SINGING THE LORD’S SONG
Psalm 137:1-4 "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us [required of us] mirth, [saying], Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?"
What sort of singer are you? Could you thrill an audience with the beauty of your voice or are you like so many of us, better off singing your solos within the confines of the walls of your shower? It does not matter how melodic or mediocre our voice may be, we are all called to sing unto the Lord. Paul told the members of the churches at Ephesus and Colosse that God’s children are to sing hymns, psalms and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in their hearts unto the Lord.
Yes, we are all singers and if we are saved we have a special song of salvation to sing. It is a different and beautiful song that the world does not know or understand. God is both the composer and the lyricist. He gives it to us. Places it right in our heart when we are born again of His Spirit. Our new found joy soon moves us to give expression to it. It is the song of the redeemed. The song of Zion. If we love the Lord we must sing it. The redeemed of the Lord must say so.
What we should sing and why we should sing it is already determined in the Word of God. But when, where and how we sing is another matter. We are responsible for the time, place and manner the song of salvation is sung.
In some places and at some times it is difficult to sing the Lord’s song in the way He wishes it to be sung. David indicates he found it rather difficult to sing the Lord’s song after the Bethsheba affair. It seems he found the Lord’s song stuck in his throat and was sealed within him by his great transgression and offense against God and man. It would seem the sweet harp player of Israel laid his harp aside for a time because no true song of joy and salvation could spontaneously and spiritually spring forth from a sad and sinful and heart.
In his great prayer of contrition and confession David cried, "Create in me a new heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me . . . restore unto me the joy of my salvation . . . and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness . . . and my mouth shall show forth thy praise." It is obvious that David’s song of salvation was sealed in a sinful heart and his lips of true praise were frozen by his terrible transgression. Only true repentance and forgiveness could enable Him to truly sing the Lord’s song again.
Remember Israel’s lament while in Babylonian captivity? They were also reaping the wages of sin against the Holy One of Israel. They cried out, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?"
Sometimes the world also demands of us, in scorn and derision, that we sing the Lord’s song. It is difficult, no impossible, to do so if we have compromised with that same world. Our lips our sealed by sin from singing our song of salvation and giving expression to true praise unto our God. There is always lacking that note of truth and sincerity that is absolute necessary for singing spiritual songs and making true spiritual melody in our hearts.
A person who has turned away from God and backslidden into a David-like pattern of sin and rebellion, cannot really seek to sing God’s song and worship and glorify Him in His house among His people. Such perverted praise and worship would be blasphemous. No true song of salvation can issue from such a sinful heart or burst forth from such deceitful lips. That heart must first be permanently purged and cleansed through true repentance and confession of sin. This means a turning away from the practice and pattern of a sinful life and a spiritual about face. A genuine repentance and spiritual renewal must first take place before the songs of Zion can be truly be sung again.
This short passage of scripture speaks volumes about the matter of singing the Lord’ song. Just why did the people of God find it difficult, if not impossible, to sing the Lord’s song in this strange land? Perhaps . . .
1. THEY COULDN’T SING THE LORD’S SONG BECAUSE OF REAPING THEIR SELFISH, SINFUL SOWING.
2. THEY COULDN’T SING THE LORD’S SONG BECAUSE OF THEIR SAD AND SORRY SPIRITUAL SITUATION.
3. THEY COULDN’T SING THE LORD’S SONG BECAUSE OF A SCEPTICAL AND SCORNFUL STIPULATION.
4. THEY COULDN’T SING THE LORD’S SONG BECAUSE OF THE LOST JOY OF A SAFE AND SECURE SALVATION.
This beautiful and poetic psalm presents one of the most poignant and pathos filled word pictures in the entire Word of God. The proud and peculiar people of God now found themselves once more laboring as slaves on a river bank in the hot sun; listening to the scornful cries of their Babylonian conquerors and longing for the lushness and liberty they had once enjoyed in the land that flowed with milk and honey. These people, whose ancestors had paid the terrible price of slavery down in Egypt and had then been redeemed and freed from their bondage by the blood of a lamb, now found themselves in self-imposed exile and bondage once again.
After forty years of wandering and rebellion, God in His grace and mercy had purposed for His chosen nation to pass into and possess the promised land. He then brought it to pass through His own power and providence. His purpose entailed their perpetual and prosperous possession of the land. In giving them the basic laws and practices of their theocratic government, He spoke of a future of fairness, fullness and freedom. "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.’ (Lev. 25:10) Through the years and succeeding generations, as the great lawgiver and prophet Moses had predicted, there had been lean and cursed times brought about by disobedience and rebellion, but there had also been wonderful years of fullness and blessings. Years in which the Lord’s song had not only filled their hearts, but had echoed throughout the land.
