Celebrate Freedom

Psalm 137: 1 – 6 (NIV): 1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" 4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget [its skill]. 6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

    Israel had been defeated and taken captive by Babylon in 605 B.C. The people who survived the onslaught were taken back to Babylon (modern Iraq) and turned into slaves. They had lost their freedom and their home. They had lost their spiritual worship center, and their identity as God’s people had been severely diminished as they were now slaves to a foreign, pagan society.

   They sat and wept by the water’s edge. The captors wanted them to sing songs about Jerusalem (Zion) and about their faith, but how could they sing joyful songs when their joy had been taken from them?

    This week in America we have been celebrating freedom and well we should. We probably take freedom for granted – at least until it is taken away from us. When we lose our independence we want nothing else but to have it back. That’s why Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Liberty is worth dying for. Life isn’t worth living without it.

   This Psalm is a cautionary tale because Israel was taken captive because of its rebellion against God. The people wanted to do their own thing. They wanted to enjoy God’s goodness, but refused to give him their loyalty in return. One of the ironies of our faith is that when we give ourselves as slaves to Christ, he sets us free. And when we refuse to give him our lives and stubbornly go our own way, he allows our sin to enslave us.

   Celebrate Freedom. Enjoy it. Breathe into your soul the life that freedom gives. But remember, it was purchased for you at a price. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free,” Paul said in Galatians 5, “stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery”