When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Shall doubtless come again - Shall come to this sown field again in the time of harvest. We see it; we feel it; we acknowledge it. This is a prayer for a refreshing season of God's blessings, as Briggs thought, "Probably a desire for good crops. Their feelings find expression in the songs of Zion. "Commentary on Psalms 126:4". The captives experienced great sorrow and mourning in exile. Let the companies of returning emigrants be kept full, like swollen streams, until all shall have been brought back. "[1] That rendition is, "When the Lord turned the captivity of Sion, we became as comforted ones. The Lord hath done great things for them - In causing their return to their own land; in ordering the arrangements for it; in bringing their captivity to an end; in securing such interposition from the civil rulers as to facilitate their return. Finding the new version too difficult to understand? It is thought that the Jewish pilgrims sang these psalms … Sermon Psalm 126:1-8 Too Good To Be True? Tho' the loss sustained our spirit often grieves. 1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of # 126:1 Or Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Those to whom this pertained would see it more clearly than those who had merely observed it. Ibrahim Pasha did this more than once within my remembrance, copying the example, perhaps, of his great predecessor in Egypt when the seven years‘ famine was ended. Join all these together, and the sentiment is very forcibly brought out, that he who labors hard, in cold and in rain, in fear and danger, in poverty and in want, casting his precious seed in the ground, will surely come again, at harvest-time, with rejoicing, and bearing his sheaves with him.”. Who the author was, it is in vain now to conjecture. As the streams in the South (the Negeb).". "The message of the psalm is that there is no simple solution on earth for the problems of the people of God, no single act of God that could bring them into unbroken joy, rid them of trials and temptations, or establish them in perfection this side of heaven!"[6]SIZE>. # 126:1 Or those restored to … The theme of restoration that began with Psalm 80 in Advent 1, and Psalm 85 in Advent 2, is continued this week in Psalm 126. There is a more complete picture of Him in the Psalms than in the Gospels. 118,119) will furnish an illustration of the meaning of this passage: “I never saw people sowing in tears exactly, but have often known them to do it in fear and distress sufficient to draw them from any eye. Psalm 126 Commentary by Brad Boyles. As God made his people free, (either from Sennacherib or from Babylon) so God has made us free. In seasons of great scarcity, the poor peasants part in sorrow with every measure of precious seed cast into the ground. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. A Song of Ascents. As the streams in the south - In the southern parts of Palestine, or in the regions bordering it on the south - Idumea and Arabia. When the L ord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Psalm 125 – As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem. Therefore, the RSV would appear to be correct in reading the expression, "Restore our fortunes, O Lord." The occasion for the psalm is likewise impossible to identify with any certainty. Josephus gives this account of the edict of Cyrus. See Job 8:21. “Turn again”: A prayer to restore the … i., pp. 1 (A Song of degrees.) "[3] There are also a number of other scholarly "guesses"; but none of them carries any particular authority. As Delitzsch noted, the primary reference here is to the tearful hardships endured by the returnees from Babylon. Wherefore we take this Psalm to be a prophecy of the redemption that should come by Jesus Christ, and the publishing of the gospel, whereby the kingdom of Christ is advanced, and death and the devil with all the powers of darkness are vanquished. In fact some of the most heartbreaking passages in the Bible have to do with the exile of the Jews to Babylon passages in the book of Lamentations or like Psalm 137. דשׁוּבָ֣ה יְ֖הֹוָה אֶת־שְׁבִיתֵ֑נוּ (כתיב שְׁבִותֵ֑נוּ) כַּֽאֲפִיקִ֥ים … Then he will gather the golden grain, and the wain will groan under the burden, and the sheaves will be carried forth with songs of joy. Briggs placed it in the "Greek period, when the people longed for a return of prosperity. He will be abundantly rewarded for all his toil; he will see the fruit of his labors; he will be filled with joy. This sentiment, "Coincides with the Preacher on the Mount, `Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted' (Matthew 5:4)."[13]. The following remarks by Dr. Thomson (Land and the Book, vol. It may be, as Rosenmuller supposes, to a portion of the people who remained in exile; or it may be to some other captivity or danger to which they were exposed after their return. 1870. "Commentary on Psalms 126:4". Psalm 126:1-6 The Greatest Future Is Yet to Come is a sermon about letting go of the past, taking inventory of the present and looking to the future. It is, of course, now impossible to determine precisely to what this refers. Back to Psalm 126 look at verse 2 now: Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. To understand this, you must remember what I just told you about the situation of the arable lands in the open country; and here again we meet that verbal accuracy: the sower goes forth - that is, from the village. It may have been designed to be sung as the returning captives went up to Jerusalem, but was more probably composed subsequently to that event, as designed to keep it in remembrance. Cyrus himself led the way in proclaiming, not himself, but God as the author of Israel's return to Jerusalem. Diligent work, the good seed which is the Word of God, and tearful earnestness on the part of the sower are the certain pledges of a bountiful harvest, when "We shall come rejoicing, Bringing in the Sheaves.". There is nothing in the psalm that can be applied exclusively to the return of Israel from the captivity; but, at the same time, there is nothing to exclude that example of God's restoring the fortunes of Israel. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. Psalms 120-134 are 15 psalms that are called ‘Songs of Degrees’ or ascents. Go to, To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use our convenient, WHEN THE LORD RESTORED THE FORTUNES OF ZION, "Then said they ... Jehovah hath done great things for them", "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. - AFTB. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. The soil is rocky, impracticable, overgrown with sharp thorns; and it costs much painful toil to break up and gather out the rocks, cut and burn the briers, and to subdue the stubborn soil, especially with their feeble oxen and insignificant plows. This passage is an appeal to the evidence of God's power in nature. Compare Isaiah 9:3. Israel is here praying that a similar refreshing may come to them. "We were like unto them that dream" (Psalms 126:1). And our tongue with singing - We expressed our joy in songs - the natural expression of joy. When our weeping's over, He will bid us welcome. These being filled with water was imagery of a great blessing of future agricultural abundance (cf. (2 Timothy 2:26). (Malachi 3:8-10). A song of ascents. "[5] However, there are several other occasions in the history of Israel which are just as likely to have occasioned this psalm. As you read Psalm 126, remember that the *Jews’ return to their country is a picture for us. "Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament". "[17], Thus, as Kidner noted, "The psalm, speaking first to its own times, speaks still. (Read Psalm 126:1-3) It is good to observe how God's deliverances of the church are for us, that we may rejoice in them. After two or three generations (some 70 years) of captivity in Babylon, they are suddenly on the way back to Jerusalem, just as God had promised. This must indeed have been an understatement. 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