TRV
Study This Verse
Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Psalms 137:1–6. His three-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
We have here the daughter of Zion covered with a cloud, and dwelling with the daughter of Babylon; the people of God in tears, but sowing in tears. Observe,
I.The mournful posture they were in as to their affairs and as to their spirits.
1.They were posted by the rivers of Babylon, in a strange land, a great way from their own country, whence they were brought as prisoners of war. The land of Babylon was now a house of bondage to that people, as Egypt had been in their beginning. Their conquerors quartered them by the rivers, with design to employ them there, and keep them to work in their galleys; or perhaps they chose it as the most melancholy place, and therefore most suitable to their sorrowful spirits. If they must build houses there (Jer 29:5), it shall not be in the cities, the places of concourse, but by the rivers, the places of solitude, where they might mingle their tears with the streams. We find some of them by the river Chebar (Eze 1:3), others by the river Ulai, Dan 8:2.
2.There they sat down to indulge their grief by poring on their miseries. Jeremiah had taught them under this yoke to sit alone, and keep silence, and put their mouths in the dust, Lam 3:28, Lam 3:29. "We sat down, as those that expected to stay, and were content, since it was the will of God that it must be so." 3. Thoughts of Zion drew tears from their eyes; and it was not a sudden passion of weeping, such as we are sometimes put into by a trouble that surprises us, but they were deliberate tears (we sat down and wept), tears with consideration - we wept when we remembered Zion, the holy hill on which the temple was built. Their affection to God's house swallowed up their concern for their own houses. They remembered Zion's former glory and the satisfaction they had had in Zion's courts, Lam 1:7. Jerusalem remembered, in the days of her misery, all her pleasant things which she had in the days of old, Psa 42:4. They remembered Zion's present desolations, and favoured the dust thereof, which was a good sign that the time for God to favour it was not far off, Psa 102:13, Psa 102:14. 4. They laid by their instruments of music (Psa 137:2): We hung our harps upon the willows.
(1.)The harps they used for their own diversion and entertainment. These they laid aside, both because it was their judgment that they ought not to use them now that God called to weeping and mourning (Isa 22:12), and their spirits were so sad that they had no hearts to use them; they brought their harps with them, designing perhaps to use them for the alleviating of their grief, but it proved so great that it would not admit the experiment. Music makes some people melancholy. As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that sings songs to a heavy heart.
(2.)The harps they used in God's worship, the Levites' harps. These they did not throw away, hoping they might yet again have occasion to use them, but they laid them aside because they had no present use for them; God had cut them out other work by turning their feasting into mourning and their songs into lamentations, Amo 8:10. Every thing is beautiful in its season. They did not hide their harps in the bushes, or the hollows of the rocks; but hung them up in view, that the sight of them might affect them with this deplorable change. Yet perhaps they were faulty in doing this; for praising God is never out of season; it is his will that we should in every thing give thanks, Isa 24:15, Isa 24:16.
II.The abuses which their enemies put upon them when they were in this melancholy condition, Psa 137:3.
They had carried them away captive from their own land and then wasted them in the land of their captivity, took what little they had from them. But this was not enough; to complete their woes they insulted over them: They required of us mirth and a song. Now,
1.This was very barbarous and inhuman; even an enemy, in misery, is to be pitied and not trampled upon. It argues a base and sordid spirit to upbraid those that are in distress either with their former joys or with their present griefs, or to challenge those to be merry who, we know, are out of tune for it. This is adding affliction to the afflicted.
2.It was very profane and impious. No songs would serve them but the songs of Zion, with which God had been honoured; so that in this demand they reflected upon God himself as Belshazzar, when he drank wine in temple-bowls. Their enemies mocked at their sabbaths, Lam 1:7.
III.The patience wherewith they bore these abuses, Psa 137:4.
They had laid by their harps, and would not resume them, no, not to ingratiate themselves with those at whose mercy they lay; they would not answer those fools according to their folly. Profane scoffers are not to be humoured, nor pearls cast before swine. David prudently kept silence even from good when the wicked were before him, who, he knew, would ridicule what he said and make a jest of it, Psa 39:1, Psa 39:2. The reason they gave is very mild and pious: How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? They do not say, "How shall we sing when we are so much in sorrow?" If that had been all, they might perhaps have put a force upon themselves so far as to oblige their masters with a song; but "It is the Lord's song; it is a sacred thing; it is peculiar to the temple-service, and therefore we dare not sing it in the land of a stranger, among idolaters." We must not serve common mirth, much less profane mirth, with any thing that is appropriated to God, who is sometimes to be honoured by a religious silence as well as by religious speaking.
IV.The constant affection they retained for Jerusalem, the city of their solemnities, even now that they were in Babylon.
