If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
Babylon means the kingdom, not the city. The Jews gathered by the rivers where they could worship in the open air, since they had no synagogues there. This is history written as it happened, not prophecy: the captivity has come, and the Psalmist speaks for the whole Church under this affliction.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 137:1-9
Each captive swears separately: sooner let my right hand lose all its skill than use it to make music for Babylon's rebels. To sing Zion's songs for the foes' pleasure would be to forget the Holy City itself. They will not dishonor the Lord to glorify Belus and his servants.
AI summary
Zion sits covered in cloud, dwelling among Babylon's daughters, tears mixing with the streams. They were posted by the rivers as prisoners of war, quartered there to labor in the galleys or left in solitude to match their sorrow. When they remembered Zion's glory, their love for God's house swallowed up every other care.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 137:1-6