The God who restores fortunes – Psalm 126

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Restored the fortunes of Zion. We were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled of laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev.

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. This is the word of God.

You often hear people say that their town or their city isn’t what it once was. Such could be said of the town of Greenock. I wonder if you’ve ever been before.

It’s a seaside town with people that initially didn’t have much, but then in the 18th century it became a focal point of shipbuilding and the town boomed and there was a buzz around the place. The local economy soared and people were at ease with their lives because the shipbuilding provided many jobs for people in the area. But then over the years the shipbuilding left and the town became derelict once more.

Then out of nowhere IBM technology company moved in and there was great prosperity and revival in the town once again. Fast forward a few decades later, IBM left and the town became derelict once more, leaving hundreds of people unemployed once again. Ever since then the shops that once overflowed with customers now lie derelict once again.

The high street that once had so much going on but now has little to offer. And the residents of Greenock long for the former glory days of the town gone by. They long for new investment to restore things to the way that they once were.

A similar thing is happening with God’s people here in Psalm 126. As they stand in the city of Jerusalem the Israelites long for their physical and spiritual fortunes to be what they once were. These are longings that we still feel today as God’s people and the Psalm teaches us how we ought to respond when we find ourselves feeling despondent and lacking courage to go on.

To give you some brief context Psalm 126 is in the middle of a section called the Psalms of Ascent. These are songs that were sung by the Israelites as they traveled up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in his chosen city. These songs were sung by worshippers who were getting closer to Jerusalem but still had a long way to go.

And these are songs that Jesus himself would have sung growing up. So keep that in mind as we unearth the richness of what we read in these words. Psalms 120 to 125 have focused on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

And now in chapters 126 to 128 the focus changes as the pilgrims now arrive in Jerusalem itself. So with these things in mind let’s look at these verses under two headings. The first one is recall God’s past mercy stirring up present joy.

Recall God’s past mercy stirring up present joy. And the Psalmist opens up the chapter with a trip down memory lane. A throwback to when God had shown great mercy for his people.

God’s people experienced such a great restoration that was beyond their wildest of dreams. A restoration so great that the people could hardly believe what their eyes had seen. As we see at the end of verse one.

And this great restoration filled God’s people with great gladness. This raises the question what deliverance of God’s mercy is in view here in this Psalm? We are not explicitly told in this chapter and I think that’s intentional. This Psalm doesn’t specify the exact crisis or particular mercy that is in view here.

This makes this Psalm well suited to a wide variety of comparable situations. Whenever this occasion was we see that in verse two mouths were filled with laughter and their song and their tongues of songs of joy. I mean you can almost hear it can’t you? People celebrating and enjoying themselves as if they’ve won the Euros.

God their most valuable player has delivered victory for his somewhat average team. In the midst of the celebrations no one’s thinking should we turn the volume down? Of course not because they’re overflowing with such joy. It’s party time.

Now you might have seen images this week in the fan zones of big crowds watching the Euros on Wednesday night. Big crowds who witnessed the last minute strike from Ollie Watkins to seal victory over the Netherlands to secure England’s place in the final. When Watkins scored this crowd burst forth in celebration.

Fists pumping in the air, strangers hugging each other, fans chanting Gareth Southgate’s name for sparking the change. All because England are now in the final which is really hard to say as a Scotsman. But that’s the type of jubilation that’s going on here.

Notice that this great restoration wasn’t only recognized by God’s people but it was recognized by the watching eyes of the world. In the second half of verse two then it was said among the nations which I take to mean neighboring nations who did not revere Yahweh as their Lord. It was said of the nations the Lord has done great things for them.

These nations seem to be impressed with what God has done for his people Israel. A God who cares for the needs of his people and is able to deliver what they need such as the power and kindness of God. Even the well-being of God’s people impacts the nations around them.

But notice the spotlight of our statement is on God’s activity not on Israelites. The Israelites were nothing special in and of themselves. We see that in Deuteronomy chapter 7 that God out of his love chose Israel to be his treasure possession despite how few and unimpressive they were in comparison to the nations around them.

God is the one who’s brought about this great restoration for his people. This is this is a kind of restoration that a new investor or a newly elected government could only ever dream of. But even for the nations to make such a statement they must have heard about the Lord through the faithful witness of his people.

Israel was called to be a living testimony of God the maker of heaven and earth to the nations around them. Faithful witnesses who love God first and love his image bearers for what they said and what they did. In Christ we are called to do the same.

You know just in passing I wonder if the non-Christians that we are witnessing to in our local communities would say the same thing about us? Would they see the difference that following Jesus has made to our lives? Would they be able to say that on account of our witness the Lord has done great things for them? Would people mark us out for having joy because of salvation we’ve received or would they just see us as people who grumble just like everyone else? Then in verse 3 we hear the Israelites reply to this statement of the nations of the world as if to say that the Israelites say they’re absolutely right. The Lord has done great things for us. Now stop for a moment and let’s notice what’s going on here.

