Remembering Zion
Many of you will know that the song “By The Rivers Of Babylon” made popular by the German band Boney M is actually a Biblical Psalm - Psalm 137. In his commentary on this Psalm, G.W. Grogan noted that some scholars have suggested that this psalm “was written shortly after the return from exile, when the Jerusalem temple was still in ruins while Babylon, although defeated, was still a major city in the new Persian Empire.”
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.
As we approach the end of 2021 and look forward to the start of a New Year full of expectation and hope, or perhaps filled with dread and anxiety, it is good to reflect, to look back at the year winding to a close, but much more to remember Zion, the city of God.
This Psalm is a lament. The captives were taunted and possibly forced by their captors to sing “songs of joy”, but their songs were about the greatness of their God and they sang them with joy and laughter in Zion, the city of their God, in the temple Solomon built for the Lord’s glory and splendour. No wonder they lamented: “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land” (verse 4, KJV).
Before David conquered Zion, it was occupied by the Jebusites. It was a strong fortress. The fortress was so strong that the Jebusites boasted as David attacked that “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off”. They thought, David cannot get in here. Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion – which is the City of David” (2 Samuel 5:6-7, NIV). David further fortified Zion. Solomon then built a magnificent temple in Zion and it became the city of God, where God’s name is worshipped and adored.
The Israelites then rebelled against God, but like the Jebusites they also thought Jerusalem was fortified, that Zion was God’s temple so could never fall to their enemies, but it did. And they ended up in captivity. They forgot that their strength is not in the fortress of Zion, their fortress is the God of Zion. It was because the LORD Almighty was with David and with Israel that they became more and more powerful. (2 Samuel 5:9-10, NIV).
If history has thought us anything, it is that no human fortress lasts forever. We must never rely on our own understanding. We must never forget. We must always remember the God of Zion. Our God who has kept us throughout the pandemic and though some are still sick, though problems still remain, we know we have a God who is able to deliver and save us. And He will. The pandemic will not last forever. Only God and those He preserves will last forever. It is with that confidence that we must approach the New Year, with all its challenges and opportunities.
Now there are captors and captives. Some are happy, others are sad. There are oppressors and the oppressed, but a time is coming when “Jerusalem,” our “highest Joy” will come. In Revelation 14, we read about the destiny of mount Zion, where God’s people will sing a new song, then the lament of the captives will culminate in a victorious shout – “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice!”. The captors, the oppressors and the wicked will finally meet their doom, and God’s people will enter into that everlasting fortress where no wars, no tears, no famine, no hunger, no depression, no sickness, and no sin can touch them.
Armed with this hope, let us look forward to 2022 with hope and expectation, with courage and determination, with a resolve to go with God, to stand and live by faith, and never lean on worldly opinions and earthly wisdom. Let’s remember Zion, the city of the great king. Let’s remember GOD! "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation" (Psalm 18:2, NIV).