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| A Study Through the Psalms |
Psalm 126: A Psalm of Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity
A Song of Ascents
1. When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
2. Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3. The Lord has done great things for us;
We are glad.
This Psalm 126:3 wall art is available here.
4. Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South.5. Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.6. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
The superscription for Psalm 126 means "Psalm of Ascent." There are 14 psalms of ascent. Psalms of ascent were traveling psalms.
If you are in a bad place in your life and you then your situation will never end, it will. Someday your circumstances will change. As we read through Psalm 126, you'll notice how quickly circumstances can change. In verse 2, the psalmist writes of laughter. In verse 5, the psalmist writes of sowing in tears.
Just like circumstances can quickly change from bad to good, circumstances can also quickly change from good to bad. No matter how wonderful things might seem right now, you will shed tears again. If you are in a season of sorrow right now, God can and will use your circumstances for His good. He can use them for your good too. Don't waste your sorrow. Allow God to use it.
What can we learn from Psalm 126?
1. There will be lots of tears in life.
Tears are OK. God gave us tear ducts for a reason. Tears can be joyful or sorrowful.
Don't make laughter the goal of your life because you can't laugh all the time. The Bible teaches us there there is a time to laugh and also a time to mourn. In fact, the Bible tells us that there is an appointed time for everything.
There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every event under heaven—
2 A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.3 A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.4 A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.8 A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace. - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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Jesus wept. - John 11:35When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it. - Luke 19:41In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. - Hebrews 5:7
Crying is part of being human.
2. There will be even more tears when you live the Christ centered life.
The more you get serious about following Jesus, you will weep more, not less. What does it mean to get serious about following Jesus? What does it mean to be saved? Learn more here.
When you get saved, you get a new heart. Of course, you don't get a physical new heart, but you get a new heart condition - a heart for the Lord. When Christ comes into your heart, your heart becomes tender. As Christ followers with new hearts, we will weep when we see evil and hurt around us. We will weep as we see millions being deceived by Satan and believing his lies.
Our sin should make us weep.
Don't avoid or suppress your tears. We learn in Psalm 126:5 that tears produce joy.
God is full of grace and deeply loves us.
Let's take a look at another Psalm. Let's read Psalm 139.
When you get saved, you get a new heart. Of course, you don't get a physical new heart, but you get a new heart condition - a heart for the Lord. When Christ comes into your heart, your heart becomes tender. As Christ followers with new hearts, we will weep when we see evil and hurt around us. We will weep as we see millions being deceived by Satan and believing his lies.
Our sin should make us weep.
Don't avoid or suppress your tears. We learn in Psalm 126:5 that tears produce joy.
God is full of grace and deeply loves us.
Let's take a look at another Psalm. Let's read Psalm 139.
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”12 Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.13 For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.20 For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way. - Psalm 139
God's heart is attracted to our tears. When we weep, he hears us. He loves us so much that he sent us a Redeemer and this world so desperately needs a Redeemer. You can tell Jesus anything and you can cry freely when you talk to Him.
Our world is broken and we should weep more. Our hearts should break over all that breaks the heart of God.
Tears are not forever for those of us who know Jesus - for those of us who have a relationship with Him, but for those who do not know Him, their tears will never end.
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| Psalm 126: God Loves You (Summer Playlist Series) |
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