Hang Up That Harp

Psalms 137:2 KJV

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

Several years ago now a song became popular among my crowd that encouraged us, "Don't hang your harp upon the willow."  The sentiment of the song was good, though we have struggles we shouldn't just give up; there is reason as a Christian to have joy.

But the song is a misappropriation of this text. Nowhere are we given an indication that the Jews were wrong for their reaction here. They are not chided for hanging up their harps - not by God anyway.

• There is no sense of rebuke
• There is no mood written into the text to hint that this was inappropriate

To declare that they were in the wrong for hanging up their harps is to read into the text what is not there and to potentially do damage to someone who is going through a period similar to this.

American Christianity likes to practice the bravado of worldly Americanism. Just as both of the major political parties claim America's best days are ahead of us, so the popular American Christian treats the crisis we find ourselves in as something that can be easily overcome with

• A little more prayer, and
• A little more soul winning and
• A little more in the offering plate

I don't know that we can't have a better day in our future than the one we have right now. But I do know that the general course of this world is a decline.

• There is a reason to hang up our harps for awhile
• There is a reason to be burdened and broken hearted
• There is a reason to stop the celebration

I am not saying we must live in a state of depression. I am saying that we need to get serious about our faith. The world is sick of the fake bravado of modern Christianity. They have seen through this bravado and found Christianity to be hypocritical at best. The world needs to see

• A faith that is real
• A faith that is grieved as much for the sin in their own lives as for that of the lost

A faith that addresses personal sin not by judging others but by pressing ourselves toward Jesus Christ.