Longing for the Celestial City in Captivity

Psalms 137:1-9 

1 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.

2 We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.

3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

4 How shall we sing the LORD's song
In a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget its skill!

6 If I do not remember you,
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, "Raze it, raze it,
To its very foundation!"

8 O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed,
Happy the one who repays you as you have served us!

9 Happy the one who takes and dashes
Your little ones against the rock!

As captive Israel yearned for David’s city of Jerusalem on Mount Zion (2 Samuel 5:7) in song, so we now as God’s people in Christ do yearn for the Celestial City of the New Jerusalem to come down to earth out of God’s heaven (Revelation 21:2)!  The human anointed king foreshadowed the heavenly king from his lineage and God’s from above, and the yearning for the promise of a place to worship God face to face makes us all yearn for that place.  When we now sing this song, it has a fuller meaning of deliverance from the bondage of sin as our captor, and no mere earthly nation holding us in a foreign land like Babylon, though the world will soon be in the sway and entrapment of the spiritual Babylon spoken of in Revelation and 1 Peter (Revelation 14:8, 17:5, 1 Peter 5:13) as Rome due to the sin and blasphemy coming from there.  When captive Israel reflected from such a place of captivity amidst the sinful and godless of that ancient city, they mourned their loss of Zion they lost, desiring to return.  They sang as their captors who abducted and plundered them and their temple requested a song of that long lost place, and Israel wondered how they could sing a song of worship and praise in such a foreign place.  Yet they held to their thoughts, recalling that sacred place and the joy they had there.  How could they forget all that, let alone their skill in playing and singing the songs of Zion?  Much the same are we, singing praise and worshipping God in this present evil age (Galatians 1:4) as we await, not our return, but our entrance into the Celestial City when it comes down to us for us to be wedded to it and to Him who dwells there for our songs of endless praise!  We will also follow suit and exalt Him and it as our chief joy above all deliverance from the captivity of this world’s presence of sin.  Yes, the present Babylon will be razed as well, and we will celebrate its falling (Revelation 18:2, 20, 19:1-2) as the Lord comes again to reign eternally from the New Zion, His Celestial City where we will behold Him face to face at last (Job 19:26-27, Revelation 21:3-4, 22:3-4).  These are things worth singing for, having been freed from the captivity of sin and death, and having the promise of His presence forevermore!  This is the hope we have in Christ alone for justification and salvation through faith in His work alone, not in the false hopes and abominations of Babylon on seven hills.  Yes, we are longing for the Celestial City in this world of captivity, though we have been freed from it.  Amen.