Sowing in Tears-Reaping in Joy Psalm 126
I will be focusing on Psalm 126 over coming weeks for a class on March 19th - these will be working notes, so please feel free as usual to add your comments.
Psalm 126 proclaims God as the One who brings good out of evil. God is the God of hope, for the future lies in his hands. God can resurrect what is past and can give renewal and life to his faithful people. Also, every calamity can be a sowing time if, remembering God's past goodness, we have patience to await his season.
In this sense there are similarities between Psalm 126 and the book of Joel.
In addition to references about "restoring the fortunes" (Ps 126:1, 4; Joel 3:1), Joel moves from articulation of need (1:2-2:17) to the promise of God's response (2:18-3:21).
Joel 1:2–20 compared with Joel 2:21–27 "Restoring Judah fortunes"
Elders are to remember, mourn, and tell the story for generations to come (Joel 1:2–3)
People will have plenty and will praise and never again be shamed (Joel 2:26–27)
The four locust swarms eat everything (Joel 1:4)
People are repaid for the damage of the four locust swarms (Joel 2:25)
Wine is gone and oil fails (Joel 1:5, 10)
Wine and oil restored (Joel 2:24)
Grain depleted and granaries ruined (Joel 1:10–11, 17)
Grain restored and threshing floors full (Joel 2:4)
Trees are stripped bare (Joel 1:12, 19)
Trees bear fruit (Joel 2:22)
Animals dying (Joel 1:18, 20)
Animals have pasture (Joel 2:22)
Land “burned up” (Joel 1:19–20)
Land “not afraid” (Joel 2:21)
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount echoes Psalm 126:5-6:
"Blessed are those who mourn" (Matt 5:4).
Even more directly, Jesus speaks about sowing, death, resurrection, and fruit-bearing:
"[If] a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, … it bears much fruit" (John 12:24-25), or tells of rejoicing following weeping (John 16:20).
Paul also refers to sowing in speaking about death and resurrection (1 Cor 15:35-38, 42-44).
Job is also a good example of one having his fortunes
"restored the fortunes". The same phrase has the general sense of restoring of fortunes (and/or healing of diseases) in Job 42:10, where the blessings include, incidentally, long life and many children (cp Psa 127:3; Psa 128:3; Psa 128:6)!
Psalm 126
A song of ascents.
126 When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion,
we thought we were dreaming.
2 At that time we laughed loudly
and shouted for joy.
At that time the nations said,
“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”
3 The Lord did indeed accomplish great things for us.
We were happy.
4 O Lord, restore our well-being,
just as the streams in the arid south are replenished.
5 Those who shed tears as they plant
will shout for joy when they reap the harvest.
6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag of seed,
will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain.
The timing of Joels prophecy was preexilic with Psalm 126 post exilic.
We know the following:
1.A nation innumerable and powerful had come up upon the nation upon the land of Judah (Joel 1:6; 2:3-6; 2:20) from the north it was like wave upon wave.
2.Jewish sun and moon darkened as a result of the forces Joel 2:20
3.The Temple was still in operation Joel 2:13-14 but their services were in decline Joel 1:9,16
4.The land was experiencing severe famine and drought Joel 1:9-10,17,18,20
5.The people way of living was hypocritical and not in accordance to their faith.
6.Their impending captivity would one day be reversed Joel 3:1
7.This invasion by a northern army in chapter 2 will take place at a future time in chapter 3.
8.Edom and Egpyt will be judged for their treatment of Judah's people. Joel 3:5-6.19 and Joel 3:19
9.Kings such as Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedikiah all witnessed swarms of armies coming into the land 2 Kings 24 & 2 Kings 25. Jeremiah 1:13-16 like a lion Jeremiah 50:17 and a hoard of locusts Jeremiah 5:15-17
10.Priests stained with blood and Zedikiah taken captive. 2 Chron 36:17-20
11.The declining priescthood can be read in Ezek 8
12.Draught and famine Jeremiah 14:1-12
13.Hypocrisy Jeremiah 7:1-11 Jer 4:14
14.Sacking of the temple began in Jehoikiams reign and ended in Zedekiah 2 Chron 36:7-16 Edom treachery Ezek 35:5-6 – Egypt help destroy Judah 2 Chron 36:1-4
No other minor prophet takes us so far into the future as Joel – whereas Amos is dealing with prophecies mainly to do with Israel and her neighbors and closes with the restoration of Israel. Joel deals with those coming judgments upon Judah, that takes us prophetically right into the Kingdom age.
