Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Seven

In ancient Hebrew editions of the Bible this psalm has an inscription with the name of David; it is likewise inscribed in the Vulgate and in the LXX, in which the latter has the addition of Zechariah and Jeremiah. The latter inscription indicates that this psalm was particularly intensively used by pious Hebrews during the time of the activity of these prophets. When the psalm was written by David, there are no precise indications in the psalm itself. But its general thanksgiving and praiseworthy content for the especially great mercies of the Lord to David, which give the latter grounds to expect all earthly kings to turn to the Lord (Ps 137:4), provides grounds to suppose that the psalm was written after the promise was given to David about the descent from him of a Great and Eternal Descendant.

I praise You, Lord, before all gods, for Your mercies toward me (1–2). You have helped and saved me in times of trouble, and You have granted me great mercy. Your name will become glorified and all kings will worship You (3–5). The Lord will protect the humble: He will destroy his enemies and save him without effort on his part. Do not abandon, Lord, the works of Your hands (6–8).

Psalm 137:1. I praise You with all my heart; before the gods I will sing to You, [for You have heard all the words of my mouth]. By “gods,” (in the Greek and Latin versions, “angels”), are meant the priests (Exod 22:28; Mal 2:7). David comes forth with his thanksgiving and praiseworthy word before all the people.

Psalm 137:2. I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your mercy and for Your truth, for You have magnified Your word above all Your name. “You have magnified Your word above all Your name” – You have given a great promise, which fills me with such grateful feeling toward You, which exceeds and surpasses all that I previously received from You and which served for the praise of Your name, that is, above Your former benefits and mercies. By such a benefit, mercy, that is most valuable and dear to David, we must understand the promise of the descent from him of the Messiah.

Psalm 137:4. All the kings of the earth will praise You, Lord, when they hear the words of Your mouth, Psalm 137:5. and they will sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. The great promise given by God to David will become the possession of the whole world. All kings will learn of it and will understand that with its fulfillment new ways of life will come, which will renew all people and the whole world, and these ways they will praise. Here is a brief indication of what is disclosed more fully in the prophet Isaiah (Isa 2:1-4).

Psalm 137:6. The Lord is high: yet He sees the humble, and the proud He knows from afar. Psalm 137:7. If I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. Psalm 137:8. The Lord will accomplish this for me! Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever: do not abandon the work of Your hands. The Lord always shows favor to the weak and defends him. However great the dangers, He will preserve and by His strength defend him. The faith expressed here by the righteous in the constancy of help and protection from the Lord could serve as comfort for the pious Hebrew in difficult times of life during the ministry of the prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah and be a constant prayer on his lips, which explains the addition to the psalm’s inscription of the names of these prophets alongside the name of David. * * * In the Septuagint: before the Angels.