Psalm 126
A song of ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.4 Restore our fortunes, Lord,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
Does being a Christian make your life happier? I would argue that it does. As Christians, we have the joy of knowing our sins are forgiven forever, paid for by Jesus’ precious blood, guaranteeing us a place in heaven. We have the peace of knowing that God loves us unconditionally, no matter how many times we mess up. We have a family heritage that transcends time and bloodline—no matter how long you have been a Christian, the history you read about in the Bible is your history, just as much as it was the Apostle Paul’s or King David’s. We have all sorts of reasons to be happier than anyone who doesn’t have Jesus in their life.
That’s why the psalms are filled with so many songs of joy. How can we not praise our God for all that he has done for us and his people?
Psalm 126 begins in just that way. The psalmist takes a trip down memory lane to a time that almost seemed too good to be true: When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.[1]
Can you think of a moment when you were just in awe of God’s goodness to you? Blessings so big that you can’t help but divide your memories into “before” and “after.” Your wedding day, for example; the birth of your first child; the start of a brand new career. Maybe you even said it at the time: “This can’t be real; it feels like a dream.” But God is good, and it really happened!
Or how about the blessings that brought you to the church? Just think of all that God had to arrange for St. Peter Lutheran Church to even be here today. Sixty years of ministry work in St. Albert, backed by 175 years of ministry work in our church body, carrying the heritage of a German reformer from five hundred years ago, inspired by Church Fathers over a thousand years before him… all so that you would have the joy of knowing your Saviour Jesus. God is good!
God’s love for his church is historic, and he shows it on such a grand scale that even those outside the church have to acknowledge it. It’s hard not to marvel at how those early Christians, a relatively small group, survived and even thrived in times of great hardship, and in turn became a blessing to others all over the world—even to those who once laughed at them. As the psalmist puts it: Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”[2]
We can only sit back and marvel at the wonders God has worked for us and all his people—The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.[3]
And yet just as often, our eyes are filled with tears. Some of those happy memories come packaged with pain, as we remember how much has changed. Excitement has now been replaced by exhaustion. The church at large, including St. Peter, still faces many challenges, and the world is more often inclined to see Christianity as the problem rather than to sing its praises.
Being a Christian makes life happier. But does being a Christian also make your life sadder? I think that’s true, too—because you know what real joy is like, and you can’t ignore the upsetting reality of the world around you. You can’t pretend that this world is as good as it gets.
There’s a reason Jesus often quoted the psalms in times of sadness. The more you read the psalms, the more you see this constant balance of joy and sorrow, laughter and lament—because that’s what it looks like to be a Christian. The more joy we have in Christ and the great things he has done for us, the more tears we shed with him over the tragic state of the world around us, knowing that it was never meant to be this way.
Thankfully, the reverse is also true. The more we weep now, the more we will one day rejoice. We don’t have to content ourselves with nostalgia and mentally reliving “the good old days.” We have even better days to look forward to.
The psalmist prays: Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev.[4] The Negev was an extremely dry and lifeless region to the south of Jerusalem. In the summer, all the streambeds were dried up and cracked, with no other water source nearby. But when the winter rains came through, the streams would swell and life was restored to the land—flowers sprung up and covered any former signs of drought.
That’s the restoration God’s people can expect him to send—not just a return to the good old days, but a transformation that only he can bring about. A renewal of our joy that will never fade away.
We know that rain is coming, and we eagerly wait for God to send it—but waiting is hard, especially because in this world, so many things end in tears. But not for us. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.[5] Not only will joy follow our weeping—joy is produced by our weeping. Like a farmer planting seeds in his field, we plant our tears in God’s promises—an investment, counting on him to restore us and turn those tears into songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.[6] Whether your tears come from sorrow over your sins and their consequences; from hard, seemingly fruitless work in spreading the seed of God’s Word to others; from sympathy for the church in troubled times; or from struggles to cultivate your own relationship with God—your tears are not for nothing. Jesus wept for you. Jesus weeps with you. The whole church weeps with you. But it will not end in tears. God is preparing for you a harvest of happiness, greater than the “good old days” he gave you before. And if any tears remain at harvest time when Jesus comes, he’ll wipe them away himself.
As Christians in a broken world, we have plenty of reasons to be sad. At the same time, everything that makes us sad now is just one more reason for us to rejoice in the restoration God prepares for us. So plant those tears in God’s promises. You will reap with songs of joy. Amen.
[1] Psalm 126:1,2
[2] Psalm 126:2
[3] Psalm 126:3
[4] Psalm 126:4
[5] Psalm 126:5
[6] Psalm 126:6