Psalms 137 (DBY)

Chapter Text

137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

137:2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

137:3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that made us wail [required] mirth, [saying,] Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion.

137:4 How should we sing a song of Jehovah's upon a foreign soil?

137:5 If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [its skill];

137:6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to my palate: if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

137:7 Remember, O Jehovah, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, Lay [it] bare, Lay [it] bare, down to its foundation!

137:8 Daughter of Babylon, who art to be laid waste, happy he that rendereth unto thee that which thou hast meted out to us.

137:9 Happy he that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "rivers", "babylon", "down", "wept", "remembered", "zion", "hanged", and "harps". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "rivers" and "babylon", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local DBY text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "rivers" and "babylon" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "rivers" and "babylon" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.