Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 126.1 and following. Indeed, like someone who wakes up from an awful nightmare, the faithful will first be unable to realize their sudden deliverance. But soon there will be songs of joy that people will echo: “The Lord has done great things for them” (Ps 14:4-7). Their tears will have watered the furrows with an abundant harvest, so to speak. And this was the ministry of the Lord Jesus here on earth. He followed in mourning the Way of the Cross. “But if he dies,” says John 12:23-26, “he bears much fruit.” He will appear triumphant, charged with the fruit of the work of his soul: his redeemed, like his precious sheaves, pressed against his heart.
How few believers experience the joy of deliverance, as expressed in this magnificent psalm. The captives, at the time of Cyrus’ decree, were like those who think; as if a beautiful fiction had filled their hearts, so much the joy of this event transported them. Oh! that we feel such rapture when we think of salvation and Jesus! The eunuch continued his joyful path, and joy seems to have made him indifferent to the strange disappearance of his companion. How much our hearts should desire this satiation of joy in Him! One cannot fail to notice that Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon and the savior of Israel, is a type of Christ, he is thus considered by Isaiah (Ch. 44-45). This king was named and his conquests described by the prophet about 200 years before his birth.
“When Jehovah brought back the captives from Zion, …” It is not natural and forced to assume that this is a prediction of what was going to happen. For the Psalm was composed on the return of the Jewish people from babylonian captivity. Now, whoever the author, whether he is one of the Levites or one of the prophets, he claims that the manner of their deliverance was too wonderful to attribute to fortune, in order to lead the faithful to the conclusion that jeremiah’s prophecy, which had assigned seventy years as the term of captivity, was truly fulfilled. (Jer 25:12, and Jer 29:10.) Through the verb ‘dream’, which expresses the astonishing character of the event, he teaches us that there is no more room for ingratitude. As often as God acts by ordinary means, men by the wickedness of their nature, usually exercise their ingenuity in inventing various causes of deliverance, in order to obscure God’s grace.
But the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonian captivity, having been a miracle of sufficient splendor to engulf and confuse all the thoughts of men, it compels us to admit that it was a reported work of God. This is why the Prophet compares this deliverance to a dream. “Until now,” he says materially, has every mind understood this unparalleled blessing of God, that just thinking about it transports us with astonishment, as if it were a dream, and not an event that had already taken place? What impiety will it be not to recognize the author. Moreover, he does not mean that the faithful were so unintelligent that they did not realize that they had been delivered by the hand of God, but only that, judging by carnal sense and reason, they were struck with astonishment; and he feared that in reasoning with themselves about this redemption, as an ordinary thing, they would take less account of the power of God than it was for them to do.
‘Those who sow in tears will reap in joy’. This sentence should be extended no less to the future than the understanding of the past. For the training of the Jews in Babylon was for them like a time of seed; God having, through Jeremiah’s prophecy, encouraged them to hope for the harvest. Yet, it is not without a very great heaviness and a very great anguish of heart that they were dragged into such a long captivity. It was, as if in times of scarcity, the poor ploughman, who is already experiencing the gnaws of hunger, was obliged to deprive himself of his ordinary food in order to provide for the needs of the coming year; and although it is a difficult and painful case, he is still pushed to sow hope for the harvest. The Jews, then brought into captivity, were probably no less painful than the one who, at the time of scarcity, threw the precious seed into the ground; but then a joyful harvest followed, when they were delivered; for the Lord has restored joy to them, as that which is experienced in the most abundant increase. However, the Prophet exhorts the faithful to patience in reference to the future. The restoration of the Church was not yet complete, and even, for the two reasons specified a little earlier, this period was obviously that of sowing.
