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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 16 August 2026:
Psalm 137:1-4 — 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… saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a foreign land?
Psalm 137 records one of the most painful moments in Israel’s history. Everything Jeremiah had faithfully prophesied has now come to pass. Jerusalem has fallen, the temple has been destroyed, and God’s people sit as captives in Babylon. The rivers of Babylon, once symbols of the empire’s prosperity, become places of mourning for the exiles as they remember Zion. Their grief is not merely homesickness but the sorrow of covenant discipline. Sin has brought them to a place they were never intended to be.
Yet even in exile, their tears reveal something important. They have not forgotten Jerusalem or the Lord. Earlier generations had forgotten God while living comfortably in the land. Now, through discipline, their hearts begin longing once again for His presence. God’s chastening has accomplished what prosperity often failed to produce. Hebrews later teaches that the Lord disciplines every son whom He loves, not to destroy His children but to produce “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:5-11). Divine discipline is therefore one of God’s severe mercies. He removes lesser treasures in order to restore our hearts to the greatest Treasure — Himself.
The captors’ demand, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” was almost certainly intended as mockery. They wanted entertainment from a defeated people whose God appeared powerless to save them. The exiles rightly refused. Worship was never intended to become a performance divorced from genuine fellowship with God. Their lament reminds us that biblical faith is never superficial optimism. Scripture gives God’s people permission to grieve honestly before Him. The Psalms repeatedly demonstrate that lament and faith are not enemies. Faith brings its deepest sorrows into God’s presence because it believes He alone can ultimately redeem them.
This longing finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He also entered a world that had become a foreign land because of sin. Isaiah calls Him “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). He wept over Jerusalem because its people refused the peace He offered (Luke 19:41-44), and on the cross He entered the deepest exile imaginable, bearing the separation our sin deserved so that we might be brought home to the Father. Through His resurrection, Christ has begun gathering His people from every nation into the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22-24). Believers therefore live as “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11), longing not ultimately for an earthly homeland but for the city whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10). Our songs are sometimes mingled with tears in this present world, but they are sustained by the certain hope that one day sorrow will give way to everlasting joy in the presence of our King.
Psalm 137:5-6 — 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!
The psalmist now moves from lament to solemn resolve. He calls down a curse upon himself should he ever forget Jerusalem. His right hand represented his ability to do work, make a living, and play songs of worship, and his tongue his ability to interact with others and to sing the praises of God. If he were ever to value personal comfort more than God’s covenant purposes, he would rather lose both. This is not merely patriotic devotion to a city but covenant devotion to the place where God had chosen to dwell among His people and where His promises of redemption were centered.
The heart of the psalmist’s commitment is found in the phrase, “if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.” Every believer lives according to what he considers his highest treasure. Sin always begins when some created thing quietly takes the place that belongs to God alone. Throughout Jeremiah we have watched Judah exchange the living God for idols that could neither satisfy nor save. Exile became God’s painful but gracious means of teaching His people that every earthly blessing apart from Him ultimately leaves the soul empty. Once again, God often removes our lesser joys so that we might rediscover our greatest Joy in Him.
For the Christian, Jerusalem ultimately points beyond the earthly city to the greater reality it foreshadowed. Jesus is Himself the true temple (John 2:19-21), the meeting place between God and man, and through Him believers become citizens of “the Jerusalem above” (Galatians 4:26) and have already come to “Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22). Our highest joy is therefore not found in a geographical location but in Christ Himself, through whom every covenant promise is fulfilled. To know Him is eternal life (John 17:3). Every other joy is meant to lead us to Him, never replace Him.
This passage also searches our own hearts. We naturally speak of Christ as our greatest treasure, yet our daily lives often reveal competing loves. Career, reputation, comfort, possessions, relationships, health, or ministry itself can quietly become functional saviors if they occupy the place that belongs to Christ alone. Jesus taught that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). The Christian life is therefore not merely the rejection of sinful pleasures but the continual reordering of our loves so that Christ increasingly becomes our highest delight. As we behold His glory, lesser joys find their proper place, not as rivals to God but as gifts that point us back to the Giver.
Psalm 137:7-9 — 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!
