Psalms · Chapter 137

V. 1. Sat-The usual posture of mourners.

Verse 1. By the rivers of Babylon] These might have been the Tigris and Euphrates, or their branches, or streams that flowed into them. In their captivity and dispersion, it was customary for the Jews to hold their religious meetings on the banks of rivers. Mention is made of this Acts 16:13, where we find the Jews of Philippi resorting to a river side, where prayer was wont to be made. And sometimes they built their synagogues here, when they were expelled from the cities.

Verse 1. By the rivers of Babylon — Of the city, or rather of the territory of Babylon, in which there were many rivers, as Euphrates, which also was divided into several streams or rivulets, and Tigris, and others; there sat we down — The usual posture of mourners, Ezra 9:4; Job 2:12; Isaiah 47:1, 5. It is supposed by some, that they were employed in draining the marshy parts of the country; but it seems more probable, that their present distress did not arise from that circumstance, but from their reflecting on Zion, and their banishment from it: and that they seated themselves down by the rivers from choice, retiring thither from the noise and observation of their enemies, as they had opportunity, in order that they might unburden their oppressed minds before the Lord, and to one another. We wept when we remembered Zion — He means, either their former enjoyments in Zion, which greatly aggravated their present misery, Lamentations 1:7, or Zion’s present desolation. “What an inexpressible pathos is there in these few words! How do they, at once, transport us to Babylon, and place before our eyes the mournful situation of the Israelitish captives! Driven from their native country, stripped of every comfort and convenience, in a strange land among idolaters, wearied and broken-hearted, they sit in silence by those hostile waters. Then the pleasant banks of Jordan present themselves to their imaginations; the towers of Salem rise to view; and the sad remembrance of much loved Zion causes tears to run down their cheeks!”

Verse 1. By the rivers of Babylon. The Euphrates, two hundred and fifty paces broad; the flood channels, and a canal from the Tigris, as described in Isaiah 13. 14. Jeremiah 1. Many of the poor Jews were dispersed to the extremities of the Babylonian empire, and along the towns of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Daniel, and no doubt many of his companions were at Shushan, or Suses; an ancient palace of the kings of Babylon, now the winter residence of the kings of Persia. It is situate on the Caron, about a hundred miles south west of Ispahan.

Verses 1-3, a reminiscence of the dishonour and sorrow of the captivity; verses 4-6, a solemn vow of affection and fealty to Jerusalem, as the earthly centre of all national and religious life; verses 7-9, an execration of the cruel enemies of the nation.

1. Rivers of Babylon—Beside the Euphrates, Tigris, Chebar, (Chaboras,) (Ezekiel 1:1,) and Ulai, (Ulaeus,) near Susa, (Daniel 8:2, 16,) the vast plains of the Euphrates and Tigris were everywhere intersected with a network of canals, chiefly for irrigation. We sat down—The word may signify that they abode or dwelt there, or that they “sat down” for rest or conversation. It also indicates a habit of meeting, and that the captives were chiefly distributed throughout the rich province of Babylonia proper. We wept… we remembered Zion—An elegiac description of inimitable tenderness. The mention of these gatherings by the rivers seems to suggest that it was a custom, and Phillips supposes, that, as it was prior to the period of synagogues, they might nevertheless frequent such localities as suitable places for worship, and there, in the open air, perform divine service. Such an instance is recorded Acts 16:13, 16. Hengstenberg thinks they met there to weep. Similar to this has been the Jewish custom, more or less regularly observed for fifteen hundred years, and regularly for about seven hundred years, of meeting at the “place of ‘wailing,” so called, by the southwest wall of the area of their ancient temple in Jerusalem, to bewail their ruined nation and altars.

V. 2. Harps-Harps are here put for all instruments of musick.

Verse 2. We hanged our harps upon the willows] The µybr[ arabim or willows were very plentiful in Babylon. The great quantity of them that were on the banks of the Euphrates caused Isaiah, Isaiah 15:7, to call it the brook or river of willows. This is a most affecting picture. Perhaps resting themselves after toil, and wishing to spend their time religiously, they took their harps, and were about to sing one of the songs of Zion; but, reflecting on their own country, they became so filled with distress, that they unstrung their harps with one consent, and hung them on the willow bushes, and gave a general loose to their grief. Some of the Babylonians, who probably attended such meetings for the sake of the music, being present at the time here specified, desired them to sing one of Zion’s songs: this is affectingly told.

