Psalm 137:1-9

Mockery is a terrible thing to endure.  Mockery of God is simply not acceptable.  God will NOT be mocked!  The children of Israel have been captured as a judgment of their mockery of God as a nation.  However, as is almost always the case, the godly were judged together with the unjust.  Jerusalem has been destroyed and the followers of God have been taken captive together with the idolaters that brought on this judgment in the first place.  The nation that has captured Israel has no fear of God but they are being used as an instrument of judgment by God.  However, in their minds they have conquered God’s nation.  They think that they have overthrown God.  They are sorely mistaken!  They now mock those who are faithful to God and chide them by telling them to sing their “silly songs of worship.”  They are making fun of God and those who love and follow God.  This was not wise.

MOCKERS ARE BLASPHEMING GOD: These wicked men from the nation of Babylon have no fear of God.  They are proud and think that they have been victorious over God.  They are very wrong.  They have been used to judge God’s people, but are still very much under God’s sovereign rule.  For the moment they have been victorious.  But instead of humbly recognizing the consequences of the sins of Israel that led her to this point of devastation and then fearing the same plight for themselves; they choose to gloat.  In their gloating they decide to mock the followers of God by forcing them to play their instruments and sing their songs of praise to God.  This is not a sincere request born out of a desire to know and worship God.  This is blasphemy in wanting to mock the worshipers of God and God Himself because they think they have defeated God.  The author of the Psalm wants no part of this game and begs to be unable to play and sing so as not to be an instrument of mockery and blaspheme God.


MOCKERS WILL BE BLASTED BY GOD: When wicked nations are used to judge the children of God they, in reality, are being “set up.”  God in no way is condoning their wickedness and idolatry.  He is simply preparing a really good excuse to blast them to kingdom come.  God knows that His children will repent when they have been judged and He also knows that when they repent He will restore them.  When He restores His children, He will liberate them from the wicked nation that was used to judge them.  In the process of liberating His children from the wicked nation He will destroy this nation and its people in a mean proportionate to their mockery of Him and His people.  The author of the Psalm asks God to judge the wicked and cruel nation that blasphemed Him in very graphic terms.  He asks God to bless the nation that destroys their wicked city and takes their babies and smashes them against the rocks.  We are not comfortable with this type of language but we should be far less comfortable with the idea of God being mocked.

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