Most of what is written by Joel has never taken place in Israel’s history:
So here are some facts:
1. Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the LORD is about to come. Indeed, it is near! A great Day of Yahweh coming and it was nigh at hand – it is near! And this was the day Judah’s commonwealth would come to an end. It’s also important you should know that Judah alone is mentioned in these prophecies – though Israel would have witnessed these events, nowhere in the book is Israel directly mentioned. So we are speaking of Judah and Jerusalem the destruction of the temple and all that went with its demise.
2. Joel 1:6 For a nation has invaded our land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. Their teeth are like those of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness. So we are speaking of a nation which is innumerable and very powerful and whose symbol was the Lion. Clearly Babylon as was experienced later through Daniel.
The temple worship was winding down Joel 1:9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of the LORD anymore. So the priests, those who serve the LORD, are in mourning. AND Joel 1:16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes!
There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God!
So the Temple is in operation but the services are winding down. We also know the wall of the city were still standing. They were practicing idolatry between the porch and the altar.
Joel 2:17. Between the temple porch and the altar. The area between the porch and the altar is a place of limited access. Only the priest would have reason to proceed beyond the altar toward the temple. But it was also used to stage important public acts. In Ezekiel 8:16 this is the area where syncretistic sun worship was being carried out by twenty-five men. In 2 Chron 24:21 this is the area in which the prophet Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, was stoned to death (see Mt 23:35).
1:10 The crops of the fields have been destroyed. The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished. The fresh wine has dried up; the olive oil languishes.
So the land is in a terrible famine at the time of this prophecy. Jer 14:1,2
14:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah1 about the drought. 14:2 “The people of Judah are in mourning. The people in her cities are pining away. They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow. Cries of distress come up to me from Jerusalem.
A great drought plague the land during this time of Jeremiah and Joel and rightly so as it only reflected the state and bareness of the people just before the exile into Babylon.
The similarities between Zephaniah and Joel are also worth considering as they paint a picture of this time and the judgements which here coming on Judah. They could have prophesies simultaneously as Judah spiralled down and down until its day of captivity.
So it’s a picture of impending distress:
• A strong, lion-like power would invade (Joel 1:6).
• The Temple in Jerusalem still existed (Joel 2:13,14) and its services were taking place, but they were either beginning to decline, or prophetically would do so in the near future (Joel 1:9,16).
• The people were wayward and hypocritical. The plea to turn to the LORD their God, rending their hearts and not their garments (Joel 2:12,13), implies outward piety alone –reformation within was urgently needed.
• There was famine (Joel 1:9,10,17) and drought (Joel 1:18,20).
• All these factors point to a time near to the end of the state of Judah.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sowing in Tears-Reaping in Joy Psalm 126
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ
There can be no reasonable doubt as to the occasion on which psalm 126 was composed, and as we delve into its depths I am sure we will find it to be most likely sung by the retuning captives who went up to Jerusalem. Was it composed before their captivity and intended to be kept in remembrance? I do not know.
It may also have been written soon after their return. The unknown author speaks as being one of them being able to describe the feelings of those people who were in exile. The author was no doubt with his people in their suffering and he clearly return to the land - verse 1 & 2 clearly indicate his empathy.
126:1 When the LORD restored the well-being of Zion,1
we thought we were dreaming.2
126:2 At that time we laughed loudly and shouted for joy.3
The author was looking at these people and no doubt sharing in their experience he likened them to “dreamers”. And what type of dreaming are we speaking about? Well Verse 3 implies
126:3 The LORD did indeed accomplish great things for us.
We were happy.
