Facing discouragement

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? Psalm 137:1-4

This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon… It said:

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 1-7

Sorry about the longer-than-usual Bible passages today, but it’s hard to know what to miss out. I hope you will take the time to read them, because, taken together, they provide a vivid background to what was going on in the nation of Judah nearly 600 years before Jesus, the period known as the Exile – and there are features which we today can learn from.

Two voices speak.

Voice One (Psalm 137) is someone who has been taken away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. If you read the whole psalm (it’s not that long) you find a strange mix of despair and defiance.

Despair, because the people are far from their beloved Jerusalem – and don’t know when (or if) they will ever see it again. And defiance, because they are refusing to obey their jeering captors by singing some of the sacred songs of Jerusalem; they prefer to hang their harps on the poplar trees.

“Leave us alone in our misery!” they seem to be saying.

Voice Two is the prophet Jeremiah. He’s still in Jerusalem, but he sends the captives quite a long letter (Jeremiah 29:4-23).

And his advice is matter-of-fact, sleeves-rolled-up common sense. Of course he’s well aware how wretched they are feeling, but this is what he says: Settle down; build houses; dig gardens; grow food; marry off your children; build up your numbers… And then: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for if it prospers, you too will prosper” (verse 7).

Oh, and don’t listen to the false prophets who are among you! They tell you “Don’t worry – you’ll soon be back home!” But they’re telling you lies: there will be some hard times ahead (seventy years, to be exact)…

Sure enough, Jeremiah’s prophecy came true.

Well, all this happened some 2,600 years ago, and in a far-off place. But there is a relevance for us as Christians today. True, we are not (most of us anyway) exiles in a foreign country; but in many respects we are passing through discouraging and even depressing times. Many people simply write the church off as finished, and it’s hard for us sometimes not to be infected with this gloomy mentality. Will the glory-days return (if indeed they ever existed)?

In such an atmosphere it’s easy to slump, to become defeatist, rather like those exiles hooking their harps onto the trees.

But this is where Jeremiah’s bracing advice comes in. It can be summed up in a single sentence: Buckle down and get on with the practical business of everyday life. Don’t put your life on hold. You’re in for the long haul, folks!

In other words, avoid the temptation (a) to look back with misty-eyed nostalgia to “the good old days”; and also (b) to look forward to a golden age which might just possibly appear if we, so to speak, keep our fingers crossed. The time for action is now; and the action required is to get up every morning and commit ourselves to the bread-and-butter business of the day.

We shouldn’t miss the fact that, as well as encouraging the people to get on with matters of “hatch, match and dispatch”, Jeremiah urges them to take a positive view of the land of their captivity. Even though Babylon is their enemy, they are to “seek its peace and prosperity” and to “pray for it” (verse 7). In fact, it’s in their own interests to do so: “… if it prospers, you too will prosper”.

The application for us as churches is clear: be faithful in worship, prayer, evangelism, service and witness. Be part of the wider community, a Christlike presence in every area of life. And never doubt that God does promise final victory to his people: “For I know the plans I have for you” he says, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (verse 11).

As one commentator puts it, “in the ‘death’ of exile are the seeds of new life”.

I knew a woman many years ago who suffered with depression. I asked her once how she managed to cope with the specially difficult times. “I usually scrub the floor,” she said. That may seem strange, and of course I’m not suggesting it’s a cure-all for all mental health problems. But, well, it worked for her. Instead of sitting moping or allowing time to drift by, she found that getting on with a useful, practical task made a real difference to her frame of mind.

And to some extent, that’s not a lot different to the advice Jeremiah gave to God’s people during that dark time. Is it advice we too need to take to heart today? Christian, get on with the job of following Jesus, and leave the future to God!

Father, I think of the many times in scripture where you allowed your people to go through dark and discouraging times. But thank you that you are the same God at all times, one who calls us to trust, to obey and to walk hand in hand with you. Please help me to do that when the way seems specially hard. Amen.