Newsletter July 2023 Part 2
Worship in a foreign land
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it. For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, and those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? (Psalm 137:1-4)
The words of this psalm describe the feeling of the people of Judah who had been carried away into captivity in Babylon. They had seemingly lost everything, and their hearts longed for the city from where they had been taken. They felt that they could not worship God in their present situation even though their captors wanted to hear their songs of Zion.
In our present time, we may easily feel as they did. The general pressures of life seem to be getting greater with the cost of living rising and many people genuinely struggling to make ends meets. Our society seems in turmoil as trust in and respect for authority is diminishing and many family relationships are at breaking point. In addition, the world around us seems to be turning increasingly against Christians as it rejects traditional values.
The Book of Psalms contains many laments, cries to God in times of distress. Usually such psalms end on a positive note, as the psalmist recalls God’s faithfulness and consequently turns his focus back on God and on the hope of His deliverance. This particular psalm, however, ends with the rather gruesome appeal to God for vengeance. The final verses read, O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock!
When God’s people take their focus off God and instead look to their adverse circumstances, worship of the Almighty is replaced by hatred towards the world. It is then easy to forget that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). Judgment belongs to God; the world is already condemned, but those who will receive the message of God’s salvation will escape His wrath, just as we who have put our trust in Jesus have been saved because of His mercy alone. Rather than resign, feel sorry for ourselves and wish disaster on the unbelieving world, we should at this challenging time focus more than ever on God’s purpose. We should recognise His infinite grace that saved us, and we should seize every opportunity to share the message of His salvation with others.
While the false prophets still announced that Zedekiah would lead those left in Jerusalem in a successful rebellion against the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 28:10-11), Jeremiah wrote a letter to the captives, instructing them to settle and prepare for a lengthy captivity, but – while they remained in Babylon – to seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace (Jeremiah 29:7).
God had a future and a hope for Judah (29:11), but right now they needed to endure their situation and refocus on God and His mercy. If the LORD’s people would search for Him with all their heart, He promised that He would hear their cry and would restore them to the place from which He had allowed them to be carried away.
God’s plan for His people in every generation is to bless them, but we (His people today) must search for Him and pray for our world. One day God will judge the world for rejecting Him, but meanwhile His desire is that none should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). We are the ones to point them to Jesus, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:11).