Laughter because of god's goodness

LAUGHTER BECAUSE OF GOD'S GOODNESS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Psalm 126:2 2Our 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."
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Signs Of Joy
Psalm 126:2
R. Tuck
Polybius, in describing the joy of the Greeks when unexpectedly rescued from
the Macedonians, says, "Most of the men could scarcely believe the news, but
imagined themselves in a dream as they listened to what was said, so
extraordinary and miraculous it seemed to them."
I. JOY AND GLADNESS MAY BE FITTING RESPONSE TO
CIRCUMSTANCES. There is a natural and proper response to every set of
conditions in which we are placed. We need never restrain those responses.
Religion tones them, but does not arrest or crush them. Joy and gladness were
befitting to the restored captives. Laughter is the expression of joy; and "Is any
merry, let him sing psalms." Some phases of Christian life are too decorous, too
restrained, too cold. True religion only flourishes in a warm atmosphere of
feeling. And we should find abundant cause for joy and song, if we did but read
our lives aright, and recognize the loving-kindness of the Lord. "The redeemed
shall come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads."
II. JOY AND GLADNESS MAY BE EXAGGERATED, AND BECOME A

PERIL. There was a degree of extravagance in the joy of these returned exiles.
They were over-excited. In their excitement they imagined a future which could
never be realized; and were tempted to play with their new-found liberty as with
a toy, instead of being solemnized by its obligations, and urged thereby to high
and noble endeavor.
1. Times of overjoy make the prosaic work of everyday life very trying and hard.
The beginnings of religious life are often a skipping and dancing and singing of
the soul, and it is almost overwhelming to discover that it must pass into a
persistent, humdrum walking the pilgrim-path of righteousness. We cannot be
always in ecstasy and song, either here or in heaven. Israel found the actual life
in restored Palestine soon changed excited song for the quiet strain of daily
service.
2. Times of over-excitement are followed by times of undue depression. Israel
bravely sang on the shores of the Red Sea, and murmured, ere three days were
passed, at what redemption involved. Overstrain of religious feeling in times of
revivals and missions, is oftentimes a most serious peril to young souls, because
it suggests a false idea of Christian life. And, to some dispositions, it is no less
than absolute ruin. - R.T.
Biblical Illustrator
Then was our mouth filled with laughter.

Psalm 126:2
The rapture of deliverance
F. Tucker, B. A.
: —
I. THE JOY OF THE RETURNING JEW.
1. Bewildering.
(1)The suddenness of it.
(2)The instrument of it. Cyrus — a heathen.
2. Rapturous.
(1)Babylon left behind.
(2)The exiles nearing home.
3. Reasonable.
II. THE JOY OF A RETURNING SINNER.
1. Look at him before return.
(1)A wanderer from his home.
(2)In bondage.
2. Look at his Deliverer.
3. Look at the deliverance.
III. TO THE EXPERIENCED CHRISTIAN.
1. Is your piety joyful?
2. Ought it not to be so?
(F. Tucker, B. A.)
The laughter of the ransomed
T. H. Darlow.

: — God's glorious deliverance always seems too wonderful to be real. Even the
apostle who finds his fetters dropped off and his dungeon door swung open, is
like unto them that dream: "he wist not that it was true, but thought he saw a
vision." So in modern times, when Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, the abolitionist,
heard that the long fight was at last finished and every slave on British soil was a
free man, he broke out instinctively into the joyful verse: "Then was our mouth
filled with laughter and our tongue with singing."
(T. H. Darlow.)
Then said
Heathen and Christian witnesses for God
T. McCullagh.
I. GOD HAD DONE MANY THINGS FOR HIS ANCIENT PEOPLE. Their
exile was a punishment for their great national sin, and their return meant a
revocation of that punishment. But greater blessings are possessed by God's
Church in these days. In place of mere ceremonialism we have truth itself —
naked, transparent truth. Nor should we lose sight of our individuality. The
Church is a congregation of individuals, and it may be said of these not only in
their corporate condition as a Church, but separately and individually, "The
Lord hath done great things for us."
II. THESE GREAT THINGS ARE OBSERVED AND ACKNOWLEDGED BY
OTHERS. The heathen recognized the blessings bestowed on the chosen people,
while to the released captives their return to their old and beloved city seemed
too good to be true. Our spiritual blessings are not so easily recognized by others
as the return of God's people was by the heathen. But in looking at Christian
countries the heathen could not but be struck with the benefits that civilization,
liberty and Christianity afforded. It ought also to appear to the ungodly
neighbours of Church members, that even in a temporal sense God had done
great things for His Church, and that conversion had been followed with blessed
consequences of a temporal kind, though they could not see the gift bestowed
upon the inner life. But whether outsiders recognized these facts or not, it is
your duty to be God's witnesses, and to tell relatives and friends and fellow-
townsmen what great things God had done for us.
III. THESE GREAT THINGS DEMANDED A SPECIAL RECOGNITION,
BOTH FROM OBSERVERS AND RECIPIENTS OF BLESSINGS. There was