Verse 2. We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst thereof. — These are, not without great probability, supposed to be the words of some holy Levites, who had been accustomed to music, both vocal and instrumental, in the service of the temple. Harps are here put, by a synecdoche, for all instruments of music. It is further to be observed, that although the harp was used by the Greeks in mourning, yet it was used by the Hebrews in rejoicing, as is manifest from Genesis 31:27; 2 Chronicles 20:27, 28; Psalm 43:4. This passage is to be understood, either, 1st, Figuratively, signifying only, that they abandoned all signs and means of comfort; or rather, 2d, Properly, as the songs are which the Babylonians required them to sing to their harps, verse 3. Upon the willows — Which commonly grow upon the banks of rivers, as they did on the banks of the Euphrates, in such an abundance that from thence it is called the brook, or torrent, or river, (as ljn may be properly rendered,) of willows, Isaiah 15:7. Thus “the sincere penitent, like these captives, hath bidden adieu to mirth; his soul refuseth to be comforted with the comforts of Babylon; nor can he sing any more till pardon and restoration shall have enabled him to sing in the temple a song of praise and thanksgiving.”

2. We hanged our harps upon the willows—The weeping willows, the Salix Babylonica of Linnaeus. They densely fringed the canals and artificial rivers of Babylonia. The ancient temple worship was joyful and attended with music, but these gatherings were with weeping, and their harps silent. The suspended harp was a symbol of mourning.

V. 3. A song-Such songs as you used to sing in the temple of Zion.

Verse 3. They that carried us away captive required of us a song] This was as unreasonable as it was insulting. How could they who had reduced us to slavery, and dragged us in chains from our own beautiful land and privileges, expect us to sing a sacred ode to please them, who were enemies both to us and to our God? And how could those who wasted us expect mirth from people in captivity, deprived of all their possessions, and in the most abject state of poverty and oppression?

Verse 3. There they that carried us away — Our new masters, who had made us their slaves, and carried us captives out of our own land; required of us a song — ryv yrbd, the words of a song: in the LXX., logouv wdwn, words of songs. They required us to entertain them with our music and singing. And they that wasted us — Hebrew, wnyllwtw, contumulatores nostri, they that laid us on heaps, namely, that laid Jerusalem and the temple in ruins, required of us mirth, hjmv, joy, or gladness; saying, Sing us of the songs (so it is in the Hebrew) of Zion — Sing us some of those songs which were wont to be sung in the temple on occasions of public joy. This they required, probably partly out of curiosity, and partly by way of scoffing and insult over them and their temple and worship, not without “a tacit reflection on their God, who could not protect his favoured people against their enemies. Thus the faithful have been, and thus they will be insulted over in the day of their calamity.”

Ver. 3. Sing us one of the songs of Zion. The celebrity of the Hebrew choir, it is evident, stood foremost in the musical profession throughout the east.

3. Required of us a song—Urgently requested the words of a song. It does not appear that they enforced the request, but only pressed it earnestly. Neither is it necessary to suppose they made the request in derision, or to aggravate the sorrows of the captives. The Hebrew poetry was majestic and solemn, and their music earnest and reverent, superior to anything known to their heathen captors, who might naturally desire, on that account, to hear not only their music but the words of a song, as the Hebrew reads: and the Hebrew poetry, with its elevated themes, far surpassed all that heathen history or mythology could boast.

V. 4. The Lord’s-Those songs which were appointed by God to be sung only in his service.

Verse 4. How shall we sing the Lord’s song] ryvn Ëya eich! nashir; O, we sing! Who does not hear the deep sigh in the strongly guttural sound of the original Ëya eich! wrung, as it were, from the bottom of the heart? Can WE, in this state of slavery,—WE, exiles, from our country,—WE, stripped of all our property,—WE, reduced to contempt by our strong enemy,—WE, deprived of our religious privileges,—WE, insulted by our oppressors,—WE, in the land of heathens,—WE sing, or be mirthful in these circumstances? No: God does not expect it; man should not wish it; and it is base in our enemies to require it.

