Verses 4-7: [4] How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land? [5] If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. [6] If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. [7] Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
In this text, we observe a group of Israelites taken captive. Visualize a thousand mile journey on foot as one was taken by force from Israel to Iraq. Now in Iraq, the captured Israelites are saying, "How do you expect me to forget about my homeland?"
The text says, "If I forget Jerusalem". The point of that phrase is that Jerusalem was the center of the worship. Certainly, the call to remembrance is both a pledge to remember the the physical city as well as the worship of God that took place in that city.
In the previous verses, we observed that the people who captured the Israelites wanted them to sing in order to entertain the people who captured them. The Israelites are responding to that request by saying in effect, "If I don't put God above all things, may I be struck silent".
The reason this story is a Psalm is not to learn about the Babylonian captivity, rather it is to remind us that wherever we are, we are still to make God a priority for our lives. God longs to be worshiped in good times as well as bad times.
The call of verse 7 is to remember what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!"
Just east of the nation of Israel was the nation of the Edomites. This was their traditional enemy. The Edomites descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, and served as Babylon's allies in the destruction of Jerusalem (see Ezekiel 25:12; 36:5)
One practical application reminds us that when we are down or hurt, there may be people cheering our downfall. Notice the psalmist takes the pain of how others are cheering their destruction and gives that pain to God. We must learn to do the same with hurt and disappointment in our lives. After all, God in His time and way will deal with those taunt and cheer during moments of our downfall.
In this text, we observe a group of Israelites taken captive. Visualize a thousand mile journey on foot as one was taken by force from Israel to Iraq. Now in Iraq, the captured Israelites are saying, "How do you expect me to forget about my homeland?"
The text says, "If I forget Jerusalem". The point of that phrase is that Jerusalem was the center of the worship. Certainly, the call to remembrance is both a pledge to remember the the physical city as well as the worship of God that took place in that city.
In the previous verses, we observed that the people who captured the Israelites wanted them to sing in order to entertain the people who captured them. The Israelites are responding to that request by saying in effect, "If I don't put God above all things, may I be struck silent".
The reason this story is a Psalm is not to learn about the Babylonian captivity, rather it is to remind us that wherever we are, we are still to make God a priority for our lives. God longs to be worshiped in good times as well as bad times.
The call of verse 7 is to remember what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!"
Just east of the nation of Israel was the nation of the Edomites. This was their traditional enemy. The Edomites descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, and served as Babylon's allies in the destruction of Jerusalem (see Ezekiel 25:12; 36:5)
One practical application reminds us that when we are down or hurt, there may be people cheering our downfall. Notice the psalmist takes the pain of how others are cheering their destruction and gives that pain to God. We must learn to do the same with hurt and disappointment in our lives. After all, God in His time and way will deal with those taunt and cheer during moments of our downfall.