The day the music Stopped

 Read Psalm 137.

This is a song of remembrance.  It recalls the time when the nation was taken captive by the Babylonians.  There the Jews lived in captivity for 70 years.  They lost their land, their houses, their incomes, and the Temple.  Living in servitude, all was gone. 

Anyone who has ever experienced great loss can identify with this psalm and the words "there we sat down and wept."  At the time, it was all they could do.

To add insult to their injury, their captors wanted them to sing one of the old psalms about the LORD.  But they did not have it in them to praise God and sing of joy.  The music had stopped.

What made this especially sad was the nation had brought this pain on themselves by their sinful choices.  God had sent His prophets to warn them, but they would not listen and turn from their sin.  As a result, the people ended up in a place where they did not want to be.  They never dreamed such a disaster would happen to them.  They felt separated from God and His blessings.

But that is not the end of the story.  As the prophets also had preached, at the end of the 70 years the LORD allowed them to return to Jerusalem and begin the rebuilding process.  He proved His faithfulness to them by providing godly leaders and teachers to rebuild their spiritual lives, as well as their homeland.

Sin always has consequences.  Without confession and seeking God's forgiveness the consequences will only become more painful and the losses greater.  How grateful we should be for the LORD's offer of mercy!  He pursues us, offers to cleanse us from our sin, and helps us in building lives that please Him.  It is called grace.  Anyone who has experienced God's grace wants to sing about it.