So keeping this rather simple the people here “were like dreamers”, such was their joy and gladness of heart they walked around in a state of ecstatic joy. Come over with me to Isa 29:7-8 where we get the idea of dreaming.
29:7 It will be like a dream, a night vision.
There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel, (meaning Jerusalem) mean “lion of God” and others “hearth of God
those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.
29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,
only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty.
It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,
only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched.
So it will be for the horde from all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
Whereas here the people are caught fantasizing about pleasurable experiences in their sleep, the reality of Psalm 126 is they are consciously awake experiencing dream like conditions.
This is a community who have experienced Gods renewed favour which is comparable to a prophet receiving divine visions such is the awe and wonder of their circumstances.
Now some of the older manuscripts translate verse 1 with a slight change but as we explore this Psalm the importance of which will soon appear.
“We were like those restored to health.”¹
Zion was very sick and its population in very poor health.
Certainly the language is pointing us to a particular time in Israel and Judah history where they suffered tremendously for their sins and neglecting of the covenant.
Notice verse 4?
126:4 O Lord, restore our well-being,
just as the streams in the arid south are replenished.5
The Hebrew “like the streams in the Negev.”
These usually dry wadis collect water on rainy days from vast areas. The situation is also aggravated by floods from the desert mountains and southern Judah. For a day or two or, more frequently, for only a few hours they turn into dangerous torrents.
It is evident from Psalm 126:5 there was still some trouble—something that might be called a “captivity,”— from which the psalmist prays that they might be delivered; and the object of the psalm would seem to be in part, in that trial to find encouragement from the former interposition of God in their case.
As Yahweh had “turned the captivity of Zion,” as He had filled their “mouth with laughter,” so the psalmist prays that He would again interpose in similar circumstances, and renew His goodness. It is, of course, now impossible to determine precisely to what this refers. It may be a portion of the people remained in exile; or it may be to some other captivity or danger to which they were exposed after their return.
The psalmist, however, expresses entire confidence that there would be such interposition, and that, though then in trouble, they would have joy, such as the farmer has who goes forth sowing his seed with weeping, and who comes with joy in the harvest, bearing his sheaves with him
I will be focusing on Psalm 126 over coming weeks for a class on March 19th - these will be working notes, so please feel free as usual to add your comments.
Psalm 126 proclaims God as the One who brings good out of evil. God is the God of hope, for the future lies in his hands. God can resurrect what is past and can give renewal and life to his faithful people. Also, every calamity can be a sowing time if, remembering God's past goodness, we have patience to await his season.
In this sense there are similarities between Psalm 126 and the book of Joel.
In addition to references about "restoring the fortunes" (Ps 126:1, 4; Joel 3:1), Joel moves from articulation of need (1:2-2:17) to the promise of God's response (2:18-3:21).
Joel 1:2–20 compared with Joel 2:21–27 "Restoring Judah fortunes"
Elders are to remember, mourn, and tell the story for generations to come (Joel 1:2–3)
People will have plenty and will praise and never again be shamed (Joel 2:26–27)
The four locust swarms eat everything (Joel 1:4)
People are repaid for the damage of the four locust swarms (Joel 2:25)
Wine is gone and oil fails (Joel 1:5, 10)
Wine and oil restored (Joel 2:24)
Grain depleted and granaries ruined (Joel 1:10–11, 17)
Grain restored and threshing floors full (Joel 2:4)
Trees are stripped bare (Joel 1:12, 19)
Trees bear fruit (Joel 2:22)
Animals dying (Joel 1:18, 20)
Animals have pasture (Joel 2:22)
Land “burned up” (Joel 1:19–20)
Land “not afraid” (Joel 2:21)
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount echoes Psalm 126:5-6:
"Blessed are those who mourn" (Matt 5:4).
Even more directly, Jesus speaks about sowing, death, resurrection, and fruit-bearing:
"[If] a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, … it bears much fruit" (John 12:24-25), or tells of rejoicing following weeping (John 16:20).
Paul also refers to sowing in speaking about death and resurrection (1 Cor 15:35-38, 42-44).
