Psalm 126
Notes
Transcript
Song of ascents – songs that helped them prepare and re-orient themselves to the purpose of the journey and the expectation of the destination. Sometimes it reminded them of the past that helped shaped their perspective on the future; to remind them of who God was, what He had done, and what He could do again.
That’s the case of Psalm 126. Two parts:
What God had done for them in a difficult past and the result for the people.
What they needed God to do again because of their current state.
Let’s read it together [please stand]
Psalm 126 (CSB)
A song of ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter then, and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord had done great things for us; we were joyful. 4 Restore our fortunes, Lord, like watercourses in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. 6 Though one goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, he will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying his sheaves.
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter then, and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord had done great things for us; we were joyful.
I. The Lord’s Deliverance (1-3)
We can’t say for sure what event the psalmist had in mind (though probably the release of the exiles by Cyrus during the time of Ezra), but we know that God delivered in a mighty way that left the people stunned and overjoyed.
It’s to our benefit we don’t know specifics because we can see how often in Scripture God did this for the people, and the general nature of it makes it easy for us to contextualize.
This isn’t hard to imagine:
Think of times when you’ve heard someone talk about…
• A health scare that was reversed
• Financial devastation averted
• Missing family member found (just watch local news)
• Relationship considered irreparable healed in a moment. (get a call out of the blue)
In those times, people “were like those who dream. Mouths were filled with laughter then, and tongues with shouts of joy.
Can you think of a time God delivered you like that?
II. The Importance of Remembering
I hope so, but if not, it’s probably not that he hasn’t done it, but that you simply don’t remember.
We all tend to live with the attitude of Janet Jackson’s song from the 80s: “What have you done for me lately”?
I’ve seen it throughout my life in church: when a major deliverance happens, worship is incredible (tearful gratitude, moving testimony of how God saved, joyful worship in singing, etc.). Not knocking that – in fact, I think that should be characteristic of worship all the time! I’m simply pointing how quickly we move from that deliverance back towards apathy or lethargy. Short memories.
[SLIDE]
Why it is so important that we remember?
1. For the sake of our testimony to the those around us
2. Reminds us that God is really good.
3. Gives us courage to face the challenges that lie ahead and pushes us forward.
(Psalm 126:1
Psalm 126:2 (CSB)
2b Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
1. For the sake of our testimony to the nations (ie those around us)
When something happens in our lives that can’t be explained other than God moving, God gets all the glory, especially among our unbelieving friends.
ILLUS: After we had prayed over Dad, Doctor attributed Dad’s survival only to God doing great things for us.
This also includes the importance of reminding each other of the testimony.
ILLUS: Now that you know the story of my Dad, you now have something to remind me of God’s work in my life if I struggle to see it at some point.
We can do that for each other.
2. Reminds us that God is really good.
.”
Psalm 126:3 (CSB)
3 The Lord had done great things for us; we were joyful.
If we don’t remember what God has done for us then we will replace joy with anxiety and despair – which is why we have to remind each other, as well.
3. Remembering gives us courage to face the challenges that lie ahead and pushes us forward.
33 But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”
34 David answered Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
I want to broaden this out a bit. This psalmist talks of a particular event, but I challenge us to remember ALL that God does for us
Psalm 103:2 says, “My soul, bless the Lord, and do not forget all his benefits.”
How do you not forget all his benefits?
[SLIDE]
1. First, you have to be aware of them. That takes time to reflect on God’s goodness.
Walking towards Jerusalem singing these songs were great times of reflection.
Do you provide for these kinds of opportunities in your journey, especially at the end of the day, where you’re being still; being quiet?
Do you fill the empty space with tv, social media, or video games? Do you leave any margin to just listen? Are you so busy you do not have time to “Be still and know…”?
[SLIDE]
You can’t remember something you don’t dedicate time to know in the first place.
[SLIDE]
2. You write them down.
Spiritual journaling:
• We forget what we don’t write down.
If we don’t remember, it serves no purpose beyond the moment, but [SLIDE] God’s deliverance, as well as His words to us, are gifts that keep giving so long as we remember them. Highlights benefits of writing them down!
ILLUS: I tend to rely on a few main events in my family history of God’s provision (eg God’s stamp provision) largely because I’ve retold it so many times, but even then, the facts can easily change in my memory until I recount it with Karen. If I write them down, I remember the event and I recount the facts.
• Taking notes and journaling is an exercise in expectancy
When you take notes and journal you are expecting God to speak and you’re ready to remember
• When we fail to write it down, though this instance was clearly intentional, we don’t recall any specific ways God delivered us.
When we write out God’s working in our lives, we are writing down God’s legacy of wisdom to our older selves and even our children.
We may know the details but when we die, buyt they can’t and perhaps they could learn a great deal by knowing what God did in our lives.
A quick “how”: keep any kind of notebook and pen and write what strikes you.
Recap:
1. You make yourself aware
2. You write it down.
3. You re-tell them.
ILLUS: Every time any of my family members get together for any length of time, tired old, wonderful stories come up again. It’s one way we pass them down through the generations.
