Psalm 137. And before we read God's Word, let's go to hymn and prayer. God Almighty, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for every word of it. And we thank You for the passages that come to us easy and also the tough passages. And so tonight, Lord, we ask as we look into Your Word that You would speak to us by Your Holy Spirit, that You would illumine and clarify our minds so that we might understand it better and that we might see Jesus more clearly. Father, we thank You that all of it is profitable to us. So come now, speak to us through Your Word. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Psalm 137, this is the very Word of God. By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs. Our tormentors demanded songs of joy. They said, sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you. If I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. Tear it down, they cried. Tear it down to its foundations. O daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is He who repays you for what you have done to us. He who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks. Here ends the reading of God's Word. Well, Psalm 137 provokes a reaction. You can't help but listen to this psalm, read this psalm without some sort of reaction taking place. And it's possible tonight that you're experiencing one of three reactions to this psalm. You know, the first could be, you could be here this evening and you may not be a follower of Jesus Christ. And this psalm, you could read this psalm and think to yourself, you know, this is exactly why I don't buy into Christianity. This is exactly why the case can be made that religion poisons everything. This is why there are wars around the world. This is why terrorists strike against people of other faith because of religion. Another reaction you could have tonight is, how does this psalm, how does this psalm that's probably over 2,500 years old, what does it have to do with me living in Escondido in 2012? Or another reaction is the reaction that I had this week. How do you square a psalm like Psalm 137 with the Prince of Peace? With the Jesus Christ that we worship and believe in in the New Testament? Especially, how do you square this psalm in verses 8 and 9 with this bewildering beatitude about dashing infants against a rock? Well, let me give you a quick three-fold response to the first challenge that Christianity and religion is really what poisons everything. Let me just give this word to you that it's possible that by just looking at this psalm alone and not reading it in the context of God's grand story, you could miss something very vital and important that God is trying to communicate about who He is. We all hate it when people take words we've said or written out of context. And so I urge you this evening, if you're listening to this psalm and this is one of the reasons why you doubt and are skeptical of Christianity, then I urge you to allow me to place this psalm in its context so that you might understand its author better. And if you're sort of wondering what this psalm has to do with me in 2012, remember that God's Word deals with eternal things. And so anytime you deal with an eternal God, you're always relevant. and everything he ever has to say is relevant to you here and now. And if you're wondering how you square this psalm with the Prince of Peace, let me urge you tonight that as we look into this psalm, that we see it in light of the New Testament, that this psalm helps us see Jesus more clearly. It helps us see Jesus in a new way, in a challenging way, but also offers us comfort and hope for a new year. You'll notice in Psalm 137 that the word remember comes up quite frequently. It comes up at least three times. And you know that for the Hebrew writers, repetition is very important. And so this evening I'd like to focus on this psalm with you in three points, communicating three truths that come from this psalm. First, remembering our captivity. Remembering our captivity, remember the cost of our commitment, and remember to call on the one who remembers. So first, remembering our captivity, remember the cost of our commitment, and remember to call on the one who remembers. You know, there's a huge discrepancy in verse 1. Verse 1 begins and the psalmist is sitting by the rivers of Babylon weeping. In the Old Testament, often when people would sit, it was a sign of weeping and sorrow over a great loss. You remember Job sitting on the ash heap. Well, here the psalmist is sitting by the rivers of Babylon remembering Zion. And what I mean by a discrepancy is really you have to understand the location that this psalmist is sitting. He's sitting in what was the destination of the entire ancient Near East. This was the destination hotspot of the time when this psalm was written. The rivers of Babylon was a series of extraordinary canals. It was literally one of the ancient wonders of the world. The city of Babylon. People would travel far and wide to visit this city. Your travel agent would be trying to get you to go to Babylon. It was a land of waters and willows, and here the psalmist is sitting and weeping, remembering Zion, remembering Jerusalem, And what was Jerusalem? It was a rocky hill in the desert. Jerusalem was nothing compared to Babylon. Well, what is the psalmist remembering? Is the psalmist merely just recounting fond memories of times he had in Jerusalem? The good old days back in Zion when things were going