But now the song was gone. Filled with sadness and nostalgia; they could only cherish the bitter sweetness of its memory. And even that was agonizingly painful. Why? BECAUSE THEY WERE REAPING THEIR SINFUL AND SELFISH SOWING to the flesh. It was not because they had not been warned again and again of the wages of sin. It was not that these people did not know that the laws of sowing and reaping are the most obvious and observable of all God’s natural and spiritual laws.
Long ago God had told them, "But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out." (Nu. 32:23) And again, "To me [belongeth] vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in [due] time: for the day of their calamity [is] at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." (Duet. 32:35) They also knew the true historical account of those tens of thousands that had fallen in the wilderness and the tale of the traumatic trouble of Achan and his terrible fate. God had even had His contemporary prophets specifically warn them, "Behold, the days come, that all that [is] in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD." (II Kings 20:17) They were now reaping in the manner spoken of by another contemporary prophet, "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up." (Hosea 8:7)
In all of this God can never be accused of being unjust or unfair. He has always given His world and His people the full story. His basic law of sowing and reaping cuts both ways. If we expect to be blessed by God when we heed and follow Him, we should also expect to be judged and chastened when we ignore and deny Him. On the positive side the psalmist said, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves [with him]." (Psalm 126:5-6) But the really definitive statement on both sides of the proposition is made by Paul, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Gal. 6:7-9)
But before we judge these captives too harshly, let us consider the matter historically. God’s people in every age apparently have felt they could sin and get by with it. After reminding the Corinthian brethren of Israel’s example, Paul said, "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (I Cor. 10:11-12) I’m sure this warning is just as apt today.
Let us always remember that the law of sowing and reaping is just as natural and certain as the law of gravity. it is said that Newton’s inspiration to analyze, define and place into scientific language the law of gravity came as he watched an apple fall from a tree. I can remember observing even as a small child the amazing simplicity and consistency of this natural law. No matter how high I would throw a ball into the air, it would always come down!
The SAD AND SORRY SPIRITUAL SITUATION of Israel also silenced the Lord’s song within them. They were so down and discouraged that they hung their harps on the willows and refused to play and praise God. How could they play and sing the Lord’s song? There was no spiritual music in their hearts. They express no hope for the future or expectation of deliverance from their sad situation. Evidently they were not considering God’s ordained way back for the backslider as a viable option.
Just what is that way? The cycle is recorded again and again in the history of God’s people. The cycle goes something like this. God prospers His people. They cannot stand prosperity and turn away from Him into sinful self-sufficiency. Because He loves them He chastens them. They repent and turn back to Him. He prospers them again. They cannot stand prosperity and turn away from Him into sin and self-sufficiency - and so the cycle continues.
David’s prayer recorded in his psalm of contrition and confession clearly shows the way. "For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight . . ." (Psalm 51:3-4) The story of Jonah also is an example of a back-slider who finally gets it right. Jesus told the story of the prodigal to illustrate the same truth. The way up for the sinner, the back-slider, is down. Peter perhaps said it best when he said, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:" (I Peter 5:6)
The hanging of their harps on the willows also indicates spiritual inactivity. A lack of vision for the future and an unwillingness to work and witness for the Lord. It is obvious they were in a world that not only needed their witness, but also demanded it. Their failure to respond seems to have brought scorn and derision and accusations of hypocrisy. Getting their hearts right with God would not only restore the song of Zion, but would enable them to take down their harps and pluck them again. They could do the work of the Lord and be His witnesses in a dark and dreary land.
David understood this. He said, "0 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. . . Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; . . . [Then] will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." (Psalm 51:10-13)
If we find our hearts longing for the blessings of the past and can no longer sing the Lord’s song with the heart-felt sincerity and praise that once possessed us, perhaps we too have hung harps upon the willows of our world. Do we sometimes hang our harps upon the willows of our dark and dreary world and refuse to sing the hopeful songs of Zion because of discouragement and a lack of vision for a better tomorrow spiritually? Are we also prone to retire from the fray and allow our witness to be silenced by the sad and sorry spiritual circumstance around us?
Are we sometimes like Lot in Sodom? When he pitched his tents toward those two terrible towns it evidently was because He and his family had been attracted by the lights of the cities of the plains. But then his righteous soul was rightfully vexed by what he found there. Yet he stayed there many years. But what about his witness? When the angels literally yanked his family out of harms way it seems that the fruit of that righteous one had not been a tree of life.
