The Lord Has Done Great Things for Us: A Song of Joy (Pt 2)
To capture the intensity of this passage one must imagine what it would have been like to have lived in the Babylonian captivity and not have been free or able to worship in the way the nation had been accustomed to before, and then imagine what it would have been like to be free to go once again to Jerusalem for the festivals.
I. The way of Joy: In the Past (1-2)
If the setting of the psalm is the deliverance of the people of Israel from their exile in Babylon, then that deliverance according to the prophets was a redemption, not in the New Testament spiritual sense of salvation, but redemption as in the deliverance of the people of God from bondage
Israel’s deliverance from bondage (forgiveness and restoration) filled them with joy and a new life, and our redemption from the bondage of sin (forgiveness and salvation) should fill us with joy and life as well.
Principle: Joy comes because of God’s great deliverance on our behalf
II. The way of Joy: In the Present (3)
The translation “glad” is far too weak for the form (שְׁמֵחִים; s.v. Ps. 48:11) given the circumstances; it would convey more of the sense of joy, rejoicing, or taking delight in what the LORD had done.
Principle: Joy comes when we remember the great things God has done for us
III. The Way of Joy: In the Future (4-6)
This word “streams” (אֲפִיקים) refers to the dry river beds in the wilderness. They are dry in the dry season; but in the rainy season they become rushing torrents of water. Most of them are then filled with water running down from the mountains and high plateaus of the land; they can be strong enough to wash buses off the roads when they overflow their banks. The psalmist compares the road from Babylon to such a river bed. It is now dry, meaning, there are no people coming down the road. He prays for God to bring the rest of the people back so that those roads would be “overflowing their banks” like streams in the desert.
The concern is like the evangelistic concern of the church, except that the psalmist is praying for people who are in the covenant to be prompted to return to the land to do the work of God. The desire is that they too will catch the vision that the future of God’s program is in Israel, not in captivity in a foreign land.
No doubt the people who first returned found agriculture difficult in a land that had not been worked for decades; but they knew that perseverance would eventually bring a harvest. But because these verses are joined with the prayer of verse 4, we know that the psalmist’s concern was not with a harvest of wheat, but people. Therefore, the entire two verse section is figurative (an implied comparison), referring to the labor for God’s restored program.
If the sower perseveres in the sowing, no matter how difficult or frustrating, there will be a harvest—there will be a coming in with rejoicing.
But the point is clear: perseverance will pay off, the seed will produce a harvest, and the struggle will be replaced by celebration. This principle is true of agriculture; but it is also true of labor in God’s kingdom.
Principle: Joy comes when we trust God and persevere in laboring for the kingdom
Those who have experienced the great salvation of the LORD will not only be filled with joy but will desire that others come to share in his kingdom. As a corollary we might add, To that end they will pray; to that end they will do whatever they can to ensure that there will be a “harvest” of people coming to serve the LORD. The applications would include both praying for others to turn to the LORD, and using whatever gifts one has to work for the kingdom. To put it in the words of the psalmist, the task of the redeemed is to sow the seed. That includes sharing the word of God with people and imploring people to respond to it. The motivation for this kind of spiritual service is the joy of redemption. The more that redemption is appreciated, the greater the service will be.