well. Remember, Jerusalem is no ordinary city. Jerusalem is the city where God Himself had chosen to dwell with His people. Jerusalem, the city of Zion, represented in just a picture of the plan and purpose and promise of God. That the people of Israel were God's chosen people. His firstborn son. His bride that he made a covenant with at Mount Sinai. Jerusalem represented all of that for the people of Israel. It was no ordinary city. And so the psalmist is remembering Zion. He's looking back at Jerusalem and seeing that now Jerusalem is a heap of rubble. It's a heap of ashes. What has come of God's plan and purpose for His people? Well, as Israel sits and weeps, the captors of Babylon sit and scoff at the people of God. They're the ones sitting in the seat of scoffers. And you can hear the tone in their voice. In the psalm itself, you can hear the tone of these captors, these Babylonian captors. Sing us one of those songs of Zion, that heap of rubble. You remember in Daniel 5, Belshazzar was the son of the great Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who had brought Jerusalem to destruction. And in Daniel 5, Belshazzar is throwing a massive party for all his friends. and he tells his servants to go and bring the vessels, the cups and plates from the temple of God to bring them into his party. He's essentially using God's cups to get wasted for his own party, for his own pleasure. He's mocking the Most High. That's exactly what these captors are doing in Psalm 137. They're mocking the Most High. the real problem is not that they're bringing insult to the people of God. That's not ultimately why the psalmist is weeping, but because these scoffers, these Babylonian scoffers, are scoffing at God and His plan and purpose. Well, how does all of that relate to you and Escondido in 2012? Peter, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ, wrote a letter in the New Testament, 1 Peter. And it's interesting that several times in his epistle, he refers to Christians, he refers to you and me as exiles in this world. In chapter 1, verse 1, he writes, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion. And then in chapter 2, verse 11, he writes, Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. And at the very end of the book, in chapter 5, he sends greetings from the church and he says, She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings. And I want you to notice two things that arise out of Peter's words in his epistle. The first is that he refers to Babylon. He refers to what Rome was in his day. He refers to Rome, the city of Rome, as Babylon. So first see that Babylon stands for something much larger, something much greater than just an ancient city that is in today modern Iraq. But secondly, notice that exile is something that characterizes us today as Christians, as followers of Jesus. Well, you ask, how are we in exile? The people of Israel were sent into Babylon. They were sent in exile as punishment, as a curse for breaking God's covenant. Well, Christians aren't sent into exile. We're not sojourners and aliens in this world as a punishment. as a curse, but because you and I have now been bought with a price. Because Jesus Christ has ushered in a new kingdom. He's transferred us out of the domain of darkness and into a kingdom of light. We're citizens of a heavenly city. And that's our fundamental identity. We're exiles in this world because we belong to another world. And now God has actually sent us as exiles into this world to be a blessing to this world that is decaying. He's called us salt. He's called us light. Light for a dark world. That's our fundamental identity, to be a blessing to the people of this world, to promote the welfare of this city. Well, the psalmist's question sort of rings out in our ears. How do you sing the songs of the Lord in a foreign land? Has God's purpose and plan failed? How do you sing amidst the evils and injustices of this world? How do you sing when cancer rocks your body? How do you sing when you've been laid off work in a horrible economy? When your children have abandoned the faith? When governments persecute the church? When women and children are sold into slavery and prostitution? When wars and revolution claim the lives of thousands? When tsunamis devastate an entire nation? How do you sing? And the answer is very simple. You sing in faith. Faith that God is sovereign over the big things and the little things. You know, it's ironic, it's really ironic that the psalmist asked this question, how do you sing the songs of the Lord in a foreign land? Because actually what he's actually doing is writing a song. He's pouring out his heart to God. he's pouring out all the hurt and all the anger that he has the righteous anger that he feels for the plan and purposes of God but he sings in faith knowing that God will fulfill his word that at the heart of God is mercy and grace he sings in faith faith to a God that will always keep his word to his people In 2012, remember, friends, that in the struggle of exile, remember to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He always keeps his word. Well, secondly, I want us to focus on remembering the cost of our commitment. As exiles in this world, there's a cost. And, you know, often people jump to verses 7 through 9 and see the curse that this psalmist says against his enemies, against the Lord's enemies, but we often overlook the fact that the psalmist actually calls down a curse