Though their enemies banter them for talking so much of Jerusalem, and even doting upon it, their love to it is not in the least abated; it is what they may be jeered for, but will never be jeered out of, Psa 137:5, Psa 137:6. Observe,
1.How these pious captives stood affected to Jerusalem.
(1.)Their heads were full of it. It was always in their minds; they remembered it; they did not forget it, though they had been long absent from it; many of them had never seen it, nor knew any thing of it but by report, and by what they had read in the scripture, yet it was graven upon the palms of their hands, and even its ruins were continually before them, which was ann evidence of their faith in the promise of its restoration in due time. In their daily prayers they opened their windows towards Jerusalem; and how then could they forget it?
(2.)Their hearts were full of it. They preferred it above their chief joy, and therefore they remembered it and could not forget it. What we love we love to think of. Those that rejoice in God do, for his sake, make Jerusalem their joy, and prefer it before that, whatever it is, which is the head of their joy, which is dearest to them in this world. A godly man will prefer a public good before any private satisfaction or gratification whatsoever.
2.How stedfastly they resolved to keep up this affection, which they express by a solemn imprecation of mischief to themselves if they should let it fall: "Let me be for ever disabled either to sing or play on the harp if I so far forget the religion of my country as to make use of my songs and harps for the pleasing of Babylon's sons or the praising of Babylon's gods. Let my right hand forget her art" (which the hand of an expert musician never can, unless it be withered), "nay, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I have not a good word to say for Jerusalem wherever I am." Though they dare not sing Zion's songs among the Babylonians, yet they cannot forget them, but, as soon as ever the present restraint is taken off, they will sing them as readily as ever, notwithstanding the long disuse.
Historical interpretation
Historical Reception
One surviving comment on this verse from the historical church.
"Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I remember not you" [Psalm 137:6]. That is, let me be dumb, he says, if I remember not you. For what word, what sound does he utter, who utters not songs of Sion? That is our tongue, the song of Jerusalem. The song of the love of this world is a strange tongue, a barbarous tongue, which we have learned in our captivity. Dumb then will he be to God, who forgets Jerusalem. And it is not enough to remember: for her enemies too remember her, desiring to overthrow her. "What is that city?" say they; "who are the Christians? What sort of men are the Christians? Would they were not Christians." Now the captive band has conquered its capturers; still they murmur, and rage, and desire to slay the holy city that dwells as a stranger among them. Not enough then is it to remember: take heed how you remember. For some things we remember in hate, some in love. And so, when he had said, "If I forget you, O Jerusalem," etc., he added at once, "if I prefer not Jerusalem in the height of my joy." For there is the height of joy where we enjoy God, where we are safe of united brotherhood, and the union of citizenship. There no tempter shall assail us, no one be able so much as to urge us on to any allurement: there nought will delight us but good: there all want will die, there perfect bliss will dawn on us.
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Summary
Psalms 137:6 is a profound and passionate self-imprecatory vow from a Jewish exile in Babylon, expressing an unwavering and supreme loyalty to Jerusalem. It declares that if the psalmist were to ever forget the holy city or fail to prioritize it above all personal joy, then their tongue should become useless, symbolizing a catastrophic loss of identity, voice, and the ability to praise God. This verse encapsulates the intense longing for their spiritual homeland and underscores the centrality of Jerusalem to their national and religious identity, even amidst the profound despair and displacement of captivity.
Context
Literary Context
Psalms 137 is a poignant lament psalm, distinguished by its raw and visceral expression of grief, anger, and profound longing from the perspective of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. The psalm opens with the evocative imagery of the exiles weeping by the rivers of Babylon as they remembered Zion (Jerusalem). The preceding verses vividly portray the cruel taunts of their captors, who mockingly demanded "songs of Zion," a request met with the exiles' resolute refusal to "sing the Lord's song in a strange land" (Psalms 137:4). Verse 6, together with verse 5, forms a solemn and powerful oath, a declaration of unyielding allegiance to Jerusalem. This vow stands in stark contrast to the initial despair, highlighting the enduring spiritual commitment that precedes the psalm's final, violent imprecation against Babylon. It underscores that despite their immense suffering and displacement, the exiles' spiritual and national identity remained inextricably bound to the holy city.
Historical & Cultural Context
The historical setting for Psalms 137 is the traumatic period of the Babylonian Exile, which commenced in 586 BC with the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II. Jerusalem, including the revered Temple, was utterly destroyed, and a significant portion of its inhabitants were forcibly deported to Babylon, as chronicled in 2 Kings 25. For the Israelites, Jerusalem was far more than a mere political capital; it was Yahweh's chosen dwelling place, the hallowed site of the Temple, and the very epicenter of their covenant relationship with God. The loss of Jerusalem was thus a catastrophic spiritual and existential blow, severing their tangible connection to God's presence and their spiritual home. The cultural practice of making solemn vows, frequently accompanied by self-curses, was a prevalent custom in the ancient Near East, serving to underscore the gravity and sincerity of such an oath. The vivid imagery of the "tongue cleaving to the roof of the mouth" was a well-understood idiom for extreme distress, thirst, or an utter inability to speak, often associated with divine judgment or profound grief, as powerfully depicted in Lamentations 4:4.
Key Themes
This verse profoundly contributes to several overarching themes within the psalm and the broader biblical narrative. Foremost is the theme of Exile and Profound Longing, capturing the deep sorrow, displacement, and yearning for home experienced by a dispossessed people. It powerfully highlights the Centrality of Jerusalem, not merely as a geographical location, but as the spiritual heart of Israel's identity, faith, and their unwavering hope for future restoration. The explicit self-imprecatory vow underscores the theme of Unwavering Loyalty and Supreme Priority, demonstrating that their spiritual heritage and their covenantal connection to God, symbolized by Jerusalem, transcended all personal comfort, earthly pleasures, or the dire circumstances of their captivity. This profound commitment reflects the covenant faithfulness that God continually desired from His people, even when they were far removed from the promised land. The self-imprecation also touches upon the theme of Divine Judgment and Consequence, implying that forgetting God's sacred city would constitute a profound act of unfaithfulness, deserving of a severe physical and spiritual consequence, echoing the solemn warnings found throughout the prophetic books regarding Israel's covenant obligations, such as those detailed in Deuteronomy 28.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
A primitive root meaning "to mark (so as to be recognized), i.e. to remember; by implication, to mention." In this context, "remember" is far more than a passive mental recall; it signifies an active, covenantal remembrance. It implies holding Jerusalem in one's deepest affections, prioritizing its significance, and acting in accordance with its sacred status. To "not remember" Jerusalem would be an act of profound spiritual forgetfulness, a betrayal of their identity as God's people, and a disregard for the covenant promises tied to the city.
A primitive root meaning "properly, to impinge, i.e. cling or adhere; figuratively, to catch by pursuit; abide fast, cleave (fast together)." This word vividly describes the tongue sticking immovably to the palate, rendering speech utterly impossible. It is a powerful physical manifestation of a spiritual inability – the inability to sing praises, to lament, or to articulate their identity as God's people, a direct and severe consequence of forgetting their sacred bond with Jerusalem.
"the capital city of Palestine." More than a mere geographical location, Jerusalem represents the spiritual heart of Israel, the chosen dwelling place of God's presence (the Temple), and the focal point of their national and religious identity. To "prefer not Jerusalem" is to elevate something else—any personal pleasure or earthly pursuit—above the very essence of their covenant relationship with God and their sacred heritage.
Verse Breakdown
"If I do not remember thee,"
This clause establishes the first condition of the solemn oath. The pronoun "thee" refers directly to Jerusalem, which has been the central object of the psalmist's longing and sorrow throughout the preceding verses. The act of "remembering" here is not a casual recollection but an active, conscious, and deeply emotional commitment to Jerusalem's profound significance as the spiritual and national center of Israel. It implies maintaining unwavering loyalty, deep affection, and an enduring sense of belonging to the holy city and all that it represents in their covenant with God.
"let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth;"
This is the self-imprecation, the severe consequence invoked should the first condition be violated. A tongue cleaving to the roof of the mouth signifies extreme dryness, an utter inability to speak, sing, or even swallow. In the broader context of the psalm, where the exiles refuse to "sing the Lord's song in a strange land," this curse implies a complete and devastating loss of their voice for praise, lament, or the articulation of their identity. It represents a literal and symbolic silencing that would be a profound and fitting punishment for forgetting their sacred bond with Jerusalem.
"if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy."
This second condition powerfully reinforces the depth and exclusivity of the psalmist's devotion. "Prefer" (derived from ʻâlâh, H5927, meaning to ascend or lift up) implies elevating Jerusalem to the absolute highest position of value, affection, and priority in one's life. "My chief joy" (from rôʼsh, H7218, meaning head or summit, and simchâh, H8057, meaning blithesomeness or glee) refers to the pinnacle of personal happiness, delight, or pleasure. This clause declares unequivocally that Jerusalem, as the embodiment of their spiritual heritage and God's presence, must hold the supreme and preeminent place in their heart, surpassing any personal happiness, earthly delight, or worldly pursuit.
