A Tale of Two Mountains

[Sung Psalm 137]

For the exiles in 586 BC, this message would have been hard to believe. They had witnessed the utter desolation of the land – the slaughter of their family and friends, the destruction of the temple. They had seen with their own eyes that God had abandoned them.

And as a new wave of exiles pours into Babylon, word spreads of what Edom had done.

Edom had been one of the nations who had promised to help Judah against Babylon. Moab and Ammon, Edom and Tyre, all had gathered in Jerusalem to conspire with Judah against Nebuchadnezzar. (Jeremiah 27)

But then, when the moment of truth came, Edom stood back and cheered on the Babylonians!

Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem, when they said, “Raze it! Raze it to its very foundations!”

And now Ezekiel wants us to believe that God is against Mount Seir? “Ezekiel – you've been saying for seven years that God is against Jerusalem. And that we now believe! But how can we believe that God will restore us? How can we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land?”

There is a reason why we have chosen a lament tune for Psalm 137. Because even though it calls for God to bring judgment against his and our enemies, Psalm 137 is a lament. As long as God's enemies have their way, nothing will be right in this world. As long as those who revile God, his people, and his land are the ones whose voices prevail, then our voices will be raised in lamentation.

Until the blessed man arises who will sit on the throne of the Ancient of Days and judge the living and the dead.