Verses 8-9: [8] O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. [9] Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
These are difficult verses in many ways. After all, when the Israelites went into captivity, they were treated as slaves. In order to keep the Israelites down, the Babylonians would kill some their babies so that population would not expand. They would probably kill the babies in front of the parents in order to drive home the point. Is that cruel? Yes, but that is why we trust in a God to be in charge of dealing with people this cruel.
The cry here for God to repay in kind for the way His people have been treated during this time. This is known as the concept of lex talionis {Latin}, or receiving a punishment equal to the crime (see Exodus 21:23-25, Matthew 5:38-42). God pays back those who reject Him (Deuteronomy 7:10; 32:35, Isaiah 65:6), and He specifically promised to repay Babylon for their crimes against His people (see Jeremiah 51:56).
Never fail to remember God is balanced in His dealings. Yes, He is a God of judgment as well as a God of love. The Israelites were unable to stop their captives from killing their children, but they could cry out to God for justice. There is no historical record in the Bible of this incident other than this here in this Psalm.
The Christian today would be wise to remember that when we are in a situation where we are treated horribly, we need to trust in a God who will take care of problems for us when it is beyond our ability to do anything about the situation.
All of this leads me back to my opening theme of how and why we praise God. It is not just for the good things He provides in our lives, but also for His justice to be done. The reason this sad Psalm comes right after two Psalms that described the good He does for our lives, is to remind us that He is charge. God never promises us this life will be wonderful all the time. He promises that He is in charge if we are willing to let Him be in charge. That means He is in charge of providing for us and even that He will take care of those who hurt us. He is a God of justice as much as a God of love. That is most likely why these Psalms are listed here in this sequence.
These are difficult verses in many ways. After all, when the Israelites went into captivity, they were treated as slaves. In order to keep the Israelites down, the Babylonians would kill some their babies so that population would not expand. They would probably kill the babies in front of the parents in order to drive home the point. Is that cruel? Yes, but that is why we trust in a God to be in charge of dealing with people this cruel.
The cry here for God to repay in kind for the way His people have been treated during this time. This is known as the concept of lex talionis {Latin}, or receiving a punishment equal to the crime (see Exodus 21:23-25, Matthew 5:38-42). God pays back those who reject Him (Deuteronomy 7:10; 32:35, Isaiah 65:6), and He specifically promised to repay Babylon for their crimes against His people (see Jeremiah 51:56).
Never fail to remember God is balanced in His dealings. Yes, He is a God of judgment as well as a God of love. The Israelites were unable to stop their captives from killing their children, but they could cry out to God for justice. There is no historical record in the Bible of this incident other than this here in this Psalm.
The Christian today would be wise to remember that when we are in a situation where we are treated horribly, we need to trust in a God who will take care of problems for us when it is beyond our ability to do anything about the situation.
All of this leads me back to my opening theme of how and why we praise God. It is not just for the good things He provides in our lives, but also for His justice to be done. The reason this sad Psalm comes right after two Psalms that described the good He does for our lives, is to remind us that He is charge. God never promises us this life will be wonderful all the time. He promises that He is in charge if we are willing to let Him be in charge. That means He is in charge of providing for us and even that He will take care of those who hurt us. He is a God of justice as much as a God of love. That is most likely why these Psalms are listed here in this sequence.