Latest / Reformed Thinking / By the Rivers of Babylon: Grief, Exile, and Holy Longing (Psalm 137) | Charles Spurgeon

Transcript

By the Rivers of Babylon: Grief, Exile, and Holy Longing (Psalm 137) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Imagine, for a second, watching your home burn to the ground.
0:04
And I don't just mean your house.
0:06
I mean your entire city. The center of your culture, your
0:09
faith, your whole. World An unthinkable scenario
0:12
for most of us today. Right.
0:13
Your force marched hundreds of miles across this unforgiving
0:17
terrain. And then when you finally arrive
0:20
in the capital city of the empire that ruined your life,
0:22
your captors hand you a musical instrument and tell you to, you
0:26
know, play a happy tune for their amusement.
0:28
Like what do you do in that moment?
0:30
The psychological subjugation of that request is just staggering.
0:34
You're just being asked to perform.
0:35
You're being asked to validate the very empire that destroyed
0:38
your life. Yeah.
0:39
Welcome to Reformed Thinking. Today we're taking a deep dive
0:42
into the source material of an ancient text that captures that
0:46
specific brutal reality. We're unpacking Charles
0:50
Spurgeon's The Treasury of David, specifically looking at
0:53
his exposition on Psalm 137. And the mission here is to
0:57
investigate the historical realities of the Babylonian
0:59
exile, the spiritual weight of suspended praise, and the
1:03
startling divine justice found in the text.
1:06
We are looking at a song bursting with this soft,
1:09
melancholy and fiery patriotism, so we're going to examine it
1:13
from historical, psychological, and theological angles, pulling
1:17
from various scholars and theologians referenced in
1:19
Spurgeon's notes to give you a thorough understanding of why
1:23
this ancient text still resonates today.
1:26
So to comprehend the spiritual sorrow we see here, we first
1:29
have to grasp the physical and geographical shock the Exiles
1:33
experienced upon arriving in Babylon, because you can't
1:36
detach their spiritual state from the new physical reality
1:39
they were forced into. Oh, absolutely.
1:41
That physical shock is where we really need to start.
1:44
We have some vivid historical details from the scholar Henry
1:46
Hart Millman in the sources when he paints this incredible
1:49
picture of what they left behind.
1:51
Think about Jerusalem. It's situated on a precipitous
1:54
ravine. You have sunny cliffs, olive
1:56
Groves growing spontaneously, cool shaded valleys.
1:58
Yeah, it was an irregular, mountainous city that reflected
2:01
the relational nature of their faith.
2:03
Everything about Jerusalem was built into the natural
2:05
landscape. And the temple.
2:07
It was a small, highly finished fabric standing right on the
2:10
edge of a Cliff. It was organic.
2:12
It felt intimately connected to the Earth.
2:14
Right. And now contrast that with where
2:15
they were taken. The sources detail Babylon as a
2:18
vast, square level city. We were talking about massive
2:22
Imperial engineering everywhere. Just flat endless grids.
2:27
Yes, broad canals, rows of willows, and the colossal temple
2:31
of the Chaldean Bell. That temple towered 8 stories
2:34
into the sky like a full furlong up, and the palace alone covered
2:38
8 miles, featuring those famous hanging gardens built on arched
2:42
terraces. The visual contrast is a crucial
2:44
factor here. the Exiles went from a natural mountainous
2:47
environment to a flat, mathematically calculated grid
2:50
of imperial masonry. Babylon was designed to
2:52
intimidate anyone who walked through its gates.
2:54
It was a. Flecks of sheer dominance.
2:56
That's it. The architecture itself as a
2:58
psychological weapon meant to make the individual feel
3:00
incredibly small and entirely conquered.
3:03
But, you know, the sources also note that the Jews were not
3:05
treated entirely as slaves. They actually built houses, they
3:09
planted gardens, and they had a relative amount of peace.
3:12
So I have to push back a little on the traditional narrative of
3:15
physical misery. OK also.
3:18
Well, if they had homes, and if they had some peace in this new
3:21
city, why the intense, overwhelming weeping?
3:25
I look at it like moving to a wealthy, modern metropolis.
3:30
You get a nice apartment, you have a decent job, but you feel
3:33
a crushing homesickness because the cultural values of this new
3:36
city are alien to everything you hold dear.