danger lest the blessings were recognized and the Giver forgotten. Perhaps one
of the tendencies of modern times is the exclusion of God from almost every.
thing outside the Church — from education, from legislation, from civil and
political and national affairs, from commerce, and from many other things
besides. There ought to be a recognition of God not only within, but outside the
Church. I am thankful that there is a recognition of God in this country. The
motto on the Royal arms — "Dieu et mon droit" — shows a recognition of God
in the highest place in the State. I am thankful that the Imperial Parliament does
not sit on Sundays. What is that but a recognition of the Divine law and of Him
who said, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." Every time I pass the
Royal Exchange in London I cannot help noticing the inscription, "The earth is
the Lord's and the fulness thereof." What a reminder is that place to the
merchants, to the Bank of England, and to the Mansion House, the seat of the
greatest of municipalities just opposite, that there is a Diviner God than
Mammon. One of the most startling statements I ever heard of was that made by
a learned scientist, that an examination of nature did not lead him up to God.
Just think of some one shying that St. Paul's Cathedral, with its architecture and
traditions, did not lead to a recognition of the great architect, Sir Christopher
Wren. What are your acknowledgments to God?
(T. McCullagh.)
Our Joy in God a Witness for God
R. Tuck
Psalm 126:2, 3
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said
they among the heathen…
Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.
The estimate which surrounding nations would form of them and of their
circumstances was always a matter of interest and importance to Israel. From
the first it was understood that the honor of Jehovah was bound up with the
prosperity of this people. It is possible to fix our thoughts too entirely on the

exclusiveness and the isolation of Israel, and on its mission as the treasury, for
the world, of the primary truths of revealed religion. Its second mission was its
witness to Jehovah, by its trust in him; devotion to his service; and safety and
enrichment through his presence and blessing. Israel was, as it were, locked up
in that little central land, away from the nations; but it was so isolated that it
might make its testimony, and be a beacon-light for God. We try to see what
witness it rendered by one of its moods.
I. ISRAEL'S JOY IN GOD WITNESSED TO THE DIVINE PITY. We are
dealing now with the joy of the restored exiles. They were largely the immediate
descendants of men who had provoked Jehovah by their iniquity and rebellion,
and had for years been enduring his righteous judgments. Looking at, and
thinking only of their calamity, other nations might easily come to think of their
God as one who never forgives. But, in view of the joy of their restoration, such
an idea could not be enter-mined. It is proved now that God pities even while he
punishes; and is glad when his pity is free to work its gracious, restoring work.
II. ISRAEL'S JOY IN GOD WITNESSED TO THE DIVINE
PERSERVATION. It declared that the "good hand" had been on the nation all
through its time of captivity. It bad been in the purifying fires, but the silver had
been kept safe through all the testings. And the brightness and joy of a Christian
life always makes this witness for God. It says -
"I have been upheld till now;
Who could hold me up but thou?"
III. ISRAEL'S JOY IN GOD WITNESSED TO THE DIVINE PURPOSES. God
restored Israel because he had something for Israel yet to do in the world. And
Israel's joy seemed to say, "It is plain that God needs me." God's goodness
always unveils God's purpose. - R.T.
The History of a Soul
S. Conway

