Singing In a Foreign Land
Psalm 137:1-4
* Our Psalm today is written by some unknown writer toward the end of the Jewish captivity. It appears to be a report of the feeling of the Jewish people at this time. In it, we can discover some common truths that we have with the Jewish people. Let’s read our scripture together.
* Very few things exciting us like a song. Music has been called the universal language and speaks to the very heart of people. Music has the ability to touch us in places that very few things have the ability to touch us. In fact, music shows up in some strange places. We hear it in public, private, and at the house even in the showers. In short, people generally love music and love to sing. But what happens when that song which seems to be berthed be in the soul & heart of an individual is snuffed out? That is the question then is ask today.
* Verse 4 asks this question which each of us can understand. How can we sing the Lord’s song on foreign soil? To understand the full meaning of this verse requires us to remember the context in which it was written.
* Most of us recognize Biblical names such as, Saul, David, and Solomon. These three are the last three Kings of the Jewish nation called Judah when it was a unified nation. If you recall, Solomon built this extravagant temple, the temple of god, along with many other fine palaces. In 922 BC Solomon passed away and his son, Rehoboam, came to the throne. The taxes which Solomon had levied on his people had been huge, but somehow the people felt they were fair. When making the determination of how to rule, Rehoboam, consulted with his father’s counselors. Those old and was counselors gave Rehoboam the same words they had given was King Solomon. That was, to continue things the way someone had been running them, however, Rehoboam had some young men his own age who he asks for counsel. These men council the king that now was the time to raise the taxes and show people who was boss. And this is what he did. The reaction of the people was swift and certain. In the northern part of the country a man named Jeroboam led the northern people, 10 tribes, to secede from Judah and form a separate nation called Israel. The result was that there were now two nations both of whom were decidedly weaker. The old adage is always true, “united we stand and divided we fall”.
* It took 200 years for the weakness of this circumstance to be taken advantage of. In 722, the Assyrians under Sargon came, defeated the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and took them into captivity. Half of those who were taken would be destroyed in genocide or through the absorption in culture. They were gone.
* It was only 120 to 140 later that a powerful King name Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon defeated the Southern Kingdom of Judah and took them into captivity & bondage. It is important to know and remember that in the Babylonian defeat, Solomon’s temple was obliterated (except for one wall). (Read 2 Chronicles 36:15-21) Here’s the point; when God’s people evokes God’s wrath, they were completed defeated to be point of being demoralized. In some books, you’ll discover a word picture of men’s bodies strewn around while women were connect by a rope run through the rings which had been placed in their noses. It was an awful sight.
* It is probably getting close to 70 years in captivity when the Psalmist pens the words of our text asking, “How can we sing in foreign land?”
* For the next few minutes let’s consider the ‘foreign land’, what it is, what it does, and what we can do.
1. The Types of Foreign Land – For me, just hearing the word ‘foreign land’ evokes a sense of fear. As a child, my fear was that God would call me to go to ‘lower slobovia’ to be a missionary where I would inadvertently break the law (because I didn’t know the laws of the land), be place in a dungeon type of cell, and never again to see home or heard from again.
a. Certainly a foreign land is exactly what it sounds like, another country or a country that is away from home.
b. I am reminded of the foreign land which Luke 15 calls the far country, the distant land, or ‘far away from home.’ When you follow the journey of the son we come to know as the prodigal, you discover that very little good comes in the far country. The good you can glean goes something like this; ‘pride comes before the fall’, ‘you can’t make it by yourself’, and ‘in the far country is the place to come to your senses.’
c. Today in many ways, America is beginning to seem like a foreign land. The America that I know is an America where there is no question about truth, there is no debate about morality, and there is no confusion about right and wrong. The America that is the familiar land is one where, even though everyone was not a professing believer, everyone knew standards of decency, family, and ethics. America has become a strange place.
d. The institutional church in America has become or is becoming a foreign land. Last Sunday evening, Dr. Chuck Kelley gave to us in a historical investigated form, truths about the church today. Jesus’ words & commands to us are largely going unheeded as with buildings & structures, other things are front and center. I am neither a prophet nor a “SON” of a prophet, but it seems to be that “Eye of the needle” principle is in full view in America. (explain & apply this principle)
* Here’s what I wonder; if most of us have forgotten (if we ever knew) what it means to be ‘without.’ If Jesus looked at you today and said, “Go, sell all that you have and follow me” how would you respond? The very idea that any one of us has to think twice about this question is an indication that the church today is becoming a strange place. It is always a temptation to quit singing when you’re in a strange land.
