Memory Can Encourage Faith (vv. 7-9). These three verses have been a serious problem for the unlearned and a target for the unbelieving who are at war with God and the Bible. However, once this passage is understood, it should encourage the faith of God’s people in times of upheaval when the Lord seems to be shaking everything (Heb. 12:25-29). The Babylonian guards were taunting the Jewish exiles, wanting them to sing about their God, who had not rescued them and their city, which was now a heap of ruins. This was not a matter of politics but theology, nor was it a personal vendetta but an issue between two nations. As individuals, we have the right to forgive an offender, but if the judge forgave every criminal who appeared in his court, the foundations of society would be undermined and chaos would result.
The law God gave to Israel is based on the lex talionis–the law of retaliation–and retaliation is not revenge. It simply means “to pay back in kind.” In short, the punishment must fit the crime, and our courts still follow that principle. In eighteenth-century England, there were over two hundred capital crimes for which the culprit could be hanged, but no nation follows that pattern today. “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Deut. 19:16-21) is not brutality; it is justice. A point that is often ignored is that, though Babylon was God’s chosen instrument to discipline the Jews, the Babylonians went too far and treated the Jews with brutality. (See Isa. 47:1-7; 51:22-23.) They abused the elderly, they murdered the babies and children, they violated the women, and they killed promiscuously. Though these practices may have been a normal part of ancient warfare (2 Kings 8:12; 15:16; Isa. 13:16; Nah. 3:10), Babylon went to the extreme in their inhumanity. But let us be honest and admit that when nations today have done atrocious things–the Holocaust, for example–other nations have risen up in horror and demanded justice. If that response is correct for us, why is it wrong for the psalmist?
The psalmist knew from the prophets that God would judge Edom and Babylon, so he prayed for the Lord to keep His promises. Esau, father of the Edomites, was Jacob’s brother (Gen. 25:30), and Esau’s descendants should have shown mercy to their blood relatives. (On the future of Edom, see Isa. 63:1-6; Jer. 49:7-22; Ezek. 25:12-14; 35:1ff.; the book of Obadiah. As for Babylon’s future, see Isa. 13, noting especially v. 16; Jer. 50–51.) The psalmist knew these Scriptures and asked the Lord to fulfill them in His own time. “For the Lord is the God of recompense, He will surely repay” (Jer. 51:56 nkjv). Finally, the word blessed as used in verses 8-9 (nasb) does not mean “happy” in the sense of Psalm 32:1, or even “favored by God” as in Psalm 1:1. It carries the meaning of “morally justified,” as in Psalm 106:3–“Blessed are those who keep justice” (nkjv). It was not the Jewish people individually who punished Babylon but the God of Israel who answered their prayers and vindicated His people (Rom. 12:17-21). One day, He will vindicate His church and punish those who have persecuted and slain His servants (Rev. 6:9-17).