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Question:<\/span> <\/p>\n I have noticed that in any church you go, to any denomination,\u00a0Christians sing different religious songs.<\/em><\/span> Why are they doing this?<\/em><\/span> What is the role of these songs?<\/em><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ll try to answer that question in the light of Psalm 137.<\/span> <\/p>\n Not for\u00a0fun<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n After they\u00a0conquered Israel, Babylonians drove the Israelites into captivity\u00a0in three waves (605, 597 and 586 BC).<\/span>\u00a0All those who became slaves w<\/span>ere in great despair\u00a0and among them were those who\u00a0had been\u00a0skilled singers in\u00a0the temple once. <\/span>Psalm 137\u00a0belongs to them, and\u00a0it\u00a0begins so:<\/span> <\/p>\n By the rivers of Babylon,\u00a0there we sat down and wept,\u00a0when we remembered Zion.\u00a0Upon the willows in the midst of it\u00a0we hung our harps.\u00a0For there our captors demanded of us songs,\u00a0and our tormentors mirth, saying,\u00a0\u201dSing us one of the songs of Zion.\u201d<\/span><\/span> (Psalm 137:1-3)(NASB)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In their great sorrow, oppressors asked them to sing the same songs they had sung another time to entertain them and maybe to mock even\u00a0more of them.<\/span> But that was not the mission of\u00a0the holy songs, and therefore the author wonders:<\/span> <\/p>\n How can we sing the LORD\u2019S song\u00a0in a foreign land?\u00a0<\/span><\/span>(Psalm 137:4)(NASB)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Songs are worship to God<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n At the beginning of Psalm 137 we find these singers in a desperate state so that their harps were\u00a0hung in the\u00a0willows and they sat down to weep\u00a0thinking about the greatness of\u00a0Zion.<\/span> The mockery of oppressors\u00a0added even more to their pain.<\/span> But, at some point, they have turned their eyes to God and took a decision:<\/span> <\/p>\n If I forget you, O Jerusalem,\u00a0may my right hand forget her skill.\u00a0May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth\u00a0if I do not remember you,\u00a0if I do not exalt Jerusalem\u00a0above my chief joy.<\/span><\/span> (Psalm 137:5-6)(NASB)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n These sacred hymns led them to the worship that made them experience the \u201cchief\u00a0joy\u201d as they said.<\/span> <\/p>\n Circumstances have not changed, but their way of looking at things, their attitude changed and this made them praise God and sing songs to experience the \u201cchief joy\u201d during their great\u00a0trouble.<\/span> <\/p>\n What is the role of Christian songs for you?<\/span> <\/p>\n Translated by Felicia Rotaru<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I have noticed that in any church you go, to any denomination,\u00a0Christians sing different religious songs. Why are they doing this? What is the role of these songs? I\u2019ll try to answer that question in the light of Psalm 137. Not for\u00a0fun After they\u00a0conquered Israel, Babylonians drove the Israelites into captivity\u00a0in three waves (605, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[7960,9268,10723,16342,19793,348,7969,9648,10746,17374,19866,622,8205,9668,10757,17912,19965,942,8238,9683,10844,18057,20254,1101,8308,9726,10847,18347,20366,1672,8379,9789,11344,18568,20502,2524,8482,9847,11460,18580,23051,2911,8604,9922,11788,18950,23426,3107,8639,10083,12024,19273,24646,4151,8686,10086,12190,19439,4842,8834,10248,12438,19454,5401,8845,10322,14649,19549,7796,9005,10372,14723,19596,7797,9027,10427,14824,19724,7859,9056,10516,15704,19788,7884,9182,10619,16200,19789],"class_list":{"0":"post-58533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-answer-from-the-bible","7":"tag-light","8":"tag-pl","9":"tag-b","10":"tag-fun","11":"tag-son","12":"tag-cir","13":"tag-church","14":"tag-ion","15":"tag-nom","16":"tag-rol","17":"tag-state","18":"tag-oi","19":"tag-singe","20":"tag-ta","21":"tag-un","22":"tag-zi","23":"tag-singer","24":"tag-ore","25":"tag-har","26":"tag-do","27":"tag-the","28":"tag-thinking","29":"tag-israelites","30":"tag-co","31":"tag-mission","32":"tag-j","33":"tag-cap","34":"tag-felicia-rotaru","35":"tag-temple","36":"tag-mir","37":"tag-sat","38":"tag-christians","39":"tag-bere","40":"tag-cred","41":"tag-will","42":"tag-mo","43":"tag-om","44":"tag-r","45":"tag-attitude","46":"tag-ny","47":"tag-ring","48":"tag-wor","49":"tag-eli","50":"tag-o","51":"tag-ange","52":"tag-i","53":"tag-baby","54":"tag-3107","55":"tag-sin","56":"tag-ca","57":"tag-mentor","58":"tag-eve","59":"tag-tit","60":"tag-st","61":"tag-sac","62":"tag-cling","63":"tag-sion","64":"tag-who","65":"tag-ins","66":"tag-te","67":"tag-po","68":"tag-but","69":"tag-ids","70":"tag-song","71":"tag-p","72":"tag-christian","73":"tag-ou","74":"tag-amo","75":"tag-man","76":"tag-christ","77":"tag-pr","78":"tag-ue","79":"tag-si","80":"tag-men","81":"tag-stat","82":"tag-l","83":"tag-ong","84":"tag-usa","85":"tag-god","86":"tag-rai","87":"tag-inger","88":"tag-la","89":"tag-joy","90":"tag-israel","91":"tag-t","92":"tag-le","93":"tag-denomination","94":"tag-worship","95":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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