2. The Tests of the Foreign Land – what becomes obvious as we read this text is that the captors were attempting to get the children of Israel to sing those songs that they sang as a part of worship back home. The thinking is that the Babylonians truly did not care about the song as much as they desired to make fun of the Jewish people. It’s like they were saying, with bent finger, “Come on, and sing us one of your praise songs.” It doesn’t matter if it’s a foreign country, a foreign state of mind, or a foreign institution, when you’re in the foreign place there will be those who desire to make fun of your song. And it is in these times that we have to decide whether we’re going to sing or hang our harps on the willow tree in refuse to recognize our Lord and Savior. The foreign land, the far country, and the distant land, will test your faith, it will test your hope, and it will most surely test your commitment. It is in the foreign land where we discover what we really are, whether we really have a song or not, and whether we are his or not.
a. I confess to you today, but since about the middle of 2009, I have had difficulty with my harp, my guitar, and my song. It becomes very easy to do when you allow the wrong things, the wrong controls, and even the wrong people to impact your song. It has only been this past week when I have determined and recommitted to the Father that regardless of the circumstances, employment, accusation, or anything else, with my song I will praise Him. Two glean even more help we can swim in the Psalms. (27 & 28) The real test of the foreign land is whether or not you lose your song.
3. The Triumph in the Foreign Land – there’s one last thing we need to get our hands around today. How in the world do we, in a foreign land, not lose our song and find a way to sing? We will find the beginnings of this journey in this Psalm. This process is taught all through scripture. In fact, we only find the beginning hint of it here.
a. They sat down by the Rivers (or waters) of Babylon & wept. Have you ever wondered why they wept? There could be many reasons. Perhaps they were homesick or they were tired of living like a slave or maybe they were being mistreated, the list could go on & on. Or perhaps they understood the fact that the reason they were in a foreign land was of their own making; it was the incessant and ongoing sin against Jehovah God. Maybe they realized the bad deal they had made.
b. Whatever they were crying about, we can be sure that they ‘REMEMBERED’ from where they had come because they remembered Zion (their homeland). They wanted to go home, they wanted to return to a land that was flowing with milk & honey, and they wanted to, once again, reside where things were good and the blessings of God came. If we are ever to restore our song, we have to remember the song giver. We have to remember that time in our lives when God came and gave us a song. We have to remember how god gives the song. There will never be any triumph in our lives until will remember who God is, what he’s done for us, and whose we are. When we remember this, we’ll reach a goal that Willow tree and take your guitar and began to sing a song of Zion. It will be a song of victory, strength, honor, Glory, and salvation. It might go like this; amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I’m found was blind but now I see. Or it might be; my chains are gone I’ve been set free. Or even; I heard an old old story house savior came from glory, how he gave his life on Calvary, to save a wretch like me. I heard about his groanings, his precious blood atoning, then I repented of my sin and won the victory. Years ago, Christian music had a very popular singer named Doug Oldham. That was featured on the original release of the cultural changing musical “Alleluia”. He had a big voice. Only one of his albums was a song entitled, “what would I do without his music?” As the song began, Doug began by narrating with words like this, “After riding the bus for several 100,000 miles each year, sleeping in many different beds, and not seeing my family for extended periods of time, I would come home famished. My body would be weak, my soul worn, and as I sat in my favorite chair my mind would begin to wonder ‘What’s the use?’, ‘Why are I doing this?’, and maybe ’Does it really matter?’ In those time Laura-Lee goes to the old stereo, puts on some of His music and it doesn’t take long until I feel my heart within me revive.” Then He sang “What would I do without His music?”
c. To triumph in a foreign land – we must respond like the Prodigal son by coming to our senses and realize that even the lowest in our Father’s house has it better than the owners of the Pig-pen and return Home.
d. Here is the picture of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. It is the only portion of the Temple which remains today. It stands of a symbol of what can happen when God’s people continuously ignore His voice, continue in their affluent lifestyle, and neglect His word & work. At this wall people wail everyday because they remember from where they fell. Where are you today with God? Are you at a wailing wall or a singing place?