Verse 4. How shall we sing the Lord’s song — Those sacred songs which are appropriated to the worship of the true God in his temple, and are appointed by him to be sung only to his honour and in his service; in a strange land — When we are banished from our own temple and country, and among those who are strangers and enemies to our God and his worship? How can you imagine that miserable slaves should be disposed to sing songs of joy? Or that we can frame our minds in the land where we are exiles, to sing those songs which recount the mercies of God unto us in our once flourishing country. How, indeed, says Dr. Horne, “could they tune their voices to festive and eucharistic strains, when God, by punishing them for their sins, called to mourning and weeping? But then Israel in Babylon foresaw a day of redemption; and so doth the church in the world; a day when she shall triumph, and her enemies shall lick the dust. No circumstances, therefore, should make us forget her and the promises concerning her.”

4. The Lord’s song in a strange land—Jehovah’s song was the song that celebrated Him as king and in covenant with his people. The Hebrew psalms are highly national and theocratic, celebrating the great acts of Jehovah, and his love and faithfulness to his people. They were suited only to their national life, their temple worship, their faith and covenant. How, then, could they sing them when in captivity among the heathen?

Verse 5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem] Such conduct would be, in effect, a renunciation of our land a tacit acknowledgment that we were reconciled to our bondage; a concession that we were pleased with our captivity, and could profane holy ordinances by using them as means of sport or pastime to the heathen. No: Jerusalem! we remember thee and thy Divine ordinances: and especially thy King and our God, whose indignation we must bear, because we have sinned against him.

Let my right hand forget] Let me forget the use of my right hand. Let me forget that which is dearest and most profitable to me; and let me lose my skill in the management of my harp, if I ever prostitute it to please the ungodly multitude or the enemies of my Creator!

Verses 5, 6. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem — If I do not retain a deep and sorrowful sense of thy desolations, though never so far removed from thee; or if I indulge myself in mirth and jollity, as if I had forgotten thee; let my right hand — The hand chiefly used in playing on musical instruments, and in all other actions; forget her cunning — That is, lose its skill of playing. In the Hebrew it is only, Let my right hand forget, without expressing what, to intimate the extent and generality of this wish; let it forget, or be disabled for every action, in which it was formerly used. If I do not remember thee — With affection and sympathy, so as to damp my joys; let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth — Become incapable of singing, speaking, or moving; if I prefer not Jerusalem, &c. — If I do not value and desire Jerusalem’s prosperity more than all other delights, and consequently, if Jerusalem’s misery do not so deeply affect me as to hinder my delighting in any other thing. Hebrew, h[la al µa, literally, If I advance not Jerusalem in the beginning, or at the head, (as var l[ properly signifies,) of my joy; that is, “if I again sing any such festive song till that joyful day shall come, when I shall see Jerusalem and her holy solemnities restored.” “The whole nation,” says Dr. Horne, “may be supposed, in these words, to declare as one man, that neither the afflictions nor the allurements of Babylon should efface from their minds the remembrance of Jerusalem, or prevent their looking forward to her future glorious restoration. If any temptation should induce them to employ their tongues and their hands in the service of Babel rather than that of Sion, they wish to lose the use of the former, and the skill of the latter.” Thus, “the thoughts and affections of true penitents, both in prosperity and adversity, are fixed upon their heavenly country and city: they had rather be deprived of their powers and faculties than of the will to use them aright; and the hope of glory hereafter to be revealed in the church is the flower and crown of their joy.”

5, 6. If I forget thee—The form of language is that of an oath, and the forfeiture is terrible, (see note on Psalm 132:3,) while, as an outburst of patriotism and love for the national religion, it is sublime. The right hand and tongue are mentioned, not only as being chiefly employed in skilful music and song, but as among the distinguishing endowments of our being.

V. 6. If-If I do not value Jerusalem’s prosperity more than all other delights.

Verse 6. Let my tongue cleave] Let me lose my voice, and all its powers of melody; my tongue, and all its faculty of speech; my ear, and its discernment of sounds; if I do not prefer my country, my people, and the ordinances of my God, beyond all these, and whatever may constitute the chiefest joy I can possess in aught else beside. This is truly patriotic, truly noble and dignified. Such sentiments can only be found in the hearts and mouths of those slaves whom the grace of God has made free.

