Psalm 137:1: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
Experiencing Jesus in the Psalms
This is no psalm of praise. This is a psalm of deep sorrow. “We wept, when we remembered Zion.” What a contrast between Jerusalem and Babylon! Jerusalem yonder in the hills, beautiful for situation. Babylon, down on a dry plain. The people are not there because they want to be there. They are there because their city has been destroyed. They are there because the Babylonians, a people stronger than they, had invaded their city, taken them captive, herded them like animals, and put them on slave labor. Now they are homesick. “We wept, when we remembered Zion.” Why are they there? Because they have sinned. 1
Living the Transformed Life
I sat down and wept, for many days before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4
- Will you weep over your absence in the house of the Lord? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise. Psalm 42:4
- Will you weep over your stubborn heart to pursue your will, more than pursuing His will? My eyes fail with tears, my heart is troubled. Lamentations 2:11
- Will you allow your tears and brokenness lead to you a renewed place of prayer and devotion to Him? Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Daniel 9:3
Your tears of remembrance can be the start of a new beginning.
Praise and Prayer
Thank You, Father, for allowing deep emotions that have led me to seek You again. Dear Jesus, forgive me for failing to mourn over my sin of selfish living.
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: Poetry (Psalms 90-150) (electronic ed., Vol. 19, p. 145). Nashville.