Psalms 126:1–6

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.

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.

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 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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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."

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.

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."

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!

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.)

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.

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."

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.

Psalm 126:4. "Turn again our captivity, O Lord." Zion and Judah will be brought back first. God had already brought back the captives of Zion when they prayed this prayer (v. 1). They are only the earnest of what God will do when He restores all Israel.

They see that Jehovah has begun to redeem His people from the hand of their enemies. So their faith grows strong, and they now pray for fuller blessing... It is the return of the latter rain after the dry and barren season, and so "as the streams in the south." Before the rains, the beds of these streams are dry and rocky. But at their appointed times the fertilizing showers of heaven fill them to overflowing.

The Lord has delivered Zion, but Israel is not yet fully settled in their land. So they pray that their return from captivity may be like the streams in the south. Those streams begin as a small trickle. Then the rain swells them into rivers that bring blessing and fruitfulness to the parched land.

The Lord turned Zion's captivity, but they want full deliverance from the presence and power of the enemy. "Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams (or torrents) in the south," as a full tide of blessing refreshing the thirsty ground. This was the sowing time. They would reap the rich harvest when Jehovah had at last taken up the cause of His people. How truly faith is the substance of things hoped for!

The fourth verse prays for the full accomplishment — probably the whole return of their scattered tribes now. Then the land may receive again the streams of her population, as the dry channels of the south receive fresh and abundant water in due time. Those dry beds speak of Israel in her time of drought, when her only rain was the tears she wet the earth with. Because of what His people are, God has to appoint them such seasons of disciplinary sorrow.

Verses 1-3 are prophetic, but verse 4 goes back to record the prayer that leads to the fulfilment of that prophecy. It does so only briefly, for verse 5 at once reports the results of tears being sown. No doubt the failure and sin of Israel cause the tears, and that failure brings some at least to genuine repentance.

Zion is delivered, but Israel is not yet fully established in their land. So they pray that their return from captivity may be like the streams in the south which, starting as a trickling rill, become swollen with the rain into rivers that bring blessing and fruitfulness to the parched land. During long years of captivity they had sown in tears; now they will reap in joy the fruits of all the chastening they had passed through.

Truly, this chosen remnant of faithful souls, faithful through grace in a day of extreme pressure and persecution, will "sow" in tears. As we read in Daniel, "And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder." But the seed steeped in their tears and sown in sorrow will sprout in its own time, spring up, and bring forth an abundant harvest, when the sower and the reaper will rejoice together.

They will sigh and cry over the abominations of that city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. And those tears will fall into the Lord's bottle as a precious memorial, to be acknowledged in due time.

Now it was, so to speak, the sowing time. They would reap the abundant harvest when the Lord had finally taken up the cause of His people. How truly faith gives substance to things hoped for! "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy" is the persuasion of their souls.

It has been truly said, Christianity was sown in the tears of the Son of God.

But in a fuller, deeper sense, the sower in tears is the Man of sorrows Himself. Believers know Him this way. In the deep travail of His soul He has completed the seed time of affliction. That sowing will bear its satisfying harvest when He appears again as the reaper of His own reward. His affliction went far beyond the natural measure of human grief, for He went through the dreadful realities of death and judgment for our sakes. By that same measure, the fullness of His pure delight will excel His people's joy.

I have read of a time when several people met in such sorrow of heart that for a long time they could not say a single word. But the floor of the meeting-room was wet with their tears. If the Lord would grant us such meetings again, it would be our wisdom to visit these houses of tears. "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy." It is not only for the earthly remnant that this is true; it is also written for us.

How to preach is also important, and Scripture tells us how to do it… "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy." I think that is the How. There is a moral state. There is exercise of soul. And so you sow in tears, and reap in joy. That is a beautiful answer to the How, both in the way you go out and in the way you present the truth.

Faced with opposition and conflict we may lose heart; seeing little result from "well doing" we may grow weary. But let us press on, waiting for God's "due season."

It was now, so to speak, the sowing time; the abundant harvest would be reaped when the Lord had finally taken up the cause of His people. How truly faith makes real the things we hope for! "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy" is the settled persuasion of their souls. The generation then living would see the blessings God had promised His people, and share in them.

I have heard that the figure used here is a man with nothing to eat in his home. All he has is some seed, and he faces this problem. Will I grind this seed, make flour and eat it? That fills me now, but then there is no future. Or will I plant it, go hungry for the present, and expect a crop and more food in the long run — not only for myself, but for my wife, my children and others? So he says, "I will plant it," and because his position is so severe, he weeps as he goes out to sow. But then the crop comes and there is enough for all.

In the closing verse it seems that the Spirit of God leads the psalmist to see that Christ had gone before them on the path they are treading. He no longer speaks of "those who sow in tears," but of One, "He who goes out weeping." In the days of His humiliation Christ had sown "precious seed," and watered it with His tears. He will come again with a great harvest of souls. He will see the fruit of the anguish of His soul, and be satisfied.

But there was One above all who had sown precious seed in Israel, in love as well as in righteousness, and continued in both. He had been a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, their faces hidden from Him; but now He filled His arms with the sheaves. Though sown in tears, the seed was indeed precious seed, and the fruit sweet to His taste, and the joy of His labour of love — now He reaped it.

He came into the world to throw the incorruptible seed into the soil — the word of God that lasts for ever, for in these last days God has spoken to us in Him. He came to make God known to men, to declare the Father in whose bosom He dwelt as the only Son; and in doing this He was the great Sower of the seed.

These are not selfish tears... But tears of genuine concern for the blessing of others are of great consequence when the seed of the Word of God is sown. It is of course that seed which produces the sheaves of grain that will cause rejoicing. This applies directly to the reviving of Israel in the last days. But believers today may well take it to heart, and seek the eternal blessing of those who are lost unless they receive the truth of the Word of God.

Remember this. You may labour all your lifetime and say, "Somehow I have not been allowed to see much result of my labour." If your labour has been in the Lord, you shall see the fruit in the resurrection day, as surely as God's word is true.