Psalm 137: The Beautifully Dangerous Psalm

 AUGUST 21, 2017 BY LEAH D. SCHADE
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Psalm 137 is rarely ever used in worship. Why? Because it is a dangerous psalm.  But we need to read it, study it, and listen to the voice of anguished rage.  Because God is listening to those voices as well.
I remember the first time I heard this music from Godspell.  What a beautiful, mournful song, I thought to myself.  And I know I’ve heard those words before . . . “On the willows there we hung up our lyres.”  Such beautiful, haunting words.  Where have I heard them before?  And then it hit me – Psalm 137.  But I noticed that the song’s lyrics stopped short of the last verses of the Psalm:  “Happy will be the one who does to you what you did to us, O Babylon.  Blessed will be the one who dashes your little ones, your babies against the rock.”
What an awful image!
It’s hard to believe a Psalm like this is in the Bible.  It is so violent!  It speaks of killing babies, of all things.  This is a far cry from Jesus’ words of forgiving your enemies and those who persecute you.
This is raw, uncensored hatred and desire for revenge.  Most people don’t even realize this Psalm is in the Bible.  In fact, a previous version of the ELCA hymnal, The Lutheran Book of Worship, even censored out this psalm altogether from its collection.
Why?  Because it is a dangerous psalm – a beautifully dangerous psalm.
So why is Psalm 137 in the Bible?   . . .
Read more at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/ecopreacher/2017/08/psalm-137-beautifully-dangerous-psalm/#8etkrheJlPur7Rcl.99

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