(A Song of degrees.) When Jehovah turned the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
This song was sung on the way up to Jerusalem. It opens by looking back at a rescue so sudden that the people who lived through it could hardly believe their own eyes. Which rescue is in view? And why do freed people call themselves dreamers?
This psalm closes a group of songs. The two before it tell of escape from a trap and of safety in the Lord.
This beautiful Psalm completes the first series of seven. In exquisite language it celebrates how Jehovah suddenly stepped in to rescue Zion and free her from the power of the enemy. The connection with the two Psalms before it is very close. In 124:7 the remnant say, "We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!" The next Psalm declares the stability and security of those who trust in the Lord. Now, in the Psalm before us, they look back on what the Lord had done for His people, and their hearts overflow with admiration and praise. The structure of the Psalm is very simple. It divides into two parts of three verses each. The first gives their experience of Jehovah's intervention for the beloved city. The second is a prayer for a larger deliverance, with the promise of a sure and abundant harvest for those who sow in tears.
Where the ESV says the Lord restored Zion's fortunes, older translations read that He turned her captivity. The comparison to dreamers is not about sleep but about disbelief at good news. The rescue came when Zion's case looked hopeless, and it went beyond what the people had asked for.
Their thoughts are centred on Zion, whose captivity Jehovah had turned again by His own right hand of power. Zion had been brought very low. But at her worst moment, when her case looks hopeless to every outward appearance, the Lord suddenly steps in to help her... This is the event celebrated in our Psalm. The remnant confess that Jehovah's intervention was so unexpected and so wonderful that "we were like those who dream." At first they could hardly believe it. They had been crying to the Lord for this very thing (Psalm 123, 130). But the answer went so far beyond their expectation that they were struck with astonishment — just as the saints were when they prayed for Peter's deliverance.
Zion's fortunes do not turn on their own. Across these songs the same subject keeps performing the verbs.
It is worth seeing how these psalms constantly ascribe all blessing to the Lord. It is the Lord who sets the captive free (Ps. 124:6-7). It is the Lord who is round about His people as they take their pilgrim way (Ps. 125:2). The Lord sets Zion free from the enemy (Ps. 126:1). The Lord builds the house and keeps the city (Ps. 127:1). And the Lord is the source of all millennial blessing.
The freeing of the city is only the first stage. More is still to come.
The Lord's intervention had been so unforeseen and so complete that, like a dream, it was almost beyond belief (compare Luke 24:41). This intervention has two parts. First, Zion itself is set free from the rule of the enemy. Then the full deliverance of the whole nation of Israel will follow.
Commentators differ over which event the verse describes. Some read it plainly of the exiles released from Babylon:
How little believers realise the joy of deliverance expressed in this beautiful Psalm. When Cyrus published his decree, the captives were like men who dreamed. It was as though some brave fiction had filled their hearts, so caught up were they in the joy of that moment. If only we knew this when we think of salvation and of Jesus!
Others allow that return as a picture, but hold that the language reaches past it:
We can readily grant that the restoration from Babylon was a shadow of a larger fulfilment. But the prophets predicted the setting up of the kingdom under the glorious Messiah. To anyone who knows those predictions, nothing less than the future deliverance and glory of Zion can match this description.
The joy of this verse stands against the sorrow that came before it.
It was a dream — the joy was so full, so unlooked-for. Even the nations now recognised Jehovah's hand... Still, God had shown Himself; and for the faithful, who had taken up His testimony in sorrow, when it meant shame and reproach, it was now a harvest of joy. So it always is, for full joy only comes through sorrow, since the testimony of God is in a world of evil.
- Low. Zion was brought very low. Her case looked hopeless to every outward appearance.
- Turned. The Lord Himself turned Zion's captivity. Across these songs He frees the captive, guards the pilgrim, builds the house and keeps the city.
- Dream. They had prayed for this very thing. The answer went so far beyond their hopes that they could hardly believe it.
- Reach. Some tie the verse to the exiles freed by Cyrus. Others hold that only Zion's future deliverance and glory match the words.
- Harvest. Zion's rescue is only the first part; Israel's full deliverance follows. For those who bore His testimony in sorrow, it is now a harvest of joy.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing then said they among the nations, Jehovah hath done great things for them.
Psalm 126 is the song of a people God has just brought back from captivity. Verse 2 records what poured out of them: laughter, singing, and one sentence about them on the lips of the watching nations. Two questions follow. Where does such joy come from, and when does the verse come true?
The laughter here breaks out after a long stretch of darkness. Commentators tie it to the sheer size of what God had done.
But then they recovered themselves. They took in how real and how great Jehovah's rescuing grace was. Their mouth was filled with laughter and their tongue with singing (v. 2). The uncontrollable joy of their hearts burst out in a flood of ecstatic praise. And what wonder? It was the dawn of the summer morning they had long sighed for. The contrast with the dark midnight they had passed through was overwhelming. They could not help pouring out the feelings of their souls in songs of adoration.
Not all laughter is the same. One kind comes from God when He acts. Another comes from a heart that finds His promise too big to believe. We can admit only one of them without shame.
There is also the laughter with which unbelief fills our mouths. It comes when God's promises are too magnificent for our narrow hearts to take in. Or when the visible means look too small, in our judgement, for carrying out His grand designs. The laughter God gives we are never ashamed or afraid to admit. Zion's sons are not ashamed to say, "Then our mouth was filled with laughter." When Jehovah makes us laugh, we may laugh heartily.
The second half of the verse gives the words to outsiders. The nations say the sentence themselves, and they say it using God's own name.
