A Prayer for an End to Violence at the Hands of the State

By Liz Cooledge Jenkins

By the rivers of Babylon—there we sat down, and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” -Psalm 137:1-3 (NRSVUE)

How different is this biblical song from the upbeat worship music we hear sung every Sunday morning in most U.S.