Ps 136 Lent 4
Psalm 136 Commentary by Dr Noel Donnelly
Our liturgy this weekend selects 6 of the 9 verses of Psalm 136, giving the community the response ,“Let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!” The Babylonian captors not only destroyed their home and Temple and city but continued to taunt and mock their captors, ridiculing their worship and their God.
The singer has been made captive by the Babylonians and the song gives voice to the cruel hope of dashing Babylonian children against a rock in violent revenge. Our liturgy avoids that ugly verse.
The singer is weeping at the loss of home and Temple. The raw grief seems to paralyse the harper’s right hand and he or she hangs up the harp on the poplar trees of Babylon, unused for all to see. The captors were not satisfied with the material destruction but continued to ridicule not only the worshipers but also the Lord they adored.
The psalm of weeping strangely follows the happy story in Chronicles about the exile but also the release of God’s people as the Babylonians were succeeded by the more tolerant Persian king Cyrus.
Strangely again, our weeping psalm is followed in contrast by a Gospel of light when Nicodemus learns about The Son of Man coming not to condemn but to offer light and life for the saving of the world.
Perhaps it is good to see our weeping psalm as a transition in the journey through Lent, as we move through testing times and travel with firm hope into the victories ahead as the days become lighter and Easter approaches.
Below: downloadable score as a pdf; audio of the commentary; audio of the psalm setting
Audio of the commentary
audio of Psalm 136:words and music Noel Donnelly. Recorded by Grace Buckley
graphic (c) Netta Ewing