What also should be part of our families is to share the Word with each other with testimony as to how God has been so good and what He has promised.
That’s a part of what we do every Sunday: we sing songs about His goodness and grace, we recall His Word, and we experience reminders through baptism and communion. It’s been happening for millennia!
Commentator: “What you’re trying to do is show how all the stories build on each other in the Bible until you get to Christ, and what Christ does for us on the cross is a fulfillment of all that has gone before. And that is the ultimate story we are called to remember. And that’s why [we have] the Lord’s Supper. We are to take Communion because we are to do that in remembrance of Him. We have to battle to remember and it’s important that there’s this physical aspect to it, that we’re eating real bread and drinking real juice because we’re saying, “As real as this bread is and as real as this juice is, is as real as Christ’s sacrifice and atonement is on my behalf.” And that’s as real as His resurrected body is now in the heavens. We need that.”
We need to remember our hopelessness as sinners in the hands of a just and holy God: Ephesians 2:1-7
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Do you see how this reflects the writing of the psalmist?
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,[a]
we were like those who dream.
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter then,
and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord had done great things for us;
we were joyful.
The Lord restored our original relationship with Himself that had been hopelessly destroyed in the Garden of Eden --But God!
It was like a dream! Is this real? Can we who are unrighteous really be made right with God?
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
II. The World’s Influence.
Psalm 126:4–6 (CSB)
4 Restore our fortunes, Lord, like watercourses in the Negev. 5 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. 6 Though one goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, he will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying his sheaves.
The psalmist implies that something has happened from the time of the deliverance and life is now hard. Could be the circumstances that follow living in a fallen world. Bad things happen.
Or it could be that we’ve let the influence of the world, the flesh, and the devil redirect our attention, change our direction, and steal that joy that we had at the beginning.
Do you still feel the joy and excitement you had when you first realized that Jesus had paid the penalty for your sin and adopted you into His very family? What changed?
Living in a fallen world can make us feel dry through pain, disappointment, disobedience. Like we’re in a desert. That’s what Psalm 126:4 implies:
Psalm 126:4 (CSB)
4 Restore our fortunes, Lord, like watercourses in the Negev.
The Negev
Place-name meaning “dry” referring to an arid region in southern Palestine and coming to mean “south.”
“Streams in the Negev”: resulted from flash-flooding of a network of ditches that were cut into the land due to erosion. The result would be a quick fertile environment; quick restoration.
Vangemeren:
“on the rare occasions when during the winter months it rained even as little as one inch, the water ran down its “streams” with great rapidity and often with destructive force. I have seen roads and bridges destroyed by the force of these torrential streams. The “streams in the Negev” are not ordinary phenomena, as much as they represent proverbially the sudden unleash of God’s blessing.
That’s what the psalmist was calling out for: Restore out fortunes, Lord, like watercourses/streams of the Negev!
Give us that sense that we’re living in a dream; or as David put it, “Restore to me the joy of my salvation.”
This is what the psalmist is telling us to do! Are you going through a dry spell? Has sin robbed you of intimacy with Christ?
• Repent and call out to God to bring the rain of refreshment from His Spirit.
• Ask Him to open the floodgates of blessing as you open His Word.
• Call on Him to revive His people and bring a new anointing of His Spirit for the sake of the land.
• Believe it in faith that what God has done in the past, he can and will renew it in the present.
Even though it is hard and you are struggling and you are sowing in tears Psalm 126:5 – you’re calling out through tears – you will reap with shouts of joy! Do you believe that? It is an act and exercise of faith…it might be a crisis of belief: what do you believe about God?
Psalm 126:5 (CSB)
5 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
Make no mistake, That’s a battle! You have to believe that God is faithful.
Psalm 126:6 Though one goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, he will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying his sheaves.
Psalm 126:6 (CSB)
6 Though one goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, he will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying his sheaves.
Vangemeren:
reminiscent of Haggai’s encouragement to the people to sow whatever little they had left, because the Lord will bless them. With our abundance of seed companies and supplies, we forget that the ancient Israelite had to “lose” his seed before he could gain. He had to put his fortune into the soil, hoping for an increase, but was uncertain of the outcome. If his sowing did not pay off, he might not have enough to sow the next season, and he might suffer greater financial loss.
So you move forward, sowing what faith you have trusting that God will bring the increase at the right time, and He says He will – walking in faith with the realization that God is our only hope, basing our faith today on what we’ve seen him do in the past.
That’s hard when…
• You feel you’ll never have the marriage others have.
• Your kids aren’t as well-behaved as other people.
• Your family is dysfunctional, though few, if any, are aware
• You don’t have a job that can sustain you or brings no enjoyment.
• You struggle with addiction, though you want to be free.
• You wrestle with a diagnosis doctors are pessimistic about
• You want to be used of God but you don’t feel you have ability or opportunity.
Don’t give up! Continue to sow seeds of hope, love, compassion, patience, faithfulness, longsuffering, FAITH, believing that in the end, you will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying the harvest.
You’re fighting a battle, but the victory is already won!