Show Don't Tell: Psalm 137

Instead of saying "The exiles mourned and longed for Jerusalem," hang the harps. "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps." Rivers of Babylon—Tigris and Euphrates canals. Harps hanging silent on trees. "for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion!'" Entertainment demanded from prisoners. Mocking request. "How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?" The impossible question. "If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy." Self-curse—paralyzed hand, silenced tongue—if Jerusalem forgotten. Then the terrible ending: "Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. 'Tear it down,' they cried, 'tear it down to its foundations!'" Edom's betrayal. "Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks." The horror of holy war. What Babylon did to Israel's children wished back on them. Raw pain, unredeemed rage, honest to God.