5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
5 If I ever forget you, Jerusalem, let my fingers wither and fall off like leaves.
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill!
5 If I forget you, OÂ Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 137:5
Commentary on Psalm 137:5-9
(Read Psalm 137:5-9)
What we love, we love to think of. Those that rejoice in God, for his sake make Jerusalem their joy. They stedfastly resolved to keep up this affection. When suffering, we should recollect with godly sorrow our forfeited mercies, and our sins by which we lost them. If temporal advantages ever render a profession, the worst calamity has befallen him. Far be it from us to avenge ourselves; we will leave it to Him who has said, Vengeance is mine. Those that are glad at calamities, especially at the calamities of Jerusalem, shall not go unpunished. We cannot pray for promised success to the church of God without looking to, though we do not utter a prayer for, the ruin of her enemies. But let us call to mind to whose grace and finished salvation alone it is, that we have any hopes of being brought home to the heavenly Jerusalem.