Text of prayer Psalm 137
The prayer is read in Church Slavonic if there is a service in the church. This is done for parishioners who want to get closer to the Kingdom of God. The text in Russian helps you understand the plot; you can read it at home.
In Church Slavonic with accents
In Russian
Text of Psalm 17 in Russian
1 To the director of the choir. The servant of the Lord David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord, when the Lord delivered him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
2 I will love you, O Lord, my strength!
3 The Lord is my rock and my refuge, my Deliverer, my God is my rock; in Him I trust; my shield, the horn of my salvation and my refuge.
4 I will call upon the venerable Lord, and I will be saved from my enemies.
5 The pangs of death have seized me, and the torrents of iniquity have made me afraid;
6 The chains of hell have encircled me, and the snares of death have entangled me.
7 In my distress I called on the Lord and called to my God. And He heard my voice from His palace, and my cry came to His ears.
8 The earth shook and was shaken, the foundations of the mountains trembled and moved, for he was angry;
9 Smoke arose from His wrath, and from His mouth a consuming fire; hot coals fell from Him.
10 He bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under His feet.
11 And he sat on the Cherubim and flew, and was carried away on the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness his covering, casting the darkness of the waters and the clouds of the air around him.
13 Because of the brilliance before Him, His clouds, hail, and coals of fire fled.
14 The Lord thundered in the heavens, and the Most High gave His voice, hail and coals of fire.
15 He sent forth His arrows and scattered them, a multitude of lightnings, and scattered them.
16 And springs of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were revealed at Thy terrible voice, O Lord, at the breath of the spirit of Thy wrath.
17 He stretched out his hand from on high and took me, and brought me out of many waters;
18 He delivered me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, who were stronger than me.
19 They rose up against me in the day of my trouble, but the Lord was my strength.
20 He brought me out to a large place and delivered me, for He delights in me.
21 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; He rewarded me according to the integrity of my hands,
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not been wicked before my God;
23 For all His commandments are before me, and I have not departed from His statutes.
24 I was blameless before Him, and took heed lest I sin;
25 And the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the integrity of my hands in His sight.
26 You deal kindly with the merciful, sincerely with the sincere man,
27 with the pure it is pure, but with the evil one according to his wickedness,
28 For You save the oppressed people, but You bring down haughty eyes.
29 You kindle my lamp, O Lord; My God enlightens my darkness.
30 With You I defeat the army, with my God I ascend the wall.
31 God! – His way is blameless, the word of the Lord is pure; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
We advise you to study Prayers to Matrona of Moscow
32 For who is God besides the Lord, and who is a defense besides our God?
33 God girdles me with strength and makes a sure way for me;
34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and sets me on my high places;
35 He teaches my hands to fight, and my arms break the bronze bow.
36 You have given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me, and Your mercy makes me great.
37 You widen my step under me, and my feet do not falter.
38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them, and I do not return until I have destroyed them;
39 I strike them, and they cannot rise up; they fall under my feet,
40 For thou hast girded me with strength for war, and thou hast put under my feet those who rise up against me;
41 You have turned the rear of my enemies to me, and I destroy those who hate me:
42 They cry out, but there is no one to save; to the Lord, but He does not heed them;
43 I scatter them like dust before the wind, and trample them down like the dirt of the streets.
44 You delivered me from the rebellion of the people, you made me the head of the foreigners; a people whom I did not know serves me;
45 Because of one rumor about me, they obey me; foreigners caress me;
46 The foreigners turn pale and tremble in their fortifications.
47 As the Lord lives and blessed is my protector! Exalted be the God of my salvation,
48 God, who avenges me and subdues the nations for me,
49 and who delivers me from my enemies! You raised me above those who rebelled against me and delivered me from the cruel man.
50 Therefore I will praise You, O Lord, among the foreigners, and I will sing praises to Your name,
51 majestically saving the king and showing mercy to your anointed David and his descendants forever.
Every person goes through trials in his life. The main thing is to continue to believe and thank God for the message of comfort and help.
Why read Psalm 137?
As mentioned above, the song is read in Orthodox churches in Church Slavonic. This tradition is rooted in the history of Ancient Rus', when Christianity arrived in the lands of the pagans.
If there is a need to read the prayer privately (at home), then it is permissible to use the Russian version of the chant. Reading the psalm cannot be done without an icon with a bright image and candles. The icon will help focus attention, and candles will create the necessary atmosphere.
The moment you start reading the prayer, try to imagine the events described in it. Imbued with the confidence of King David that all troubles are only tests of the Lord, which every believer must endure.
Remember how insignificant your request is compared to such a figure in the universe as God. In complete humility and concentration, renounce the vanity of the world and try to reach Him with the cry of your soul.
It is believed that the psalm has great power when it is read before addressing higher ranks.
