The Scandal of Psalm 137: Lament and Justice

The Psalms function as a prayer toolbox, giving God's people words for the whole range of life before God. Psalm language teaches prayer that confesses, thanks, praises, hopes, fears, waits, weeps, asks for wisdom, and cries for the kingdom to come. Colossians 3:16 calls the church to let the word of Christ dwell richly through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Jesus himself treats the Psalms as Spirit-given Scripture, as words that testify to his identity and mission, and even as words fit for his own suffering on the cross.

Lament makes up the largest share of the Psalter because life so often puts faith under pressure. Lament is not fake spirituality with a happy face pasted on top. Lament is crying out to God in discouragement, doubt, fear, grief, and the long stretch of waiting when God feels far away. The Psalms teach prayer that gets real with God, not prayer that pretends everything is fine.

The category of imprecatory psalm brings the hard edge of prayer into view. Imprecatory prayer is not personal revenge dressed up in religious language. Imprecatory prayer asks God to intervene, execute justice, and deal with the enemies of God. Psalm 137 stands in that category, and it lands as “the scandal of the psalter.”

Psalm 137 opens beside the rivers of Babylon, where exiled Judah sits down and weeps while remembering Zion. Babylon’s taunt turns worship into torment: sing one of those Zion songs now, sing victory songs in the land of defeat. The vow about Jerusalem refuses to let exile erase holy memory, even if the right hand forgets its skill and the tongue sticks to the roof of the mouth.

The final verses shock because they ask blessing on the one who repays Babylon with the same violence Babylon inflicted. The historical setting matters: Jerusalem was besieged, looted, burned, and its people were slaughtered and dragged across the desert. The Edomite cry, “Destroy it, destroy it down to its foundations,” adds the cruelty of neighbors cheering the ruin. The ugly last line mirrors the horror Babylon had already done, including the murder of children.

Scripture does not give permission for a “psalmectomy,” cutting out verses that offend modern sensibilities. Jesus does not ignore the hard text, and God's word cannot be revised into something safer and softer. Psalm 137 therefore teaches that even rage over evil belongs before God, where vengeance is handed to the Judge instead of seized by wounded hands.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The Psalms teach real prayer. The Psalms give language for the parts of life that polite religion often avoids. Prayer is not reduced to requests, needs, and updates about situations. Prayer also includes confession, fear, grief, anger, waiting, thanksgiving, and longing for God to act. [40:19]
• 2. Lament belongs before God. Lament is faith speaking while life does not make sense. The cry of sorrow is not the opposite of trust, because it still brings pain to God instead of turning away from him. The Psalms make room for discouragement and doubt without requiring a fake smile first. [36:11]
• 3. Hard Scripture must not be edited. The impulse to cut out offensive verses reveals how easily human sensibilities try to sit over God's word. A “psalmectomy” may make Scripture feel safer, but it also removes the place where God meets wounded rage and demands for justice. Trustworthy Scripture must be received even when it disturbs. [45:03]
• 4. Exile explains the Psalm’s anguish. Psalm 137 is not abstract violence floating in the air. Its words rise from burned walls, stolen worship, murdered children, and neighbors cheering destruction. The horror of the prayer reflects the horror of what Babylon had done. [49:16]
• 5. Jesus does not ignore scandal. Jesus does not solve the problem of hard Old Testament texts by pretending they are not there. His own handling of Scripture keeps the church from trimming the Bible down to whatever feels soothing. The hard words must be faced under his authority, not avoided for comfort.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [21:29] - Junior Church and Morning Greeting
• [32:16] - Summer in the Psalms
• [33:14] - The Psalms as a Prayer Toolbox
• [34:10] - Jesus Validates the Psalms
• [35:26] - Lament as the Common Prayer
• [37:05] - Neglected Parts of Prayer
• [38:08] - Faith When Life Does Not Work
• [39:29] - Waiting on God’s Answer
• [40:19] - Getting Real With God
• [41:05] - What Imprecatory Psalms Mean
• [42:33] - Reading Psalm 137
• [44:00] - The Scandal of the Psalter
• [47:03] - Jesus Does Not Ignore It
• [48:00] - Judah’s Exile Behind Psalm 137
• [49:40] - Weeping by Babylon’s Waters

Bible Reading

Psalm 137
“By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, ‘Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!’ O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” [42:39]

Colossians 3:16
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” [33:48]

Luke 24:44
“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’” [34:15]

Observation questions

1. According to Colossians 3:16, what are believers called to do with the word of Christ, and what role do psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs play in that? [33:48]
2. In Psalm 137, what actions show the sorrow of God’s people in exile, and how do their captors turn worship into mockery?
3. What vow does the psalmist make about Jerusalem, and what does that reveal about memory, worship, and loyalty in exile?
4. What details in Psalm 137 connect the closing cries for judgment to what Babylon and Edom had actually done? [49:16]

Interpretation questions

1. If the Psalms are a prayer toolbox for the whole range of life, what does it mean that lament is such a large part of the Psalter? What might that suggest about faithful prayer in a broken world? [35:43]
2. Psalm 137 does not move quickly into a neat ending. Why might Scripture preserve a prayer that stays raw and unresolved? What does that teach about bringing pain to God? [40:19]
3. Psalm 137 is an imprecatory psalm rather than a prayer for personal revenge. What is the difference between taking vengeance and asking God to execute justice? [41:05]
4. Jesus says the Psalms testify about him. How does that shape the way hard psalms should be read instead of avoided or edited down? [47:03]

Application questions

1. Many prayers stay at the level of immediate needs and situations. Which parts of prayer tend to be neglected most often: confession, thanks, grief, waiting, asking for justice, or longing for Christ’s kingdom? What would it look like to bring one of those back into regular prayer this week? [37:05]
2. Lament is faith speaking when life does not make sense. Where does life currently feel confusing, heavy, or unresolved, and what would it look like to speak honestly to God instead of covering it with a spiritual smile? [40:19]
3. Waiting on God can expose disappointment and even the feeling that he is far away. Is there a prayer that has gone unanswered for a long time? How has that waiting shaped the way God is being spoken to? [39:29]
4. Psalm 137 shows wounded people handing their anger to God instead of pretending it is not there. When anger over evil rises up, is the usual response to hide it, excuse it, or act on it? What would it look like to place it before the Judge instead? [41:27]
5. Some parts of Scripture feel easier to embrace than others. Is there a habit of quietly avoiding passages that feel disturbing or hard? What might change if those passages were received as trustworthy and useful rather than embarrassing? [45:03]
6. The exiles were mocked with songs in the place of loss. Has there been a season when singing, rejoicing, or speaking hopeful words felt difficult? How can a group make room for that kind of sorrow without rushing it? [49:44]
7. The psalmist refuses to let exile erase Jerusalem from memory. What truths about God, his people, or his kingdom are most easy to forget in seasons of pain? What practices help keep those truths in view?