Literary Devices
Psalms 137:6 is richly imbued with Hyperbole and vivid Imagery, powerfully conveying the psalmist's profound emotional and spiritual commitment. The declaration "let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth" is a striking hyperbole, expressing an extreme and dramatic consequence for the unthinkable act of disloyalty. This potent Imagery evokes a physical sensation of paralysis and loss of voice, directly linking the physical body to the spiritual fidelity of the individual. The phrase "prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy" employs both Metaphor and Symbolism, where Jerusalem stands as a profound symbol for Israel's entire religious and national identity, their sacred covenant relationship with God, and their ultimate hope for restoration. The "chief joy" serves as a metaphor for the highest personal good or ultimate earthly happiness, against which Jerusalem is weighed and found immeasurably superior. The entire verse functions as a Solemn Vow or Oath, a common literary and cultural device in ancient Near Eastern texts, used to emphasize the gravity and binding nature of a commitment, often accompanied by a self-curse for its breach.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Psalms 137:6 stands as a powerful testament to the enduring theological truth that God's people are called to a singular, unwavering devotion to His kingdom and purposes, symbolized here by Jerusalem. This commitment transcends personal comfort, earthly pleasures, or even the most dire circumstances of exile and suffering. It speaks to the ultimate priority of God's presence and His chosen dwelling place in the hearts of believers. The self-imprecation highlights the profound severity of spiritual apathy or forgetfulness, suggesting that a loss of focus on God's kingdom leads to a deep spiritual incapacitation—a silencing of the soul's ability to truly worship, praise, and express its identity in Him. This verse foreshadows the New Testament emphasis on seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, recognizing that true joy, purpose, and fulfillment are found only in alignment with divine priorities.
Reflection and Application
The psalmist's passionate vow in Psalms 137:6 serves as a powerful and searching challenge, compelling us to deeply examine the true priorities that govern our hearts. In a world saturated with endless distractions, fleeting pleasures, and competing allegiances, what truly holds the place of "chief joy" in our lives? Is it personal success, material possessions, worldly recognition, or transient delights? Or is it the Kingdom of God, His Church, and the advancement of His eternal purposes? This verse calls us to cultivate an unwavering, singular loyalty to Christ and His spiritual Jerusalem—the Church—ensuring that our deepest affections, ultimate aspirations, and daily decisions are profoundly centered on Him. It serves as a stark reminder that true spiritual vitality, the authentic ability to "sing the Lord's song" with conviction and joy, is intrinsically linked to our active remembrance and our supreme preference for God's sacred dwelling place and His will in our lives. To forget or de-prioritize this spiritual home is to risk a profound silencing of our spiritual voice, a loss of our true identity in Christ, and a diminishing of our capacity for genuine worship and service.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth" mean in a literal sense?
Literally, this vivid phrase describes a physical condition where the tongue becomes stuck immovably to the palate, rendering it impossible to speak, sing, or even swallow. It is a powerful physical manifestation of extreme thirst, profound distress, or a state of paralysis. In the specific context of Psalms 137:6, it functions as a self-imposed curse, implying that if the speaker were to forget Jerusalem, they would lose their fundamental ability to vocalize, to praise, or to express their very identity. This symbolizes a profound spiritual and existential incapacitation. This striking imagery is also found in other biblical texts to denote severe suffering or divine judgment, such as in Lamentations 4:4, where children's tongues cleave to the roof of their mouths from thirst.
Why was Jerusalem so important to the Jewish exiles that they would make such a vow?
Jerusalem was far more than just a geographical city; it was the spiritual, national, and theological heart of Israel. It was the sacred site of the Temple, God's chosen dwelling place on earth, and the very epicenter of their worship, their covenant relationship with Yahweh, and their national identity. For the exiles, its destruction and their forced removal represented a catastrophic loss of their identity, their tangible connection to God, and their hope for the future. Their solemn vow reflects their profound understanding that their very existence as God's chosen people was inextricably linked to Jerusalem. It symbolized their heritage, their faith, the presence of God among them, and their ultimate hope for restoration, as beautifully articulated in Psalm 48:1-2.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
While Psalms 137:6 expresses the exiles' profound and singular loyalty to earthly Jerusalem, its ultimate spiritual fulfillment is found in Jesus Christ and the heavenly Jerusalem. For believers today, Jesus Christ is the ultimate "chief joy," surpassing all earthly pleasures, pursuits, and even life itself. The Apostle Paul powerfully articulates this truth in Philippians 3:8, where he counts everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. Our supreme allegiance is no longer primarily to a physical city, but to the person of Christ and His eternal Kingdom. He is the new Temple, the very dwelling place of God among humanity, as John 1:14 declares, for in Him "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Furthermore, the New Testament speaks of a "heavenly Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:22) and portrays the Church as the spiritual city of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-22). Thus, the psalmist's passionate vow to prefer Jerusalem above his chief joy finds its ultimate and glorious echo in the believer's unwavering commitment to Christ and His body, the Church, recognizing that our true citizenship, eternal hope, and deepest joy reside in Him and the new creation He inaugurates.