Psalm 126 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence

Another Psalm of Ascent, this particular one harkens back to the return of the Jews from their Babylonian captivity. After seventy years of exile and humiliation, the Jews are overwhelmed by the wonderful blessing of returning to the Promised Land, rebuilding the temple, and hearing the Law of God read once again by the priests. This song was probably written at the time of the reinstitution of the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the three primary feasts in which God’s people gathered at Jerusalem.

After so much misery, pain, and loss suffered by the Jews as a result of their rebellion against the Lord, they were overwhelmed by the mercies of God in allowing them to return to the temple. The psalmist says that it was a like a dream to them, a time in which they could not help but laugh and shout for joy at the goodness of God. Even the surrounding nations, including the ones who had mocked the Jews and kicked them when they were down, also stood amazed that this downtrodden group of emigrants would be able to return to their own land in such a glorious manner.

And this realization leads the psalmist to pray in v.4 saying, “Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb!” The Negeb is in the southern desert region of Israel not well known for large sources of water; nevertheless, when it would rain, a life-giving and hope-inspiring stream would quickly begin to form meeting the immediate needs of any who happened to be crossing that miserably arid region in the heat of the day. So just as quickly as that stream would form, the psalmist was asking for a quick turnaround for the nation of Israel in terms of a full restoration not just physically but spiritually as well.

But notice in v.5 the corresponding mentality of the Jews in anticipating such a restoration. The psalmist says there that “those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!”
Restoration always goes hand-in-hand with repentance that is expressed with true genuine sorrow over sin. These were not proud men and women who had returned to Israel demanding their rights and feeling entitled to their privileges. Rather, they were a very humbled people truly thankful for the opportunity to return to Jerusalem, to dwell in God’s presence and to hear from God’s law once again.

Sometimes we compare a particular stage of a Christian’s walk with God to that of walking in a desert or of one feeling dry spiritually, which suggests that the individual no longer feels the presence of God in his life and is no longer excited about what God is doing in his life. Not always, but often, this stage comes as a consequence of sin, not necessarily one particularly egregious sin, but an ongoing displacement of the love of God in our hearts with something else that we might call an idol. Similar to the Jews turning away from God through the worship of idols, we too can and have walked away from the presence and blessings of God through worshipping vain things.

It is often after the Lord has humbled us and brought us to our senses that we begin to pray such prayers as the psalmist has in this case, asking for a quick restoration of spiritual vitality. In fact, a humbled soul often prays for the continuance of God’s fellowship even before he senses that it is waning, for he realizes that there is nothing better in this world than the pleasures that can be found at God’s right hand and knows his own heart well enough to realize how quickly that truth is forgotten and that fellowship is squandered.