- July 8, 2020
To my dear brothers and sisters of Grace Baptist Church of Dallas, Oregon:
Greetings to you in the powerful name of Jesus our Lord!
I’m reminded of Peter’s words to the early believers, whom he addressed as “God’s elect,” and “exiles, scattered throughout the world.” He said to them, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed,” 1 Peter 4:12-13. God is telling us that these “fiery ordeals” that we are facing is a test! It’s not simply happening, but God will be using these for our good. And the reason is “so that we may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” In other words our difficult times now will lead us to an overjoying time later—when Jesus is revealed. That will require some faith to see now because we are so prone to living in the here and now. If we focus on our circumstances… our joy and strength will be drained out of us.
In Psalm 137 a similar thing can be seen. The people of God were in exile, taken captive in Babylon. They were joyless people because they were removed from their beloved country and temple; their culture and everything familiar. Listen to how the psalmist pens their plight:
“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, 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, LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!” 8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. 9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks,” Psalm 137:1-9 (NIV2011).
Babylon was the far country, a pagan country where Yahweh was not revered. The people of God were no longer on familiar soil and so what they did was they sat down and wept when they remembered Zion. It’s as if they had given up. They were sad. God had judged the nation for their sin of idolatry—and now in a new land they weren’t able to worship God either. It may be that their love for Zion (Jerusalem) was akin to idolatry! Idolatry is the extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone. In their eyes, they thought Zion was invincible—the city of God. They trusted in her walls to keep them safe. But in the end they were disappointed. They forgot that Yahweh was their Rock and Fortress—and that only He could keep them safe. They trusted in Zion, and failed to put their trust in God. Our national motto is “In God we trust,” but like in their day—it was only a saying. You know you have an idol that when you lose the idol—you also lose your desire for living. They lost Jerusalem and all they could do is weep. They hung their harps on the poplar branches and called it quits, vs. 2.
But notice the response of the on looking world in verse 3? They didn’t understand why these Jews were so down? You guys proclaim to worship Yahweh—He is such a great God. Why don’t you sing one of your songs about Him now? Let’s hear it. But that felt like torment to their souls. Down inside I’m sure they really wanted to worship God, but how could they in this circumstance? It felt like everything was lost. In reality, God wanted to cleanse them from their idolatry—and the only way that He could do that was to take away their idols. The idols of their own self-sufficiency, self-dependence, autonomy, and wealth. Remember, Peter said that these fiery trials are a test, and the test here being, “Will they turn from their idols to the living God—or simply mourn for their idols?” They thought their captors were tormenting them is all, and failed to see that something much bigger was taking place. God was in the process of purifying them.
Look at how they respond in verse 4, “How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? “ To them, they could only worship God when they were in their land—as if God was not even available to worship outside of Israel? If this was a test of their faith—they’d receive a failing grade. You’ll recall Daniel. He was a stout worshipper of Yahweh even when he was in Babylon. They passed a law that said, “No one can pray to any god or human being for the next thirty days—except to King Nebuchadnezzar.” (See Daniel 6:6) And what did Daniel do? He certainly didn’t sit down and cry about it. He didn’t stop worshipping God. Instead, Daniel went home and continued to pray like he always had. He let the chips fall where they might. Of course, Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den as a result—but then God rescued Daniel from the lion’s den. Daniel trusted and worshipped God as his rescuer. And Daniel passed the test.
In verses 5-6 we see just how much the psalmist loved Jerusalem. He pledges to remember it. In verse 5 he asks that his “right hand forget its skill.” In other words may he simply forget how to play his harp at all. Life isn’t worth living because there is no joy in it. In verse 6 he requests that his “tongue cling to the roof of [his] mouth if [he] does not remember you.” Like he can’t even talk or sing without remembering Jerusalem. It’s good to remember our history. Jerusalem was a great city, a city loved by God. All of the stunning history leading and saving His people was connected with Jerusalem. Today, sadly, many in our country are rewriting and doing away with our nation’s history. Instead of remembering its great founding, its leaders, and achievements, they would do away with it all. Not with this psalmist… he was remembering all the great things that Jerusalem embodied. History is an important anchor in a world of changing tides. It helps us remember where we’ve come from and it helps direct us to where we should be going, and it provides stability in our current day. Instead of despising history, we should embrace history, and learn from it. Jerusalem was considered his highest joy.
