Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Psalms 137:4-6
The exiles indignantly repudiate the idea of doing what would be treason to the memories of Zion. The protest is dramatically expressed in the words which they would have used at the time.
The exiles indignantly repudiate the idea of doing what would be treason to the memories of Zion. The protest is dramatically expressed in the words which they would have used at the time.
Verse Psalms 137:4. _HOW SHALL WE SING THE LORD'S SONG_] איך נשיר _eich!_ _nashir; O, we sing_! Who does not hear the _deep sigh_ in the strongly guttural sound of the original איך _eich_! wrung, as...
HOW SHALL WE SING THE LORD’S SONG - The song designed to celebrate his praise; that is, appropriate to the worship of Yahweh. IN A STRANGE LAND - Far from our home; far from the temple; exiles; captiv...
Psalms 137 Remembering the Exile This Psalm is in remembrance of the Babylonian captivity written by an unknown person. Some have named Jeremiah, but he was not in Babylon. The Psalm expresseth the...
CXXXVII. THE BITTER MEMORY OF BABYLON. The vivid picture of the exiles in their home-sickness, the mockery of their foreign masters, their love for Zion, the mention of Edom, and the savage thirst for...
THE LORD'S. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ s. App-4. STRANGE. foreigner's....
PSALMS 137 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE A Returned Levite's Memories of Babylon, Apostrophe to Jerusalem, and Imprecations on Edom and on Babylon. ANALYSIS Stanza I., Psalms 137:1-3, A Returned Captive's Reco...
How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land? HOW SHALL WE SING THE LORD'S SONG IN A STRANGE LAND? To do so would be virtually to renounce Zion, our native city and spiritual home. How can...
A lifelike memorial of the bitter experiences of exile concluding with (_a_) a strong expression of patriotism, and (_b_) an outburst of hatred against the enemies of Jerusalem. Probably written soon...
Psalms 107:150 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ BY THE RIVERS IN BABYLON PSALMS 137 Jesus said, "You have heard that people used to say, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, Do not fig...
STRANGE LAND. — The feeling expressed in this question is too natural to need any such explanation as that it was contrary to the Law to sing a sacred song in a strange land. Nehemiah’s answer (Nehemi...
אֵ֗יךְ נָשִׁ֥יר אֶת ־שִׁיר ־יְהוָ֑ה עַ֝֗ל אַד
Psalms 137:1 THE captivity is past, as the tenses in Psalms 137:1 show, and as is manifest from the very fact that its miseries have become themes for a psalm. Grief must be somewhat removed before it...
LOYALTY IN ADVERSITY Psalms 137:1-9 It seems as if the exiles had withdrawn from the city, with its distractions, to some natural retreat beside the Euphrates. They had brought their harps with t...
This is a song of memory. From the midst of the circumstances of restoration the singer looks back to days of captivity and sorrow. The picture is graphic. Babylon was far from their own land, and far...
_Mouth. All kingdoms shall sooner or later, become acquainted with the gospel. (Worthington) --- The predictions of Jeremias, &c., had been communicated to the neighbouring princes, (Calmet) and all m...
God's people are still subject to insult; but it is impossible to feel warmth at all times in the Lord's service where scoffers are. Sometimes, indeed, a holy indignation, and a zeal for Jesus, give f...
_NO HEART TO SING_ ‘How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?’ Psalms 137:4 I. THE CONDITION OF THE EXILES IN THEIR NEW ABODE WAS ATTENDED WITH MUCH LESS OF HARDSHIP THAN THE MENTION OF...
4._How shall we sing, etc_. The Psalmist puts a lofty and magnanimous answer into the mouth of the Lord’s people to their insolent reproach, which is this, that they abstained from their songs, as fro...
Psalms 137 refers, and alone does to give the full history of Israel's sorrows to Babylon, which has only a mystic fulfillment in the latter days, but has its importance, because at that time was the...
HOW SHALL WE SING THE LORD'S SONG IN A STRANGE LAND?] This is the answer returned by the Jews to the above request or demand; it may be, particularly, by the Levites, whose business it was to sing the...
How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land? Ver. 4. Shall we sing the Lord's song? &c.] No; for that were to profane holy things; and as Nazianzen speaketh, κωμωδιαν τα μυστηρια. And besides...
_How shall we sing the Lord's song_ Those sacred songs which are appropriated to the worship of the true God in his temple, and are appointed by him to be sung only to his honour and in his service; _...
How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Their sacred songs were, in their minds, inseparably connected with the worship of the Temple, the Sanctuary in Jerusalem, and it seemed to them a...
SONG OF GRIEF OF THE CAPTIVE JEWS. The unknown poet here records the deep grief and mourning of the Jews during the Babylonian captivity and includes a prayer for the destruction of their enemies, si...
STRANGE LAND?: _ Heb._ land of a stranger...
1-4 Their enemies had carried the Jews captive from their own land. To complete their woes, they insulted over them; they required of them mirth and a song. This was very barbarous; also profane, for...
THE LORD'S SONG; those songs which were appointed by God, and to be sung only to his honour and in his service. _In a strange land_; when we are banished from our own temple and land, and amongst thos...
Psalms 137:4 sing H7891 (H8799) LORDS H3068 song H7892 foreign H5236 land H127 How shall -...
Psalms 137:4 Let us ask this question and ponder the answer to it in reference to our own poor efforts to awaken heart and voice to the utterance of the Lord's song, whether of sadness or joy, in the...
Psalms 137:1. _By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof._ Babylon was full of canals and rivers; t...
CONTENTS: Lamentation over the sad condition of God's people in captivity. CHARACTERS: God. CONCLUSION: Those who are glad at the calamities that sometimes in God's providence come to His people, sh...
This psalm has no title, but it was evidently composed in Babylon; and it would seem from the latter part, only a little while before Cyrus took the city. It was probably composed by the prophet Hagga...
_By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea,_ we wept. THE TEARS OF MEMORY AND THE CRY FOR VENGEANCE I. The tears of memory (Psalms 137:1). 1. Their sorrow had reference to the loss of the hi...
_How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?_ THE LORD’S SONG IN A STRANGE LAND The temple music had a reputation even among the heathen peoples of Central Asia; and it seemed natural that t...
PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 137:1. This community lament remembers the Babylonian captivity. It provides words by which the returned exiles can express their loyalty to Jerusalem and pray that God woul...
PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 137:4 To a faithful Judean, the request of v. Psalms 137:3 would be like asking him to FORGET... JERUSALEM, which would be an act of treachery
INTRODUCTION “There can be no doubt whatever,” says Perowne, “as to the time when this Psalm was written. It expresses the feeling of an exile who has but just returned from the land of his captivity....
EXPOSITION "THE most direct and striking reminiscence of the Babylonish exile in the whole Psalter" (Professor Alexander). The psalm divides into two parts. First, we are given a picture of the unhapp...
Psa 137:1-9 is a psalm of captivity written many years after David's time, written by one of those who were captive in Babylon. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remem...
Amos 8:3; Ecclesiastes 3:4; Hosea 9:4; Isaiah 22:12; Isaiah 49:21;...
The Lord's — Those songs which were appointed by God to be sung only in his service....