Zion's captivity is turned, and God's wonderful grace to Israel seems still almost too great to believe. Yet it is real, and all the world is speaking of it. The nations have learned to speak of Jehovah, and of the great things He has done. Their hearts echo this with gladness: Jehovah has done great things indeed.
The people do not correct the nations. They echo the same words and change "them" to "us."
This restoration of the captivity of Zion now comes into special notice. The nations themselves were astonished. They saw the hand of the Lord at work for His people. And the echo of praise came back from the people: "He has done great things for us; we are glad." How simple and eloquent this word!
Commentators differ over how much of this verse the return from Babylon fulfilled. One writer holds that nothing in that return matched it:
Its language does not fit the return from Babylon. Scripture records the circumstances of that return and its results. Nothing in them can count as a fulfilment of verse 2. Cyrus simply allowed those of his Jewish subjects who wished it to go back to the ruined land of their fathers. There was little in that to remind the nations of the mighty working of the God of Jacob.
Others treat that return as a small down payment on a restoration still to come. They also note what changes in the nations:
Verse 1 may have had a small measure of fulfilment in the return from captivity in Ezra's day. But it will reach its full and perfect fulfilment only when God restores Israel in the millennium… Filled with laughter and singing, Israel will stand out among the nations as never before. Those nations will no longer be full of hostility, or even envy. They will rejoice to say, "The LORD has done great things for them."
The phrase the nations use here does more than mark one moment. It becomes the keynote of Israel's thanksgiving, both at the return from Babylon and in the age still to come.
Such a simple strain of gratitude is acceptable to God. In the Psalms we find that "great things done" will be the keynote of the song of thanksgiving. The blessed and delivered remnant of Israel will take it up when they enter their millennial joys. It was their keynote too when Jehovah brought back the exiles from Babylon.
- Rescue first. The laughter is a response, not a mood. It follows a rescue so great that it overwhelmed them.
- Laugh honestly. God gives one kind of laughter, and unbelief gives another. We can admit only the first without shame.
- Outsiders speak. The nations supply the sentence — they learn to name the Lord and credit Him with what happened.
- Israel echoes. The people take the nations' word and make it personal: He has done great things for us.
- Then sing it. "Great things done" was the keynote when God brought the exiles home, and it will be the keynote of Israel's song in the age to come.
Jehovah hath done great things for us; [and] we are joyful.
Psalm 126 sings about a rescue so sudden that the people felt they were dreaming. Verse 3 is where they echo the nations' verdict as their own — but which rescue is this, and what "great things" can you claim today?
The rescue came in two stages, and the praise for it ends in one place.
The Lord's intervention had been so unexpected and so complete that, like a dream, it was almost beyond belief. This intervention has a twofold character. Zion itself is set free from the rule of the enemy, and then comes the full deliverance of the whole nation of Israel. The city they are going to is delivered from its long ages of captivity. This leads to the joy of Israel, and to the Lord being glorified among the nations. They will say, "The Lord has done great things for them"; while the remnant themselves gladly give all the praise to the Lord, saying, "The Lord has done great things for us."
Verse 2 puts the sentence in the mouth of the nations; verse 3 repeats it with "us" in place of "them."
This restoration of the captivity of Zion is now specially noticed. The nations themselves were astonished and noticed the hand of the Lord working for them, and the echo of praise came from the people: "He has done great things for us, and we are glad." How simple and eloquent this word is!
The people do not correct the nations. They agree — and in agreeing they learn something about God for themselves.
When Zion's case looked hopeless, the Lord suddenly stepped in to rescue her… Even the surrounding nations perceived that it was God's hand, and confessed that the Lord had done great things for His people. Yes, happy Israel replies, endorsing the testimony of the nations, "The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad." For once more in their history they will learn in this way that the Lord is their strength and song, and has become their salvation. (See Psalm 118:14.)
The gladness here has a cause. One writer names two kinds of laughter in Scripture, and this is the first.
There are two kinds of laughter spoken of in Scripture. There is first the laughter with which the Lord fills our mouth, when He steps in at some trying crisis to bring us relief.
How much of this psalm has already happened? One writer looks past any earlier return from exile.
Though verse 1 may have had a small measure of fulfilment in the return from the captivity in Ezra's day, it will only be perfectly fulfilled when Israel is restored in the millennium. The wonder of that return will be so amazing that they will find it hard to believe, feeling as though they are dreaming (v. 1). Filled with laughter and singing, they will be recognised as never before among the nations, who will no longer be filled with hostility, nor even with envy, but will rejoice to say, "The Lord has done great things for them."
These words are not tied to one nation at one date. Ask the same question of your own life — and see what the answer sends you to do.
The great things which the Lord has done for you may not be the same things He has done for me, and the other way round. But the point is that, whether we are conscious of it or not, He has done great things for every one of us. Psalm 126 speaks of the present gladness that springs from the past experience of the great things of God, while the prophet Joel looks forward to the great things the Lord will do for His own. The eighth chapter of Luke shows how this works in practice. The man who had been freed from demons wanted to be with the Lord. But that was not the best course for him. He was sent not merely to tell but to show what great things God had done for him.
- Great things — done. The verb is past and the doer is God. The singers claim no share in their own rescue; they only report it.
- Great things — unbelievable. The rescue was so sudden and so complete that it felt like a dream. The people could hardly believe it was real.
- Great things — noticed. The nations said it before Israel did. God worked so openly that outsiders could see His hand.
- Great things — echoed. Israel agrees with the nations and turns "them" into "us." Gladness starts with that echo.
- Great things — retold. Luke 8 sends a freed man home with the same words. He is to tell what God has done — and to show it.