When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us and we are glad. Psalm 126: 1-3, NKJV.
Heavenly Father, with all our hearts we thank You for welcoming us into Your presence as we study Your Word. Please remain very close to us, and teach us; we pray in the name of Jesus! Amen.
Perhaps you have heard someone say, “I had to pinch myself to make sure that I was not dreaming!” Perhaps you may have had an experience so marvelous, that you thought for a moment, that you were dreaming! If you have, then surely, you can imagine how the children of Israel felt when the Lord brought them out of captivity! It was always Israel’s departing from the LORD, and His plans for their lives, that led to their captivity. It was always God’s plan for His people to be an example to the other nations, of how blessed life can be, when we live in accordance with His will for our lives! Proof of this is found in verse 2b, “Then they said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’ “
Dear friends, we are God’s “epistles, read by all men” (2 Corinthians 3: 2, 3)! We are either making the gospel story more attractive, or not! People are either being drawn to Christ, or away from Him! Because whether we are conscious of it or not, as God’s people, we are being watched! But today, what we want to dwell upon is how wonderful it feels to be set free! And as we said several months ago, when the Son sets you free, you will experience true freedom (John 8: 32, 36; 14: 6)!
The psalmist continues to say, “Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.” There is nothing that fills the soul with as much joy, as getting to know Christ! Our joy is increased because this knowledge frees us from our prejudices; from our self-righteousness; from our selfishness; from our self-imposed limitations; from our lack of self-esteem; from our jealousy of one another! This does not mean that we will not have trials and disappointments. Oftentimes our problems increase when we give our lives to Jesus. It is then, that the adversary of our souls, in an effort to discourage us, sends his fiery darts of disappointment our way (Ephesians 6: 16). But just knowing that we do not have to face these trials alone, fills “our tongue with singing[!]”
God does not only bring us out of captivity, He restores what we lost when we were taken captive! He restores “our fortune[s]… like the watercourses in the Negeb” (4, NRSV)! In the place of our meager existence, He gives us the abundant life that He purchased for us, with His blood on Calvary’s cross! And as the icing on the top of the cake comes this beautiful promise, “Those who sow in tears shall weep in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (5, 6, NKJV).
Many of us may be in the land of our captivity, sowing with tears. But if we are faithful, when our captivity comes to an end, and it will! We will see the fruit of what we sowed even under the most oppressive circumstances! Then we shall join in the chorus, “The LORD has done great things for us and we are glad.” And we shall rejoice, as we display to the world, the harvest of our adversity!