Psalm 126:1-6
When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that
dream.…
That which was written of and for the returned exiles of Judah lends itself so
accurately and beautifully to describe the history of a redeemed soul, that it
seems as if that larger and higher history were meant as well as that of Judah.
The same words tell of both.
I. THE SOUL WAS ONCE A CAPTIVE. Not alone the people of Zion, but every
redeemed soul. It was captive once:
1. To the Law of God. That Law which was holy, just, and good, the Law of
God's household, and which for the good of all his children must be maintained;
but to that Law the soul was liable, for it had transgressed again and again.
Unless, therefore, something was done, the sentence of the Law must he carried
out.
2. To sin. The soul was carnal, sold under sin. It yielded itself as a bond slave to
serve sin (Romans 6:16). And this lust makes him captive; yet further:
3. To death. Not merely the death of the body, but, what is far worse, the death
of the soul.
II. ITS CAPTIVITY WAS BROKEN. From being a captive, he became one of
the redeemed of God. Consider:
1. What was done. Sin was forgiven, all the guilt of the past put away. The soul
became regenerate, a new heart was given; old things passed away, all things

became new; the soul passed from death to life, from the power of Satan unto
God.
2. Who did this? It was the Lord's doing. True, as with Judah, there was
cooperation on man's part. As Judah, so had we to avail ourselves of what God
had done. The soul must repent and believe, and turn from dead works to serve
the living God. Unless we do this, God's mercy is in vain for us. But all this does
not make it the less true that it was the Lord who turned our captivity; it was his
Spirit who prompted all that was done by us; without him it had never been
done at all, no part of it.
3. How was it done? Perhaps in no two instances have the same instrumentalities
been employed. God has many ways of bringing men to himself. He uses now his
providence, now his Word, now his Spirit, and sometimes all of them together.
Only the work is done.
III. NOTABLE RESULTS FOLLOWED.
1. Surprise. "We were like them that dream" (cf. Luke 24:41). It seemed too
good to be true. This a blessed experience, the rapture and delight of the soul
when it realizes what God has done for it.
2. Exuberant joy. (Ver. 2, "laughter, singing.") How reasonable this, whether we
think of whence we have been saved, from what terrible depths of woe; or
whither, to what heights of blessedness; or by what means, the infinite love of
God in Christ?
3. Confession on the part of the unsaved world. (Ver. 2.) "Then said they among
the heathen," etc. Yes, the world will take note, godless men will see that a great
change has come.

IV. BUT A MORE FULL SALVATION IS YET YEARNED FOR. (Ver. 4.)
What has been gained is blessedness, but the soul comes soon to see how much
more yet is needed. The river of the water of life in him is such a slender stream;
he would have it full, flowing, in force and volume like the streams of the south
when the mountain snows have melted. Hence the prayer for a second blessing,
"Turn again our captivity" (ver. 4). The soul craves a complete salvation, a full
deliverance. He would be cleansed from all sin, made pure in heart.
V. AND HE IS ENCOURAGED TO SEEK THIS BY THE CONSTANT
EXPERIENCE OF THOSE THAT SOW IN TEARS. The pitiless rain and cold
may render the toil of the sower hard, but his reward surely comes. So they who
with real earnestness of heart seek the fullness of God's salvation shall surely
obtain it. - S.C.
Like Them that Dream
S. Conway
Psalm 126:1-6
dream.…
I. THE DREAM. It was a delightful one.
1. There are many of quite another kind - dreams full of trouble, terror, and
distress. Many such are recorded in Scripture (Genesis 40.; Daniel 2.; Job 7:14;
Matthew 27:19).
2. But this was full of joy and rapture. So unexpected, so wonderful, was Israel's
redemption from exile. They could hardly realize how blessed they were. For it
was a reality, not a dream. More often the daylight destroys our dreams; but