Verses 5, 6. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem — If I do not retain a deep and sorrowful sense of thy desolations, though never so far removed from thee; or if I indulge myself in mirth and jollity, as if I had forgotten thee; let my right hand — The hand chiefly used in playing on musical instruments, and in all other actions; forget her cunning — That is, lose its skill of playing. In the Hebrew it is only, Let my right hand forget, without expressing what, to intimate the extent and generality of this wish; let it forget, or be disabled for every action, in which it was formerly used. If I do not remember thee — With affection and sympathy, so as to damp my joys; let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth — Become incapable of singing, speaking, or moving; if I prefer not Jerusalem, &c. — If I do not value and desire Jerusalem’s prosperity more than all other delights, and consequently, if Jerusalem’s misery do not so deeply affect me as to hinder my delighting in any other thing. Hebrew, h[la al µa, literally, If I advance not Jerusalem in the beginning, or at the head, (as var l[ properly signifies,) of my joy; that is, “if I again sing any such festive song till that joyful day shall come, when I shall see Jerusalem and her holy solemnities restored.” “The whole nation,” says Dr. Horne, “may be supposed, in these words, to declare as one man, that neither the afflictions nor the allurements of Babylon should efface from their minds the remembrance of Jerusalem, or prevent their looking forward to her future glorious restoration. If any temptation should induce them to employ their tongues and their hands in the service of Babel rather than that of Sion, they wish to lose the use of the former, and the skill of the latter.” Thus, “the thoughts and affections of true penitents, both in prosperity and adversity, are fixed upon their heavenly country and city: they had rather be deprived of their powers and faculties than of the will to use them aright; and the hope of glory hereafter to be revealed in the church is the flower and crown of their joy.”

5, 6. If I forget thee—The form of language is that of an oath, and the forfeiture is terrible, (see note on Psalm 132:3,) while, as an outburst of patriotism and love for the national religion, it is sublime. The right hand and tongue are mentioned, not only as being chiefly employed in skilful music and song, but as among the distinguishing endowments of our being.

V. 7. The day-In the time of its destruction.

Verse 7. Remember-the children of Edom] It appears from Jeremiah 12:6; 25:14; Lamentations 4:21, 22; Ezekiel 25:12; Obadiah 1:11-14; that the Idumeans joined the army of Nebuchadnezzar against their brethren the Jews; and that they were main instruments in rasing the walls of Jerusalem even to the ground.

Verse 7. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom — Their constant and inveterate enemies, who had no regard either to consanguinity or humanity, but, instead of pitying Jerusalem, as became kind neighbours and relations, were glad to see the day of its desolations; and encouraged their destroyers with their acclamations, saying, Rase it, rase it, &c. Hebrew, wr[ wr[, make it bare, empty it, or lay it flat, even to the foundation thereof, or the ground on which it stands. Edom is charged with this unnatural behaviour, and threatened for it by God himself in the prophecy of Obadiah, verse 10, and for it God’s judgments came upon them, as it was here foretold they should do.

Ver. 7. Remember Edom. It was very wicked in the Edomites to rejoice at the fall of Jerusalem, for they were of one blood: and it was not more than five years before the Chaldeans inflicted the same calamity upon them.

7-9. The bitter execrations of the enemies of Jerusalem follow the loving vows of remembrance. Children of Edom—That is, the Edomites, who, with the adjacent Syrian and Arabian nations, gladly assisted the army of Nebuchadnezzar in taking Jerusalem. The day of Jerusalem—The day of her downfall, for which see 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; Jeremiah 52, Rase it, rase it—Hebrew, Make bare, or, uncover; that is, utterly demolish the city walls and houses. This was the fierce battle cry of unsparing slaughter and rapine. Edom was conspicuous for cruelty among the nations represented in the army of Nebuchadnezzar. On their iniquity and their punishment see the prophecy of Obadiah.

V. 8. Happy-As being God’s instrument to vindicate his honour, and execute his just judgments.

Verse 8. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed] Or, O thou daughter of Babylon the destroyer, or, who art to be ruined. In being reduced under the empire of the Persians, Babylon was already greatly humbled and brought low from what it was in the days of Nebuchadnezzar; but it was afterwards so totally ruined that not a vestige of it remains. After its capture by Cyrus, A.M. 3468, it could never be considered a capital city; but it appeared to follow the fortunes of its various conquerors till it was, as a city, finally destroyed.

Rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.] This was Cyrus, who was chosen of God to do this work, and is therefore called happy, as being God’s agent in its destruction. Greater desolations were afterwards brought upon it by Darius Hystaspes, who took this city after it had revolted, and slaughtered the inhabitants, men and women, in a barbarous manner. Herod. lib. iii.

Verses 8, 9. O daughter of Babylon — By which he understands the city and empire of Babylon, and the people thereof, who art to be destroyed — Who by God’s righteous and irrevocable sentence, art devoted to certain destruction, and whose destruction is particularly and circumstantially foretold by God’s holy prophets. For the subject of these two verses is the same with that of many chapters in Isaiah and Jeremiah; namely, the vengeance of Heaven executed upon Babylon by Cyrus, raised up to be king of the Medes and Persians for that purpose. Happy shall he be — He shall be blessed and praised in his deed, as having done a glorious work in executing the divine justice upon Babylon, and at the same time, as an instrument in God’s hand, rescuing and delivering the people of God. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones, &c. — That retaliates upon thee the calamities thou didst bring upon us. It has been objected, that the imprecations, in these verses, against Babylon, do not well comport with God’s directions to his captive people, Jeremiah 29:7, to pray for the peace of Babylon. But here we must distinguish between the ordinary rule of practice and the extraordinary commission given to prophets. The psalmist was a prophet, and wrote by the special direction of the Holy Spirit; while the common people of Israel, and prophets also, in their private capacity, were to follow the ordinary rule of praying for those very enemies whose destruction was coming on, but in God’s own time. In the meanwhile the safety of the Jewish captives depended on the safety of Babylon, and was wrapped up in it; and so it concerned them, both in point of duty and interest, to submit peaceably and quietly to their new masters, and to pray for their prosperity: notwithstanding all which, they might justly hope for a deliverance at the seventy years’ end, and God might instruct his prophets to declare it before hand, together with the manner of it: “see Waterland’s Script. Vind., part

3. page 28. “The meaning of the words, happy shall he be,” says Dr. Horne, “is, He shall go on and prosper, for the Lord of hosts shall go with him, and fight his battles against the enemy and oppressor of his people, empowering him to recompense upon the Chaldeans the works of their hands, and to reward them as they served Israel. The slaughter of the very infants, mentioned in the last verse, is expressly predicted by Isaiah 13:16; Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. The destruction was to be universal, sparing neither sex nor age. Terrible, but just, are thy judgments, O Lord! The fall of the mystical Babylon is described Revelation 18. in terms and phrases borrowed from this and other prophecies, relating primarily to the ancient city called by that name. Whoever will carefully read over the chapter referred to, with the three subsequent ones, concerning the triumph of Messiah, and the glory of the new Jerusalem, will be able to form proper ideas of the world and the church, and will know where to choose his portion.”

Ver. 8. Oh daughter of Babylon. The capital of an empire is universally considered as of the feminine gender, as, Oh daughter of Zion. The Greek, metropolis, is literally mother city. Rwmh, Roma, are both feminine. So also was her language of pride: “I sit a queen, and shall see no sorrow.”— Happy shall he be that rewardeth thee. This is proof sufficient that this psalm was composed before the bloody city had received her just reward. Old Priam strives in these words to dissuade his son Hector from fighting Achilles in single combat: “Pity an unhappy king, whom Jove, on the last limits of age, has doomed to the bitterest woes. Many evils have I yet to behold; my valiant sons slain in battle, my daughters ravished in my sight, my nuptial chambers disclosed to the foe, my infant offspring dashed to the earth, my people floating in their blood, the wives of my sons led to slavery by the destructive Argives.” [Greeks] Iliad 22. Macpherson.

