In Jeremiah 29, we read about a letter that Jeremiah sent to the exiles in Babylon in which the Lord encourages his people to be fruitful and multiply in exile and to seek the welfare of the city until his own purposes came to pass in time. This letter flows out of the confrontation between Hananiah and Jeremiah with regard to how long the exile would last. Whereas Hananiah had falsely prophesied that the exile would only last two years, Jeremiah maintained that the word of the Lord was that it would last for seventy years. The length of exile makes a big difference in how you conduct yourself as an exile. This letter from Jeremiah encourages God’s people to be faithful for the long haul in a foreign land.
And yet, we need to recognize that Jeremiah 29 is not the only word on what it looks like to be an exile. Most notably, Psalm 137 was written from an exilic perspective and consequently must be taken into account in order to round out what it means to be an exile. In short, while Jeremiah 29 emphasizes common grace, Psalm 137 emphasizes the antithesis. Putting these two together, we can appreciate that what it means to be an exile is to seek the welfare of the city while also seeking a better, heavenly country. Because the New Testament does use the imagery of exile to describe the Christian life, it is helpful for us to maintain this balance. Whenever we seek the welfare of the city, we do so with eyes wide open to the fact that Babylon is not our home but instead our temporary residence. We must feel like exiles so that we might retain our hope for a better future with God.
The remainder of this reflection will briefly present Psalm 137 as a helpful balance to Jeremiah 29. And we can begin with a consideration of Psalm 137’s structure and content. This psalm breaks down into three sections. In the first section, vv1-3 sets the context, telling us that Israel in exile, weeping for the devastation of its rebellion against the Lord. Exile is not a happy place, and the Babylonians are not friends. Rather, they seek to make light of the religion and culture of God’s people, asking for sacred songs to be sung for entertainment. In the second section, vv4-6, the psalmist invokes a self-imprecation or curse as a means to highlight the antithesis between life in a foreign land and life in the land of God’s promise. This section also reinforces the strangeness of life in exile, and summons the psalmist to constantly remember his true home. In the third section, vv7-9, the psalmist invokes an imprecation on his captors and those who supported the destruction of Jerusalem. In strong language that reflects the horrific brutality of war, the psalmist cries out to God and asks that God would bring vengeance against those who have brought destruction to God’s own people and place. This final section is a cry for justice and a longing for God to bring an end to exile.
As one commentator has noted, this psalm is characterized by the theme of remembering.[1] This remembrance has the goal of maintaining the real antithesis between the temporary location and proper home of God’s people, as well as the hostility of the world and the hope of peace with God. Because Babylon is taken up in the Scriptures, especially in Revelation, as a symbol for everything that opposes God, the greater significance of this psalm can be appreciated by all believers. Indeed, “this psalm is part of the long struggle that is evidenced as early as Gen 11:1–9 and that finds its culmination in the Apocalypse. Rather than being merely the human desire for revenge, it is an appeal to the Lord to bring justice to his people who are the victims of Babylon, the inveterate foe of the Lord.”[2]
So, then, while God’s people are called to seek the welfare of the city, they are not called to a friendship with the world (cf. James 4:4). Rather, Psalm 137 provides a healthy balance to Jeremiah 29 by reminding us that the world is not neutral and never has been. We don’t aim to burn it all down, but we do maintain a healthy distinction between seeking the welfare of the city and full-on friendship with the world.
[1] Daniel J. Estes, Psalms 73-150, NAC 13 (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2019), 543.
[2] Estes, 543–44.
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