# Day 176

# The Songs of Zion

Psalm 137:1–6

The captives in Babylon didn’t forget their beloved homeland. Their children learned songs which taught them their history. Though they were often sad, they could still sing such songs:

By the rivers of Babylon—there we sat

down and there we wept

when we remembered Zion.

On the willows there we hung up our harps.

For there our captors

asked us for songs,

and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of

the songs of Zion.”

How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!

Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy.

Questions: Why did the people weep in Babylon? What kind of songs did the Babylonians want the captives to sing?