this joy remained.
3. And their joy was irrepressible. (Ver. 2.) How sadly little of such joy do we see
in the redeemed people of the Lord today! If they had not been redeemed at all,
they could scarcely be more sad.
4. Their joy compelled the confession of God's goodness to them on the part of
heathen nations'. A glad Church is ever a conquering Church. A realized
redemption will be rejoiced in by the redeemed themselves, and recognized by
others yet waiting to be redeemed. The world wants still to see a joyful witness-
bearing Church. When such Church is seen, then, perhaps, the millennium will
have come. But let each consciously redeemed soul bear its testimony here and
now, not waiting for others. It is what ought to be.
II. THE DREAM MODIFIED BY THE DAYLIGHT. (Ver. 4.) For:
1. The company of exiles who lead come back were but as a handful, as a tiny
rill, the wonder of which was that it did not dry up, there was so little of it. Such
rills generally did dry up, as the bare water-courses proved. And the company of
those returned from Babylon, they were, oh, so few; the great majority were in
exile still, and they themselves were threatened with all manner of opposition
(Ezra 4:11-24).
2. Hence there rose up the prayer, "Turn again our captivity," etc.; that is,
"Bring back our exiles, O Lord, in such strength and numbers, that it shall be
with us as with the slender stream when, by the melting of the mountain snows,
its waters are swollen into a full, rapid, mighty torrent, bearing all before it; let
there be such an increase for us, thy people." And is not this the very prayer the
Church needs today? for the com-puny of God's faithful people, are not they in
this desert world but as a handful, a little flock, a tiny rill? Let us each say our
"Amen."
III. BUT REALIZED AGAIN BY FAITH IN THE PROMISES OF GOD. (Vers.

5, 6.) It might be amid drenching rains the sower went forth to cast into the
ground his handful of seed, but the promises of God to such as he never failed,
and in due time the glad harvest was given. So the devout psalmist looked now
on himself and his little company of fellow-exiles, no longer as a tiny rill ready to
be dried up and perish, but as the sower's handful of seed which amid much toil
he sowed; but sustained by the sure confidence that the harvest would make
amends for all. And for the Christian worker today, the lonely missionary in
China, India, Central Africa, and elsewhere; ah! with what tears these servants
of God often go forth! But they bear the precious seed, precious in itself,
precious in their own experience of its power; and they, too, are sustained, as all
true workers for God must be, by the faith that "doubtless," without any
possibility of failure, they shall come again to God who sent them forth, bringing
with joy the rich results of their present toil and prayer. Let us pray for such
sowers let us be such ourselves. - S.C.
Captivity and Deliverance
John Gaskin, M. A.
Psalm 126:1-6
dream.…
I. OUR STATE BY NATURE.
1. Captivity to sin.
2. Captivity to the law.
II. OUR DELIVERANCE. The regenerating Spirit does not create in us new
faculties. He rather purifies the old. He gives a right tendency and direction to

those which already exist, and causing the wandering affections to flow in their
proper channel. One immediate result of this Divine work is that of our being
"turned again" unto God.
III. THE EMOTIONS BY WHICH THIS DELIVERANCE IS
ACCOMPANIED.
1. The emotions which are produced in the bosom of those whose "captivity is
turned again."(1) Surprise. To feel that sin which had hitherto exercised so
powerful a sway over our hearts, and found us at all times so easy a prey, has
now "no more dominion over us"; is not this matter of surprise? To find that
Satan, that cruel taskmaster, who had so long led us captive at will, has lost his
tyrant-power, and is now beaten down beneath our feet; is not this matter of
surprise?
(2) Joy. Because Satan is foiled. Because the soul is saved. Because the glory of
God is secured.
(3) Praise.
2. The emotion which is produced in the mind of those who merely observe this
deliverance.
(John Gaskin, M. A.)
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES

Adam Clarke Commentary
Then upas our mouth filled with laughter - The same effect as was produced on
the poor liberated Grecians mentioned above.
Then said they among the heathen - The liberty now granted was brought about
in so extraordinary a way, that the very heathens saw that the hand of the great
Jehovah must have been in it.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible
Then was our mouth filled with laughter - Then were we happy; completely
happy. See Job 8:21.
And our tongue with singing - We expressed our joy in songs - the natural
expression of joy. Young converts - those “turned” from sin to God - sing. Their
feelings find expression in the songs of Zion. This is natural; this is proper; this
will occur when sinners are converted. An assemblage of young converts is
always a happy assemblage; a place where there is a “revival” of religion is
always a happy place - full of songs and singing.
Then said they among the heathen - The nations; the people among whom they
dwelt.
The Lord hath done great things for them - In causing their return to their own
land; in ordering the arrangements for it; in bringing their captivity to an end;
in securing such interposition from the civil rulers as to facilitate their return.
This would indicate that the surrounding people had not an unfriendly feeling
toward them, but that they pitied them in exile, and were disposed to
acknowledge the hand of God in what was done. Their deliverance, in the
circumstances, was such as evidently to have been the work of God. This will
agree well with the account of the return of the exiles from Babylon, and with all
that had been done for them by Cyrus. Compare Ezra 1:1-4.
The Biblical Illustrator
Psalms 126:2
Then was our mouth filled with laughter.
The rapture of deliverance