Job is also a good example of one having his fortunes
"restored the fortunes". The same phrase has the general sense of restoring of fortunes (and/or healing of diseases) in Job 42:10, where the blessings include, incidentally, long life and many children (cp Psa 127:3; Psa 128:3; Psa 128:6)!
Psalm 126
A song of ascents.
126 When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion,
we thought we were dreaming.
2 At that time we laughed loudly
and shouted for joy.
At that time the nations said,
“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”
3 The Lord did indeed accomplish great things for us.
We were happy.
4 O Lord, restore our well-being,
just as the streams in the arid south are replenished.
5 Those who shed tears as they plant
will shout for joy when they reap the harvest.
6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag of seed,
will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain.
The timing of Joels prophecy was preexilic with Psalm 126 post exilic.
We know the following:
1.A nation innumerable and powerful had come up upon the nation upon the land of Judah (Joel 1:6; 2:3-6; 2:20) from the north it was like wave upon wave.
2.Jewish sun and moon darkened as a result of the forces Joel 2:20
3.The Temple was still in operation Joel 2:13-14 but their services were in decline Joel 1:9,16
4.The land was experiencing severe famine and drought Joel 1:9-10,17,18,20
5.The people way of living was hypocritical and not in accordance to their faith.
6.Their impending captivity would one day be reversed Joel 3:1
7.This invasion by a northern army in chapter 2 will take place at a future time in chapter 3.
8.Edom and Egpyt will be judged for their treatment of Judah's people. Joel 3:5-6.19 and Joel 3:19
9.Kings such as Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedikiah all witnessed swarms of armies coming into the land 2 Kings 24 & 2 Kings 25. Jeremiah 1:13-16 like a lion Jeremiah 50:17 and a hoard of locusts Jeremiah 5:15-17
10.Priests stained with blood and Zedikiah taken captive. 2 Chron 36:17-20
11.The declining priescthood can be read in Ezek 8
12.Draught and famine Jeremiah 14:1-12
13.Hypocrisy Jeremiah 7:1-11 Jer 4:14
14.Sacking of the temple began in Jehoikiams reign and ended in Zedekiah 2 Chron 36:7-16 Edom treachery Ezek 35:5-6 – Egypt help destroy Judah 2 Chron 36:1-4
No other minor prophet takes us so far into the future as Joel – whereas Amos is dealing with prophecies mainly to do with Israel and her neighbors and closes with the restoration of Israel. Joel deals with those coming judgments upon Judah, that takes us prophetically right into the Kingdom age.
Most of what is written by Joel has never taken place in Israel’s history:
So here are some facts:
1. Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the LORD is about to come. Indeed, it is near! A great Day of Yahweh coming and it was nigh at hand – it is near! And this was the day Judah’s commonwealth would come to an end. It’s also important you should know that Judah alone is mentioned in these prophecies – though Israel would have witnessed these events, nowhere in the book is Israel directly mentioned. So we are speaking of Judah and Jerusalem the destruction of the temple and all that went with its demise.
2. Joel 1:6 For a nation has invaded our land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. Their teeth are like those of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness. So we are speaking of a nation which is innumerable and very powerful and whose symbol was the Lion. Clearly Babylon as was experienced later through Daniel.
The temple worship was winding down Joel 1:9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of the LORD anymore. So the priests, those who serve the LORD, are in mourning. AND Joel 1:16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes!
There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God!
So the Temple is in operation but the services are winding down. We also know the wall of the city were still standing. They were practicing idolatry between the porch and the altar.
Joel 2:17. Between the temple porch and the altar. The area between the porch and the altar is a place of limited access. Only the priest would have reason to proceed beyond the altar toward the temple. But it was also used to stage important public acts. In Ezekiel 8:16 this is the area where syncretistic sun worship was being carried out by twenty-five men. In 2 Chron 24:21 this is the area in which the prophet Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, was stoned to death (see Mt 23:35).
1:10 The crops of the fields have been destroyed. The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished. The fresh wine has dried up; the olive oil languishes.
So the land is in a terrible famine at the time of this prophecy. Jer 14:1,2
14:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah1 about the drought. 14:2 “The people of Judah are in mourning. The people in her cities are pining away. They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow. Cries of distress come up to me from Jerusalem.
