DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
MAY 21, 2026
READ: Psalm 137 (Focus vs.5-6)
MEMORY VERSE
“If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth.” Psalm 137:5-6
BACKGROUND
Ethel and Ed live in the high desert area of the Rocky Mountains. As our family visited them on their ranch filled with memorabilia, the conversation turned to childhood stories of riding horses on the grasslands of North Dakota and herding cattle in Montana.
They’re on in years now, and I could hear in their voices a longing for home. Psalm 137 captures a similar emotion.
The Israelites had been forced into captivity and longed for home. “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept,” they said. “There our captors asked us for songs” (vv. 1, 3), prompting the Israelites to ask, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” (v. 4).
The longing to return from exile is a common theme throughout the Old Testament prophets. Eventually the Israelites did return. They rebuilt Jerusalem and resettled in the land, but it was never the same.
When the temple was rebuilt, those who remembered its former glory wept because it was a shadow of the first (Ezra 3:12).
Old age may feel as if we’re in exile from our former selves as time takes a toll on mind and body. For those who know Jesus, this longing points not to the past but the future.
That’s where my conversation turned with Ethel and Ed—a longing for our future home, where everything is made right and is far better than anything we can imagine.
Matt Lucas
INSIGHT
“There on the poplars we hung our harps,” says the psalmist of the Jewish exiles, whose desolate situation quenched their musical passions (Psalm 137:2).
This national despondency metastasized into bitterness, and the songwriter concludes on a disturbing note: “Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks” (v. 9).
Many have attempted to explain away this horrifying imagery. One plausible interpretation, however, is that these exiles had witnessed such atrocities committed against their own children. In turn, they anticipated divine judgment of their tormentors.
Their desire isn’t to carry this out personally but rather to let God exact His vengeance (vv. 7-8). But the song clings to hope with its focus on Jerusalem (vv. 5-6)—the city of God.
Our own griefs and regrets in life may make us feel like we’re in exile, but we too can find hope by trusting our loving God and resting in the promise of our future home with Him.
*Tim Hustafson
APPLICATION
What do you miss from the past? How might this longing help you anticipate the future?
PR’s (Pastor Richard) RE-EMPHASIS (From Today’s Post)
“Old age may feel as if we’re in exile from our former selves as time takes a toll on mind and body. For those who know Jesus, this longing points not to the past but the future…a longing for our future home, where everything is made right and is far better than anything we can imagine.”
PR’s TAKE
“Heaven is a Prepared Place for a Prepared People”
“Our own griefs and regrets in life may make us feel like we’re in exile, but we too can find hope by trusting our loving God and resting in the promise of our future home with Him.” Today’s Insight
PRAYER
“Father in heaven, thank You that You’re with me in every stage of life and that You’re preparing a bright future for me.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG*
“THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME” Jim Reeves
This world is not my home
I’m just a-passing through
My treasures are laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me
From heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home
In this world anymore
Oh Lord, you know
I have no friend like you
If heaven’s not my home
Then Lord, what will I do?
The angels beckon me
From heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home
In this world anymore
I have a loving mother
Just up in Gloryland
And I don’t expect to stop
Until I shake her hand
She’s waiting now for me
In heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home
In this world anymore
Oh Lord, you know
I have no friend like you
If heaven’s not my home
Then Lord, what will I do?
The angels beckon me
From heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home
In this world anymore
Just over in Gloryland
We’ll live eternally
The saints on every hand
Are shouting victory
Their songs of sweetest praise
Drift back from heaven’s shore
And I can’t feel at home
In this world anymore
Oh Lord, you know
I have no friend like you
If heaven’s not my home
Then Lord, what will I do?
The angels beckon me
From heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home In this world any more
