A: Thank
you for writing and sending an excellent question. I will try to
give a helpful answer.
Your question is about Psalm 137:9. Verses 8 and 9 together state, "O
daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that
rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh
and
dasheth thy little ones against the stones."
I assume that the problem is with God giving a blessing on those who
dash
little ones against stones. And, though I know that God's ways are not
always our ways and His judgments are often accused of being cruel by
those who have no understanding of godly judgment, the understanding
of
this verse is incorrect. God is not recommending the smashing of babies'
heads. Let me explain.
First, this verse is predictive and not prescriptive. That is, God is
foretelling the future; He is not giving instructions on what He wants
others to do. This is very important. Babylon had been exceedingly cruel
to Israel as well as to other nations. In judgment, they would receive
the cruelty they had given. However, the Israelites to whom this psalm
is written were not the ones who would apply the judgment. That was left
to the Medes and the Persians. God was not instructing them what to do;
He was telling them what would happen.
Second, the man (presumably a soldier) who does this thing shall be
happy. However, there is nothing to indicate that God encourages this
particular action. Rather, He is predicting that those who are part of
this slaughter will rejoice, will be happy in their actions, will be
rewarded for their cruelty, etc. They will probably even go about
bragging about their actions. Looking back historically, we know that
Babylon's destruction came after a long siege which resulted in cruel
actions by the victorious soldiers. This is often the case in such a
battle. The soldiers go mad when they finally achieve the victory and
do
many cruel and terrible acts. This passage points out that the type of
cruelty given out by the Babylonians will be received by them from their
enemies. Their sins will return upon them, and the men who do it will
rejoice in their cruelty.
This happiness is not of the permanent, divine sort. The Bible mentions
several cases of those who are happy, even outwardly blessed, though
their actions are wicked. However, this happiness will not continue
forever. Jeremiah asked, "wherefore are all they happy that deal
very
treacherously?" (Jeremiah 12:1). Malachi accuses the Israelites, "And
now
we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea,
they that tempt God are even delivered" (Malachi 3:15). But Malachi
continues to say that the time will come when they will "discern
between
the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that
serveth him not" (v.18). Some of those who are for a time happy
will be
judged among the wicked and will receive their just punishment.
In conclusion, God is not commanding anyone to dash little ones against
rocks. The happiness the perpetrators of this cruelty is certainly of
the
earthly sort and short-lived. Mainly, this passage is graphically
describing the return of the cruelty of Babylonians upon themselves.
I hope this helps.
Pastor David F. Reagan