Psalm 126
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with 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 Psalm opens with the memory of what it was like for the Jews to return to their land from the exile to Babylon: "We were like those who dreamed... Our mouths were filled with laughter... our tongues with songs of joy..." Can you imagine what that must have been like? To be exiled from your home country as a small child? All of those years of waiting and longing. All those years of straining to remember what Jerusalem was like? Of having to live in a foreign nation and speak a foreign language?
You couldn't worship your God in the Temple like you did in your youth. You were forced to worship God in new ways you were not used to. In your homes instead of in large gatherings.
Then one day it is all reversed. You receive news that the Persian Emperor, Cyrus, has defeated the Babylonian Emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, in battle. And he has just decreed that all exiled peoples are free to return to their homelands and rebuild. Imagine being part of that caravan as it makes its way from Babylon back to Jerusalem. Now you are an old man or woman and you are seeing sights you've not seen since childhood. Imagine the joy! The laughter! The delirious dream-like state they must be in as they march into Jerusalem!
Now imagine it is several generations later. You are living in Jerusalem and life is hard. The Greeks have now conquered the Persians. They allow you to keep your land but not to rule it. You are taxed mercilessly by foreigners. You receive news that the Greek King Antiochus IV has had the priests in the temple slaughtered and built a statue to Zeus in the Holy of Holies. It is now illegal to practice our religion.
Just like that, you are back to worshiping God in secret... in your homes.
As you worship, you begin to discuss a new exciting idea. This idea that maybe the exile never really ended. All those prophecies in Isaiah about a path being made straight in the wilderness and the tribes of Israel returning to the Mountain of the Lord. Maybe those are prophecies about the future, not the past. You begin to believe that the exile will not really be over until David's descendant sits once again on the throne in Israel. It won't be over until the Messiah comes!
At the same time the Psalm acknowledges what God did for the returning Exiles, it calls out once more to God for another rescue.
"Restore our fortunes, Lord, Like streams in the Negev."
Like many desert regions, Israel only has two seasons. April through October is Summer. The sun is hot and there is very little rain. Then, October through March, it is Winter. During the winter months it cools down and rain begins to fall again. It begins with showers in the first month and then periodic heavy rainfall through the rest of winter.
Throughout the Negev Desert there are these dry water gulches called 'wadis'. During the Summer months they are barren: long scars in the hard earth. But during the winter months the wadis fill up with water and become living streams in the wilderness. These wadis are an ever present reminder of God's faithfulness-- that he is once more sending rain upon the earth to refresh the land and cause crops to grow.
The life of God's people is marked by dry and rainy seasons. There are times we experience refreshing showers and cool air. Living water is visible and available to all. We know laughter and joy and songs of praise come naturally to us. There are other times that are dry and parched. When we have to imagine the streams and trust that they will return. Times we have to hunker down and hope.
Our years are marked by these seasons... Our lives have been marked by these seasons... Our centuries as a Church have been marked by these seasons... We are called to joy and gratitude in the cool of winter and to trust and obedience in the heat of summer. And through it all, we are called to remember that God has been faithful, he is faithful, and he will always be faithful. That "those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them."
As cool air begins to give way to heat, no one really knows how long this summer will last. No one knows how long we will be worshipping in our homes. No one knows whether our fortunes will be reversed gradually or suddenly over night. But we know this: God is faithful. He always has been and he always will be. The streams WILL reappear. Our mourning WILL be changed into laughter. And we WILL sing together songs of joy.
Lord, We know there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Help us to trust and believe in your faithfulness in all times. Amen.
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