The Torment of Memory

The Torment of Memory

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.”- Psalm 137:1

The Jewish captives are far away from home and in a foreign land. They are seated on the banks of one of the waterways associated with the City of Babylon. They are by no means happy for they are away from home, lonely, and among those who are unfriendly and unsympathetic.

Sometimes memories, though good, can be tormenting! The Jews are tormented by the thought of Zion, home, family, community, and of normalcy. They now are enduring a place of retribution for their sin which led to their deportation. They are in a place of remorse and regret. Their memory tormented them for they could not turn back the clock. The closest they could be to Jerusalem was in their dreams, thoughts, and memories.

We look back to the “good old days” when families were together and the days when we celebrated our youth. Those were the days of anticipation, activity, and ambition. We recall the days when life was low in stress and high in energy. Now many of us know of the stresses related to aging and health changes. Now, many of us know the hurt of the loss of family and friends. We even find that more of our family and friends are on the other side of the river!

Good memories can be tormenting if they are locked into a “prison house” of a past with no window and view of a bright future. We are called upon to exercise faith in our treatment of the past and our travel into the future. For Christians, we accept the truth of aging and dying while realizing that we have not seen the last of our precious Christian family and friends. Heavenly glory will overshadow all of life’s experiences, including relationships from a mere earthly level. By faith, we realize that the Christian’s future is far brighter than their past and no memory associated with eternity will include the ending of a day or the ending of the existence of happy times and the lives of happy heavenly people!

Memory does not torment the Christian who walks by faith for faith is a looking for that City whose Builder and Maker is God. The remembrance of Zion needs to include the anticipation of that Holy City which will one day come down from God, out of Heaven. When we keep our eyes on certain and bright promises , we no longer weep beside the rivers of Babylon but rise to our feet, while taking our harps out of the willows. We then gladly sing the Lord’s song in this strange land knowing that our faith will soon end in sight. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” – I Corinthians 13:12

Chuck Peters – 5/23/2022