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Psalm 137:6
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.
4How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?
5If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.
6Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7Remember, LORD, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!”
8Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us.
Notice
The threatened loss of speech makes remembering Jerusalem a solemn vow: even in exile, the speaker ranks the devastated city above his greatest joy.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you notice about a vow that puts speech itself at risk?
Write on thisWhat would you name as your chief joy, beside this exile’s love for Jerusalem?
Write on thisWhat place connected with worship would you grieve if you could never return?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Ezekiel 3:26I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and will not be able to correct them, for they are a rebellious house.Both describe a tongue sticking to the roof of the mouth; Ezekiel names God’s imposed silence, while the psalm speaks a conditional curse.
Isaiah 66:13As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”Jerusalem is the place cherished above every joy in the psalm and the place where God promises comfort in Isaiah.
Job 29:10The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.Both describe tongues stuck to the roof of the mouth, though Job describes hushed nobles and the psalm threatens the speaker’s own silence.
Psalm 22:15My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.Both use the image of a tongue sticking to the roof of the mouth, one amid suffering and one within a vow.
Isaiah 66:10“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her;Both tie joy to Jerusalem: the psalm pledges remembrance, while Isaiah tells those who love and mourn her to rejoice.
Nehemiah 2:3I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have …Both speakers express attachment to a devastated city, one through a vow of remembrance and the other through sorrow over its destruction.
Isaiah 41:17The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.Both describe a tongue losing its function, though Isaiah speaks of thirst and God’s answer, while the psalm concerns forgetting Jerusalem.
Isaiah 62:1For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a …Both express resolve for Jerusalem’s sake, linking speech or silence to a commitment that refuses to let the city be forgotten.
Psalm 84:10For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.Both rank a cherished place above competing pleasures: Jerusalem above the speaker’s chief joy, and God’s courts above a thousand days elsewhere.
Lamentations 4:4The tongue of the nursing child clings to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask for bread, and no one breaks it for them.Both describe a tongue clinging to the roof of the mouth; Lamentations names a child’s thirst, while the psalm invokes a curse.
1 Kings 5:7When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and said, “Blessed is the LORD today, who has given to David a wise son to rule over this great …Both passages mention joy, though Hiram celebrates Solomon’s wisdom while the psalmist pledges to cherish Jerusalem above every joy.
Job 31:22then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.Both speak a curse against the speaker’s own body: loss of speech in the psalm and a broken arm in Job.
Where this verse fits
Grief. praise and worship. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The vow is severe: the speaker names silence as the cost of forgetting Jerusalem. Exile has taken him from the city; his love for it remains.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).