August 25th
Psalm 126
A song of degrees
Thanksgiving
for restoration
1:
When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them
that dream. 2:
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing:
then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for
them. 3:
The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. 4:
Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. 5:
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6:
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 127
A song of degrees of Solomon
True
security
1:
Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:
except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 2:
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread
of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. 3:
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb
is his reward. 4:
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the
youth. 5:
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be
ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Today we are
reading Psalms 126 & 127. Both of the Psalms are Psalms of the
degrees. Psalm 126 is the seventh Psalm in this series and it
describes Jehovah’s promised help. It is the first of the triplet
which describes the distress that the people of God faced and the
Lords deliverance. We read in 2Kings 19…
32:
Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He
shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. 33:
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not
come into this city, saith the LORD. 34:
For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for
my servant David's sake.
And in 2Chron
32…10:
Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye
abide in the siege in Jerusalem?... 15:
Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this
manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom
was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand
of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine
hand?... 17:
He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak
against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have
not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of
Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
Isa 36…20:
Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered
their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out
of my hand? 21:
But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the
king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. 22:
Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household,
and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to
Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of
Rabshakeh.
37v11:
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all
lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
So in this Psalm
the psalmist says, when the Lord delivered us from the siege of
Jerusalem it was like a dream come true. Then we burst out into
laughter and singing and the nations round about said The LORD has
done great things for them. But we said the LORD has done great
things for us, of which we are glad. Lord he said may our captivity
be turned into a torrent like the rivers of the desert. Lord we have
sown in tears, may we reap in joy. The sower goes out in tears
carrying precious seed in time of famine but if he sows he will
return in joy bringing back a great harvest. Psalm 127 is the eighth
Psalm of the songs of degrees. And it is written ‘for David’s
sake’. It was selected by Hezekiah to be the central Psalm of the
15.
2Kings 19…34:
For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for
my servant David's sake.
The city of
Jerusalem was saved for David’s sake because the Lord had promised
that David’s seed would remain and sit on his throne and David’s
successor was Solomon, the subject of this Psalm.
2 Kings 20…5:
Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith
the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I
have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou
shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. 6:
And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee
and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will
defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
The Psalmist says
that the building of David’s house was something that only the Lord
would be able to do. We are not talking about David’s physical
house. It’s not a building that we are reading of, but ‘The house
of David’ in terms of his children’s children, his descendants.
This comes out very clearly, in that Hezekiah had no heir. But the
Lord delivered him from this major stumbling block to the fulfilment
of the Covenant with David and gave him a son. Then he speaks of the
hopelessness of his situation and the trouble of mind it brought him
in long hours of waiting on the Lord and in fasting. The Lord gives
to those that he loves the rest, of knowing that the Lords concerns
are in his hands and that he does not sleep or forget. Then he says,
children
are my inheritance from the Lord and the Lord has rewarded me with
the fruit of the womb. Arrows in the hand of a mighty man are a great
resource and in the same way children are a great blessing. Blessed
is the man whose has many children, and he will not be ashamed,
because they will defend him against his opponents at the gate of the
city.
- How does the Psalmist describe the experience of Gods restoration of his people?
- How does the Psalmist describe the futility of human strength?
- Why does Joy follow weeping?
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