If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [its skill];
By the rivers of Babylon the captors asked the exiles for a song of Zion, and they refused. This verse is the vow that follows — a curse the singer calls down on his own harp-playing hand if he ever forgets the ruined city.
The oath sets two losses side by side and picks the lighter one.
Hamilton SmithHow can the godly sing the Lord's song in a strange land? What can the world know of the joy of the Lord, or of the sorrows of Jerusalem? To join with the world in its songs and its mirth would be to forget Jerusalem and its sorrows. The godly man would rather forget his skill in playing the harp than forget Jerusalem. If Jerusalem is not remembered and set above every worldly joy, he would rather his tongue fell silent for good.
The "skill" the right hand might lose is the very skill Babylon was demanding. The hand that could no longer play for Zion had no business playing at all.
Jerusalem was more than a homeland. It was the one address on earth where sin could be dealt with, and that is what made the ruins worth loving.
F. W. GrantOnly in Jerusalem could the blood of atonement be sprinkled on the golden mercy seat — and "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." That is how a holy God could dwell among the praises of His people. It was only a waste spot now; yet their hearts lingered there with an attachment nothing could break. Their right hand might well forget, if Jerusalem were forgotten. The tongue might well stick to the roof of the mouth that did not lift Jerusalem above every other object of joy.
To drop Jerusalem from memory would not have been mere homesickness cured. It would have been a verdict on God's own choice.
J. N. DarbyThe Lord had His own law, His own place. This He had made Israel's: were they to forget it? To do so would have been slighting His favour, renouncing the special character of His mercy. Babylon they could have — they had got into it, and their sins had brought them there. But there they must at least hang up their harps and weep. For them Babylon was the place of this world's careless and godless glory.
Note what this admits. They knew their own sin had earned the exile.
The vow was not words only. It shaped what one man did with his years in exile.
Edward DennettTwo things marked Daniel out. He had an intense love for the place where God's honour had lived, and an undying affection for God's people. He could truly have spoken for his fellow captives in the well-known psalm whose author is not named... This love for Jerusalem surely sent him to the writings of Jeremiah, to find out how long the city would stay desolate.
The same love divided people when the chance to go home came:
Arno C. GaebeleinNot all were ready to go back; only a small remnant was willing. The great majority preferred to remain in Babylon. There was nothing to attract them to Jerusalem — a city of ruins, with the once magnificent temple in ruins. Those who returned loved Jerusalem, the place the Lord had chosen.
Writers apply the verse in more than one direction. Some point to a centre that no ruin can touch:
L. M. GrantJerusalem was God's established centre. But Christ Himself is God's centre today: can we possibly forget Him? Such forgetting would be as senseless as the right hand forgetting to act normally... We know the enemy will use every opportunity to make us forget Him. The Lord Jesus knew this. So He made wonderful provision for believers when He introduced the Lord's supper, saying, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19).
Others find two objects rather than one, and keep the psalm's grief:
J. N. DarbyThere is a double application of this to our souls. Nothing can make us forget the heavenly Jerusalem. It is the house where God and the Lamb are the temple, and where they dwell. All the glory of the world is nothing compared with that heavenly home. But the church on earth, which will be that city in glory, also grips our hearts. We see it desolate, its walls thrown down, its children scattered or in captivity. Yet the saint's heart is still there.
- Ruin. Jerusalem lay wrecked, and their own sin had put them in Babylon. The people who made this vow had nothing to be proud of.
- Refusal. They would not sing Zion's songs to entertain their captors. Joining the world's mirth would itself have been the forgetting.
- Preference. Better to lose the hand's skill and the tongue's use than to let any joy outrank the place God chose.
- Cost. Remembering sent Daniel to Jeremiah to learn how long the ruin would last. Later it sent a small group home to a wrecked city while most stayed comfortable.
- Remembrance. Commentators differ here. Some point to Christ as the centre we keep in view at His supper. Others see two objects: the heavenly city, and the church on earth, still loved though broken.
If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to my palate if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Exiles in Babylon must sing for their captors, and this verse is the answer: the psalmist would sooner lose his voice than lose Jerusalem. The city he clings to lies in ruins, while Babylon offers him everything — so why does the rubble matter more?
The psalm sets two cities side by side, and each turns out to be the opposite of what it looks like:
J. N. DarbyBabylon and Jerusalem are two cities. Sorrow was their portion in the one — the place of joy; joy in the other — the place of sorrow. To the children of the remnant it was a strange land. They remembered Jerusalem. The memory of Jerusalem meant more than the foreign joy in front of them. Foreign joy, to sorrow, is the pressure of grief.
This is not love for buildings or scenery. One writer names what kept their hearts in a ruined city:
F. W. GrantOnly in Jerusalem could the blood of atonement be sprinkled on the golden mercy seat, so that a holy God might dwell among the praises of His people. And "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." It was only a waste spot now; yet their hearts stayed there with an attachment nothing could break. Their right hand might well forget, if Jerusalem were forgotten. The tongue might stick to the roof of the mouth that did not lift Jerusalem above every other object of joy.
The oath names the two parts a musician needs: the hand that plays and the tongue that sings. The psalmist gives up both rather than join the world's mirth:
Hamilton SmithHow can the godly sing the Lord's song in a strange land? What can the world know of the joy of the Lord, or of the sorrows of Jerusalem? To join with the world in its songs and its mirth would be to forget Jerusalem and its sorrows. The godly man would rather forget his skill in playing the harp than forget Jerusalem. He would rather his tongue be silent altogether, if Jerusalem is not remembered and preferred above all worldly joys.
It would be easy to read the verse as homesickness. It is more than that. Jerusalem was God's own choice, and forgetting it would set that choice aside:
J. N. DarbyThe Lord had His own law, His own place. This He had made Israel's: were they to forget it? To forget would have been to slight His favour, to renounce the special character of His mercy. They might end up in Babylon — and they had. Their sins had brought them there. But there they must at least hang up their harps.
One writer applies the oath to the Christian. The centre is now a Person, not a place:
L M GrantJerusalem was God's established centre. But Christ Himself is God's centre today: can we possibly forget Him? Such forgetting would be as senseless as the right hand forgetting to act normally. And it would destroy our ability to speak rightly for the Lord. Let us never think of forgetting our true centre, the Lord Jesus, who is Himself the gladness of our joy. We know the enemy will take every opportunity to make us forget Him. Indeed, the Lord Jesus knew this. So He made wonderful provision for believers by introducing the Lord's Supper, saying, "Do this in remembrance of me."
The hung-up harps are not the end of the story. These psalms trace a journey out of silence, and the believer walks the same road:
J. G. BellettWhile Israel were in Babylon, they had no songs. On the way home they had occasional songs. After they reached home, they had constant songs — blessing, praise, or thanksgiving, without stopping. So with the believer. He learns that all his mirth before he knew the Lord ought to be shame and sadness; His service now mixes joy and heaviness, prayer and praise. But he looks to live in God's house, and then to have undivided songs and joys for ever.
- Centre. Jerusalem was God's chosen place. Only there did the blood of atonement let a holy God dwell with His people.
- Reversal. Babylon was the place of joy, and the faithful found only sorrow there. Jerusalem was the place of sorrow, and their joy stayed there.
- Cost. The psalmist gives up hand and tongue instead of singing for the world. Silence beats borrowed mirth.
- Loyalty. Forgetting the centre is more than homesickness. It slights God's favour and gives up the special character of His mercy.
- Christ. For the Christian the centre is a Person. The Lord's Supper is His own provision against forgetting — until silence gives way to songs that never stop.