The Lord Will Give You A Song (Part 2)

The Lord Will Give You A Song (Part 2)

“How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?” Psalm 137:4

Music paints a picture; it tells a story. Music is so powerful. The right song can lift you up and encourage you; it can make you dance or make you shout. Certain songs can even trigger emotional memories and past moments in your life. A song can teleport you in your mind to a specific point in time, to a specific place or event.

This particular psalm (Psalm 137) marks a time when God’s people were under Babylonian captivity. Verse 1: “Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.”

A song can allow you to reproduce or recall specific memories. And when we talk about the Lord’s song, the Israelites would no doubt think of the times when they could freely go to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. Hebrews are festive people. So being displaced from their Temple of worship must have left them disenfranchised, disoriented, and demoralized. How can we sing songs of praise when we are in such a deplorable condition? Songs like Psalm 106:1 “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

So in verse 2 it says: “We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.” They were so sorrowful in their current state that they hung up their instruments on the trees nearby. Feeling as if they lost it all, they found no reason to praise and hung up their harps. However, I do find it interesting that they brought their instruments with them. They may not have a praise right now, but don’t get it twisted, they are still a praising people! Let me tell you if you don’t already know, sometimes the storms of life can burden you so that you find it difficult to praise God.

But it was Job who said, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). During times when the enemy tries to remind you of “better days”, you can declare that your best days and your blessed days are still to come! And make a decision to worship God in the midst of your midnight.