Hi guys

It's that time of the year again when we inundated with Boney M music at almost all shopping centres. I'm a Christian by fate, an evangelist by heart and one who has a deep rspect for all fates and all people. This year the song " By the rivers of Babylon" really got me thinking. The history is fascinating...

OKAY, so back to ‘The Rivers of Babylon’, this is a song that most of you will recognise, it was first written and sung by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Melodians in 1972, Bony M later made the song famous. Personally I prefer the version by Jimmy Cliff; The song is based on Psalm 137, it expresses the mood if you will of the Jewish people who were in exile following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586BC. ‘The rivers of Babylon are the Euphrates river, its tributaries, and the Chebar river. The song also has words from Psalm 19:14.’ Psalm 19:14(NIV) reads, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight.”
The modern day Church will often utilise ‘Zion’ interchangebly with ‘The Church’, My brethren, this is not so, Zion was, is and will always be ISRAEL!
So let me leave you with the rivers of babylon…..

“By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion.

By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion.

When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Required from us a song
Now how shall we sing the lords song in a strange land

When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Requiering of us a song
Now how shall we sing the lords song in a strange land

Let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight

Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight

By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion.

By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion.

By the rivers of babylon (dark tears of babylon)
There we sat down (you got to sing a song)
Ye-eah we wept, (sing a song of love)
When we remember zion. (yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)

By the rivers of babylon (rough bits of babylon)
There we sat down (you hear the people cry)
Ye-eah we wept, (they need their God)
When we remember zion. (ooh, have the power)”