I. The joy of the returning Jew.
1. Bewildering.
2. Rapturous.
3. Reasonable.
II. The joy of a returning sinner.
1. Look at him before return.
2. Look at his Deliverer.
3. Look at the deliverance.
III. To the experienced Christian.
1. Is your piety joyful?
2. Ought it not to be so? (F. Tucker, B. A.)
The laughter of the ransomed
God’s glorious deliverance always seems too wonderful to be real. Even the
apostle who finds his fetters dropped off and his dungeon door swung open, is
like unto them that dream: “he wist not that it was true, but thought he saw a
vision.” So in modern times, when Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, the abolitionist,
heard that the long fight was at last finished and every slave on British soil was a
free man, he broke out instinctively into the joyful verse: “Then was our mouth
filled with laughter and our tongue with singing.” (T. H. Darlow.)
Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.--
Heathen and Christian witnesses for God
I. God had done many things for His ancient people. Their exile was a
punishment for their great national sin, and their return meant a revocation of
that punishment. But greater blessings are possessed by God’s Church in these
days. In place of mere ceremonialism we have truth itself--naked, transparent

truth. Nor should we lose sight of our individuality. The Church is a
congregation of individuals, and it may be said of these not only in their
corporate condition as a Church, but separately and individually, “The Lord
hath done great things for us.”
II. These great things are observed and acknowledged by others. The heathen
recognized the blessings bestowed on the chosen people, while to the released
captives their return to their old and beloved city seemed too good to be true.
Our spiritual blessings are not so easily recognized by others as the return of
God’s people was by the heathen. But in looking at Christian countries the
heathen could not but be struck with the benefits that civilization, liberty and
Christianity afforded. It ought also to appear to the ungodly neighbours of
Church members, that even in a temporal sense God had done great things for
His Church, and that conversion had been followed with blessed consequences of
a temporal kind, though they could not see the gift bestowed upon the inner life.
But whether outsiders recognized these facts or not, it is your duty to be God’s
witnesses, and to tell relatives and friends and fellow-townsmen what great
things God had done for us.
III. These great things demanded a special recognition, both from observers and
recipients of blessings. There was danger lest the blessings were recognized and
the Giver forgotten. Perhaps one of the tendencies of modern times is the
exclusion of God from almost everything outside the Church--from education,
from legislation, from civil and political and national affairs, from commerce,
and from many other things besides. There ought to be a recognition of God not
only within, but outside the Church. I am thankful that there is a recognition of
God in this country. The motto on the Royal arms--“Dieu et mon droit”--shows
a recognition of God in the highest place in the State. I am thankful that the
Imperial Parliament does not sit on Sundays. What is that but a recognition of
the Divine law and of Him who said, “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it
holy.” Every time I pass the Royal Exchange in London I cannot help noticing
the inscription, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.” What a
reminder is that place to the merchants, to the Bank of England, and to the
Mansion House, the seat of the greatest of municipalities just opposite, that there
is a Diviner God than Mammon. One of the most startling statements I ever
heard of was that made by a learned scientist, that an examination of nature did
not lead him up to God. Just think of some one shying that St. Paul’s Cathedral,

with its architecture and traditions, did not lead to a recognition of the great
architect, Sir Christopher Wren. What are your acknowledgments to God? (T.
McCullagh.)
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,.... Who before mourned, and hung
their harps on the willows, and could not sing the Lord's song in a strange land;
but now, as their hearts were filled, with joy, this was externally and visibly seen
in their countenances, and expressed with their mouths and by outward
gestures; it was so great, they could not contain it, to which respect is had, Isaiah
35:10. It may be rendered, "then shall our mouth be filled with laughter"F17;
that is, when we awake, says Arama; or rather when the captivity is returned,
either in a literal or in a spiritual sense, both being matter of great joy: the
Midrash says, this will be in the world to come, and not in this;
and our tongue with singing; the praises of God, and the songs of Zion;
then said they among the Heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them; it
was taken notice of by the Chaldeans, among whom they had been captives, and
by all the nations round about: and it was wonderful to them, that Cyrus, an
Heathen prince, of his own motion and will, should at once, and without any
price or reward, let them go, and send them into their own country to rebuild
their temple; and with them the vessels of the Lord's house, that had been taken
away by the king of Babylon; and order men to help them, with gold and silver,
and goods and cattle, Ezra 1:1. Likewise the conversion of the Jews, and the
restoration of them to their own and in the latter day, will be observed by the
Gentiles with wonder, and as the work of God, Ezekiel 36:35.
Geneva Study Bible
Then was our mouth b filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then
said they among the c heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
(b) He shows how the godly should rejoice when God gathers his Church or
delivers it.

