Bad and violent events often do not only happen to individuals but also to a large number of people in a particular context and situation. The impact of these situations is so profound that it lasts for generations. In more technical terms, the latter situation is often known as "collective trauma". Unfortunately, throughout the history of mankind, such "wounds" still occur frequently. The massacre of Jews by the Germans during World War Two, the atrocities and massacres of the Cambodian government under Pol Pot, the events of 1965 in Indonesia that resulted in the massacre of many suspected communists, discrimination based on skin color in southern Africa, and so on. The ancient Israelites also experienced this collective trauma when they were defeated by the Babylonian Empire and part of the population was exiled to Babylon.

In our current reading, the psalmist reenacts the exile and tries to recreate its meaning. He writes it as a poem that is like a lament. However, it is not a complaint that leads to self-pity, but rather a tone of resistance to the hegemony of power that oppresses them. The Israelites refused to be exploited further, their culture was to be used as entertainment for the colonizers (vv. 1-3). Israel's religious identity was commodified. A cry of resistance was finally echoed, namely the refusal to sing the hymns that were usually sung in the Temple. It looks simple, but it implies resistance and refusal to be oppressed. They even promised not to forget Jerusalem as their cultural base. That means the Israelites in exile refused to lose their identity despite the colonizers' attempts to distance and alienate them from their ancestral land.

The Psalmist is so clear in his message. Remembering is a form of resistance, while forgetting means submitting and condoning oppression. They also remember Edom who participated with Babylon to be the oppressor and colonizer of Israel. In the midst of this call for resistance, the psalmist restores the people's awareness that ultimately it is God alone who has the power to do all things (vv. 8-9). So he earnestly hoped that God would act to bring justice to the atrocities committed by Edom and Babylon.

Unlike the psalmist who called for resistance against oppression, some Christians today try to compromise with the oppressor under the pretext of forgiveness. They forget that God is also a just God and does not want the oppression of fellow human beings. If oppression and injustice have happened to our nation in the past, then the task of the next generation is to resolve it in justice, not merely forgetting everything that happened. Remembering is a form of resistance to the perpetrators of oppression. Look at the report of the National Human Rights Commission, we will undoubtedly see how many cases of human rights violations have not been resolved until now. Hopefully Christians in Indonesia can learn to side with victims and call for resistance and justice to the perpetrators of oppression and injustice.