3:39
Yeah, that framing is highly accurate.
3:41
The grief wasn't primarily about physical labor or starvation.
3:45
It was a severe spiritual dislocation.
3:47
You can have a roof over your head and still feel entirely
3:49
lost. Exactly.
3:50
I mean spot on. And we see this verified in this
3:53
specific posture mentioned in the text sitting by the rivers,
3:56
the rivers of Babylon. So the the Euphrates, the
3:58
Tigris, the Jaboras and all the intersecting canals, they
4:01
provided these shady, cool retreats away from the noisy
4:05
streets. They needed to get away from the
4:07
towering monuments of a religion they abhorred.
4:10
Yes, away from the overwhelming idolatry of the city center,
4:14
they sought out the boundaries of the water.
4:16
Because the boundary line of a river gives solitude a safe
4:19
back. It acts as a psychological
4:21
retreat. Oh, that makes so much sense.
4:23
When you're looking out over the water, no one can approach you
4:26
from that direction. Right.
4:27
And the posture of sitting is incredibly significant.
4:31
In ancient times, sitting on the ground was the universal mark of
4:34
misery and captivity. We actually have numismatic
4:37
evidence of this from Joseph Addison's notes.
4:39
When you say numismatic evidence, you're talking about
4:41
the study of ancient coins, correct?
4:43
That is correct. Roman coins minted by Viscasian
4:46
and Titus celebrating their conquests depict conquer Judea
4:51
as the sorrowful woman sitting on the ground with unkempt hair.
4:55
Sitting in the dust by the water was the recognized visual
4:58
language of absolute defeat. So they are sitting by these
5:01
massive canals and they're weeping.
5:03
And EW Henkstenburg makes an interesting connection here
5:07
between the weeping and the rivers.
5:09
He suggests the physical streams mirrored the floods of tears
5:12
falling from the Exiles. It's a very poetic way of
5:15
looking at their geographical reality.
5:16
Yeah, the water courses were a physical manifestation of their
5:20
internal state. It is poetic, but it also
5:23
carries massive theology, logical weight.
5:26
Robert Moody Mishane offers a framework where this entire
5:29
scene acts as a typology. Let's pause right there for
5:32
anyone listening who might not have a seminary background.
5:35
When we talk about a typology, we are talking about a
5:38
historical event or person that acts as a symbol or a pattern
5:43
for a spiritual reality. You have the concept down
5:46
perfectly, yeah, McShane suggests.
5:48
The Babylonian in exile is a pattern for the believer who has
5:51
fallen into sin and feels carried away captive from the
5:54
presence of God. Wow.
5:55
The weeping happens when they remember the sanctuary they
5:58
lost. They're sitting in a foreign
6:00
land, realizing that no amount of Babylonian engineering,
6:03
comfortable housing, or imperial wealth can replace the spiritual
6:06
home they forfeited. It makes you evaluate your own
6:09
life, like think about times when you might have traded your
6:11
spiritual vitality for worldly comfort.
6:14
You move into that metaphorical Babylon.
6:16
You get the nice house and the garden, but suddenly you look
6:18
around and the environment feels sterile.
6:20
Yeah, the realization sets in. You realize the culture around
6:24
you is hostile to your faith, and that realization brings a
6:27
very specific, aching type of sorrow.
6:30
You can't buy your way out of that grief.
6:33
It is a sorrow that cannot be fixed by upgrading the
6:36
circumstances of your captivity. the Exiles understood this
6:40
entirely because the geographical reality of Babylon
6:43
induced such severe spiritual homesickness.
6:46
They took a highly symbolic action with their musical
6:49
instruments. Yes, the harps and the willows.
6:51
The text says we hanged our harps upon the willows in the
6:54
midst thereof. The sources mentioned that
6:56
Babylon was actually known historically as the Valley of
6:59
Willows. Which is fascinating in itself.
7:01
It is, and there's this great piece of botanical and
7:04
historical trivia included here about the weeping Willow tree
7:07
itself. It involves a legend about the
7:09
poet Alexandra Pope. The famous fig basket story.
7:13
Yes, so the legend goes that Pope received a basket of figs
7:17
from Turkey made of supple Willow twigs.
