Psalm 137 is very relevant to Jewish history. The psalmist, unable to sing because he and his people are in exile in Babylon, sits under a willow tree, on which has hung his harp. (My painting, although of a different kind of tree, captures a similar scene.) A psalmist who has hung his harp on a drooping willow tree, is asked by his captors to “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” His reply? “How can we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?”
Anxiety and depression are common these days. People are not where they would like to be and past good memories can be the reason. The “strange land” of emotional bondage is no place to sing songs of praise and worship to the LORD.
The harp on the willow under which the psalmist weeps is a symbol for the alienation he feels, the estrangement that comes from separation from the place he would love to be but to which he can never return.
The good news is that Jesus changed the association of freedom with religious geography when he told the Samaritan woman “The hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will no longer worship God on this or that mountain but will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” God is a Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23, 24).
The Lord’s phrase “and now is” indicates that the Lord was already worshipping the Father “in the spirit”: i.e. spiritually, rather than geographically. This is the way that believers should worship. God dwells in us spiritually, which means that we do not need to go to where He is because He dwells in us and goes with us wherever!
So, take your ‘harp’ down from that ‘weeping willow’ and sing a song to the LORD, wherever you may be. Is your “strange land” an unbelieving family that taunts you by asking you to demonstrate speaking in tongues? Is it the non-charismatic church your family attends but which frowns on you since it heard that you’ve been “baptized in the Holy Spirit”? Or some other kind of bondage situation; maybe a new job in which the freedom you enjoyed in the last one is noticeably absent.
Never mind! Sing in the spirit! Pray in the Spirit! According to Ephesians 5:18 we make melody in our hearts to the Lord, So the “harp” is within, so strum softly to the LORD in your situation and in whatever circumstance you find yourself. You need no tinkling of keys, no beating of drums, no twanging of guitars to lift you. “Make music in your heart” even while sitting in silence because you are free to do so in your spirit and in the Holy Spirit. You can sing to the LORD anywhere — “strange lands” included!
Note: the antonym (opposite word) to a problem is usually the answer to it, e.g. with depression it is elation! A memory that lifts your spirit, perhaps. Avoid synonyms (words of similar description that amplify the problem). They’re exactly what you don’t need!