START WITH SCRIPTURE:
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OBSERVE:
A Psalm of Ascent was typically sung by worshippers as they approached and climbed the hill and/or stairs at the temple in Jerusalem. The tone of this particular Psalm suggests a great sense of joy.
What’s interesting about this Psalm is that the language speaks of restoration and joy after a period of tears and grief. It seems very likely, even on a superficial reading, that this Psalm reflects a post-exilic context.
Those who wept and mourned now laugh and sing; they are restored to the temple from which they had been exiled; moreover, they return with songs of joy.
Even the “nations” take note that
The Lord has done great things for them.
Remember that the nations in Hebrew is goyim, also known as Gentiles. The Jews had been exiles in Babylon, which became the Persian Empire, for more than 50 years. So the Gentile nations under which they had been oppressed, as well as other nations, took notice of their liberation!
The reference to streams in the Negev may be an historical allusion to the wandering of the Israelites nearly a thousand years earlier. The Negev is the dry desert in the southern regions of Israel. Streams in the desert would be welcome indeed!
They carry their sheaves with them because it is a festive day. It was quite common on feast days like the feast of Tabernacles, etc., to cut off palm branches or willows and wave them as a sign of celebration. Note that this is how the crowds in Jerusalem heralded Jesus when he rode into Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover week.
APPLY:
Only those who have been in bondage can fully appreciate the transformation from grief and tears to joy and laughter.
I think of accounts I’ve read of the masses of slaves who followed the Union armies during the Civil War, or who greeted Abraham Lincoln when he visited Richmond, Virginia after the surrender of the Confederacy. Or of film I’ve seen of Holocaust survivors as their camps were liberated by American G.I.’s. Those folks could certainly have understood Psalm 126!
Can we? Certainly. As a friend of mine pointed out years ago when someone spoke derogatorily of the wealthy members of a mega church, “Even rich people are in bondage without Jesus.”
We all can identify with the sense of joy that comes when we have been delivered from addictions, depression, disease, and guilt.
RESPOND:
May I never lose the sense of joy that comes from the knowledge that I have been restored and returned to God through Jesus Christ. May I never take that liberation for granted.
Our Lord, fill my heart with the joy of knowing that you have restored and returned me to your side. May my worship and praise of your mighty deeds be unselfconscious and unrestrained! Amen.
PHOTOS:
“Psalm 126:3″ by EvelynGiggles is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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