These closing verses are among the most difficult in all of Scripture. Read apart from their context, they can seem shocking. Yet they are not expressions of personal vengeance but cries for divine justice. The psalmist has witnessed unimaginable brutality. Babylon had slaughtered innocent people, destroyed Jerusalem, burned the temple, and carried God’s people into exile. Even Edom, Israel’s brother nation descended from Esau, rejoiced over Jerusalem’s destruction instead of showing compassion (Obadiah 10-14). The psalmist therefore entrusts judgment to God rather than taking revenge himself.
The blessing pronounced upon Babylon is not a celebration of cruelty but an acknowledgment that God’s justice will one day repay evil according to His perfect righteousness. Babylon would indeed fall, just as Jeremiah had repeatedly prophesied (Jeremiah 50-51). Throughout Scripture, the Lord alone possesses the right to execute final judgment because He alone judges with perfect holiness, knowledge, and justice. Paul echoes this principle when he writes, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God” (Romans 12:19). Biblical lament honestly cries out for justice while refusing to seize God’s role as Judge.
These verses also remind us that redemption history was still moving toward its fulfillment in Christ. The psalmist rightly entrusted vengeance to God rather than taking it himself, yet he had not yet seen the fullest revelation of God’s heart displayed in Jesus. At the cross, the innocent Son of God suffered infinitely greater injustice than Jerusalem had endured, yet His first words were, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Jesus did not diminish the seriousness of sin or deny the certainty of coming judgment. Rather, He bore that judgment Himself so that His enemies might become His brothers and sisters through repentance and faith. He also called His disciples to a radically different posture: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27-28). Those who have received immeasurable mercy are now called to become instruments of that same mercy.
Throughout the Psalms, we often find this tension between rejoicing in God’s steadfast love toward His people while crying out for His justice against the wicked. The Gospel does not eliminate that longing for justice; it transforms our hearts toward those who oppose us. We continue to pray that God will judge evil and establish righteousness, yet we also pray that sinners, including our enemies, will repent and be reconciled to Him before that day arrives. As ambassadors of Christ, we are entrusted with “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). Having been forgiven at infinite cost to Christ, we now forgive others as we have been forgiven, praying that they too might experience the grace that has rescued us. This is why Jesus teaches us to pray, “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). The cross reshapes not only our understanding of God’s justice but also our response to those who have wronged us.
There is another danger these closing verses quietly expose. The exile itself was the result of Judah’s own rebellion against God. The psalm opens with tears because their sin had brought them to Babylon, yet it closes with their attention fixed upon the sins of Babylon and Edom. That shift is understandable, but it is also one to which every human heart is prone. We naturally see the sins committed against us more clearly than the sins that remain within us. Jesus repeatedly warned against this tendency, asking why we notice the speck in our brother’s eye while ignoring the log in our own (Matthew 7:3-5). Our first response to evil should always be humble self-examination before righteous evaluation of others. Adam responded to his own sin by saying, “The woman whom you gave to be with me…” (Genesis 3:12), beginning the long human habit of minimizing our own guilt while magnifying the failures of others.
The New Testament further reminds us that our true enemies are never people themselves. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against… the spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). Satan delights whenever we make other people the enemy instead of recognizing that they, like us, are captives who desperately need the grace of God. The weapons Christ gives His Church are therefore not those of retaliation or condemnation but of truth, prayer, sacrificial love, forgiveness, and the Gospel (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Our calling is not to defeat people but to see them reconciled to God.
This does not lessen our longing for justice; it purifies it. Having received mercy at infinite cost to Christ, we become people who long both for God’s righteous judgment against evil and for the salvation of those who practice it. Like our Savior, we grieve over sin while loving sinners. We oppose wickedness without forgetting that we ourselves stand before God only by grace. Messengers of reconciliation never minimize sin, but neither do they stand above sinners. They point beyond both themselves and others to Christ alone, knowing that transformation comes not by winning arguments or assigning blame but by beholding the glory of the Lord and being “transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
These verses also remind us that sin’s consequences are horrific. The violence described here is not held up as an example for God’s people to imitate but as a sobering picture of what life becomes in a fallen world under God’s judgment. Every war, every act of oppression, every broken family, and every innocent victim ultimately points back to humanity’s rebellion against its Creator. Only the Gospel provides the final answer to such evil. At the cross, God’s justice and mercy meet perfectly. Christ bears the judgment deserved by all who repent and believe, while those who persist in rebellion will one day face the righteous Judge whose justice can neither be corrupted nor escaped (Romans 3:25-26; Revelation 20:11-15).
