Psalms 137:7
“Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!””
What does Psalms 137:7 mean?
The Psalmist is calling out to God to remember how the Edomites (descendants of Esau, Israel's ancient rival nation) joined in the cruelty when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC, eagerly urging the invaders to destroy the city completely. This psalm comes from the depths of exile and grief, when survivors were processing their trauma and asking God not to forget the nations that celebrated their suffering. The prayer reflects a very human impulse: when we're devastated, we want our pain witnessed and acknowledged, especially the betrayal of those who piled on rather than showing mercy. What makes this psalm honest rather than petty is that it doesn't hide these raw emotions or pretend they don't exist. If you've ever wanted God to "remember" what someone did to you, to validate that yes, what happened was genuinely wrong, this psalm gives voice to that longing. God doesn't reject the Psalmist for naming this anger; the psalm itself is part of Scripture, suggesting that bringing our worst feelings to prayer is part of how we eventually move through them toward healing.