(c) If the infidels confess God's wonderful work, the faithful can never show
themselves sufficiently thankful.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
2.Now shall our mouth be filled with laughter. The adverb of time, , az, is
commonly translated then; but as the verbs are in the future tense, I have
thought that it might not be improper to translate tires — grow shall our mouth
be filled, and now shall they say. If, however, we admit what some Hebrew
Doctors affirm, that the force of this particle is to change the future tense into
the past, the adverb then will be the appropriate word. The design of the
Prophet is not at all obscure. He would have the people so to rejoice on account
of their return, as not to bury in forgetfulness the grace of God. He therefore
describes no ordinary rejoicing, but such as so fills their minds as to constrain
them to break forth into extravagance of gesture and of voice. At the same time
he intimates that there was good ground for this joy, in which it became the
children of God to indulge, on account of their return to their own land. As there
was at that period nothing more wretched than for them to live in captivity, in
which they were in a manner dispossessed of the inheritance God had promised
them; so there was nothing which ought to have been more desirable to them
than to be restored. Their restoration to their own country having been
therefore a proof of their renewed adoption by God, it is not surprising to find
the Prophet asserting that their mouth was filled with laughter, and their tongue
with exultation. With a similar joy does it become us at the present day to exult
when God gathers together his Church and it is an undoubted evidence that we
are steel-hearted, if her miserable dispersion does not produce in our minds
grief and lamentation. The Prophet proceeds farther, declaring that this miracle
was seen even by the blind; for in that age of the world, as is well known, the
heathen were wandering in darkness like blind men, no knowledge of God
having shone upon them; and yet God’s power and operation were so
conspicuous in that event, that they burst forth into the open acknowledgment
that God had done great things for his people. So much the more shame-fill then
was the indifference of the Jews to be accounted, if they did not freely and loudly
celebrate God’s grace, which had acquired so much renown among the
unbelieving. The form of speech employed is also to be marked, which forcibly
expresses the idea intended to be conveyed, that the mighty power of God in this
deliverance was known by the Gentiles. In the following verse the Prophet

repeats in his own person, and in that of the Church, the words uttered by the
heathen in the last member of the preceding verse. Let us at least, as if he had
said, put forth a confession corresponding to that which God has extorted from
the unbelieving Gentiles. When he adds that they were glad, there is an implied
antithesis between this fresh joy and the long continued sorrow with which they
were afflicted in their captivity, he expressly declares that joy was restored to
them, to enable them the better to estimate the dismal condition from which they
had been extricated.
James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
GODLY MIRTH
‘Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.’
Psalms 126:2
The Jews when, by God’s mercy, they were once more settled in the land of
promise, gave way to the same feeling of which we are conscious when we are
excited by pleasure, by prosperity, by unexpected success. Either mirth must be
altogether forbidden to Christians, or it must be regulated by the rules of
Christ’s Gospel, like every other part of our daily lives.
I. Every tendency and feeling and desire of which we are conscious was
implanted in us by God for some wise and good purpose.—The mere fact that
our mouth can be filled with laughter seems to prove that God designed us to use
the power for good ends. Those ends, no doubt, are such as these: the relaxation
and refreshment of the mind after labour or sorrow, or other severe tension; the
encouragement of vigorous work by the pleasure attaching to success; the
promotion of that spirit of cordial fellowship and goodwill which may be
ennobled and sanctified into brotherly kindness and Christian charity. In the
Old Testament mirth and laughter are frequently recognised and sanctioned,
not in the passage before us only, but in many other places also. And hence we
do not hesitate to believe that they are in accordance with God’s will; and,
therefore, our duty, as His children and servants, is to guard them from evil, just
like every other gift or faculty or advantage which He has bestowed upon us.
II. But it is plain that the abuses to which they are liable are very numerous.—
Mirth may intrude into times and places from which it should be excluded; it
may degenerate into coarseness, into unkind sarcasm and satire, into
irreverence, into mere selfish indulgence and excess. But the habit of mind

