Psalms 137:1

PSALM 137

A SONG FROM THE CAPTIVITY IN BABYLON

For once, there is no need for guessing about the occasion of this Psalm. It reflects the sorrows and thoughts of one of the captives, either during the captivity itself, or shortly afterward when the memories of the terrible experience were still fresh in the psalmist's mind. As Rhodes noted, "The date therefore would be sometime between 587 B.C. and 537 B.C."[1]

THEIR PITIFUL SITUATION

The psalm is fully self-explanatory. The first three verses describe the situation. The chosen people are suffering the captivity in Babylon, enduring the sporting taunts of their enemies, and weeping over their sorrows as they contrasted their status with what it once was in their beloved Jerusalem.

Psalms 137:1

"By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept,

When we remembered Zion."

"Rivers of Babylon." The city of Babylon was situated on the Euphrates river, but the plural here probably refers to the great network of canals which had been built for purposes of irrigation. The gardens and industries thus watered were in all likelihood the areas where the Hebrew slaves would have been employed.

"There we sat down, yea, we wept." The picture that emerges here is one of extreme dejection, sorrow and bitterness. The refreshing altitude of Jerusalem with its mountains pressed upon the memories of the captives sitting and weeping by the canals of Babylon.