Psalm 126: Reaping Joy

The Journey
Reaping Joy
Psalm 126

Introduction: Christianity has often been depicted as grim and joyless much like this famous painting “American Gothic”. While me might think that is unfair it is often how Christians are perceived.

I. Looking for Joy
People look for joy in many different places. We like to have fun so we go to Cedar Point and enjoy the thrill of the rides there. There are lots of places we find enjoyment that are good and wholesome. As we move into the summer season many of us will travel, camp, fish, swim, ride our bikes, the list goes on and on. One thing we sometimes forget is that God created this world for us to enjoy and so we should do that, enjoy good food, beautiful scenery, and all that God has made. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes put it this way; “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God,” Ecclesiastes 3:12-13.

Of course there are many ways people seek joy that are not good. Often it is in the over indulgence in food and drink. Looking for thrills in drugs and alcohol is another way people seek joy. There are many who are experience addicts, adrenaline addicts who look for ways to get that rush. We have an entertainment industry that tries to give people joy and laughter, often at the expense of others.

Some Christians think that instead of a frown we should have a smile, no matter what. For some sadness becomes a sin. It is as if we must live life denying that there are times when joy is sucked from our lives by illness, accident and death. That kind of denial of life (because these experiences are part of life) is not found in scripture. We see people weeping and sad at personal loss. Even our lord wept over many things to the point that he was compared with Jeremiah the weeping prophet (Matthew 16:14). Denial of life’s bitter experiences is not joy but deception. Joy is not a requirement of discipleship, of following Jesus, but a result. Even though the psalmist wrote from his perspective he knew that joy was the journey that took people to God.

II. Joy: Past and Present
The hinge of the psalm is found in the second half of verse three, “We are filled with joy.” Before those words the psalmist is looking back and shouts, “The Lord has done great things for us.” The psalm appears to be written after the return from exile. Israel had been destroyed and Judah carried into exile in Babylon. Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed. Those who survived lived as slaves and servants to the empire. Their nation was only a memory and their faith, well how could their faith in God survive? They remembered the God who had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. Was that God real? Could he rescue them again? Yet after seventy years thousands of them returned to the land of their fathers to rebuild a city and a nation. The Lord had fulfilled his promise and they were filled with joy.

For most of us the past is filled with triumph and defeat. Life can crush us at times and yet we are here this morning. You may not be filled with joy this morning but one answer to that is to look back. What has God done for you? How has he rescued you? If you cannot answer then look further back. What has our God done in the past for his people? Think about Israel rescued twice from slavery. Think about Peter rescued from a death sentence in Herod’s prison. Think about Jesus who died but did not stay in the tomb but defeated death.
“The Lord has done great things for us!”
“And we are filled with joy!”

III. Joy: Future
But joy is not just about the past or even the present, it’s about the future. “Restore our fortunes, O Lord.” The image is of a desert, the Negev. Most people don’t like deserts. I prefer the forest or the ocean. Deserts are dry and hot. The desert impacts people who live there. I remember meeting some Turkana people in northern Kenya. We had to carry logs about half a mile to a shaded area for our church meeting. The people were dark skinned not just because of pigment but also because of the sun. Their skin was like leather. Water was scarce. Deserts are not pleasant places.

One of the great lies that often comes through in religious talk is that there is no desert for the Christian. The psalmist knew the desert and we will also. If you are not in a desert now you will be. You may feel like you are in a desert now struggling to survive. Tears may be the only seed you are sowing but God’s promise is that you will reap something different.

Imagine what it was like for the psalmist to be one of those who left their homes in captivity to make the long journey back to Israel. They must have been filled with excitement and hope, straining to get the first glimpse of Mt. Zion where the temple had sat. But when they arrived all they found was a ruin covered in fifty years worth of over growth. The land had become a wilderness and all that excitement and enthusiasm was quenched. Tears must have been shed. Some probably complained, “We left our comfortable homes for this?”

There is something in us that knows there should be something more. God did not create people for suffering but for eternity, for a life filled with joy in His presence. This is why the early Christians could rejoice in the face of tears and suffering, why Paul could write, “Rejoice in the Lord always!” (Philippians 4:4)

As Christians we live in a strange in between time that began when Jesus began his ministry. At times it is like we experience a taste of heaven, a time of worship that makes us feel close to God and each other, a time of fellowship with other Christians that is easily described as sweet fellowship, a time when a friend or loved one comes to the Lord and joins us in the journey. When I experience times like that I don’t want them to end. I cherish the memory of those times and want more of them. Those are times when heaven breaks into our world just a little bit, just for brief period. The prayer, “Restore our fortunes Lord,” is a prayer for heaven when the tears are dried and the joy will last forever. The psalmist longed for that and so do we. So what do we do? We remember. We pray. We wait on God because the harvest of joy is coming if we are faithful.

Livonia Church of Christ: May 11, 2006