Psalm 126

A song of ascents.
1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
2 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.”
3 The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
4 Restore our fortunes,LORD,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.

Key Verse:
3 The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.

Key Observation:
McGee: “The remnant of Israel that returned to their land after the Babylonian captivity does not exhaust the meaning of this psalm. It also looks forward to their national restoration when their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, returns.”

McGee, J. Vernon (1990-01-30). Thru the Bible 1-5 (5 Volume Set) (Kindle Locations 51257-51258). Grupo Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Memory Verse:
6 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.

Devotion:
This psalm also speaks of the millennium; of course it is a lament for the captivity, and looked forward to the restoration. How much more it looks to the faithfulness of God. Notice the last verse, sometimes sung and spoken about by Christians but a promise to the Jews. “Those who go out weeping carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.”

Now the Jews of today are a peculiar people. Counting for less than 3 percent of the people of the world, they earn more than a third of the Nobel prizes. Intelligent they are, and that is one blessing they have seemed to retain from God. But when they rejected their king, they subjected themselves to blindness, a blindness that Paul tells us in Romans “will remain until the time of the Gentiles is complete”. I am told that as a group, today’s Jewish people have more atheists than any other group in the world. They remain blind until the time of the Gentiles is complete. Their hearts seem intractable, and as we look at their terribly hard history, understanding on our part becomes easy.

Nonetheless, their hearts shall be turned: “In the whole land,” declares the Lord; “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, “They are my people,” an they will say, “The Lord is our God.” (Zechariah 13) “On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12) There are, of course, many scriptures which allude to this regathering of Israel.

I have a friend who, growing up in New York, has many Jewish friends. He looks at his friends, sees their hard hearts, and comments to me that he does not see them changing their beliefs. Whether my friend believes God or not, God will accomplish every bit that he has said, down to the smallest of prophecies. In that day, their hearts shall be like putty in the hands of God. He will change their hearts: “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written; The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (Romans 11) So we see even Paul teaches that one day soon, the Israelites will be turned yet again, and they will worship their Redeemer and their Savior.

Bringing in the Sheaves

1. Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

2. Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither clouds nor winter's chilling breeze;
By and by the harvest and the labor ended,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

3. Go then, ever weeping, sowing for the Master,
Tho' the loss sustained our spirit often grieves.
When our weeping's over, He will bid us welcome;
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Chorus:
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Lyrics: Knowles Shaw