HARPS I. PLAINTIVE RECOLLECTION (1-4). I. Desolation of the Exiles (1). Zion remembered. 2. Demand of the Enemy (2-4). Babylon. II. PASSIONATE REAFFIRMATION (S-6). Declaration of the Singer. Jerusalem remembered. Ill. PREDICTED RETRIBUTION (7-9 ). r. Denunciation of the Edomites (7). Edom remembered. 2. Destruction of the Enemy (8-9). Babylon.
PRIMARY AssocIATION.-Evidently written in the early da.ys of the return from the Babylonian captivity, but the writer is anony mous. He w probably a temple singer. His composition is characterised by intense fervour. Many Jewish exiles made a home in captivity; not so this writer. He thought it better to remember Zion and weep than to settle down in the enjoyment of Babylonian an1enities. PROPHETIC .ANTICIPATION.-W e are here carried back to the pre millennial period with many Jewish exiles returning to the land, among whom are some of Jehovah's loyal ones. The long foretold sentence upon Edom and upon Babylon is not yet carried out, though obviously soon due. Contrast the scene in the next psalm. PERSONAL APPLICATION.-lt is better to weep with the saints than to revel with sinners. Remember the New Jerusalem-our beautiful mother city. Destruction of evil is the complement of the preserva tion of the good. There is a divine surgery which is necessary for the safety of society ( 8) ; cf. the extinction of the Canaanites. Verse 8 is not the Christian attitude though it is the attitude of many Christians. VERSE NOTES 2. "willows" i.e. rather, a species of poplar abundant along the banks of the numerous canals that traversed Babylonia. The Jews often resorted to the river side for prayer {Acts xvi. 13) because of convenience for ceremonial ablutions. Babylonia consisted of flat, fertile plains, while Palestine is a country of hills. 4. They would not profane these sacred songs used only in the temple worship at Jerusalem, though Belshazzar profaned the sacred vessels of the temple, Dan. v. 6. Or, "Ifl set not Jerusalem above the summit of my joy." 7. (b) i.e. the day of its overthrow. The inveterate hatred of the elder brother referred to; cf. Obad. 12-14, 4. It was perpetuated by the grandson Amalek. The psalmist prays for the fulfilment of that which God had already fore-announced, Ezek. xxv. 12; xxxv. s;Jer. xlix. 7-22; Lam. iv. 21-22. 8-9. This singer is also a seer; he anticipates the fall of Babylon. Verse 9 is based upon Isa. xiii. 16-18, and was lit. fulfilled, see Appendix IV. Evil seed must be destroyed lest the whole world be corrupted. Pss. cxxxviii.-cxlv. This group of psalms by David, an octave closing his contribution to the Psalter, was apparently a late "find" among the documentary records of the Kingdom of Judah. They were then suitably incorporated here by the compiler of Book V acting, of cour¡e, under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit of God.
He was led to modify the original words of David, even as New Testament writers often modify when quoting from the Old Testament. This accounts for the fact that Aramaic words are introduced.
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