Wednesday Bible Study: Some love

Psalm 136 is noteworthy for the refrain, translated in the NIV (presented here) as "His love endures forever," and in the KJV as "His mercy endures forever." Either way, it's an interesting form of love and/or mercy, which includes murdering all the firstborn boys of Egypt, drowning Pharaoh and his army, and killing numerous kings (also massacring all of their subjects, which isn't worth mentioning) and giving their land to the Israelites. That's real love!

Psalm 137 is as far as I know the only psalm that we can confidently date to a definite time period, the Babylonian exile, because that's what its content is specifically about. The other songs of lamentation or celebration do not refer to specific incidents or contexts. It's unusual, because as far as we can tell the rest of the psalms must have been written earlier. Also, obviously, this must have been samizdat, in other words it had to be concealed from the authorities since it calls for smashing Babylonian babies against rocks, which I expect they would not have appreciated. There's love and mercy for you. The first part of Psalm 137 was set to music, along with portions of Psalm 19, by the reggae musicians Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of The Melodians in 1970, and later famously recorded by Bob Marley. For some reason, however, they left out the part about smashing babies.

 

Psalm 136

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

⁴ to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
⁷ who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
⁸ the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.
¹² with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.

¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea^[a] asunder
His love endures forever.
¹⁴ and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
¹⁵ but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.

¹⁶ to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.

¹⁷ to him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
¹⁸ and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.
¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
²⁰ and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.
²¹ and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
²² an inheritance to his servant Israel.
His love endures forever.

²³ He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
²⁴ and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
²⁵ He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.

²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 136:13 Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verse 15

 

Psalm 137

¹ By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
² There on the poplars
    we hung our harps,
³ for there our captors asked us for songs,
    our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
    they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord
    while in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ 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.

⁷ Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”
⁸ Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
⁹ Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them against the rocks.