Psalm 137:9 what does it mean?

Psalm 137:9 what does it mean?

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There are many biblical texts that are used by those who wish to attack or discredit the Bible. Verses that are used to demonstrate that God, if he exists,even though most of the sceptics and uses of this verse do not not believe he does, is actually a evil being.ins wrote in his book the God delusion “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

It is using these texts that leads people to make these kind of arguments against God.

One such verse is Psalm 137:9

Psalm 137:9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

It is claimed that the verse is a command of God and that it is proof that god is in fact exactly how Richard Dawkins described him.

EvilBible.com states “Psalms 137:9 Here god commands that infants should be “dashed upon the rocks”.”

On another website it is stated “But that’s not what this verse is about. It’s about other “happy” people who will smash Babylonian children. The happy children smashers will be sent by God to “reward” the Babylonians for “serving” (enslaving) the Israelites during the Babylonian captivity,” Dwindlinginunbelief.com

Im sure we will all agree that this is a very nasty “command”. Why would God command such a brutal action as dashing infants upon rocks.

However when we do what is the believers favorite tactical move 
And put the verse into context we will that actually there is no such command from God. The verse is not a prescriptive text.

The verse comes from a very short psalm, Psalm 137 there are actually only 9 verses in the whole psalm so let’s have a look at the whole psalm and then break it down and obtain the true meaning of what this verse is saying and who is saying it and why.

Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of usmirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
😯 daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Then we have the verse in question 
Psalm 137-9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

So let’s actually break this psalm down and workout WHAT is being said and very importantly WHO is saying it and also WHY they said what they said.

Verse 1

Psalm 137- 1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

This verse actually gives us a lot of information. 
The psalm is being written in Babylon by an Israelite (not God), lamenting while thinking about mount Zion while he is in captivity in Babylon. After the Babylonians had plundered Jerusalem destroyed the city killed many of the people and carried the rest off to the captivity in Babylon that this particular Israelite is in while writing the psalm.

The psalmist then states that the captives (the Babylonians) forced them (the Israelites) to sing happy songs for them, ones they used to sing in their home.

Psalm 137-2We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of usmirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

Mirth being the Hebrew word שִׂמְחָ֑ה śim-ḥāh; means Joy or gladness.

The Babylonians while holding the Israelites captive were trying to make them sing joyful songs.

The psalmist then asks the question how is it possible to sing happy songs to our God while we are in a strange land, in captivity?

Psalm 137- 4 How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?

The Jews were forced by the Germans to sing songs as they marched them to the gas chambers.

He then calls on himself and probably speaking as on behalf of all the Israelites to not forget where he is from. Not to forget his home city. Speaking as if speaking to Jerusalem itself.

PSalm 5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

He further “speaks” to Jerusalem that he would have his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth if he would rather have his own joy than Jerusalem. 
6If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

It is then that the Psalmist calls out to God to remember what the Edomites had done to his people. Remember them what they did to Jerusalem.

Psalm 137- 7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

There is evidence that Edom had been involved along with the Babylonians in the destruction of Jerusalem or that they profited by its fall.

It is the Psalmist who is the one who asks God to remember, this is not God talking about Jerusalem but an Israelite writer in captivity

It is then that the psalmist states that the ones who will come and destroy Babylon, they will be happy.

Psalm 1370-8O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

The “he” is actually the Medes. It had been foretold that Israel would be taken into captivity by the Babylonians but that the Babylonians themselves would then succumb to a mightier enemy and would themselves be destroyed. And this is exactly what happened. The Medes and the Persians attacked and destroyed the empire of Babylon.

The psalmist was saying you want a happy song, here it is, Babylon you are going to get a taste of your own medicine. You are going to be destroyed like you destroyed Israel and those that will destroy you will be glad to do it.

Then the psalmist says the very verse that is used to attack the word of God.

Psalm 137-9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

The psalmist is again saying here is your happy song, the ones that will come and destroy you will do evil things like killing your young ones and they will be happy to do so.

This had been predicted by the prophet Isaiah

Isaiah 13-16 15Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

This again is a prediction not a command. It is foretelling of what the enemy that will come against Babylon will do to them. A descriptive text.

This isn’t a verse on which to draw a theological belief, that God wants babies to be smashed against rocks.This is a cry in pain from an Israelite in captivity, an emotional plea from a person in an emotional and traumatic environment, calling on God to remember what the Babylonians had done to the Israelites and for what had been foretold regarding the destruction of Babylon to come to pass. It isn’t even the psalmist saying that he himself would be happy when the event happens or he wants to do the smashing, but crying out for what is coming to the Babylonians for what they have done to him and the rest of Israel.

The claim that this is a command from God cannot be substantiated in any other way than to simply take this one verse remove it from the context of the rest of the psalm and then declare that it is God who is commanding this action. Anyone to actually make claim this claim has either clearly not read or understood the rest of the psalm in which the verse is found or has deliberately quoted this one verse on its own as to make it seem that God commanded the action. Either way that claim is simply wrong.

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