Verses 7 through 9 are known as an imprecatory prayer. So what does imprecatory mean? Imprecatory means to “swear, curse, or blaspheme. It’s to invoke or bring down evil or a curse on a person/people. In the context here, the psalmist is praying for God’s judgment to rain down on the people who conquered them. In verse 7 the psalmist is praying against the Edomites. Who were the Edomites? They were the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother. You’ll recall that Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for some red stew. He despised his birthright, the Bible says. When Jacob received his father’s blessing, he was put above his brother Esau and then there was tension between the two brothers. So much so that Jacob had to flee for his life because Esau consoled himself with killing him when their father Isaac died. Edom was a thorn in Israel’s side generation after generation. When Jerusalem finally fell to the Babylonians, Edom was right there taking revenge on Judah, so much so that it displeased the Lord God. In time, God fulfilled this prayer as He brought judgment on Edom. You can read more about that in the Prophet Obadiah.
In verses 8-9 the psalmist turns his prayer against the Babylonians, and requests that they in turn be repaid for what they had done to the Jews. The Babylonians were known as a fierce and cruel people. They worshipped their power and they used their military power to conquer the known world. God had revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar in a dream the coming history of the world. In Daniel 2:37-38 we find, “Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.” This went to the king’s head, and later in the book we find him building and worshipping a gold statue of his own creation. They were ruthless and dashed the children of Israel against the rocks when they overthrew the nation. This imprecatory prayer is for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy against Babylon 136 years earlier in Isaiah 13:16 where it says, “Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated.”
Some believers feel like it is perfectly fine to pray these imprecatory prayers toward their enemies or whatever it is they don’t like? It was no different in Jesus’ day—but He changed all that. Listen to Matthew 5:43-48: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The gospel reorients us to true justice in the world. We are not to take it out on our enemies—rather we are to pray for them, to love them. This is the upside-down nature of the Kingdom of God. Let God be the judge. We can simply pray for “His kingdom come, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Justice will then be perfectly meted out on great and small alike. Let us look forward to that Day when Jesus returns and brings about perfect justice on the earth. On that day “Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen,” Revelation 1:7b
Dear friends, don’t lose your joy. Don’t lose your hope. Don’t quit worshipping our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ—because He will save. In that great day we will be overjoyed. We may be in a time of testing—but this will pass. One day we will experience a great day of joy without end. Don’t forget that.
In the meantime, let me share some words from Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She said,
“We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in heaven with him right now-to be happy with him at this very moment. But being happy with him now means:
Loving as he loves,
Helping as he helps,
Giving as he gives,
Serving as he serves,
Rescuing as he rescues,
Being with him for all the twenty-four hours,
Touching him in his distressing disguise.”
Don’t put your harp away, don’t sit and weep, don’t refuse to sing or let your right hand forget how to do its work. Instead—remember we serve a mighty God who is with us and has promised to never leave us or forsake us. May His kingdom come! Amen.
“Jesus shall reign wherever the sun Does His successive journeys run, His kingdom spread from shore to shore, ‘Til moons shall wax and wane no more.
To Him shall end-less prayer be made, And end-less praises crown His head; His name like sweet perfume shall rise With every morning sacrifice.
Let every creature rise and bring His grateful honors to our King; Angels descend with songs again, And earth repeat the loud “A-men!” –Isaac Watts
This coming Lord’s day I will be starting a new series in the book of Philippians. Philippians is known as the “Epistle of Joy.” In it, Paul writes to the church in Philippi from a Roman dungeon, and even though he himself is in captivity—he is filled with incredible, unstoppable joy. We could use some lessons today on how to find joy from this little book. I hope to see you there.
Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Pastor Russ Hilsinger
Grace Baptist Church of Dallas, OR