upon himself in verses 5 and 6. He says, If I don't prize Zion, if Jerusalem is not my chief joy, let me be nothing. See, we were made to glorify and enjoy God. And what the psalmist is saying is, if that's not my chief desire, my chief delight, then let me be nothing. Let me be useless. You remember that Jesus Himself in Matthew 5 says to His disciples that if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better that you lose those things than be forsaken from the Lord forever. What this self-curse on the psalmist shows us is that if this psalmist, if his ultimate motivation is revenge and anger against his enemies, then it would be impossible for him to say a curse against himself. He has a higher motivation, the glory of God, the purpose and plan of God. He's ultimately concerned with that. And he's willing to call down a curse upon himself. if he doesn't prize Zion above his chief joy. You know, I think too often we're like James and John, the sons of Zebedee. You remember in the account of the Gospels how they sought to call down a curse upon someone who had rejected Jesus, upon a whole village. But too often as disciples of Jesus Christ we're eager to call down curse upon someone, upon a group of sinners who is really standing in the way of judgment. But too often we're not willing to count the cost. The cost of following Jesus. So I ask you in 2012 what's the cost of following Jesus? Is He your chief joy? Your highest joy? There's always a cost to following Christ. Are you willing to pay it? Am I willing to pay it? Is He worth it? Friends, He is. the fundamental question is, will I be characterized by Zion, the city of Jesus, or Babylon? Probably some of you, many of you, get the monthly publication Table Talk. And just several months ago on the October edition, a pastor of a church near Grand Rapids, Kevin the Young, had a really insightful article on Babylon, about what Babylon stands for. And ultimately, Babylon is not just the city that existed in the ancient Near East in modern-day Iraq, but it stands for an alluring, impressive, all-pervasive worldliness. It stands for a city and way of life and culture that is fundamentally opposed to God. And it's often the case that the people of God who are in exile can easily take on the idols of Babylon. Claim the idols of Babylon for ourself. What's your chief joy? What's your highest joy, friends? To be characterized by Zion means to give our fundamental and ultimate praise and worship to the living God, not to an idol. Because true life is found in Him alone and He alone is worthy of our praise. Well, lastly, as sojourners and exiles in a foreign land, we need to remember to call on the one who remembers. You know, you get to verses 8 and 9, and really what it is is a bewildering beatitude. It's shocking. I imagine that if some of you hadn't heard this psalm before, it took you by surprise. But I want us to notice several things to set this curse in context. Notice first the legal setting. In verses 5 and 6, what the psalmist has really done is entered into a court of law, he's raised his right hand and called down a curse upon himself if he does not prize Jerusalem above his highest joy. And notice who he's appealing to. He's appealing to the Lord as judge. He pleads his case to the Lord. See, when the psalmist asks for the Lord to remember, He's not just asking the Lord to call to memory something. It's not as if the Lord had forgotten Zion. What the psalmist is asking the Lord to do is to act as judge. To act. To do something. Remember, O Lord. And the psalmist is not... He's not saying, I'm going to get back at the Babylonians. I'm going to dash their infants. He's pleading to the Lord to dish out the just desserts of what the enemies of the Lord had done to His people. And really to understand that, you have to understand the historical setting. You know, Babylon had come in and utterly devastated Jerusalem. The curse that is invoked upon the Babylonians, dashing babies against the rock, this was, from all accounts, from all historical accounts, a very common practice in the ancient Near East. The military powerhouse would come in and seize infants away from their mothers and dash them against a wall or dash them against a rock or throw them off a cliff. This is likely exactly what Babylon had done to Jerusalem when they had invaded. And the Edomites, the close neighbors, essentially as far back as Jacob and Esau, relatives of the people of Israel, had urged on Babylon. Had said, tear it down to its foundations. And so what's actually really going on here is the psalmist is asking the Lord for perfect retribution. it's the principle that runs throughout all of history, an eye for an eye. What they did to us, do to them as judge, as a righteous judge. But I want you to also notice the scriptural setting of this psalm. You know, really what the psalmist is doing is he's not making up these words. If you go to anywhere in the prophets, Isaiah, Isaiah 13, Isaiah 21, Jeremiah 51, the whole book of Obadiah is all prophesying the destruction of Edom and the destruction of Babylon. The psalmist here is asking the Lord to be true to his word. He's not inventing a new curse. He's referring back to the prophets of old. Exactly what God had promised he would do, that's what the psalmist is going back to. The Lord's words. Well, the psalmist really isn't alone. This is not the only psalm that invokes curses upon the Lord's enemies. It's not unique to