History of writing
In ancient Jewish editions of the Bible, Psalm 137 is signed with the name of David. It is also signed in the Latin translation of the Bible by Blessed Jerome (Vulgate) and in the translation of the seventy interpreters (LXX), but with the addition of Zechariah and Jeremiah. The latter circumstance indicates that Psalm 137 was reverently read by Jews during the lifetime of these prophets. The text does not contain precise indications of when exactly the prayer was written by David.
Interpretation
The psalm was written by David, who acknowledges the will of the Lord and His authority over all things. In his speeches, he admits that he is not the only ruler of the earth who has been awarded the honor of being His chosen one. Many kings who recognized Him as the main one will receive the mercy of the Almighty and His love. An analysis of each verse will help you better understand the chant.
- Verse 1-5. The author remembers God and his good deeds. The king's faith was unshakable, for which he gained His love. The ruler has no doubt that in the future the power of the Almighty will extend to everyone, for He is preparing a righteous path for each of those living today. We can only guess to whom the psalmist reads his work. It is likely that the author allegorically refers to false gods who have no power, being created in the image of man.
- Verse 6-8. The righteous man is confident in his abilities, but he is more confident in the power of the Lord, who will bring harmony and happiness to the world. Godly people will be rewarded even if they are suffering now. The song provides comfort, but also gives hope for a return to joyful times. The hardship of life is only a prologue to entering the Kingdom of God.
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PSALM 137
Psalm 137 is one of the most famous biblical psalms and has been set to music many times.
Elena Kamburova sings
Text by Y. Kim, V. Dashkevich
"On the rivers of Babylon" -
Psalm 137 (Yerushalayim) There, near the rivers of Babylon, How we sat and cried. People came to us to laugh: “Why are you sitting and crying? Why aren’t you singing and dancing?” There, near the rivers of Babylon, I live only by memory. Let me suffocate and go blind, If I ever forget The stones engulfed in flames, Your white stones. Yerushalayim, my heart! What will I sing away from you? What will I see far from you With eyes full of tears? “Why aren’t you singing and dancing?” Yerushalayim, my happiness! Why should I live away from you? What to look at far from you With eyes full of tears?.. (not sung) There, near the rivers of Babylon, We have no peace and joy. There, under the weeping willow, we broke our harps, we tore our strings.
Psalm 137 - "Eternal City"
Text - Arie Yudasin. Music and performance by Meir Levin. Arranged by Uri Brener.
***
Psalm 137 is a true hymn expressing the aspirations of the Jews in exile after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BC. e. A bright and figurative psalm is imbued with love for Jerusalem and hatred for the enemies of the Holy City. The opening lines describing the grief of the Israelites who refuse to “sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land” are very well known.
Rabbinical sources consider the prophet Jeremiah to be the author of the psalm.
Rivers of Babylon: Euphrates with its tributaries and Tigris.
PSALM 137
(1) By the rivers of Bavel - there we sat and cried when we remembered Tsiyon. (2) On the willows, in the midst of it, we hung our kinnoras, (3) Because there those who captivated us demanded hymns from us, and those who mocked us demanded joy: “Sing to us from the songs of Zion.” (4) How can we sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land? (5) If I forget you, Yerushalayim, let my right hand forget (me). (6) May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Yerushalayim to the pinnacle of my joy. (7) Remember, O Lord, the day of Yerushalayim to the children of Edom, who said: “Destroy, destroy it to its foundations.” (8) Daughter of Bavel, (doomed) to destruction! Happy is the one who rewards you what you deserve for what you have done to us. (9) Happy is he who takes and dashes your babies against a rock.
From the comments.
On the rivers of Babylon... When the Jews were expelled from Israel, they drank from the rotten waters of the Euphrates and died. And so they cried: for those killed by the enemy, and for those who died along the way, and for those whom the Euphrates poisoned... And Nebuchadnezzar (Nebuchadnezzar) sat on the boat along with his nobles and ministers, surrounded by numerous musicians... Nebuchadnezzar said to them: “What are you sit and cry? Get ready, and while we feast, stand and play before me and before our gods on the lutes, as you played before your God." (Rabbi Yochanan)
...to the height of your fun. When the Temple was destroyed, the sages of that generation decreed that no more luxurious whitewashed palaces like those of the king should be erected. And when covering the walls of a house with whitewash, you need to leave a space “elbow” on “elbow” opposite the entrance without whitewashing... And when a person arranges a wedding, he takes the ashes and puts them on his head... And there are areas where at the hour of the wedding they break a glass or perform other mourning customs...And all this to remember Jerusalem, as it is said: “If I forget you Jerusalem” and “If I do not raise Jerusalem to the pinnacle of my joy” (Shulchan Aruch).
Tehillim. - Jerusalem: Shvut Ami, 2004. - pp. 543-545
DETAILED COMMENT
PSALM 137:
https://www.machanaim.org/tanach/_d_psalms/ps137-29.htm
