Psalms 137:5

⁴How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land? ⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function. ⁶May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!

Sermons

Iii. the Jerusalem Sign

Lewis Sperry Chafer

The Prayer for Revival (Psalm 89)

Maurice Roberts

Summary

This verse reflects the deep sorrow and longing of the Israelites as they were exiled in Babylon. It expresses their commitment to remember Jerusalem, their homeland, even in the midst of their suffering. Despite their current circumstances, the Israelites hold on to hope and refuse to forget their roots and heritage. The verse serves as a reminder of the importance of faithfulness and perseverance in times of trial, encouraging believers to remain steadfast in their devotion to God and His promises.

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

For joyful songs would imply forgetfulness of their desolated homes and fallen Church. The solemn imprecations on the hand and tongue, if thus forgetful, relate to the cunning or skill in playing, and the power of singing.

John Gill Bible Commentary

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,.... This was said by one or everyone of the Levites; or singers, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; or by the congregation of Israel, as Jarchi; by one of them, in the name of the rest; or by the composer of the psalm. The Targum is, "the voice of the Spirit of God answered and said, "if I forget", &c.'' that is, to weep over the calamities of Jerusalem; which might be thought, if the songs of Zion were sung; or to pray for the restoration of her prosperity and peace; as the church of Christ may be said to be forgotten, when men forget to mourn over its breaches, and show no concern for the reparation of them; or at the death of principal persons, which they lay not to heart; or at the great decay of religion in those that survive; or at the sins of professors, and their disregard to the word and ordinances: also when they forget to pray for her happiness in general; for the good of her members in particular; and especially for her ministers, that they may have assistance and success; and for a blessing on the word and ordinances, and for the conversion of sinners; and when they forget the worship of the Lord in it, and forsake the assembling of themselves together; let my right hand forget her cunning; her skill in music, particularly in playing on the harp; see Sa1 16:16; the harp was held in the left hand, and struck with the right; and that more softly or hardly, as the note required, in which was the skill or cunning of using it. Or let this befall me, should I so far forget Jerusalem as to strike the harp to one of the songs of Zion in a strange land: or let it forget any of its works; let it be disabled from working at all; let it be dry and withered, which, Aben Ezra says, is the sense of the word according to some; and Schultens (d), from the use of it in Arabic, renders it, let it be "disjointed", or the nerve loosened; see Job 31:22. Or the sense is, let everything that is as dear as my right hand he taken from me: or, as it may be rendered, "my right hand is forgotten" (e); that is, should I forget Jerusalem, it would; for that is as my right hand; so Arama. Some choose to translate the words thus, "may thou (O God) forget my right hand" (f); that is, to be at my right hand; to be a present help to me in time of need; to hold me by it, and to be the shade of it. (d) Animadv. Philol. p. 181. (e) "oblita est nostra dextra", Castalio. (f) "Oblivisceris (O Domine) dexterae meae", Gejerus; so some in Michaelis.