1 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.
2 We put away our lyres, hanging them on the branches of the willow trees.
3 For there our captors demanded a song of us. Our tormentors requested a joyful hymn: "Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!"
4 But how can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill upon the harp.
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don't make Jerusalem my highest joy.
7 O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. "Destroy it!" they yelled. "Level it to the ground!"
8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!
This is a sad, bitter Psalm written by an Israelite captive in Babylon. If you've never been held captive by a foreign ruler, you probably can't know the the temptation for bitterness.
But God, in His marvelous sovereignty, used the Babylonians to chastise His people, in order to later restore them to Himself. It is possible that some of the captives lived to see v. 8a fulfilled, as God destroyed Babylon through the Medes and Persians about 539 B.C.
God is in control. He desires for us to come to Him to receive abundant life, and eternal life in Jesus Christ. If you have not submitted your life to God, run to Him today and be saved!
Lord, thank you that because of Your goodness You called us out of the darkness, into Your wonderful light. I entrust my life to Your loving care.