7:19
He supposedly planted one of these twigs in Twickenham and
7:22
that started the entire lineage of weeping willows in England.
7:25
That's a great story. But then the sources point out
7:28
that John Evelyn's earlier writings actually debunk this
7:31
legend, showing the weeping Willow was known in England much
7:35
earlier. It is an engaging piece of
7:37
history, even if debated, because it draws our attention
7:40
to the specific physical characteristics of the tree.
7:44
The branches of the weeping Willow are long, slender, and
7:47
pendulous. When dew falls, drops of water
7:51
hang at their extremities, giving the tree a mournful
7:54
appearance. So it physically embodied the
7:56
sorrow of the Exiles. The environment was matching
7:58
their grief. Precisely.
8:00
But I want to zero in on a specific detail.
8:02
They hang their harps. They didn't smash them to
8:04
pieces. They didn't throw them into the
8:07
Euphrates River to be swept away forever.
8:10
It makes me think of someone going through a severe season of
8:12
depression. Oh.
8:13
That's a really good analogy. They might pack away a beloved
8:16
hobby in the attic. You know the paintbrushes or the
8:19
running shoes are put out of sight, but they aren't thrown in
8:21
the trash. Why does music fail the
8:23
distressed soul, yet the individual preserves the
8:26
instrument? That's a crucial distinction to
8:28
make. Every believer has a capacity
8:30
for praise, symbolized by the harp.
8:33
By hanging the harps rather than destroying them, they are making
8:36
a statement of hope, William J is quoted in the sources saying.
8:40
To be cast down is not to be destroyed.
8:42
Distress is not despondency. Distress is not despondency.
8:46
I love that phrasing. It means you are hurting, but
8:49
you haven't completely given up. They preserve the harps because
8:52
they anticipate A happier period when those instruments will be
8:55
used again. But in the present moment, as
8:58
Jay notes, melody is not in season for a distressed spirit.
9:02
Music which usually brings comfort only mocks the grief of
9:05
the soul in true exile. Yeah, trying to force a song out
9:08
of a broken heart just highlights the brokenness.
9:11
Machine breaks down the mechanics of why the music
9:13
stopped and his points dig into the human condition.
9:17
He outlines 3 specific losses that silence a song in
9:19
captivity. The first is the loss of the
9:22
sense of pardon. How does guilt actually stop the
9:24
music? Think about what genuine praise
9:27
requires. It requires a clear conscience
9:30
and an open relationship with God.
9:32
When someone is weighed down by the knowledge of their own
9:35
failure, the internal joy required for melody evaporates.
9:39
The sweetest tones of a believer song come from the sense of
9:43
forgiveness. So the music biologically and
9:45
spiritually stops. Yes, when that pardon feels lost
9:49
due to wandering or sin. You Can't Sing freely.
9:52
You Can't Sing when you feel condemned.
9:55
The second loss McShane mentions is the loss of the sense of
9:57
God's presence. Without that presence, the new
10:00
environment is just a howling wilderness.
10:02
You're looking at the Hanging Gardens, but all you see is a
10:05
desert. Because the presence of God is
10:07
what makes any location feel like home.
10:09
Without it, the grandest palace is a prison.
10:12
And the Third Point is the loss of the sight of the heavenly
10:15
Canaan. They lost their future hope
10:17
because they were completely overwhelmed by the immediate
10:19
reality of Babylon. The sheer scale of their
10:22
captivity blinded them to the promises of the future.
10:25
This is a diagnostic tool for our own spiritual health.
10:28
Today. You have to ask, are your harps
10:31
currently hanging on the willows?
10:33
Are you unable to find joy or offer praise due to worldly
10:36
distractions or a heavy conscience?
10:39
We really have to ask ourselves if the atmosphere of our modern
10:41
Babylon has silenced our capacity to sing.
10:44
In the visible silence of the Exiles, the weeping, the hanging
10:48
harps, it doesn't go unnoticed. It actually attracts the mocking
10:51
attention of their captors, which leads to a direct
10:54
confrontation of values. The captors notice the silence
10:57
and they demand a song. They say sing us one of the
11:00
songs of Zion. This is a unique type of
11:02
cruelty. They aren't asking for extra
11:04
brick making or physical labor. They are demanding forced mirth.
