Psalms 137:1
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
137:1. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Water-courses were abundant in Babylon, wherein were not only natural streams but artificial canals; it was some slight comfort to be out of the crowd, and to have a little breathing room, and therefore they sat down, as if to rest a while and solace themselves in their sorrow. In little groups they sat down and made common lamentation, mingling their memories and their tears. The rivers were well enough, but, alas, they were the rivers of Babylon, and the ground whereon the sons of Israel sat was foreign soil, and therefore they wept. Those who came to interrupt their quiet were citizens of the destroying city, and their company was not desired. Everything reminded Israel of her banishment from the holy city, her servitude beneath the shadow of the temple of Bel, her helplessness under a cruel enemy; and therefore her sons and daughters sat down in sorrow.
Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Nothing else could have subdued their brave spirits; but the remembrance of the temple of their God, the palace of their king, and the centre of their national life quite broke them down. Destruction had swept down all their delights. They did not weep when they remembered the cruelties of Babylon; the memory of fierce oppression dried their tears and made their hearts burn with wrath; but when the beloved city of their solemnities came into their minds they could not refrain from floods of tears. So do true believers mourn when they see the church despoiled, and find themselves unable to succor her: we could bear anything better than this. In our times the Babylon of error ravages the city of God, and the hearts of the faithful are grievously wounded as they see truth fallen in the streets, and unbelief rampant among the professed servants of the Lord. Be it ours to weep in secret for the hurt of our Zion: it is the least thing we can do; ours also to sit down and deeply consider what is to be done. Be it ours, in any case, to keep upon our mind and heart the memory of the church of God which is so dear to us. The frivolous may forget, but Zion is graven on our hearts, and her prosperity is our chief desire.
The Treasury of David by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
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