8. Daughter of Babylon—A periphrasis for Babylonians, or the metropolitan cities of the empire. Who art to be destroyed. It is not certain whether the word “destroyed,” which is a passive participle, denotes indefinite future or an event impending, and in process of accomplishment. Gesenius: “Soon to be destroyed, or perhaps we may regard the city as captured by Cyrus.” Furst:” Overtaken by violence.” Delitzsch: “Wasted one.” Septuagint and Vulgate: “Wretched.” Jerome: “Vastata.” The language is prophetic, and seems based upon such passages as Isaiah 13:19-22; 21:9, 10, 47, which see. The scene of Babylon’s catastrophe opened soon after the date of the psalm. Cyrus took Babylon B.C. 539, and removed the capital to Susa, on the eastern bank of the Choaspes, about forty miles southeasterly from Babylon, and left the city a province of the empire. Darius Hystaspes re-subjugated the revolted Babylonians twenty-three years after, removed the gates of the city, broke down its walls to one fourth their height, crucified 3,000 of its nobility, and left the city greatly humbled. In the beginning of the Christian era, Strabo says, “The vast city is a vast desert.” Rewardeth thee as thou hast served us—This is simply even justice, a vengeance yet to be literally inflicted on mystic Babylon (Antichrist) by eternal justice. See Revelation 18:6, where this same sentiment is advanced.

Verse 9. Happy—that taketh and dasheth thy little ones] That is, So oppressive hast thou been to all under thy domination, as to become universally hated and detested; so that those who may have the last hand in thy destruction, and the total extermination of thy inhabitants, shall be reputed happy-shall be celebrated and extolled as those who have rid the world of a curse so grievous. These prophetic declarations contain no excitement to any person or persons to commit acts of cruelty and barbarity; but are simply declarative of what would take place in the order of the retributive providence and justice of God, and the general opinion that should in consequence be expressed on the subject; therefore praying for the destruction of our enemies is totally out of the question. It should not be omitted that the Chaldee considers this Psalm a dialogue, which it thus divides:—The three first verses are supposed to have been spoken by the psalmist, By the rivers, &c. The Levites answer from the porch of the temple, in Psalm 137:4, How shall we sing, &c. The voice of the Holy Spirit responds in Psalm 137:5, 6, If I forget thee, &c. Michael, the prince of Jerusalem, answers in Psalm 137:7, Remember, O Lord, &c. Gabriel, the prince of Zion, then addresses the destroyer of the Babylonish nation, in Psalm 137:8, 9, Happy shall be he that rewardeth thee, &c. To slay all when a city was sacked, both male and female, old and young, was a common practice in ancient times. Homer describes this in words almost similar to those of the psalmist:—

Uias tJ ollumenouv, elkusqeisav te qugatrav,

Kai qalamouv keraizomenouv, kai nhpia tekna

Ballomena proti gaih en ainh dhiothti,

JElkomenav te nuouv olohv upo cersin Acaiwn.

Il. lib. xxii., ver. 62.

My heroes slain, my bridal bed o’erturned;

My daughters ravished, and my city burned:

My bleeding infants dashed against the floor;

These I have yet to see; perhaps yet more.

POPE.

These excesses were common in all barbarous nations, and are only prophetically declared here. He shall be reputed happy, prosperous, and highly commendable, who shall destroy Babylon.

Verses 8, 9. O daughter of Babylon — By which he understands the city and empire of Babylon, and the people thereof, who art to be destroyed — Who by God’s righteous and irrevocable sentence, art devoted to certain destruction, and whose destruction is particularly and circumstantially foretold by God’s holy prophets. For the subject of these two verses is the same with that of many chapters in Isaiah and Jeremiah; namely, the vengeance of Heaven executed upon Babylon by Cyrus, raised up to be king of the Medes and Persians for that purpose. Happy shall he be — He shall be blessed and praised in his deed, as having done a glorious work in executing the divine justice upon Babylon, and at the same time, as an instrument in God’s hand, rescuing and delivering the people of God. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones, &c. — That retaliates upon thee the calamities thou didst bring upon us. It has been objected, that the imprecations, in these verses, against Babylon, do not well comport with God’s directions to his captive people, Jeremiah 29:7, to pray for the peace of Babylon. But here we must distinguish between the ordinary rule of practice and the extraordinary commission given to prophets. The psalmist was a prophet, and wrote by the special direction of the Holy Spirit; while the common people of Israel, and prophets also, in their private capacity, were to follow the ordinary rule of praying for those very enemies whose destruction was coming on, but in God’s own time. In the meanwhile the safety of the Jewish captives depended on the safety of Babylon, and was wrapped up in it; and so it concerned them, both in point of duty and interest, to submit peaceably and quietly to their new masters, and to pray for their prosperity: notwithstanding all which, they might justly hope for a deliverance at the seventy years’ end, and God might instruct his prophets to declare it before hand, together with the manner of it: “see Waterland’s Script. Vind., part

