit of their song, they let the song lift their spirits out of the current crisis, at least for a moment.
February 6, 2017
LCM
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
February 12, 2017
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)
Most of the time the music we choose complements our mood in some fashion. When we are depressed and want to wallow in it for a moment we pick sad songs to amplify our mood. When it is time for that foul mood to lift off our shoulders for even a moment we turn to lighter fare. In some moods it is not the song but the singing that makes a difference; the act of lifting our voice in song is enough to lift our spirits and to change our mood. When we are already in a good mood a song can lift that goodness higher yet. All of that goes with having some say in what we are singing. Even in a choir or congregation there is a voluntary note in our participation.
I imagine that being in an oppressive situation and being forced to sing a happy song is a cruel joke played by the oppressor. This is the situation of the psalmist. Captured and carried off, they are forced to sing happy songs of their homeland. In a place where they feel abandoned by God, the psalmist and company are asked to sing a song about how wonderful God is. The intent of the captors is to deepen the funk of those who are already demoralized. And for the psalmist, it seems to have worked. Forced to remember home, the thought of the complete destruction of these captors and families rises to the minds of the captors.
At our best and most faithful there are those who can be transported by music in the midst of dire circumstances. Rather than being depressed by thoughts of home and God they are transported to a place of wholeness and peace in the midst of oppression. Instead of letting the weight of their situation crush the spirit of their song, they let the song lift their spirits out of the current crisis, at least for a moment.
February 6, 2017
LCM
Monday, February 9, 2015
Psalm Meditation 765
Transfiguration Sunday
February 15, 2015
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)
I grew up in a musical family, so singing has been a part of my life from the beginning. There have been times in which I did not feel like singing. I sang in the choir, I sang the hymns in worship as best I could, I played music on the instruments I have, however I rarely burst into song on my own. It took a year or so for me to even notice that I was not hearing music in my head and heart. It took another several months before a song rose unbidden from heart to lips.
This was the circumstance of the psalmist here. Having been taken into exile, pulled away from all the familiar routines and places of their lives, they are in no mood to sing joyful songs. As an added piece of cruelty, their captors force them to sing songs of joy and faithfulness. I am sure it is bad enough that they don’t feel like singing in the first place, and then to be forced to sing of a joyous homeland and relationship to God.
These folks want to sing, they want to remember the joyous events of life and worship in the presence of YHWH. They do not want to be forced to sing of a time that makes the surrounding events that much worse. The phrase, ‘the gift of song’ has a deep truth here. It is a gift that one both gives and receives. To be forced to give it, in a mood not currently felt, raises the ire of those forced to sing. Whether folks would really be happy to destroy the children of those who forced them to sing joyous songs in exile is doubtful. That it is an excellent fantasy is understandable. What they want more than anything is to be able to sing from the depths of their hearts in the presence of God as the people of God.
February 9, 2015
LCM
Transfiguration Sunday
February 15, 2015
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)
I grew up in a musical family, so singing has been a part of my life from the beginning. There have been times in which I did not feel like singing. I sang in the choir, I sang the hymns in worship as best I could, I played music on the instruments I have, however I rarely burst into song on my own. It took a year or so for me to even notice that I was not hearing music in my head and heart. It took another several months before a song rose unbidden from heart to lips.
This was the circumstance of the psalmist here. Having been taken into exile, pulled away from all the familiar routines and places of their lives, they are in no mood to sing joyful songs. As an added piece of cruelty, their captors force them to sing songs of joy and faithfulness. I am sure it is bad enough that they don’t feel like singing in the first place, and then to be forced to sing of a joyous homeland and relationship to God.
These folks want to sing, they want to remember the joyous events of life and worship in the presence of YHWH. They do not want to be forced to sing of a time that makes the surrounding events that much worse. The phrase, ‘the gift of song’ has a deep truth here. It is a gift that one both gives and receives. To be forced to give it, in a mood not currently felt, raises the ire of those forced to sing. Whether folks would really be happy to destroy the children of those who forced them to sing joyous songs in exile is doubtful. That it is an excellent fantasy is understandable. What they want more than anything is to be able to sing from the depths of their hearts in the presence of God as the people of God.
February 9, 2015
LCM
Monday, April 2, 2012
Psalm Meditation 616
Easter
April 8, 2012
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)
Verse 9 is a pretty gruesome image. At the same time, civilized as we claim to be, it is an image that crosses our minds when a wound is still fresh. The desire for revenge burns just as hot today as it ever has. It is easiest when we can see the object of our revenge as totally ‘other,’ one with whom we have absolutely nothing in common. And since the desire for revenge is so strong in us, we will find and perhaps even make ways to see our enemy as non-person. Even though the desire for revenge is present, it doesn’t mean we have to act on it.
With the desire for revenge bubbling just below the surface, the psalmist and the rest of the community are asked to put on a joyful performance for their captors. The Babylonians see the Israelites through the same non-person filter as the Israelites see them. They are not aware of anything but their own desire to be entertained. "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" is a way to rub Israelite faces in their defeat, asking them to sing happy songs even as they reel from the trauma of being in exile from their homes.
It would be great if we did not have to deal with this type of adversity, on personal or national scale. It seems there will be those who are willing to ignore the personhood of those with whom they disagree for the foreseeable future. There will be those who see just about everything as a conflict between ‘us’ and ‘them.’ ‘Those people’ will be made to look and feel as if they are wrong on every point of disagreement with ‘us.’ God reminds us that, despite our thoughts to the contrary, we are all made in the image of God and the love of God for each of us knows no bounds.
© April 2, 2012
Easter
April 8, 2012
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)
Verse 9 is a pretty gruesome image. At the same time, civilized as we claim to be, it is an image that crosses our minds when a wound is still fresh. The desire for revenge burns just as hot today as it ever has. It is easiest when we can see the object of our revenge as totally ‘other,’ one with whom we have absolutely nothing in common. And since the desire for revenge is so strong in us, we will find and perhaps even make ways to see our enemy as non-person. Even though the desire for revenge is present, it doesn’t mean we have to act on it.
With the desire for revenge bubbling just below the surface, the psalmist and the rest of the community are asked to put on a joyful performance for their captors. The Babylonians see the Israelites through the same non-person filter as the Israelites see them. They are not aware of anything but their own desire to be entertained. "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" is a way to rub Israelite faces in their defeat, asking them to sing happy songs even as they reel from the trauma of being in exile from their homes.
It would be great if we did not have to deal with this type of adversity, on personal or national scale. It seems there will be those who are willing to ignore the personhood of those with whom they disagree for the foreseeable future. There will be those who see just about everything as a conflict between ‘us’ and ‘them.’ ‘Those people’ will be made to look and feel as if they are wrong on every point of disagreement with ‘us.’ God reminds us that, despite our thoughts to the contrary, we are all made in the image of God and the love of God for each of us knows no bounds.
© April 2, 2012
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