The Israelites start the psalm with sad hearts. They consciously remember God’s restoration in the past and the impact that it had on them and that in turn filled them with joy in the present. They recall God’s past mercy and this stirs up present joy.

This is something that we can do too today. This challenged me as I was reflecting on this this past week. How often do we take time in the busyness of our lives to recall the great mercy that God has shown us? The material and the spiritual blessings that God has given us as individuals and as a church.

If you’re a believer here this morning think of what you have. Right now through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection we have received the greatest restoration this world has ever seen. As believers in the new covenant we have even more reasons to be grateful for what we have in Christ.

We are reconciled to the holy God who made and sustains the cosmos. That’s who we’re coming before this morning. As Christians we look back to the cross as a history defining moment.

We don’t hope on a whim but we hope in certainty. We are forgiven because he was forsaken. We are accepted because he was condemned.

We are part of God’s family who look forward to spending eternity in perfect paradise with the one who saved us. This is all true because only because Christ died and rose again in our place. And here’s the thing.

These truths don’t become less true because of the circumstances that we might find ourselves in. Christian wherever you might be facing this morning we’ve always got reasons to be grateful to God because we we serve and worship our risen savior. As Christians we ought to be those who practice joy now knowing the great things that God has done for us in the past.

Even if that feels really unnatural for people like us who live in Scotland. Yes there will be bumps in the road. We acknowledge that there will be ups and downs in life as we struggle with times of loneliness just as this psalm recognizes.

But we still have reasons to rejoice. But we should also notice from the psalm that the joy of verse three was only short-lived. The joy that the Israelites experienced was only ever partial at best.

This is why the second half of the psalm is so important. The psalmist and us today remembering God’s restoration in the past fuels confidence for a restoration in the future. As we’ll see in the next section there’s even greater joy to come.

And this brings us to our second point. Plead for God’s renewed mercy, confident in joy to come. Plead for God’s renewed mercy, confident in joy to come.

In verses four to six we get a drastic change of tone. The great restoration of verses one to three seems like a distant memory. Long gone in the rear view mirror.

Streets that were once full of celebration now full of wailing. Mouths that were once full of celebration are now filled with lament. I don’t know about you but when I was reading this chapter I couldn’t help but think, what happened to Israel? Like where did it all go wrong? We’re not told exactly what it is that went wrong.

No reason is given for this sudden change of tone. It just happens. These verses imply that there may have been a famine in the land but that’s all we get.

Again I think that’s by design. Sometimes the community of God’s people experiences a reversal of circumstances without ever knowing why. The once healthy person can suddenly become sick.

The once employed person can quickly be made redundant. Sudden reversals of life take place without any apparent reason. This makes a psalm well designed to be repeated throughout the generations.

Generations of people who seek to be, who seek to remain faithful to God no matter what they’re facing. Let’s have a look at what these people do in their times of crisis, in their desert days. Firstly, God’s people plead to the Lord.

After looking back in their history, they look up in their time of need. Earlier in the chapter, God’s people reflected upon the mercy and great things that God had done in the past. And here, God’s people call upon him to show the same mercy as he had done previously.

The people who cry out to God to restore their fortunes to what they once were. You know, let’s pause and ask ourselves, is this how we respond in our own personal times of crisis? Do we dwell on our sorrows or do we bring them before God? Do we just have nostalgia for the glory days of old or do we pray for revival in the future? Notice the impact of the illustrations the psalmist now uses. Firstly, life-giving streams in the desert and then an abundant harvest in the field.

Now, there may be a point being made about the pace of restoration, but the God who delivers restoration can do so both rapidly and slowly. In verse four, the psalmist uses an illustration of rapid restoration. God’s people pray for a restoration by comparing their fortunes to a dry riverbed in the Negev.

These were dry gullies that lay empty during the hottest seasons of the year. And these gullies were quickly filled when the rainy season came. A sudden stream that once had no potential to provide life for plants to eat, suddenly becomes the vessel to bring life to the area.

Whoever observed the difference between verses five and six? The psalmist now continues with another illustration of renewal, but this time the psalmist gives an illustration of a slow restoration. The psalmist gives an illustration of a farmer who goes out to scatter seed in the field. By definition, sowing and growing and harvesting are a slow process.

But this one that we also see here is a painful one. The sower in the psalm sows with tears and he weeps as he does so. Yet it is at this point that we see the psalmist’s own expectation and this brings to us an important practical application.

God’s people should not only plead to the Lord, but they should also plead expectantly. This psalmist is confident and expectant of a great future harvest in his response to his plea for mercy. Did you notice the tense that the psalmist uses in verses five and six? Read again with me.

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. The word will demonstrates the psalmist’s absolute confidence that God will turn around their circumstances.

The psalmist expects God to deliver mercy for his people. The tears the sower sheds will be turned and will be replaced with absolute shouts of joy. The people who once poured out tears now pour out celebration.

