Sing the Lord’s Song

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Sing the Lord’s Song

Date: Jan. 7, 2023

Passage

Psalm 137:1-9 (ESV)

1   By the waters of Babylon,
    there we sat down and wept,
    when we remembered Zion.
2   On the willows there
    we hung up our lyres.
3   For there our captors
    required of us songs,
  and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4   How shall we sing the LORD’s song
    in a foreign land?
5   If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    let my right hand forget its skill!
6   Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
  if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy!
7   Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
    the day of Jerusalem,
  how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
    down to its foundations!”
8   O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
    blessed shall he be who repays you
    with what you have done to us!
9   Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
    and dashes them against the rock!

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 137:4

How shall we sing the LORD’s song
in a foreign land?

The people of Israel were in Babylon because God was punishing their sin. They were unfaithful to the LORD and would be in exile for seventy years. Meanwhile, the people remembered Zion. Though they were tormented by their uncaring captors, they could not forget Jerusalem. The Babylonians enjoyed listening to the songs the Israelites sang, but they could never know the depth of pain they experienced, being cut off from their land and cut off from their God. The Israelites were in a foreign land, but they still considered Jerusalem their highest joy. They still considered the LORD as worthy of their songs of praise.

The exiles remembered how they were despised and humiliated, not only by the Babylonians, but also by the neighboring countries. The Israelites were powerless to do anything, but they could pray. They entrusted to the LORD all of their deepest agonies. They put their hope in God and prayed that he would avenge himself on their enemies in his way and his time.

Prayer: Prayer: Lord, heal my sinful heart. Help me to remember your beauty and sing with hope in your faithfulness.

One Word: One Word: Sing the LORD's song

Victory and Final Judgment

Revelation 20:1-15

Key Verse: 20:15

And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Today's Question

What is the misery of man's fallen condition?

See answer and references