I ran across a very interesting passage of Scripture the other day. It is in Psalm 137:1-9, which says,
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!"
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us-
9 he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
I believe it is correct to say that one of the tests of an individual’s spirituality is whether or not one really has a song to sing in praise to God. This psalm we just read is a sad psalm because it is about a people who had let their circumstances dictate how they were going to feel, and they had lost their song. They lost their song because they had sinned against the Lord repeatedly and they had been placed in captivity.
Although the Babylonians may have been taunting the Jews, was that really an excuse not to take advantage of the opportunity to praise the Lord in front of their captors? Let us look at what happened with two other men who were taken captive as well and how they responded in Acts 16:22-33.
22. The crowd was against Paul and Silas. Then the leaders tore off the clothes of Paul and Silas and ordered to beat them with rods.
23. The men beat them many times. Then the leaders threw Paul and Silas in jail. The leaders commanded the jailor, “Guard them very carefully!”
24. The jailor heard this special order. So he put Paul and Silas into the inner prison far inside the jail. He locked their feet in wooden stocks.
25. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God. The other prisoners were listening to them.
26. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake. It was so strong that it shook the foundations of the jail. Then all the doors of the jail quickly opened. All prisoners were freed from their chains.
27. The jailor woke up. He saw that the jail doors were open. He thought that the prisoners had escaped. So the jailor took his sword and was ready to kill himself.
28. But Paul shouted, “Don't hurt yourself! We are all here!”
29. The jailor told someone to bring a light. Then he ran inside. He was shaking. He fell down in front of Paul and Silas.
30. Then he brought them outside and asked, “Men, what must I do to be saved?”
31. They said to him, “Commit yourself to the Lord Jesus and you will be saved – you and all the people living in your house.”
32. So, Paul and Silas told the story of the Lord to the jailor and to all the people in his house.
33. It was late at night, but the jailor took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. The jailor and all of his people were immersed right away.
So as we have been shown from the word of God, it is possible to sing praises to God, regardless of what circumstances we are facing. It can be done. What is so ironic about this is that the men who had lost their song in the psalm we read earlier were where they were because they had done wrong. Paul and Silas, on the other hand, had done nothing wrong. But it was Paul and Silas who still had their song.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I am following the example of Christ.” Maybe Paul was simply following the example of His Lord while he and Silas were in that jail. When Jesus Christ was facing His darkest hour, what did He do? He went and sang a song of praise in front of His apostles in that upper room! (Matthew 26:30) Jesus Christ had a song to sing! He did not let His circumstances influence how He felt about His Father.
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!"
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us-
9 he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
I believe it is correct to say that one of the tests of an individual’s spirituality is whether or not one really has a song to sing in praise to God. This psalm we just read is a sad psalm because it is about a people who had let their circumstances dictate how they were going to feel, and they had lost their song. They lost their song because they had sinned against the Lord repeatedly and they had been placed in captivity.
Although the Babylonians may have been taunting the Jews, was that really an excuse not to take advantage of the opportunity to praise the Lord in front of their captors? Let us look at what happened with two other men who were taken captive as well and how they responded in Acts 16:22-33.
22. The crowd was against Paul and Silas. Then the leaders tore off the clothes of Paul and Silas and ordered to beat them with rods.
23. The men beat them many times. Then the leaders threw Paul and Silas in jail. The leaders commanded the jailor, “Guard them very carefully!”
24. The jailor heard this special order. So he put Paul and Silas into the inner prison far inside the jail. He locked their feet in wooden stocks.
25. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God. The other prisoners were listening to them.
26. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake. It was so strong that it shook the foundations of the jail. Then all the doors of the jail quickly opened. All prisoners were freed from their chains.
27. The jailor woke up. He saw that the jail doors were open. He thought that the prisoners had escaped. So the jailor took his sword and was ready to kill himself.
28. But Paul shouted, “Don't hurt yourself! We are all here!”
29. The jailor told someone to bring a light. Then he ran inside. He was shaking. He fell down in front of Paul and Silas.
30. Then he brought them outside and asked, “Men, what must I do to be saved?”
31. They said to him, “Commit yourself to the Lord Jesus and you will be saved – you and all the people living in your house.”
32. So, Paul and Silas told the story of the Lord to the jailor and to all the people in his house.
33. It was late at night, but the jailor took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. The jailor and all of his people were immersed right away.
So as we have been shown from the word of God, it is possible to sing praises to God, regardless of what circumstances we are facing. It can be done. What is so ironic about this is that the men who had lost their song in the psalm we read earlier were where they were because they had done wrong. Paul and Silas, on the other hand, had done nothing wrong. But it was Paul and Silas who still had their song.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I am following the example of Christ.” Maybe Paul was simply following the example of His Lord while he and Silas were in that jail. When Jesus Christ was facing His darkest hour, what did He do? He went and sang a song of praise in front of His apostles in that upper room! (Matthew 26:30) Jesus Christ had a song to sing! He did not let His circumstances influence how He felt about His Father.
If you cannot find a song to sing, then maybe it is time for you to reexamine yourself and your life in light of God’s word. It is when we are not walking in righteousness with the Lord that we will lose our song. As the beloved Apostle John said, “God is in the light. We should also live in light. If we live in the light, then we have a relationship of sharing with each other, and the blood of Jesus, God's Son, continues to cleanse us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
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