Today's
promise: God is a refuge for the oppressed
Exiles in a foreign land
"Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we
thought of Jerusalem. We put away our lyres, hanging them on the branches of
the willow trees. For there our captors demanded a song of us. Our tormentors
requested a joyful hymn: "Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!"
But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?"
Psalm 137:1-4 NLT
Your Babylon
In captivity in Babylon, the Jews wept for their homeland
and prayed for the day when they might return. But when the day of their release
from captivity finally came and they were allowed to return, only about fifty
thousand (out of hundreds of thousands) made the trek back to Jerusalem. Why?
For one thing, some of the Jews were making a good living in Babylon — a better living than their fathers had made in Jerusalem. Others had married Babylonian spouses and become assimilated into Babylonian culture. They had forgotten Jerusalem. Can you blame them? Seventy years of captivity is a long time.
Whatever the reason, some of the Jews weren't like the writer of Psalm 137, which apparently was written shortly after their return from exile.
The Bible speaks of hea ven as our Jerusalem and suggests that where we are now living is Babylon on earth.
How comfortable are you in your Babylon? How are you faring there? Have you forgotten that you, too, are an exile, a pilgrim in a foreign land? What are you looking ahead to?
From The One Year® Book of Psalms with devotionals by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen (Tyndale) entry for November 11
For one thing, some of the Jews were making a good living in Babylon — a better living than their fathers had made in Jerusalem. Others had married Babylonian spouses and become assimilated into Babylonian culture. They had forgotten Jerusalem. Can you blame them? Seventy years of captivity is a long time.
Whatever the reason, some of the Jews weren't like the writer of Psalm 137, which apparently was written shortly after their return from exile.
The Bible speaks of hea ven as our Jerusalem and suggests that where we are now living is Babylon on earth.
How comfortable are you in your Babylon? How are you faring there? Have you forgotten that you, too, are an exile, a pilgrim in a foreign land? What are you looking ahead to?
From The One Year® Book of Psalms with devotionals by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen (Tyndale) entry for November 11
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living
Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House
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