Psalm 126 (NRSV) A Harvest of Joy.
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter
and our tongue with shouts 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 rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Devotion
Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy.
I was introduced to Psalm 126 at a worship service in seminary. It was the musical setting that struck me. It was a contemporary setting, and it reminded me that psalms were originally set to music as part of worship. We sing psalms less often; however, when we read psalms closely, we begin to hear to their music and rhythms. We also hear how the people of God have always had the same desires, sorrows, questions, hopes, and dreams that we do. Hearing the sung version of Psalm 126 that day has allowed me to hold it close and to hear it more deeply.
Psalm 126 is short, but it gives an evocative picture of a people working the land—sowing, reaping, bearing, carrying. The reapers acknowledge all that is hard, while also rejoicing in all that was good, and they live in the hope that all will be restored to goodness again. It is like our Christian hope in Lent. We know where we must go, but we trust in what is on the other side of the cross – resurrection and restoration. Forever.
In the musical setting I heard that day the artist paraphrases and reorders the psalm without losing its meaning and intention. It reminds us to hope and praise in the midst of darkness.
Prayer
O Lord, let all those who sow weeping, go out with songs of joy. Amen.
Peter Manning