Psalms 137-139

Thoughts

Psalm 137

How Shall We Sing the LORD’s Song?

• Either during or after the Babylonian exile

By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.

On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.

• Lament during/after Babylon remembering Zion
• Worship is suspended until a different day

For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How shall we sing the LORD’s song
in a foreign land?

• Suffering is intensified by their mockery.
• They did not have a song to sing during this trial

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!

• The Jews would not forget where they came from, lest they lose parts of their body. 

Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”

• When Edom joined forces with Nebuchadnezzar (see prophets)
• They enjoyed the torment of Israel

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!

Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!

• Babylon would be destroyed in the future
• The psalmist has seen their children dashed, and now says that there would be repayment

Psalm 138

Give Thanks to the LORD

I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things
 your name and your word.

• “gods” here meaning אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) perhaps angelic beings
• Worshiped towards the direction of God

On the day I called, you answered me;
  my strength of soul you increased.

• God strengthens us when we call out to Him

All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,

and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

• There will be a day on earth where every knee will bow before God
• Not only bow, but sing songs of worship as well

For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar.

• God holds the lowly in His heart, but keeps distance from the proud

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.

• God once again will revive David and deliver him from his enemies. 

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work of your hands.

• David is God’s workmanship and he has full faith God will not forsake him

Psalm 139

Questions

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart! 

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

• God’s knowledge of us is exhaustive
• Nothing about the self is hidden, even unspoken thoughts!

You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

• God’s nearness is protective 
• We cannot grasp the omniscience of God

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

• God’s presence is inescapable- there is no place where God is absent.
• God’s nearness is constant and His presence sustains.
• מִפָּנֶיךָ  mippāneykha  “from your faces” for “from your presence”

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

• Darkness does not limit God’s presence.
• What conceals from others does not conceal from God.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.

• Inward parts- my kidneys! כִּלְיֹתַי  kilyōtay
• Human life is formed by God’s active involvement
• His works are wonderful and deliberate 

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

 when as yet there was none of them.

• Nothing about the human experience is hidden from God.
• God’s work is intricate and purposeful.
• Everything was created for a time and purpose 

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

• God’s thoughts toward the psalmist are abundant!
• Presence, not information, is the comfort emphasized.

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.

• Loyalty to God creates wanted separation from sin

Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

• The psalmist refuses to remain neutral to those who hate God

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

• True righteousness submits itself to God’s correction and guidance.

Application

Psalm 137 shows us that we can bring unfiltered pain to God. There are times for lament when songs of praise seem impossible. Psalm 138 shows us that God answers us in our time of need. Our circumstances might not always change, but sometimes God answers with increased inner strength. Psalm 139 shows us that we have a God that KNOWS us, all of us. He sees us in the darkness and from afar. Instead of hiding from God, invite Him to search us.