Psalm 126
The LORD brought Zion’s exiles back;
as man who dreamed were we.
Then laughter filled our mouth; our tongue
did shout in victory.
2. They then among the nations said,
‘The LORD great things has done
for them.’ The LORD great things has done
for us; our joy has come.
3. Restore our fortunes, LORD , as streams
in southern deserts dry,
and those who sow their seed in tears
will reap with shouts of joy.
4. He who walks to and fro in tears,
and bears his bag of seed,
he will return with shouts of joy,
and bear his sheaves indeed.
There is something drawing, calming, and even energizing about the word restore. It speaks hope that things can change for the better. You have been working through the wee small hours to get your assignment completed and at last it is finished. You hit save, close the lid down on your laptop and clamber into bed as dawn begins to break. Unbeknownst to you, as you catch some shut-eye, your clever computer engages in a full-blown system update. While you slumber it churns away interconnecting all the applications, but something you had downloaded throws a spanner in the works and the system crashes. By ten am you are awake happy that all you have to do is attach your document, press send and your assignment is done and dusted. You open your computer’s lid and to your horror your precious, slogged over file is gone, wiped. In an instant your heart is racing, nausea grips you, despair sweeps over you, and then a ray of hope as you remember that your clever little computer has a System Restore option and with a few clicks your assignment reappears and all is well.
Psalm 126 is to help us experience God’s restoring grace. It is one of the Songs of Ascents, sung by the church in OT days as they journeyed up to the various feasts in Jerusalem. As they travelled they were singing out in stanzas 1-2 about the amazing life transforming restoration that the church had experienced in the past. It is most likely that they were reflecting on their return from exile, their fortunes restored. Their lives, had once more, been turned round by their great and gracious covenant God. Without them He had delivered and revived in His amazing grace. In the past God had restored, He had caused fresh waves of exuberant, noticeable joy into their lives. Indeed, the Lord had done great things for them. God had restored, the Lord had pardoned and they were ecstatic.
When was the last time your congregation retraced their history, not to lavish praise on man but to reflect on the amazing fact that the Lord has done great things for you?
Remembering God’s restoring grace in the past transformed the weary pilgrims’ present (st 3-4), “He did it before, so why not again, Restore our fortunes O LORD.” And they had faith enough to ask that God would do it powerfully and presently, like streams in the Negeb. God can do that, He can change a dry river bed situation over night. But the pilgrims had even greater faith for they understood that the work of God is usually more like the planting of seeds, slow and steady, seed time and harvest time.
Can you hear pilgrims sing with hope and expectation? Listen carefully and hear the voice of ministers confidently sowing the seed awaiting God’s harvest. Hear the voice of faithful Sabbath School teachers having sown the gospel in another generation of young hearts confident that it will all bear fruit. Hear the voice of that teenager at school standing strong for Christ, giving an answer for the hope that they have and knowing that God will bless in His time that seed.
And most of all, hear the voice of Jesus Christ marching steadily into Jerusalem knowing His life would be sown as a seed, dying that in due course He would come home with shouts of joy, bringing His sheaves with Him.