Israel in captivity had evidently forgotten what we always need to remember. Whatever our situation or circumstance our live is to always praise and glorify God. Paul said, " Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.’ (Phil. 4:4) And again, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. " (I Thess. 5:18)
Could it be that life’s situations and circumstances sometimes makes us forget our real purpose in life? The very essence and rationale for our continued existence? Have we forgotten and abandoned the principle voiced by the prophet isaiah when he said, "Even everyone that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory." Have we forgotten that we are created for the praise and glory of God day by day? If this is the case, then the Christian’s life should be one long never ending song of praise to God. Whatever he does or wherever he goes and in whatever circumstance he finds himself, he is to praise God with his life and being.
Just what part of our life should be praise? A small part? A significant part? A large part? No! Praise is to be our life. In the praise life there is no room for carping, complaining or criticism. Any expressed dissatisfaction with the life God has given us is an indictment of God’s provision for us. In whatever state we are in we are to be content. In everything we are to give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us.
An unknown author grandly caught the attitude and philosophy of the life of praise with the following verses:
"My life is but a weaving, Between my Lord and me; I cannot choose the colours, He worketh steadily.
Ofttimes he weaveth sorrow, And I in foolish pride, Forget that He seeth the upper, and I the under side.
Not till the loom is silent, And the shuttles cease to fly, Shall God unroll the canvass, And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful, In the Weaver’s skillful hand, As the threads of gold and silver, In the pattern He has planned." - Author Unknown
It seems THEY COULDN’T SING THE LORD’S SONG BECAUSE OF A SCEPTICAL AND SCORNFUL STIPULATION. You see even their enemies knew God’s chosen people were born to sing God’s praises. They evidently were aware that silence in relation to their God was unnatural for these people. They knew their behaviour was not faithful and true to their reputation and testimony. So they scornfully laughed; pointing out their hypocrisy and demanding they sing the beautiful songs of Zion for which they were famous.
We live in a similar world. Even though we are often despised and rejected by our world, as was our Saviour, it is understood by our world that true songs of Zion are to be expected of us and should flow from our heart.
Jesus said Christians in every age are to be the salt of the earth. Their presence is to be the power that preserves the people of the generation in which they live. They are to be the light of their contemporary world. The life they live is to be the reflected light that lights the path of men to the real Light of the world. If you really think of it, there is no other rational purpose for saved man’s remaining in this world. He would, as Paul said to the Phillipian church which he describes as a colony of heaven on earth, be better off in so many ways to go to that other world. Perhaps that is why it has been said, "The chief end of man is to know God and glorify Him forever."
Yes, there always comes a time when even our world expects us to produce some spiritual fruit, because we live in a world of fruit inspectors. A world that wishes not only to hear our words, but see our deeds reflect our creeds. A world that is continually saying to us, as the Babylonians said to the Israelites in captivity, "Put up or shut up." Our response in the crunch is what really counts for the Lord.
Could it be THEY COULDN’T SING THE LORD’S SONG BECAUSE OF THE LOST JOY OF A SAFE AND SECURE SALVATION. It seems they, as Samson, had lost all their spiritual strength because of compromise. If it is really true, as Nehemiah said that, "for the joy of the LORD is your strength," then their silence is understandable.
They had not lost their Lord. It is obvious that He was still with them. He had not left them, but they had drifted away from Him. It is also obvious they had not lost their salvation. As the people of God they remained the constant objects of His eternal love. Although they were far away from His way and will and the land of their fathers, God was still with them. But it is obvious that doubt and fear had assailed them and they had lost the joy of their salvation.
What could they do about it? Their only recourse was the path that David followed when he realized his similar condition before God. He didn’t ask God to save him again, but he said, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] free spirit." (Psalm 51:12) He obviously recognized that his weakness and need for God’s spirit to uphold him related to the loss of the joy and strength of the Lord.
Have you ever lost the real joy of your salvation? Have you ever felt far away from the way and will of God? Have you ever been assailed by doubt and fear on every hand? Have you ever been spiritually weak and silent before the world, unable to sing the Lord’s song? You can be sure that God did not leave you, but you drifted away from Him. You can be secure in the knowledge that you remain the constant object of His eternal love. Would you like to be able to sing the Lord’s song again from the bottom of a grateful and loving heart? What can you do about it? David has shown us the way: "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] free spirit. [Then] will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: [and] my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise." (Psalm 51:12-15)
