Homeward bound! (or) Hope is all you need! Day 35 2x2

Please read Psalm 126

This psalm is an interesting psalm. Verses 1 to 3 are about good old times in Israel’s life. The psalmist writes, reminiscing the joyous times after God rescues the Israelites from their Babylonian captivity and brings them back to their land –a great time in the lives and history of the Israelites. Note the words used by the psalmist “fortunes” and “dream” in verse 1; “laughter” and “shouts of joy” in verse 2; and “great things” and “glad” in verse 3.  They are used to describe and remember good times past.

But those good times seem like a good old dream now for the psalmist. So in verse 4, he pleads for “fortunes…like streams in the Negeb!” Negeb or Negev is an area south of Judah. The word means dry, parched or desert. Negeb is the land of nomads- people with no permanent abode or home. The psalmist feels like a nomad/wanderer in a desert. So he is asking for streams in his dry, parched life. There is nothing good in his life except toil and “tears”(v. 5). He compares his life to the hard work of sowing. In his hard life, in his life of tears and weeping, the psalmist hopes. He is full of hope because he knows and remembers what God has done in the past. That is why he is joyous and writes that he “shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Note the confidence in his words- he is confident of the abundant sheaves/crop/fruit that is the result of the Lord abiding with the psalmist. His nomadic days will be in the past because he “shall come home with shouts of joy”.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, at times, do you feel like a nomad in a dry parched land? Set your sight and hope on the God who died and rose for your sins and salvation.  In His resurrection, we have the hope that on His day you and I will rise to be with Him and go to our eternal home. Until then let’s not lose our hearts as we toil and weep. Let’s keep on working both in and outside the church, and one day He and His kingdom will come, there will be no more toil or tears, and our labor will not be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

    

Dear God, thank you for giving me hope through Jesus resurrection and help me to never lose hope. Amen.

Here’s the classic- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsHIwXTjAOU