Babies Dashed Against Rocks?

Reflections on Psalm 137

Photo by Nick Nice on Unsplash

Babies Dashed Against Rocks?

Imagine, you’re a new believer having your time with the Lord and then you read Psalm 137:9, which says,

“Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock.”

This is when your heart sinks, you slowly close your Bible, and you begin to feel…..rather confused.

Well, if that’s you, before anything else must be said, one thing should be made clear: this is NOT God commanding his people to go smash babies (I hope that information alone comforts you).

Psalm 137 isn’t giving us a license for cruelty. No, instead it’s a psalm, a prayer, and a cry from the ashes of Jerusalem, sung by people who had watched Babylon destroy their city, burn the temple, slaughter their people, and drag the survivors into exile. Honestly, this is a deeply wounded song pouring from a very wounded heart.

The thing I love about Psalm 137 is that it’s not hidden in some obscure corner of the Bible where nobody notices it, but God placed it in the Psalter. He placed it right in the most widely read book of the Bible. Why? I think it’s because God doesn’t hide from the horror of evil, nor does he ask his people to pretend that evil is something that it’s not.

The psalm begins by the rivers of Babylon, where the exiles sit and weep when they remember Zion. They’re mocked by their captors and more than that, they’re told to sing (this makes your stomach churn if you think about it too long). Indeed, they’re asked to sing as though Jerusalem had never been burned. They’re asked to sing as though their dead loved ones were not dead and by the end of the psalm the grief turns into an appeal for justice (how can we blame them?). Babylon had done terrible things and the cry is that Babylon should be repaid “with what you have done to us” (Ps. 137:8).

Can you relate to this kind of feeling?

Yeah, me too. One thing about Psalm 137 is that it’s a cry for recompense, but not a celebration of vengeance taken into our own hands.

Listen, Scripture is very clear about these things. It says, “Vengeance is mine, and recompense” says the Lord (Deut. 32:35). Paul repeats this principle in Romans 12. It says,

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God” (v. 19).

So, the psalmist isn’t trying to grab the sword himself, but he’s handing the matter to God. He’s saying, Lord, you have seen what Babylon has done; don’t let this evil stand forever!

I remember when I was a teen, I came home to police cars in my parents driveway. I remember seeing men and women carrying out computers and boxes of mixed items. I was soon told that my stepfather had been selling and receiving pictures of young people (I’ve shared this before). The anger and betrayal that filled in my heart was overwhelming. I remember having a moment of conflict in my heart on whether I should pay him back or trust God.

This is a hard decision especially when anger flashes in your heart.

In these moments do we take the sword in our hands or leave the matter to God? Do you have your own story like mine? Like the Psalmist?

I bet you do. This is a painful world.

But Psalm 137 shows us evil is very severe and sin is very devastating. The Bible knows this and it’s very open about the true state of the world. It doesn’t speak of human wickedness as though it were just “unfortunate,” but it speaks of it as hellish. Psalm 137 sounds like grievously wounded people and they know that unless God judges, evil men will simply “get away with it.”

Maybe you were hurt, abused, or sinned against in a terrible way. Can I tell you something? Everything is seen by God. No one gets away with anything.

Don’t forget that.

The reality is that awful things happen and the Bible never hides this from us and God can handle your sadness and even rage against such things.

I think that’s part of why verses like this remain in Scripture and why it’s uncomfortable to read. You may ask, “is God really okay with this being in the Bible?”

He is okay with it, because God would rather his people bring their horror to him rather than pretend like it’s okay. He would rather have a raw cry laid before the throne than a fake smile that avoids the truth. A smile that ask men and women to sing in their sadness, instead of weep. All we need to do is look at the bloody cross to see how much evil and sin cost!

Psalm 137 teaches us that the Lord is not shocked by the intensity of his people’s grief. He’s not surprised by mine or yours. He can handle words spoken from any wreckage.

Still, the psalm doesn’t stand alone. The Bible always tells us reality and truth.

Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt. 5:44). This same Jesus will return as Judge, riding in righteousness, to make war in perfect justice (Rev. 19:11–16). The Christian is forbidden to take personal vengeance because vengeance belongs to Christ. So, we are free to pray for our enemies now because mercy is still being offered to them now (even to my stepfather or to whoever you are thinking of as you read this). We leave judgment to God because he is a perfect judge. The cross proves both the horror of sin and the patience of God. The last day will show his justice.

So what do we do with Psalm 137?

We don’t imitate its violence nor do we use it to support our stance on abortion. Rather we embrace how honest it is. We learn that it’s lawful to bring outrage, grief, and the longing for justice to God. We learn that evil should not be shrugged at but should drive us to God. We learn that the Lord who tells us to love our enemies is also the Lord who will judge the earth and everything in it.

Indeed, that means this terrible verse is not in Scripture to make us cruel, instead it’s there to make us entrust ourselves to the one who judges justly.

It’s there to teach us that evil is awful, that justice is coming, and that the God who hears the cry of the broken hearted has not gone away, he’s not blind, and he’s not absent.

So, cling to Christ!