11:08
To use a modern analogy, it's like a captured soldier being
11:11
forced to read enemy propaganda on television while smiling.
11:15
It is psychological subjugation. We conquered you, we took your
11:18
homes. Now entertain us with your most
11:19
sacred traditions. It is the ultimate degradation.
11:23
To be plundered, fettered and carried away is terrible, but to
11:27
be forced to laugh and sport as if it were a play, that is an
11:32
entirely different level of malice.
11:34
They wanted the Exiles to burlesque their own holy things.
11:38
Right, turning sacred worship into a cheap parlor trick.
11:41
Now, pragmatically speaking, I think a lot of people today
11:44
would look at this situation and say just sing a quick tune.
11:47
Yeah, like just hum a melody, appease the guards and avoid
11:50
getting beaten or worse. Why draw such a hard line over a
11:54
song? It seems stubborn to risk your
11:56
life over sheet music. To understand why they couldn't
11:58
just go along with it, we have to clarify what was actually
12:01
being asked. These were not secular folk
12:03
songs. These were not national anthems
12:05
about geography. These were Jehovah's songs.
12:08
They were theological declarations.
12:10
Yes, they detail the omnipotence, the mercy, and the
12:13
exclusive sovereignty of God. To sing these holy hymns for the
12:17
amusement of idolaters right in the shadow of the colossal
12:20
temple of Bell would be an egregious sacrilege.
12:23
It would validate the conqueror's mockery.
12:26
It would be agreeing that their God was just a defeated local
12:30
deity whose songs were only good for a laugh.
12:33
Thomas Chalmers points out in the sources that this dynamic
12:36
hasn't disappeared. He says true piety still
12:39
sustains the mockery of the profane.
12:41
The world still wants religion to be entertaining.
12:44
People demand that believers burlesque holy things just to
12:47
pass an heidel hour or to fit in at a dinner party.
12:51
The culture of Babylon changes its architecture, but it never
12:54
changes its demands. The pressure to trivialize the
12:57
sacred is constant, but the Exiles response to this demand
13:00
is born of a tender conscience. They respond, How shall we sing
13:04
the Lord's song in a strange land?
13:06
It's framed as a question, but it's an absolute unyielding
13:09
refusal. CJ Vaughn brings in a brilliant
13:11
insight here. He says the very refusal to sing
13:14
documented in this text is itself a song.
13:17
It's a stunning paradox when you think about it.
13:19
By documenting their sorrow and their absolute inability to
13:22
praise in that environment, they created a permanent hymn for the
13:25
Church that has lasted for thousands of years.
13:28
Their silence became the loudest song they could have ever
13:30
produced. Because it was a defense of
13:32
God's holiness, any real utterance of good thoughts,
13:36
whether thoughts of gladness or thoughts of sorrow and refusal,
13:39
functions as a true melody for the congregation.
13:42
Their inability to sing was the most authentic worship they
13:45
could offer. In that moment, they were
13:47
protecting the sanctity of the truth.
13:49
So, having refused the captors demand, the text shifts its
13:52
focus. the Exiles turn inward. They make this fierce individual
13:57
vow to never let Babylonian comfort replace their true home.
14:00
You can see this shift chromatically.
14:02
The language moves from we to I. It started with we sat down, we
14:05
wept, we hanged our harps. That is collective mourning.
14:08
But when the vow comes, it becomes singular.
14:11
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem. Individual accountability kicks
14:15
in. It's one thing to weep in a
14:16
group where everyone is doing the same thing.
14:19
It's another to stand alone and make a personal pledge.
14:21
And the specific phrasing of the vow is intense.
14:24
Let my right hand forget her cunning.
14:27
I want to bring in John Kiddo's commentary here regarding Middle
14:29
Eastern customs. He notes an Arabic proverb about
14:32
a poor man swearing by the cutting off of his right hand.
14:35
Why his hand? Because his hand, his skill, his
14:38
trade, his cunning is his only stake in society.
14:42
It is how he survives. So what is the gravity of
14:45
placing Jerusalem above my chief joy?
14:48
It's a total consecration of 1's livelihood and capacity.
