Word Live: Reaping The Rewards
Have you faced disappointments when hard work for God doesn’t seem to be bearing fruit, or prayers are not answered as you had hoped? Bring to God those disappointments.
Bible passage
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.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
Today’s psalm begins on a high: the Israelites’ prayers were answered (vs 1–3). Released from long years of captivity in Babylon, they were finally returning home. How amazing that must have felt! But once there, they had to restore their homeland, which had been devastated by war and neglect. This would be a long slog and they would not see the full results of their toil for many years.
Like the psalmist, we experience times when God does great things in our lives and we feel blessed. However, as this psalm also shows, following God is not always easy. There are times when nothing much seems to be happening, even though we are faithfully serving him. This does not mean God is displeased with us, though. As we keep on trusting God – even when he seems distant, or we see few results from our efforts – our perseverance will bear fruit, just as a sower’s perseverance does (v 6). All the back-breaking digging, sowing, weeding and watering that the sowers do doesn’t produce fruit immediately, but when the time is right, they reap the benefits. Be encouraged! Keep going – and you will too.
Author
Caroline Fletcher
Respond
One fruit which perseverance often develops in us is growth in our character (see Romans 5:3–5). Can you think of any ways in which you have grown more Christ-like through tough times?
Deeper Bible study
‘Great is thy faithfulness! / Great is thy faithfulness! / Morning by morning new mercies I see’.1
The psalmist is in a bad way – verse 4 is the clue. For him and his people it is a time of misfortune. The context is not given, but we can all identify with the situation. What does he do? Answer: he dreams about the good times. Since the psalm is written to be sung as worshippers approach the Temple in Jerusalem, he dreams of released captives returning to the city from exile. They could hardly believe their good fortune. They laughed and sang as they returned to their homes, acknowledging what the Lord had done for them.
I find that, before asking God for any request, any answer, any mediation, it’s a good plan for me to remind myself of what God has already done for me and for those for whom I pray. It may be an answer to prayer within the past 24 hours, or earlier this week. It may be that I go back over the years of his faithful forgiveness, guidance, healing and teaching. With that resulting picture of God before me I’m more able to pray with confidence and faith. He will restore my fortunes and the fortunes of those I bring to him because he has done so in the past. So, as the psalmist and other worshippers approach the Temple, there is encouragement to look, not at today’s tears and weeping, but forward to what God will do – and songs of joy will erupt.
It’s important to note, however, that those who weep are nevertheless active, ‘carrying seed to sow’ (v 6), rather than sinking into a depressive torpor. If we can have faith and confidence for the resulting harvest, then pretty soon God will show us the involvement he wishes us to have.
Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and only then Supplication (requests): ACTS. Use this mnemonic as a structure for your daily prayer this week.
1 Thomas Obadiah Chisholm, 1866–1960, ‘Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father’
Author
Brian Radcliffe