The psalm therefore ends with both longing and hope. Babylon’s apparent triumph is temporary. God’s justice will prevail, His kingdom will endure, and every wrong will ultimately be made right. Because of Christ, believers need not live consumed by bitterness or revenge. We can grieve evil honestly, pray for justice confidently, forgive those who repent as we have been forgiven, and entrust every unresolved wrong to the righteous Judge who will one day restore all things. Our hope rests not in escaping injustice during this present age but in the certainty that the King who once bore injustice on the cross now reigns and will judge the world in perfect righteousness.
Do I treasure Christ above every lesser joy? When I encounter injustice, do I trust God to judge righteously, or do I seek to take judgment into my own hands? Is my deepest longing fixed upon the heavenly Jerusalem, where Christ Himself will wipe away every tear and make all things new?
Jeremiah 39:1-10 — In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah… Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it… Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate… Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers fled… But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them… They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes… then they put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. The Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the house of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem… But Nebuzaradan… left in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
Everything Jeremiah had faithfully proclaimed for more than forty years now comes to pass exactly as the Lord had said. The siege ends, Jerusalem falls, the temple is destroyed, and the Davidic king is carried away into exile. Every warning that had once seemed unbelievable is fulfilled with sobering precision. God’s patience had been extraordinary, but His holiness would not allow persistent rebellion to continue forever. This chapter reminds us that God’s Word is never merely information to be considered but truth that will certainly come to pass. His promises are sure, and so are His warnings.
Zedekiah’s tragic end is particularly heartbreaking. Throughout Jeremiah, the Lord repeatedly offered him opportunities to humble himself, obey His Word, and spare both the city and his family (Jeremiah 38:17-20). Fear of man continually prevailed over the fear of God. Now the very outcome he sought to avoid overtakes him. The last thing he sees is the execution of his own sons before his eyes are put out forever. Sin promises freedom while producing slavery. It promises security while leading to destruction. Every refusal to obey God ultimately carries consequences far greater than we imagine. The fear of man proved infinitely more costly than the temporary humiliation of obeying the Lord.
Yet even in judgment, God’s mercy quietly appears. Nebuzaradan leaves behind the poorest people and gives them vineyards and fields. The Lord never abandons His covenant purposes. Though Jerusalem lies in ruins, God is already preserving a remnant through whom His promises will continue. Throughout Scripture, judgment is never God’s final word toward His covenant people. Even in the ashes, grace begins preparing the way for restoration. This anticipates the Gospel itself. Humanity’s greatest judgment fell upon Christ at the cross so that all who belong to Him might receive mercy instead of condemnation. Through His death and resurrection, God preserves not merely a remnant of Israel but a redeemed people from every nation who will inherit an everlasting kingdom.
Jerusalem’s fall also points beyond itself to a greater reality. Every earthly kingdom, no matter how powerful, eventually falls. Babylon itself would soon become another chapter in history. Jesus alone inaugurates the kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). Believers therefore learn not to anchor their hope in governments, cultures, economies, or earthly institutions, but in the King whose throne endures forever. The destruction of Jerusalem reminds us that everything built merely upon human strength ultimately passes away. Only what is established by Christ will remain.
Jeremiah 39:11-18 — Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan… “Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.”… Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel… I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword… because you have put your trust in me, declares the LORD.”
One of the chapter’s great ironies is that God’s prophet receives greater kindness from Babylon’s commanders than he had from many of Judah’s own leaders. The Lord had promised to preserve Jeremiah, and He fulfills that promise through the most unexpected instruments. Once again we see that God is never limited by human circumstances. He sovereignly rules over kings, armies, and nations, accomplishing His purposes even through those who do not know Him. The same God who raised up Babylon to discipline Judah also directed Babylon to protect His faithful servant. Nothing lies outside His providential rule.
The chapter closes by highlighting another unlikely hero: Ebed-melech the Ethiopian. Earlier he courageously rescued Jeremiah from the cistern when others sought his death (Jeremiah 38:7-13). Now the Lord personally assures him that he too will be delivered because “you have put your trust in me.” His salvation was not earned by his courageous act; rather, his courageous act revealed the faith already present in his heart. Genuine faith always produces courageous obedience. While many in Judah possessed covenant privileges without covenant faith, this foreign servant demonstrated what true trust in the Lord looks like.
Ebed-melech also anticipates the gathering of the nations into God’s redeemed people. Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly demonstrates that His saving grace is never limited by ethnicity or nationality. Rahab, Ruth, Naaman, and now Ebed-melech all point forward to the day when Christ would gather people from every tribe, tongue, and nation into one family through faith. The decisive question has never been, “To what nation do you belong?” but, “In whom do you trust?” Salvation has always been by grace through faith, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
The contrasting lives of Zedekiah and Ebed-melech bring the chapter to its theological climax. One possessed a crown, royal privilege, and every opportunity to obey, yet perished because he would not trust God’s Word. The other possessed neither position nor influence, yet found deliverance because he trusted the Lord. God is no respecter of persons. His kingdom is entered not through status, power, or heritage, but through humble faith. Jesus would later teach the same truth when He declared that “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4). The only safe place for any sinner is to entrust himself completely to the mercy of God revealed in Christ.
Do I treat God’s warnings with the seriousness they deserve? Is the fear of people quietly influencing my obedience to Christ? When others look at my life, do they see someone whose confidence rests in earthly security or in the sovereign God who faithfully keeps every promise?
Psalm 137 and Jeremiah 39 are inseparably connected. Psalm 137 gives voice to the sorrow of God’s people after Jerusalem’s fall. Jeremiah 39 records the historical event that produced those tears. One chapter shows the devastation from the outside; the other reveals its effect on the hearts of the exiles. Together they remind us that every word God speaks comes to pass. His warnings are as certain as His promises. Yet they also reveal that even in judgment, God’s covenant love continues to preserve a remnant and advance His redemptive purposes.
Both chapters confront us with the terrible consequences of sin. Jerusalem’s destruction was not ultimately Babylon’s victory but the outworking of God’s righteous judgment upon generations of covenant unfaithfulness. Psalm 137 mourns what sin destroyed. Jeremiah 39 records how it happened. Yet neither chapter ends with hopelessness. Even as Jerusalem burns, God preserves Jeremiah. Even as the nation collapses, He delivers Ebed-melech because he trusted in Him. Even as the exiles sit weeping beside Babylon’s rivers, their tears testify that God is already restoring hearts that had once forgotten Him. Divine discipline is never the abandonment of God’s children but the loving work of a Father determined to restore them to Himself.
Together these chapters also teach us where lasting hope is found. Earthly cities fall. Earthly kingdoms rise and disappear. Human strength, political power, wealth, and military might all prove temporary. But God’s kingdom cannot be shaken. Psalm 137 points believers beyond the earthly Jerusalem to the heavenly city for which Abraham longed and to which all who belong to Christ have already come by faith (Hebrews 11:10; 12:22-24). Jeremiah 39 demonstrates that even when everything visible appears lost, God’s invisible purposes continue without interruption. The fall of Jerusalem did not cancel God’s covenant with David. Instead, it prepared the way for the coming of David’s greater Son, Jesus Christ.
These chapters ultimately direct our eyes to the Gospel. Like Judah, every one of us deserves exile because of our sin. Yet Christ willingly entered our exile, bore our judgment, and endured our separation from God so that we might be reconciled to the Father. He was rejected outside the city so that we might become citizens of the New Jerusalem. He endured the wrath our sins deserved so that we might inherit the everlasting kingdom His resurrection secured. Because He lives, no earthly loss can separate us from our eternal inheritance. The believer therefore grieves honestly over the brokenness of this present world while living with unshakable hope in the world to come.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 16 August 2026: Read Psalm 137:5-6 and Hebrews 12:22-24 together. Spend time thanking Christ that He has brought you into the heavenly Jerusalem through His death and resurrection. Then identify one earthly pursuit that has begun competing with your highest joy in Christ. Surrender it to the Lord and take one specific step today that demonstrates your true treasure is found in Him and His everlasting kingdom.
Pray: “Father, thank You that every word You speak is true and every promise You make is certain. Thank You for Your righteous justice that never overlooks sin and for Your steadfast love that never abandons Your people. Thank You for sending Your Son to enter our exile, bear our judgment, and bring us home to Yourself. Guard my heart from placing my hope in the passing kingdoms of this world. Make Christ my highest joy, my deepest treasure, and my unwavering hope. Give me faith to trust You when I cannot see Your purposes, courage to obey You when obedience is costly, and confidence that the heavenly city You have prepared is infinitely greater than anything I could lose in this life. Keep my eyes fixed upon my Savior until faith becomes sight and I dwell forever in Your presence. In the name of Jesus Christ, my King and Redeemer, Amen.”
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