the Psalter. It's not unique to the Old Testament. It's not unique to the New Testament. The New Testament is full of curses. Paul in Galatians 1 says that if anyone preaches another gospel than that which he delivered, let him be eternally cursed. Every time we pray the Lord's Prayer that God's kingdom would come, we're praying for the destruction of all evil. It's not unique in Scripture. You know, it's fascinating. Jesus Himself takes on the words of this psalm in His gospel ministry. In Luke chapter 19, Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. The triumphal entry. And listen to what Jesus says. As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you. That word that Jesus uses there, dash. Dash, you and your children. It's only used one time in the Greek Old Testament, in Psalm 137, and only one time in the New Testament, here in Luke chapter 19. And you see what Jesus is doing. He's weeping over the city of Jerusalem because they had rejected Him, because they'd rejected Christ, because they'd refused to kiss the Son. They refused to pay homage to him, to bow the knee to him. And that's the same exact sin as Babylon. A failure to honor and glorify God as king of kings and lord of lords. And therefore, just like Jerusalem was destroyed, Babylon itself is doomed. Well, you know, a partial fulfillment of this psalm takes place when the Medes and the Persians come in. And you can read the account of that in the book of Daniel. The Medes and the Persians come in and overthrow Babylon. They take down Belshazzar. But, you know, it's not until the book of Revelation that you see an ultimate fulfillment of what is looked forward to in this psalm, in Psalm 137. Listen to this from Revelation chapter 16. The great city, meaning Babylon, split into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed. And listen here. God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of His wrath. See, there's a time at the end of the book of Revelation where Babylon the Great, that system of worldliness that it stands opposed to the Lord, will drink from the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. Will receive to itself the just judgment that is due it for standing opposed to God. And if you're standing opposed to God this evening, then that's the bad news. But there's another way. You remember in Luke's Gospel as well that Jesus, the night in which He's betrayed, He's in the Garden of Gethsemane. And he's praying out to his Father, Father, if it's possible, take this cup from me. And what cup is he referring to? He's referring to the cup of the wine of God's fury. The wrath of God that the Son of God Himself would drink. Poured out, drunk to the dregs. This was the cup that the Son of God came to drink for sinners who are in rebellion against God. See, it was Jesus the Son who bore the wrath that stood against all of us. He was the Son that was ripped from His Father's arms and dashed for you and for me. He drank the cup completely. And so I urge you, if you are standing opposed to God, if you are here tonight and you find yourself characterized by Babylon the Great, the city doomed to destruction, then friend, turn and repent. Turn now to the One who offers you full forgiveness, The Lamb who was slain, but who will come again as judge. That's what we confessed in the Apostles' Creed tonight. That one day He is coming again to judge both the living and the dead. And I want you to see how absolutely long-suffering God has been. From Genesis 11, when Babylon, Babel, the great city, was first built in opposition to the ways of God. All the way to Revelation 18, the Lord has been long-suffering, has been waiting for you to turn and repent so that He might pour out His grace on you. And that's demonstrated chiefly in Him sending His Son. Today is still the day of salvation. well friends as we reflect on a new year as you go out into the world this week remember that we now are exiles our citizenship is in a better country a heavenly country that characterizes us that's our chief and fundamental identity and remember the cost of that commitment the cost of following Jesus. Prize Zion as your chief joy. And remember to call on the one who remembers. The one who is both just and merciful. Chiefly demonstrated in the cross of Christ. Go with that comfort. Go with that challenge and that assurance into a new year, people of God. And may the Spirit of God empower us as we await the coming of that new creation, that heavenly Zion in its fullness. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. May that be our prayer this year. Amen. O God and Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we come to You thankful that You have brought us out of darkness and into a kingdom of light. We thank You that You have called us to be Your disciples in a dark world. Help us, Holy Spirit, we pray. Help us to prize Zion. May we say with the psalmist that all our fountains are in Thee. Father, we ask that Jesus might come quickly. That He would come soon to judge the living and the dead. And in the meantime, help us, Lord, to call down blessing and reconciliation against those who are opposed to your ways. Help us to bless and not to curse, but to turn and call on the one who remembers Zion. We pray, Lord, that you would send Jesus quickly and that in the meantime we might be faithful followers of our King and our Master. To your glory and praise, we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.