O come
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lowly exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
chorus:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
One of my favorites Christmas hymns speaks of freedom from captivity first appeared in the 12 century. Its minor chord are juxtaposed against the chorus of
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
The theme is an interplay of the sorrow of exile and the hope of deliverance. Like the 137th Psalm its beauty stands the test of time.
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, O 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, O LORD, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
"Tear it down," they cried,
"tear it down to its foundations!"
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us-
9 he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
The Psalmist, a captive in Babylon gives us an amazing and beautiful picture of godly sorrow. The last few summers I have studied first the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah. They chronicle God’s dealings with a people given over to idolatry; the prophets warning, the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of a people. The beauty of the books for me as the moment judgment comes upon the people the Lord begins his message of restoration through the prophets. Immediately. It is as if he can hardly bear the burden he has laid upon them. The tone of the books change and it is as if God whispers, “it will be ok, please return to me.” He paints with words beautiful pictures of restoration and deliverance. At last he has gotten the people’s attention and He spills out a heart of love to them. Psalm 137 is the picture of a soul captivated once again by the Lord. He cries not for himself, nor the oppressive situation in Babylon where his cruel captors demand songs of joy in a time of sorrow. He is affronted by the demand of his captors to sing sacred song in a profane manner. So precious are the songs of Zion that declare the nature of God, that he at last refuses to dishonor his God with idolatry.
How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?
How can we profane the sacred? is their cry.
Their lament is that they would rather their ability to make music which is their chief joy be taken away least they offend God. They would rather their ability to sing be taken away if they esteemed it above Jerusalem, the city of their God. Weary and lamenting beside the willows and the rivers of Babylon which represent their deep sorrow they find peace with God and a fierce determination to return. They understand that the Lord will not tolerate for long the oppression of their oppressor and their fate is sure, as sure as the promise of return.