In Psalms, chapter hundred and thirty-seven, verses one through nine, is the theme chapter of the famous song “By the rivers of Babylon.”
Part of the song goes something like this:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Yeah, we wept when we remembered Zion
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Yeah, we wept when we remembered Zion
There the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Required from us a song
Now, how shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a strange land?
There the wicked
Although the song’s intentions were for worldly purposes, it does mention the Babylonians and their wickedness. However, do we know who sat down and wept? The people of God who were in Jerusalem in captivity before Christ came. These Babylonians took helpless babies from their mothers and dashed them against the nearest wall. God will punish their cruelty by causing them to reap what they have sown, as in Isaiah thirteen, verse sixteen, and Jeremiah twenty-three, verse two, respectively.
The cruel violence they unmercifully perpetrated on others will return to them. Note two things about this cry of retribution: Divine retribution rests mainly on the cruel adults; they are the ones who will suffer the most. The innocent children who die in times of war or divine judgment are accepted by God and not condemned. God does not impute sin to individuals until they reject God’s law written in the human heart or scripture.
Although the New Testament emphasizes forgiving enemies and praying for their salvation, as in Matthew five, verses forty-three to forty-eight, there will come a time at the end of history when the Holy Spirit will lead His people to pray for divine retribution on the arrogant, unrepentant and ungodly, as in Revelation six, verse ten.