3. page 28. “The meaning of the words, happy shall he be,” says Dr. Horne, “is, He shall go on and prosper, for the Lord of hosts shall go with him, and fight his battles against the enemy and oppressor of his people, empowering him to recompense upon the Chaldeans the works of their hands, and to reward them as they served Israel. The slaughter of the very infants, mentioned in the last verse, is expressly predicted by Isaiah 13:16; Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. The destruction was to be universal, sparing neither sex nor age. Terrible, but just, are thy judgments, O Lord! The fall of the mystical Babylon is described Revelation 18. in terms and phrases borrowed from this and other prophecies, relating primarily to the ancient city called by that name. Whoever will carefully read over the chapter referred to, with the three subsequent ones, concerning the triumph of Messiah, and the glory of the new Jerusalem, will be able to form proper ideas of the world and the church, and will know where to choose his portion.”

Ver. 9. Dasheth thy little ones. Isaiah had so prophesied, as in chap. xiii; and so shall all the enemies of Christ be treated, when the days of vengeance shall come from the Lord.

From an original manuscript, by C. Wesley.

Fast by the Babylonish tide,

The tide our sorrows made to flow,

We dropt our weary limbs and cried,

In deep distress at Zion’s woe;

Her we bewailed in speechless groans,

In bondage with her captive sons.

Our harps, no longer vocal now,

We cast aside untuned, unstrung,

Forgot them pendant on the bough;

Let meaner sorrows find a tongue:

Silent we sat and scorned relief,

In all the majesty of grief.

In vain our haughty lords required

A song of Zion’s sacred strain,

“Sing us a song your God inspired:”

How shall our souls exult in pain,

How shall the mournful exiles sing,

While bond-slaves to a foreign king?

Jerusalem, dear hallowed name,

Thee, if I ever less desire,

If less distrest for thee I am,

Let my right hand forget her lyre;

All its harmonious strains forego,

When heedless of a mother’s woe.

Oh England’s desolate church, if thee,

Though desolate I remember not,

Let me, so lost to piety,

Be lost myself and clean forgot;

Cleave to the roof, my speechless tongue,

When Zion is not all my song.

Let life itself with language fail,

For thee when I forbear to mourn:

Nay, but I will for ever wail,

Till God thy captive state shall turn;

Let this my every breath employ,

To grieve for thee be all my joy.

Oh for the weeping prophets’ strains,

The depth of sympathetic woe!

I live to gather thy remains,

For thee my tears and blood shall flow;

My heart amidst thy ruins lies,

And only in thy rise I rise.

Remember Lord the cruel pride

Of Edom, in our evil day,

Down with it to the ground, they cried,

Let none the tottering ruin stay;

Let none the sinking church restore,

But let it fall to rise no more.

Surely our God shall vengeance take,

On those that gloried in our fall,

He a full end of sin shall make,

Of all that held our souls in thrall:

Oh Babylon, thy day shall come,

Prepare to meet thy final doom.

Happy the man that sees in thee,

The mystic Babylon within;

And filled with holy cruelty,

Disdains to spare the smallest sin;

But sternly takes thy little ones,

And dashes all against the stones.

Thou in thy turn shalt be brought low,

Thy kingdom shall not always last,

The Lord shall all thy power o’erthrow,

And lay the mighty waster waste:

Destroy thy being with thy power,

And pride and self shall be no more.

9. Dasheth thy little ones—The barbarity of this expression, which, however, is to be understood as predictive, must be considered in connexion with the customs of war in there ages, and the fact that it is only parallel to the previous expression, “rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.” It was simply retributive justice, according to the custom of the times, and was fulfilled by the Babylonians themselves, when, to save provision at the siege by Darius Hystaspes, just mentioned, they put to death all useless persons, including all women and children in the city, except one wife for each man, and her maid. All the prophets who have spoken of Babylon’s fall have mentioned her cruelty to the Hebrews, and the corresponding severity of her own doom. See Isaiah 47; Jeremiah 51; Lamentations 5:10-13: and of Edom, Jeremiah 49:13-22; Lamentations 4:21, 22, and Obadiah’s prophecy. On the Vindictive Psalms, see Psalm 109.