14:51
The cunning of the right hand specifically refers to the skill
14:54
of playing the harp. Hanksonburg explains that the
14:57
punishment fits the crime perfectly if the musician Miss
15:00
applies their right hand to play.
15:01
Joyful strains for idolaters, and the just punishment is for
15:05
that hand to lose its noble art completely.
15:07
If the tongue sings for Babylon, let it cleave to the roof of the
15:10
mouth. You hit the mark there.
15:12
It's a theological pledge to prioritize God's Kingdom above
15:15
all personal happiness, professional success or physical
15:18
safety, the musician is saying. I would rather lose my ability
15:21
to make a living and create art then use my art to dishonor my
15:24
faith. They're putting everything on
15:26
the line. That is a staggering level of
15:29
dedication. It forces you to look at your
15:31
own life, Think about your own right hand, your specific
15:33
skills, your talents, your livelihood, the thing you are
15:37
best at. Are those skills consecrated or
15:41
are they being utilized to entertain your own version of
15:43
Babylon? Are you using your best talents
15:46
for a culture that is hostile to your core values just to make a
15:49
living or gain approval? It is the ultimate quotient of
15:52
allegiance who gets the best of your abilities, and this fierce
15:55
loyalty to Jerusalem naturally brings to mind those who cheered
15:58
for its destruction. This is where the text
16:01
transitions from a melancholic vow to a very striking and often
16:05
uncomfortable plea for divine justice.
16:08
Yeah, the sudden shift is jarring.
16:09
We go from sad willows and silent harks to a dark focus on
16:13
the children of Edom. To understand this, we have to
16:15
look at the historical context. The Edomites were blood
16:18
relatives of the Israelites. They were descendants of Esau,
16:21
bordering Judea. Yet during the Babylonian
16:23
invasion, instead of helping their brothers, they allied with
16:26
the invaders. They stood by and shouted, raise
16:29
it, raise it even to the foundation.
16:31
They wanted it torn down to the bat earth.
16:33
Betrayal from a family member always stings far worse than an
16:36
attack from a known enemy. If a foreign army attacks you,
16:40
that's war. If your sibling helps a thief
16:42
rob your family home and cheers while the thief smashes the
16:46
heirloom furniture, that's a wound that doesn't heal.
16:49
The malice of kicking someone when they are down is a specific
16:52
kind of evil. The sources expand on this
16:55
cruelty. It is horrible for neighbors to
16:57
become enemies, but it is infinitely worse for them to egg
17:00
others on to malicious deeds. Edom armed their eyes, their
17:04
tongues, their hearts, and their hands against their brother in
17:07
the day of calamity. The Chaldeans were ferocious
17:10
enough without being excited to greater fury by the Edomites
17:12
cheering them on. Arthur Priddham offers a
17:15
theological synthesis of this betrayal.
17:17
He says Edom represents the carnal minds, natural enmity
17:20
against God's elect. Jerusalem was the city of God,
17:24
and the unregenerate mind aggressively resents any
17:26
building that rests on divine grace.
17:28
That is the core of the conflict.
17:30
The world doesn't just disagree with the sanctuary, it wants it
17:34
raised to the foundation. And this section establishes a
17:37
critical principle of justice. God takes notice not only of
17:41
what is done, but when it is done, taking advantage of the
17:44
vulnerable, striking someone when they are in the anguish of
17:47
mortal disease that guarantees divine recompense.
17:51
The cruelty is aggravated by the timing of the betrayal.
17:54
Which brings us to the combination of his plea for
17:56
justice against Edom and Babylon.
17:58
This is the most visually jarring and difficult portion of
18:01
the text. The impending doom of Babylon
18:04
and the destruction of his offspring, The text reads.
18:07
Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones
18:10
against the stones. It's a verse that makes modern
18:13
readers recoil in horror. Extremely.
18:15
We have to address the harsh reality of these final verses
18:18
head on. It's a brutal image.
18:19
The sources mention the historical reality of ancient
18:22
warfare, citing Homer's Iliad, where similar atrocities are
18:26
lamented as the standard horrific practice of the era.
18:30
The Babylonians themselves committed these exact atrocities
18:33
against the Israelites when they invaded Jerusalem.
18:36
But I have to challenge this. How do we interpret this without
18:39
viewing the author as purely vindictive?
