By rivers of sorrow we sat and remembered
1 By rivers of sorrow we sat and remembered
the city of happiness where we belong;
our harps and our melodies hung in the branches,
and there our tormentors demanded a song!
2 O how shall we sing in the anguish of exile
the songs of the Lord in a far away land?
Jerusalem, see if I ever forget you
till death take my voice and the skill of my hand!
3 You daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
you people of Edom who throw down our walls,
be warned of the judgement on you and your children:
when blasphemy fails and when tyranny falls.
4 And then shall the strings of the harp yield their music,
and then shall the tune of our song be restored;
and then shall the kings of the earth see God's purpose,
the strong, the unquenchable, love of the Lord.
After Psalms 137 and 138, Michael Perry (1942 - 1996)
© Mrs B Perry/Jubilate Hymns
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