Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION: The sentiment of the Israelites during this difficult time in their history is summed up there in the fourth verse.

"How shall we sing the Lord's song in this strange land?"

In other words, we really don't belong here in Babylon.

We are aliens here.

We are refugees here.

We are wanderers here, and the compelling task that we are facing at the moment is to try and figure out how we can sing the Lord's song in this strange place.

We used to sing praises to the Lord all the time, but now—now we just don’t feel like singing much anymore.

And how frustrating it is to be somewhere you know you don’t belong.

They were in Babylon, and Babylon (trust me) is not a place you want to be.

In fact, Babylon is the worst place on earth.

It has the worst real estate known to mankind; it is a horrible, horrible place to be.

And how I know this to be true is not through research or study, I didn’t watch a documentary on the History channel about it—but I know it to be true through first-hand information because I’ve been to Babylon, and you have too.

The minute you arrive in Babylon, is the very minute you want to hurry up and get out.

I heard somebody say that Babylon is the closest thing to hell on earth.

And nobody, especially a Christian wants anything to do with Babylon.

Geographically speaking, Babylon is today’s Iraq—and in Iraq as you know is where many of our young men and women are engaged in battle.

And one of the main topics today that’s on President Obama’s plate is how and when will we get out of Iraq?

Since Iraq and Babylon is one in the same, you could say that we have been dealing with this problem, this question for a long time now—when and how will we and can we get out of Babylon?

Now that’s geographically speaking, but speaking in a metaphoric sense of the word, Babylon is any situation which makes your life uncomfortable.

[That’s what Babylon is] If you are sick today with some disease that’s your Babylon.

If you are poor and you can’t make ends meet in life, that’s your Babylon.

If you’re caught in the statistics of a 9.7% unemployment rate, that’s your Babylon.

If you’re suffering from an addiction that you can’t seem to get rid of that’s your, Babylon.

I have two things I want to discuss with you and they are how we get in Babylon and then how to get out of Babylon.

And I’m gonna use four brief points and after that I’ll take my seat.

And first point is that…

I. BABYLON IS A PLACE OF WEEPING

“…there we sat down, yea, we wept…” once you are in Babylon you automatically get into a crying mode.

If you are not crying on the outside, you are crying on the inside.

And sometimes in life you just have to cry—there are some things in life that will make you cry.

And (and) being in Babylon will make you cry.

It reminds me of the song we like to sing every once in a while, “Trouble in my way.

I have to cry sometimes.

I’ve got so much trouble, I have to cry sometimes.

I lay awake at night, But that’s alright, Cause I know Jesus, He’ll fix it after while.”

There are times when we are sad.

We have lost a friend or family member to sickness or disease, or they are moving away.

A disagreement, a lack of trust or misunderstanding has caused painful stress in an important relationship.

An illness or injury has changed our lives.

These are all times are where we have or will experience some sadness.

Someone going through this can feel very alone even in a crowded room.

There are some things that are guaranteed to make you cry, and one of them is Babylon.

I’ve been there and I know for a fact—that Babylon will make you weep.

They (the Israelites) were weeping because they missed their homeland.

You see, they were in exile for 70 years.

This is because they were supposed to let the land lay fallow every 7th year, but they had not done that for 490 years.

God therefore exiled the people for 70 years for the land to receive its due rest, after which they were to return.

And now here they are missing Jerusalem; they were in exile—separated, bitter, distressed and persecuted.

You know we’ve got some people in the church living exiled lives; it’s not geographical because you can live in the same neighborhood for 30 years and still live an exiled life.

An exiled life is a life a long ways from God because you refused to listen to Him—and anytime you are away from God it makes you want to weep.

When you are away from God because of disobedience whether you know it or not you are living in Babylon.

It’s a place of weeping, and then…

II.

BABYLON IS A PLACE OF REGRET

“…when we remembered Zion.”

They remembered Zion; they remembered how good they used to have it when they were in a right relationship with God.

When you arrive in Babylon it causes you to remember the goodness of God.

You remember when life was not like it is now.

You regret that you allowed sin to get you in this situation, you start remembering those days when you wasn’t so broke.

You remember those days when you were in perfect health, you remember those days when your marriage was like a honeymoon.

Bills were always paid on time.

You had a good job, your children were acting right— and there was peace in your life.

They said “…we remembered Zion.”

Zion is where the fortress stood, we had protection there.

Zion was home, and there’s something about home isn’t?

Ask the prodigal son, after wasting his inheritance he regretted leaving his home.

Because he found himself in the far country and regretted his actions and wanted to come home to His Father.

Somebody said that a sure sign that you’re getting old is when your regrets replace your dreams.

I’ve been to Babylon and I still have a few regrets, and if you’re honest with yourself this morning—you have some regrets too.

Let me talk to the young folk for a minute.

Do you realize how important it is to make the right decisions and choices right now?

If you do this right now, you can save yourself from a lot of regrets later on.

I have some regrets but I’m glad they’re godly regrets; I would suggest two ways to distinguish regret.

1) Worldly regret is when you feel sorry for something you did because it starts to backfire on you and leads to humiliation or punishment.

It's the reflex of a proud or fearful ego.

Pride will always regret making a fool of itself.

And fear will always regret acts that jeopardize comfort and safety.

So feeling sorry for something we have done is in itself no sign of virtue.

But godly regret is the reflex of a conscience that has wounded our relationship with God.

Godly regret grieves that God's name has been besmirched by our own sinful behavior.

The focus of godly regret is God.

I believe that they regretted that they turned their backs on God, I know that all of us here that have reached the age of adulthood have some regrets, but there’s one thing that you’ll never regret and that is accepting and submitting to God’s purpose in your life—Babylon is a place of weeping, it is a place of regret, and then…

III.

BABYLON IS A PLACE OF SURRENDER

“We hanged our harps upon the willows…” In other words they gave up—they said we hung up our harps on the willows, we quit!

That’s what kind of place Babylon is, it’ll make you want to thrown in the towel.

Some folk give up so easily when things are not going their way, they just quit—quit coming to church, quit praying, quit singing in the choir, ushers stop ushering, deacons stop doing what they should do, and even preachers stop preaching .

How many times have you said I’m through?

Ever felt like the situation was so hopeless that the only thing left to do is call it quits?

They looked and looked and only saw darkness, that’s how Job felt too.

He said, “Oh that I might have my request that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off! . . . .

"What strength do I have, that I should still hope?

What prospects, that I should be patient?

Do I have the strength of stone?

Is my flesh bronze?

Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?" "My body is clothed with worms and scabs; my skin is broken and festering.

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.

Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again."

- Job 6:8-12; 7:5-7 (NIV)

Job knew what it was to feel despair; to lose hope; to look into the future and see only darkness.