Psalm 137:1-9 “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps. For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, LORD, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, ‘Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!’ Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us. Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.”

It sounds horrible to our modern ears, but some of that is due to our misunderstanding. “Little ones” refers to relationship rather than age. While it can refer to the very young, it can also refer to grown children. Here the Israelites are being forced to recount their homeland to their captors, and the younger generation of their captors is turning out to be just as cruel as their parents. They don’t want to do it, but they don’t want to forget either. They ask for God to avenge them against all their enemies. The ones enacting vengeance are “blessed” or “happy,” depending on how you translate the word. If “blessed” is the appropriate translation, then they are blessed because they are doing God’s work by punishing the nation that put His people into captivity. If they are “happy” then that’s more a description that reveals their character than a declaration of how we should be. This is an “imprecatory” psalm, because God’s people are crying out to God for His judgment on their enemies. It’s a reminder that it’s okay to want evil to be punished, but we also need to be careful not to turn into the very thing we despise.

For additional worship: O Come, O Come Emmanuel