The tears of the sower will not last forever. But what has given this psalmist such an astonishing degree of confidence? Well, it must be what we’ve seen in verses one to three, reflecting on God’s past track record. It is this remembrance of God’s work in the past that has inspired his confidence for the future.

He believes, as you can see, that the Lord can do this. This is also his belief in the illustration of the life-giving streams in the Negev. The Israelites, both in the desert and in the field, don’t look to their own skill or wisdom to bring life and a harvest.

No, they look to the merciful, providential hand of the Lord to bring the life-giving water and the life-giving fruits. Only the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, could bring such restoration for his image-bearers. It is because of the Lord that the sower will come home in celebration for the great crop he has harvested.

The other side of weeping is joy. The farmer sees that the night of sorrow will one day turn to a morning of gladness. When I was going over this passage this past week, I was struck by something I hadn’t picked up before.

Why does the Psalmist say essentially the same thing twice in verses five and six? What does verse six add that could have just been said in verse five? I mean, can’t he just save himself the bother and the ink from just not writing verse five in the first place? But imagine with me, you’re in the first audience singing this song. Imagine the impact singing this twice would have on you. It would really drill into your mind that there will be a turning point of circumstances.

Because of our skepticism and our doubts, God in his kindness twice hammers home the point that God will provide. A farmer singing this song would be encouraged to keep faithfully farming in hardship, knowing that one day God would abundantly bless. Anyway, what about us today? I mean, let’s face it, we don’t exactly live in an area that lacks in the rain department.

And as far as I’m aware, none of us are farmers. But there are lessons for us too. As Christians on this side of eternity, we will experience both times of fullness and times of emptiness.

That is the rhythm of the Christian life. To quote Paul in Philippians, there will be times of plenty and times of want. There will be mountaintops and valleys, moments of stunning brightness and deep darkness.

To be clear, this passage is not saying that if you cry out to God for mercy in your poverty, that you will become abundantly rich later on in life. But what I think this passage does teach us under the new covenant is that any and every sorrow we might face in this world will have an expiration date. This was something that Jesus knew.

Jesus experienced the weeping of the cross, but he also looked forward to the joy of the resurrection. We see this in Hebrews chapter 12, where the writer tells us that Jesus, the founder and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. The joy that was set before Jesus at the cross was a fruit of what he had accomplished.

The bride he’d come and bled to redeem. Jesus redeems himself a people to a place where there will be no more mourning, no more death, no more crying, no more pain, for all those former things will have passed away. A place where temporary tears will be replaced with everlasting joy, when our faith will be turned to sight.

Allow me to pause for a moment to speak to those who may not be following Jesus this morning. It’s great to have you here, whether you’ve been here for a while or it’s your first time here. It’s great to have you here and hope that you feel welcome.

But have you ever considered the sorrows of Jesus for the sake of sinners, to give you abundant life? Have you considered his joy for those he saves? This is the Jesus who longs that you would turn to him in tears of repentance, to experience his joy, a joy that will last forever. And for those of us who are already part of his church, we know something of that joy now. But let’s also remember another way this harvest imagery applies.

Jesus has commissioned his people to be involved in the harvest field of evangelism. At the end of Matthew chapter nine, Jesus spoke of how there are many people who will gladly receive the message of the gospel, but don’t have the opportunity to do so because of there being so few laborers. Sometimes we can easily become disheartened when we look across the landscape of Scotland, looking at the state of the church.

And it could seem as though our church’s best days are long gone. Scotland that was once known as the land of the book by the nations of the world. But today it seems like one of the world leaders in secularism.

Or even take the city of Glasgow that once had the motto, let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of his word and the praising of his name. But today it seems so far moved from the motto it once celebrated. We can become easily discouraged or pessimistic and can often feel like our painful labors for the gospel are in vain.

It often seems that we’re scattering the seeds of the gospel onto nothing but dry ground. But in the parable of the sower, Jesus taught that on that final day, there will be an abundance of fruit to be harvested. For us today, we ought to be those who keep persevering as we sow, even through tears, because one day there will be a great harvest.

We ought to be those who persevere in our own desert days. Keep plugging away as you seek to live and speak for Jesus, wherever he’s placed you, wherever your lot might be right now. Let us be those who take Jesus at his word to fuel our evangelism in this age.

And let us not be those who give up or negotiate the gospel for other people. For people’s eternity is our sake. Brothers and sisters, the same God that these Israelites cried out to is the same God that has done great things for us through the person and work of his son, Jesus Christ.

Remember and rejoice. Shortly, we’ll have an opportunity to do that this morning, to take time to remember the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. As you take the bread and take the cup, why not use that as an opportunity to pause to give thanks to who God is and what he has done for you? And don’t just be thrilled by the past.

If God has done great things in the past, he can do so again in the future. Nothing is too hard for him to do in your personal life, in our church, and in our nation. God will one day again restore the fortunes of his destitute people, where tears will be replaced with shouts of joy until we reach that new Jerusalem.

Let’s keep persevering and keep pleading till that day when our joy will be full.

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