18:41
That's the challenge. I compare the text's harsh
18:44
language to a judge handing down a severe mandatory sentence for
18:47
a horrific crime. It's shocking to hear read aloud
18:50
in a courtroom, but it is rooted in the law, not just personal
18:53
revenge. That courtroom analogy is
18:56
essential for understanding the passage.
18:58
We must clarify the historical and prophetic nature of the
19:01
verse. This is the implementation of
19:03
the lex taliomis. The law of retaliation.
19:05
An eye for an eye. Yes, Babylon is receiving
19:09
precisely what she measured out to others.
19:11
Thomas Adams notes in the Sources that evil men drink of
19:14
their own brewing. The thief robs the thief.
19:18
It is a prophetic declaration of God's retributive justice.
19:21
The psalmist is foreseen the historical fall of Babylon.
19:25
He is accounting the Conqueror of Babylon, who happens to be
19:28
Cyrus of Persia, as happier, blessed, because he is carrying
19:31
out a righteous judgement riding the earth of a tyrannical,
19:34
brutal power. It's not a call for individual
19:37
believers to seek personal bloody vengeance.
19:41
But there is also a massive theological application here for
19:44
the individual believer provided by Robert South.
19:47
He takes this horrific physical imagery and applies it to the
19:50
inner spiritual life. He says the little ones of
19:53
Babylon represent infant corruptions, the first buds and
19:56
streamings out of sin. This is the mechanism of
19:58
mortification. We're talking about how a habit
20:00
forms. The principle is that if small
20:03
sins are not dashed against the stones immediately, they grow
20:05
into audacious presumptions. How does a habit form from an
20:08
infant corruption? Walk us through that psychology.
20:11
It starts with tolerance. You allow a small compromise.
20:14
Your conscience pricks you slightly, but you ignore it.
20:17
The next time the prick is less noticeable, the tolerance
20:21
builds. That small compromise grows into
20:23
a routine, and that routine hardens into a chain.
20:26
So it's scales up over time. Right, You can't show pity to
20:30
small corruptions. The infant sin, if allowed to
20:33
live and mature, becomes the adult Babylonian captor that
20:36
will eventually put you in chains and demand a song from
20:39
you. The believer must deal with
20:41
these first motions of sin ruthlessly.
20:44
The eschatological view is also brought up by Coleman in the
20:47
sources. What do you say eschatological?
20:49
We're referring to the study of the end times, the final events
20:52
of human history. Right.
20:53
Coleman notes that the stones represent the rock upon which
20:56
apocalyptic Babylon, which he identifies historically as papal
20:59
Rome, will be thrown down like a millstone.
21:02
The judgment on the historical city of Babylon is a
21:05
foreshadowing of the final judgment on all systems that
21:07
oppose God and oppress His people.
21:09
The physical reality of the historical destruction points to
21:13
the internal spiritual reality of mortifying sin, which points
21:17
to the ultimate cosmic reality of God's final justice.
21:21
It makes you wonder about your own life.
21:22
Are there small infant corruptions, Tiny compromises at
21:26
work, Small lies at home, Little habits of selfishness that we
21:30
coddle because they seem harmless?
21:33
The warning here is stark. If you do not deal with them
21:35
ruthlessly now, they will mature and they will lead you into
21:38
captivity. We have covered a massive scope
21:40
here today. We really have.
21:41
We've traced the line from the physical weeping by the vast
21:43
canals of Babylon to the absolute refusal to burlesque
21:47
holy songs for idolaters. We looked at the solemn vow of
21:50
the right hand, dedicating all skill and livelihood to the
21:52
truth, and finally the absolute necessity of crushing infant
21:56
corruptions before they crush us.
21:58
If we look at the nature of being in exile through all these
22:01
points, a clear truth emerges. True peace is never found by
22:05
assimilating into a culture that mocks truth.
22:07
You do not find comfort by joining the Babylonian choir.
22:10
You find it by keeping the memory of your true home alive,
22:13
even if it requires weeping by the river.
22:15
And that leaves us with a final thought for you to Mull over.
22:19
If the exiled musicians absolute refusal to play a song for their
22:22
captors was recorded by God as a permanent hymn of praise, how
22:26
might your and your refusal to compromise in the face of modern
22:29
mockery be its own form of worship?