Moreover, let us remember that not all the Jews taken captive to Babylon sowed; for as truly among them, who had hardened themselves against God and the prophets, had despised all threats, so they lost all hope of returning. Those among whom such despair was brewing were consumed in their miseries; but those who were sustained by God’s promise, nourished in their hearts the hope of the harvest, although at one time, of extreme rarity, they threw their seed into the ground, so to speak, on adventure. So that joy may succeed our present sorrow, let us learn to apply our minds to the contemplation of the problem that God promises. Thus, we will experience that all true believers have a common interest in this prophecy, that God will not only wipe tears from their eyes, but will also spread inconceivable joy through their hearts.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
· Return of the Jews from captivity
Dt 30:3 then Jehovah, your God, will bring back your captives and have compassion on you, he will gather you again from the midst of all the peoples among whom Jehovah, your God, has scattered you. Isa 11:11 At the same time, the Lord will extend His hand a second time, To redeem the rest of His people, Scattered in Assyria and Egypt, in Pathros and Ethiopia, in Elam, in Schinar and Hamath, and in the islands of the sea. Jer 16:15 But it will be said: The Lord is alive, He who brought the children of Israel up from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had cast them out! I will bring them back to their country, which I had given to their fathers. Jer 23:3 And I will gather the rest of my sheep from all the lands where I have cast them out; I will bring them back to their pasture; They will be fruitful and multiply. Zep 3:20 At that time, I will bring you back; At that time, I will gather you; For I will make you a subject of glory and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I bring your captives before your eyes, says the Lord. Zec 10:10 I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and I will gather them from Assyria; I will bring them to the land of Galaad and Lebanon, and space will not be enough for them.
· Restoration of Israel
Isaiah 1:26 I will restore your judges as they once were, and your counselors as they were in the beginning. After that, you will be called the city of justice, the faithful city. Isa 27:13 On this day the great trumpet will be sounded, and then those who were exiled to the land of Assyria or fugitives in the land of Egypt will return; And they will bow down before the Lord, on the holy mountain, in Jerusalem. Isaiah 40:2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry out to her that her bondage is over, that her iniquity is atone for, that she has received from the hand of Jehovah Twice all her sins. Ez 20:40 For on my holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel, says the Lord, the Lord, there the whole house of Israel, all those who will be in the land will serve me; there I will receive them favorably, I will seek your offerings, the first fruits of your gifts, and all that you will consecrate to me. Zec 1:17 Cry out again, and say, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities will still have goods in abundance; the Lord will still console Zion, he will still choose Jerusalem. Zec 14:11 One shall dwell in his womb, and there shall be no more prohibition; Jerusalem will be safe. Ml 3:4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to jehovah, as in the old days, as in the years of old.
· Works of God described as great things
Dt 10:21 He is your glory, He is your God: it is He who has done in your midst those great and terrible things that your eyes have seen. 1 Sam 12:24 Fear only the Lord, and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; for see what power He displays among you. Jb 5:9 He does great and unfathomable things, wonders without number; Ps 126:2 Then our mouths were filled with cries of joy, and our tongue with songs of joy; Then it was said among the nations: The Lord has done great things for them! Mk 3:8 and Judea, and Jerusalem, and Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, learning all that he was doing, came to him. Mk 5:19 Jesus did not allow him, but he said to him, Go into your house, to yours, and tell them all that the Lord has done to you, and how he has had mercy on you.
· Joy in service
Neh 12:43 Many sacrifices were offered that day, and revelations were given, for God had given the people a great subject of joy. The women and children rejoiced too, and the cries of joy from Jerusalem were heard in the distance. Ps 40:9 I want to do your will, my God! And your law is deep in my heart. Ps 126:5-6 Those who sow with tears will Moist with songs of joy. 6 He who walks weeping, when he carries the seed, returns with joy, when he carries his sheaves. Luke 10:17 The Seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, the very demons are submitted to us in your name. John 4:36 He who reaps receives a wage, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
From all the above, we note that the redeemed of Jehovah, now on their way, as we have seen, recall the joy that filled them with the publication of Cyrus’ decree, as well as the benevolent words of some of their neighbors on this occasion. Thus, in the crowd that surrounded the cross, there were those who cried out: “Crucifie, crucify him,” but also the weeping daughters of Jerusalem. Often the martyrdom of the saints had such spectators. We find these two classes, when the captives came up from Babylon. Some expressed contempt, while others congratulated them. As they walk, the captives, in a natural way, recall their prayer, and can learn from their entire history – a teaching that equally marks the history of Christ himself and all his people. After them he sowed in tears in Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), but soon he will reap there in joy (Isa 65:18-19). After experiencing deliverance, the heart of the faithful finds its center in Zion, for it will be so. How much Zion had been lowered, according to Ps. 124! And now it was like a dream, so complete was the joy, so unexpected it was! The nations themselves recognize the hand of the Lord. But the faithful await the full blessing and ask the Lord to restore his captives so that this blessing may be complete. However, God had already manifested Himself; and, for the faithful who had taken on board his witness in suffering, shame and opprobrium, there was now a harvest of joy. This is always the case, for it is only through suffering that perfect joy comes, the testimony of God being placed in a world of iniquity. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” the suffering of the deportees far from Jerusalem.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.