“How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” Psalm 137:4
The place was Babylon, the times were dire, for the people of Judah, who considered themselves people of God had been defeated in a war by Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Babylonian army. The people had been displaced, exiled from their country where they had lived in prosperity; their well-being, once so assured as the foremost of the nations of their day, was now non-existent.
What an insult to rub into this sore, a request by the very persons who had displaced them and carried them into exile, that they sing, songs of Zion.
The question “how can we sing the Lord’s song while in a foreign land”, is loaded with pain and anguish:
How can we sing joyful songs when we are in the throes of peril; how can we sing encouraging songs when there is no hope and the horizon is bleak; how can we sing lively songs when there is nothing to live for; how can we sing praise songs to our God who appears to have abandoned us, closed His eyes to our pain, forsaken us in our plight, and shoved us off into enemy hands?
How can we sing a song which will be like a lie in our mouths?
The people of Judah in exile, were right to feel that songs they used to sing in Zion were far removed from their present experience in a land not Zion. They were right to suppose that such songs would be incongruous to the situation in which they found themselves, for the very words of praise to their God for His goodness, would mock them in their plight.
They were right to feel that it was impossible to sing the Lord’s songs in their circumstances, but were they right indeed, and in truth?
In many chapters of the Book of Psalms, David the shepherd boy turned king, demonstrated that the exiled people of Judah were wrong in their posture, for he proved that in times of distress, when one’s soul is troubled in its navigation of choppy waters, the only meaningful course for the believer is to hope in God. Thus, in Psalm 42:3 even as David recounted:’ “My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, ‘where is your God’. These things come to mind as I pour out my soul”, he encouraged himself with these words: “Hope in God” (Psalm 42:11).
Hope in God was his response to the trouble and its accompanying despair that had come upon him; it should be yours too, for with that hope comes encouragement, and out of encouragement comes a lightened heart that can and will sing the Lord’s song in troubled times.
In Psalm 59:16-17, David managed to escape a plot of death, when King Saul sent men to watch his house, and to kill him. This was a plot hatched by a king with all the resources of willing men eager to please their overlord.
But beyond the danger was the betrayal, for King Saul had brought David into service because he needed his musical skills as therapy for his troubled mind. David had served the king also as a warrior, leading the King’s army. He had married Saul’s daughter. He should have been cherished by Saul. Instead, Saul wanted him dead, and set out to make it happen. David had to run for his life from his home, and his wife, when he had done nothing wrong.
In this situation, David sang:
“But I will sing of your strength; in the morning I will sing of your love, for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. You are my strength, I sing praise to you; You, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.” Psalm 59:16-17
What does all this mean to you in your situation?
In this fallen world, there is no escape from trouble which is the consequence of sin. In John 16:33, Jesus told his disciples (and us) that they would have trouble. Indeed, Psalm 34:19, contains this stark prediction: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous…”
We experience trouble often at the times when we least expect it. As believers in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we have our fair share of it. But sometimes, trouble comes to us despite our prayers for help to avert it. Sometimes what we experience is not trouble, but disappointment which deeply impacts our lives.
I do believe that it is not wrong to grieve, when such times come upon us, but we must not forget God’s promise to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
Understanding that God has promised to be never absent from our lives, we can hang our hope in God even when there appears to be little to hope for.
It is because of this anchoring hope that you can sing to, and, of the Lord, even when you are hurting or dismayed at trouble you never saw coming, or which came upon you despite your petitions and supplications to the Lord.
You can sing because God is able to turn around your circumstances.
Praise to God often follows an acknowledgment of blessing.
Psalm 126: 1-2 is a song of praise, declaring God’s deliverance from trouble:
“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.”
But can you sing when there has been no deliverance or – as the exiles found themselves, you are in a place as far from the promises of God, as to be in ‘a foreign land’?
You can sing even then, but would you?
