“He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:6 ESV
Reflection: have you ever felt the need to “take a shortcut”, even to give up, as the Christian walk is just too hard?
Sometimes God allows us to go through some difficulties that are very hard. A burden we have to carry; perhaps even a mission to complete. And, there is no quick way through, no getting out of it; the only way is “through it”. We may start to wonder, to question “Why me?”. Why do I have to carry this thing? We just want to be able to live a good life, to enjoy the many blessings of God that He pours out. If only we didn’t have this burden, we could really enjoy life. The burden only causes us tears and sorrow, and it prevents us from having the full joy, laughter and happiness, that we think we should have. The burden is a damper on everything. We pray for God to take this burden from us, so we once more can be happy, sing with joy, but He doesn’t. Does He not see our tears, our suffering, our heartache?
Psalm 126 provides a deep insight into the walk as a Christian. It starts out with the end, the result, of the faithful walk of a believer. “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 they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”” Psalm 126:1-2 ESV. We see here a translation of “restored the fortunes” of Zion which really means to be “freed from captivity”. This clearly carries imagery of past slavery, of exile as for the Israelites, and we can look at that, and parallel slavery with burdens. The deeper meaning here most likely is tied to the burdens most often caused by sin, which is relevant to all of us. You might think that is a stretch here in interpretation. But let’s read on for further context.
“The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.” Psalm 126:3 ESV. That sounds very similar to the previous v2, right? But there is an important distinction. Notice the shift from “for them” to “for us”. The psalmist is using how God freed the people of the past from slavery, from exile, as an image to what He is doing “for us” in the present and future. And, if we read a bit more in this short psalm, from the KJV “Turn again our captivity, O LORD, As the streams in the south.” Psalm 126:4 KJV. The psalmist is recognizing the larger burdens God’s people is carrying in the world, burdens as we follow the Lord. He then writes a verse that is often quoted and used by Christians all over the world, but often without context, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!” Psalm 126: 5 ESV. And, he continues with the focus verse of today “He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:6 ESV.
Here we have come to the main takeaway today, circling back to the burdens that we carry. While we like to talk about the promise of joy, we must also see the need to be faithful in our work, carrying the burdens the Lord has allowed. Because, we see that there is a step before the reaping of joy. A step that we have to do, ““He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,”. We have to still be faithful, carrying what God has put on us. Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote “Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be for ever comforted. When we mourn for our sins, or suffer for Christ’s sake, we are sowing in tears, to reap in joy. And remember that God is not mocked; for whatever a man soweth that shall he reap, Ga 6:7-9. Here, O disciple of Jesus, behold an emblem of thy present labour and future reward; the day is coming when thou shalt reap in joy, plentiful shall be thy harvest, and great shall be thy joy in the Lord.”
Perhaps one more point to ponder today. Who will reap with shouts of joy? Those who still plant their seeds, despite their mourning and tears.