A great drought plague the land during this time of Jeremiah and Joel and rightly so as it only reflected the state and bareness of the people just before the exile into Babylon.
The similarities between Zephaniah and Joel are also worth considering as they paint a picture of this time and the judgements which here coming on Judah. They could have prophesies simultaneously as Judah spiralled down and down until its day of captivity.
So it’s a picture of impending distress:
• A strong, lion-like power would invade (Joel 1:6).
• The Temple in Jerusalem still existed (Joel 2:13,14) and its services were taking place, but they were either beginning to decline, or prophetically would do so in the near future (Joel 1:9,16).
• The people were wayward and hypocritical. The plea to turn to the LORD their God, rending their hearts and not their garments (Joel 2:12,13), implies outward piety alone –reformation within was urgently needed.
• There was famine (Joel 1:9,10,17) and drought (Joel 1:18,20).
• All these factors point to a time near to the end of the state of Judah.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sowing in Tears-Reaping in Joy Psalm 126
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ
There can be no reasonable doubt as to the occasion on which psalm 126 was composed, and as we delve into its depths I am sure we will find it to be most likely sung by the retuning captives who went up to Jerusalem. Was it composed before their captivity and intended to be kept in remembrance? I do not know.
It may also have been written soon after their return. The unknown author speaks as being one of them being able to describe the feelings of those people who were in exile. The author was no doubt with his people in their suffering and he clearly return to the land - verse 1 & 2 clearly indicate his empathy.
126:1 When the LORD restored the well-being of Zion,1
we thought we were dreaming.2
126:2 At that time we laughed loudly and shouted for joy.3
The author was looking at these people and no doubt sharing in their experience he likened them to “dreamers”. And what type of dreaming are we speaking about? Well Verse 3 implies
126:3 The LORD did indeed accomplish great things for us.
We were happy.
So keeping this rather simple the people here “were like dreamers”, such was their joy and gladness of heart they walked around in a state of ecstatic joy. Come over with me to Isa 29:7-8 where we get the idea of dreaming.
29:7 It will be like a dream, a night vision.
There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel, (meaning Jerusalem) mean “lion of God” and others “hearth of God
those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.
29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,
only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty.
It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,
only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched.
So it will be for the horde from all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
Whereas here the people are caught fantasizing about pleasurable experiences in their sleep, the reality of Psalm 126 is they are consciously awake experiencing dream like conditions.
This is a community who have experienced Gods renewed favour which is comparable to a prophet receiving divine visions such is the awe and wonder of their circumstances.
Now some of the older manuscripts translate verse 1 with a slight change but as we explore this Psalm the importance of which will soon appear.
“We were like those restored to health.”¹
Zion was very sick and its population in very poor health.
Certainly the language is pointing us to a particular time in Israel and Judah history where they suffered tremendously for their sins and neglecting of the covenant.
Notice verse 4?
126:4 O Lord, restore our well-being,
just as the streams in the arid south are replenished.5
The Hebrew “like the streams in the Negev.”
These usually dry wadis collect water on rainy days from vast areas. The situation is also aggravated by floods from the desert mountains and southern Judah. For a day or two or, more frequently, for only a few hours they turn into dangerous torrents.
It is evident from Psalm 126:5 there was still some trouble—something that might be called a “captivity,”— from which the psalmist prays that they might be delivered; and the object of the psalm would seem to be in part, in that trial to find encouragement from the former interposition of God in their case.
As Yahweh had “turned the captivity of Zion,” as He had filled their “mouth with laughter,” so the psalmist prays that He would again interpose in similar circumstances, and renew His goodness. It is, of course, now impossible to determine precisely to what this refers. It may be a portion of the people remained in exile; or it may be to some other captivity or danger to which they were exposed after their return.
The psalmist, however, expresses entire confidence that there would be such interposition, and that, though then in trouble, they would have joy, such as the farmer has who goes forth sowing his seed with weeping, and who comes with joy in the harvest, bearing his sheaves with him
"Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24).
