SING!!

 In Psalms 137 there is a sad but interesting story.  Great numbers of the Children of Israel had been taken away captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.  They were devastated but there was nothing they could do.  Listen to their sad lament. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept when we remembered Zion."  Now this is mid-story.  Let's go back a little so you can get the full picture.

Israel, not unlike most of us in these days, vacillated from generation to generation. It was a vicious cycle.  God would give them a great visitation, they would forget Him and he would judge them.  They would then repent, He would return to them and the cycle would start all over again.  Psalms 137 is what happened in about mid-cycle.  God was in the process of judging them (and using an enemy king to do it).  Through Jeremiah, God told Israel that they would be captives for seventy years and then return to their land.  I won't go through the entire story but you can read it in Jeremiah.  The people and their false prophets could not believe that this was going to happen.  They fought against it and the more they fought the worse it became.  What they did not know at the time was that this was God's doing.  It was his way of purging Israel and bringing them back to Him.

Have you ever noticed lightning?  Lightning is powerful. Lightning is beautiful. Lightning is dangerous.  But lightning serves a very real purpose.  If the forest was left alone it would not last forever.  It would be taken over by under growth, wood mites, termites, poison plants and things that would eventually destroy it.  So God programmed a solution in nature.  From time to time lightning will strike an old dead tree and a massive fire will break out.  Without man to check it the fire will burn through the entire forest.  But notice... this is not necessarily a bad thing.  For in the burning, all of the undesirable things that could harm the forest are destroyed.  When the rain returns new growth can be seen shooting up through the ground and the forest is rejuvenated! 

Now granted, when man builds subdivisions in the middle of the forest this adds a whole new twist on things.  But in raw nature fire can be a very good thing. The Greek word for fire is Pur.  It is where we get words like purify and purge.  Just as fire purges and purifies the forest... uh oh here it comes..... fire can purify us as well!

Peter talks about our, "fiery trial" and "our faith like gold "tried in the fire".  Isaiah talks about a "furnace of affliction".  Paul says our God is a "consuming fire".    I think some of you know what I am talking about.    In other words... fire will come. But it does not have to be a bad thing when you understand its purpose.

Now... back to our story.  Israel was in the midst of a raging forest fire.  It would eventually burn all the termites away but they could not see that at the time.   Now they were simply prisoners in a strange land and their captors were calling for them to sing!

One quick digression...  Israel was known throughout the world as singers.  Stories had gone far and wide about the power of their praising and dancing.  The Babylonians knew this. Now they wanted to see the famous singers do their thing!    

This would have been a perfect time to shine!  This could have been a "Paul and Silas in jail" moment.  Who knows what could have happened if Israel would have rose in unison and broke out in unabashed praise?  It could have changed history... who knows?  We will never know. Why?  Because...well listen to their own words.

""By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.  For they that carried us away captive required of us a song; they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, sing one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"(PS 137:1-4)

Word got back to Jeremiah and evidently he was not amused at their actions.  Jeremiah chapter 29 records his letter of instructions to them on how to cope with their captivity. It is long chapter so in a capsule this is what he said.  Build houses, get married, get your children married, work, and pray that Babylon has peace.  Now I do not imagine that this is what they expected to hear.  They probably thought he would put them on a fast, go into sackcloth and ashes and cry until angels came from heaven to deliver them.  But no...he simply said.....live.

He was saying, " live your life".  He was saying that no matter what they were still God's people.  He wanted them to live in the midst of Babylon and SING!  Jeremiah wanted them to bring glory to the Lord by being a shining light in the darkness.  This was the perfect time for them to shine.  I am not sure how many listened.  I know some did because of the story of the fiery furnace and the den of lions.  These two events alone bore out Jeremiah's command.  Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego brought great glory to God and made the entire nation aware of His power. This was exactly what Jeremiah wanted..and got!

Ok Bro. Greg... what does this have to do with me?  Well, I feel like we are in the middle of a forest fire right now.  There is a correction going on in our world.  Everything that can be shaken is being shaken... the stock market, the banking system, our government, our job market...everything!  It is depressing to watch the nightly news.  There is a spirit of fear that is prevailing in some.  It would be easy right now to... sit down by the rivers of Babylon and weep! 

But this is my letter to you this month. Remember who you are in Christ.  Remember you are walking in Covenant.  Remember Romans chapter 8. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  ... (Nothing) ...shall be able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

Remember this too... the Babylonians are watching you.  You talked a big game about your walk with the Lord.  You carried your bible to work.  You witnessed to them over and over again.  You invited them to church.  Now what will they see...a weeping, worrying disciple or a confident Child of the King?

Listen to me...get up tomorrow morning and live!  Go to the willows, get your harps back and...Sing!  In the midst of all of our challenges....Sing!  Who knows what God will do for us if we trust Him during these uncertain days? Joel 2:15 says in part. "who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him... "I don't know everything but I know this.  It's time to sing!

Alright child of God here we go now.  Just stand up straight...throw your head back... and with all your might...SING!!