Fifth Sunday of Lent | Psalm 126

Today we’ll be in Psalm 126. We’ve all seen the home makeover shows where a crew comes onto a property and surprises the owner with the home of their dreams…and as the reveal comes, they keep repeating in shock, “I can’t believe it!” They wonder if it’s real or if they’re dreaming. If you’ve ever felt like something must be too good to be true, then you’ll understand the feeling behind verse 1: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed” (Psalm 126:1). We were like those who dreamed. It was surreal. A little background first…The Israelites had been put in time out by God for 70 years by the Babylonian empire. God had allowed them to be carried away to Babylon to teach them to repent of idolatry. It all turned around in one night. Years later, 70 years later, the Persians took the impregnable city fortress of Babylon, by damming up the river and slipping under the walls. And when they took power, they decreed that the Israelites could go back home to Israel.It was like a dream. They couldn’t believe the reversal of fortunes. They got to go home! So, on the way back, they kept pinching themselves. And it was all they could talk about. Not just talk about, laugh about, and sing about.  “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”” (Psalm 126:2). Laughter, joy, but also wonder. It wasn’t just the Israelites who were singing God’s praises. The surrounding nations couldn’t stop talking about it. “The Lord has done great things for them” (Psalm 126:2). It was a testimony to the nations. 
Throughout history, God keeps restoring the fortunes of this tiny nation, called Israel, because they’re His people. Sure, they’ve seen tough times, and yet, it seems as if God keeps bringing them back to this little plot of real estate in the Middle East, just like he did at the end of World War 2. And the nations are still talking about it today. They may not see it as the Lord having done it, but if you were to talk to someone back in those days, they might have said “that wasn’t God, it was King Cyrus. Nowadays, if you were to talk to someone who didn’t believe the Bible and they asked you why you did, the first thing that you might point out to them is Israel not being wiped off the face of the earth, despite intense efforts by so many multiple peoples throughout the world to do so in history. Even if it was a Persian king's decree that brought them back to their land, the Psalmist repeats in verse 3 that it was God who did this. “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (Psalm 126:3). The joy the Israelites feel is that they get to return, not just to their land, but to worshipping God again. And after being ripped out of the land because of idolatry, worshipping God was the one thing they couldn’t get to fast enough. But filled with joy? I know you’re thinking. You have been telling us that these Psalms of ascent start off with a descent, and Psalm 126 is the first Psalm in this three Psalm cycle. So it should be a descent, down the hill, right? So why is there joy here? Keep reading, verse 4: “Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev” (Psalm 126:4). The streams in Negev were streams in the desert. When the Israelites made that journey back to the promised land, they passed through the wilderness or desert of Negev. Those streams would form immediately as the thunderstorms rolled in and dumped the pregnant waters in a gushing downpour. Where there had only been dust and sand, now water, refreshment, LIFE! This is how they felt when they returned…they had nothing. They’d been captives for seventy years, and now they feel as if they’re in a personal desert, but those streams…if God could do that to a desert, why not to their lives? Perhaps you’re walking in a desert? Perhaps your life seems dried up today. Your prospects barren. You seem to only clench dust in your hands,and even that falls through their fingers, and the dry heat wastes your soul away and saps your life… And you groan with the Psalmist, “Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev…” (Psalm 126:4). It was Jesus who said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and I will give you rest. Come to me and you will find refreshment for your souls.” A desert one second, but then, coming to Jesus, and crumpling in an exhausted heap at his feet, and finding refreshment for your soul… They were traveling, make no mistake…and they weren’t home, not yet. Verse 5 tells us this was the return journey…the outward journey had been much worse. “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy” (Psalm 126:5). Coming back to Israel may have been like a dream, but leaving had been a nightmare. Jerusalem had been burned, the city destroyed by the Bablyonians, and now 70 years later, as they pass through this barren land, and wait for the reaping of their new life. Jerusalem had been burned, the city destroyed by the Babalonians, and now 70 years later they pass through this barren desert land and wait for the reaping of their new life. As they’d left the promised land, their tears of regret, watered the land, and over time, 70 years to be exact, their repentance grew under the surface, and now, as they walk back through the land, the songs of joy are beginning to break up through that soil. The difference between sowing and reaping is just a matter of time. When you have the seed of repentance, and have watered it with your tears, that sorrow that leads to repentance, sometimes, it’s just takes a little more time. Waiting for God to restore your fortunes…to restore your life back to you again. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve screwed up. You could be listening to this today in prison. You could be at the end of a messy divorce, it may even be your fault. You may be in the desert…you’ve repented…you’ve wept on your bed before drifting off to sleep. You’ve balled your eyes out in the waking hours when nobody is around, except for God, and God sees… verse 6: “Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them” (Psalm 126:6). What a promise. Mark this verse. Memorize it. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy. Note that he doesn’t say that your circumstances all magically reverse, like a false promising Pollyanna; no, this is a Psalm of ascent, and being the first in the cycle of 3, it’s a descent. And you, like this Psalm, may need to journey for yet some time on the downward trek. But you will return with songs of joy. That’s the harvest. Even if your circumstances don’t change, you will! The Lord will restore your fortunes. It may be a deeper maturity. A lasting peace. An enduring hope. The experience of his limitless love. “Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them” (Psalm 126:6). This, my friends, is the Psalm that reminds us to trace the small steps that we see in our lives as they begin to change. At first, they were  released from bondage. They can’t believe it. They are like those who dream…but there’s still a journey. A walk. A descent. So they keep walking. Jerusalem is ahead of them, and so they keep walking knowing that they will reap songs of joy. 

So no matter where you are today, my friend, keep walking. Sing through the tears. The streams of Negev are there, and at any moment they may appear to refresh you. Streams of refreshment as you continue your journey with God, through the word.