Sharper Iron — Time in the Psalms: Praying through Pain

Rev. Dr. Ryan Tietz, Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology and Dean of Students at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Psalm 137.

Psalm 137 reveals its context quickly. The people of God are exiled in Babylon. Although Babylon’s waters may have seemed more fruitful from an earthly perspective, the people of God weep there because they are no longer in the Promised Land. Their captors only add insult to injury by mocking the songs of Zion. Yet the people dare not forget the LORD’s promises made concerning Zion. As they vow to remember, they call upon the LORD to remember and to visit their enemies with destruction. The prayer is jarring, and we hear it in the full counsel of God’s Word, all the while joining in the prayer of God’s people that our Lord Jesus would return and put an end to every evil.

Join Sharper Iron during the month of July to study selected Psalms. In the Psalter, God speaks His Word to us and teaches us how to speak back to Him in prayer. Even in the great variety of the Psalms, each one points us to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

Psalm 137

How Shall We Sing the Lord‘s Song?

137 By the waters of Babylon,
    there we sat down and wept,
    when we remembered Zion.
²On the willows^[a] there
    we hung up our lyres.
³For there our captors
    required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴How shall we sing the Lord‘s song
    in a foreign land?
⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    let my right hand forget its skill!
⁶Let 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!

⁷Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
    the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
    down to its foundations!”
⁸O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
    blessed shall he be who repays you
    with what you have done to us!
⁹Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
    and dashes them against the rock!

Footnotes

Psalm 137:2 Or poplars

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).