As Psalm 126 consists of just 6 verses, I was not anticipating a deep message to spurt forth from this short chapter. However, the last two verses made me really think. In my faith journal I was looking for three things that stood out to me from this chapter. I wrote down: (1) sow/reap, (2) tears/joy, and (3) seed.
The psalmist prayed for God to change the miserable situation he and his people were facing. The people were in agony and in bondage of some sort. The psalmist used a beautiful simile to ask God to free his people from their situation and bring them to a place of having joy and blessings. I have read and heard preachings on verse 5 in the past and understood the general message of, "When you are God's child and you cry, you should not lose hope because your situation is only temporary. Later you will experience peace." This can generally be true. However, I didn't really see verse 6 where the psalmist talks about "precious seed". That made me wonder, maybe its not the tears themselves that are intrinsically precious, but the type of tears we shed, that makes them precious.
My shift in thinking started to make sense to me because the psalmist compared our tears to seed and seeds can be fruitful or unfruitful. I started to think about the world and how pain, anguish, and even bondage is a universal experience - its a part of life that no one is immune to. Tears are a part of life, but not every person/ believer that cries can hold on to the promise that their tears will be temporary. Only those with precious tears can have an expectation of future joy.
So what is precious to God? Going with the farming simile, the precious seeds are the ones that will be fruitful because they have a promise of life within them. Tears that are shed and sown by those believing and trusting in the truth of God are the tears that are filled with life. Those tears are precious and can have an expectation of joy. Seeds that are inert with no promise of life are not precious because death lives within them.
Are we holding on to God's truth and believing in his word? Are we being renewed and filled with his Holy Spirit? When we show God the trust we have in him despite the pain we face, we can have an expectation, just like the psalmist, that God will convert our situation into a better one. As I write this, I am reflecting on Alice Johnson, the woman whose incarceration was noticed by celebrities and whose life sentence was commuted by the President. Though her situation was dire, Alice did not lose hope. She immersed herself in God's Word and became a minister to her fellow prisoners. Her tears were sown and she trusted in God. She came to a place where she was spiritually free, and now she is reaping her expectation as she is physically free!
Let's remember that our seed matters. Our seeds of doubt will not be fruitful. Our seeds of anger and vengeance will not be fruitful. Our seeds of self-destruction and worry will not be fruitful. As you face problems, let your seeds be full of hope in God. This will be precious to God and bring forth your expectation of joy.
The psalmist prayed for God to change the miserable situation he and his people were facing. The people were in agony and in bondage of some sort. The psalmist used a beautiful simile to ask God to free his people from their situation and bring them to a place of having joy and blessings. I have read and heard preachings on verse 5 in the past and understood the general message of, "When you are God's child and you cry, you should not lose hope because your situation is only temporary. Later you will experience peace." This can generally be true. However, I didn't really see verse 6 where the psalmist talks about "precious seed". That made me wonder, maybe its not the tears themselves that are intrinsically precious, but the type of tears we shed, that makes them precious.
My shift in thinking started to make sense to me because the psalmist compared our tears to seed and seeds can be fruitful or unfruitful. I started to think about the world and how pain, anguish, and even bondage is a universal experience - its a part of life that no one is immune to. Tears are a part of life, but not every person/ believer that cries can hold on to the promise that their tears will be temporary. Only those with precious tears can have an expectation of future joy.
So what is precious to God? Going with the farming simile, the precious seeds are the ones that will be fruitful because they have a promise of life within them. Tears that are shed and sown by those believing and trusting in the truth of God are the tears that are filled with life. Those tears are precious and can have an expectation of joy. Seeds that are inert with no promise of life are not precious because death lives within them.
Are we holding on to God's truth and believing in his word? Are we being renewed and filled with his Holy Spirit? When we show God the trust we have in him despite the pain we face, we can have an expectation, just like the psalmist, that God will convert our situation into a better one. As I write this, I am reflecting on Alice Johnson, the woman whose incarceration was noticed by celebrities and whose life sentence was commuted by the President. Though her situation was dire, Alice did not lose hope. She immersed herself in God's Word and became a minister to her fellow prisoners. Her tears were sown and she trusted in God. She came to a place where she was spiritually free, and now she is reaping her expectation as she is physically free!
Let's remember that our seed matters. Our seeds of doubt will not be fruitful. Our seeds of anger and vengeance will not be fruitful. Our seeds of self-destruction and worry will not be fruitful. As you face problems, let your seeds be full of hope in God. This will be precious to God and bring forth your expectation of joy.
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