which is especially the degradation of that cheerfulness permitted by God, and
the result of its unrestrained enjoyment is undoubtedly frivolity. He who is
frivolous regards everything in a ludicrous or trifling aspect, whether it is some
high effort of the intellect, some sublime truth or noble action, or the very
revelations of Christ’s Gospel. Such is not the condition of him who remembers
the duties which he owes to the kind and loving Father Who endowed us with
the capacity of enjoyment, Who knows that his first duty is to serve God and
sacrifice his own inclinations, and so accepts laughter and cheerfulness as
merciful recreations to the real work of life.
—Bishop Cotton.
Illustrations
(1) ‘In this psalm there are two distinct chords sounded forth. At the outset the
song is in the major key. It throbs and pulsates with joy. My soul must have such
moments on the Mount. It must know the gladness of pardon, of freedom, of
fellowship, of home. It must be acquainted with the upper regions of the spirit,
and the points where earth and heaven meet.
But by and by the song passes into the minor key. There are brothers of their
own who are in the house of bondage still. They are pained for them. They pray
to the God of salvation to lead them, too, into liberty and peace. It is a lesson to
me. When my captivity is terminated, let me not be selfish, let my heart go out to
those who continue in the prison, let me labour and intercede until they are
brought back—back like mighty streams swollen by the winter rain.’
(2) ‘We all know something of that captivity with which the enemy of our souls
strives to capture and hold us. When those green withes are bound around as,
we cannot free ourselves. There is no alternative but to cry aloud to our victor
Emmanuel, Emancipator, to turn again our captivity and loose our bonds. When
our emotions are frozen and congealed, we need to ask to be thawed. When our
faces are turned from God, and our backs towards Him, we need to cry, “Turn
us and we shall be turned; melt us, O Love of God! turn back our captivity as
streams in summer.”’
John Trapp Complete Commentary
Psalms 126:2 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.

Ver. 2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter] We laughed amain, and
shrilled or shouted aloud, when we found that it was υπαρ non οναρ, as Plato
speaketh, not a dream, but a done thing, which (before) we held optabile potius
quam opinabile, incredible altogether.
Then said they among the heathen] They who were wont to jeer us, Psalms
137:3. God can soon alter the case of his afflicted people. See Esther 8:17, {See
Trapp on "Esther 8:17"}
The Lord hath done great things] Magnifica :so, Vere magnus est Deus
Christianorum, the God of the Christians is a great God indeed, said Calocerius,
a heathen, observing his works done for his people.
Sermon Bible Commentary
Psalms 126:2
The Jews, when, by God's mercy, they were once more settled in the land of
promise, gave way to the same feelings of which we are conscious when we are
excited by pleasure, by prosperity, by unexpected success. Either mirth must be
altogether forbidden to Christians, or it must be regulated by the rules of
Christ's Gospel, like every other part of our daily lives.
I. Every tendency, and feeling, and desire of which we are conscious was
implanted in us by God for some wise and good purpose. The mere fact that our
mouth can be filled with laughter seems to prove that God designed us to use the
power for good ends. Those ends, no doubt, are such as these: the relaxation and
refreshment of the mind after labour or sorrow, or other severe tension; the
encouragement of vigorous work by the pleasure attaching to success; the
promotion of that spirit of cordial fellowship and goodwill which may be
ennobled and sanctified into brotherly kindness and Christian charity. In the
Old Testament mirth and laughter are frequently recognised and sanctioned,
not in the passage before us only, but in many other places also. And hence we
do not hesitate to believe that they are in accordance with God's will; and
therefore our duty as His children and servants is to guard them from evil, just
like every other gift, or faculty, or advantage which He has bestowed upon us.
II. But it is plain that the abuses to which they are liable are very numerous.
Mirth may intrude into times and places from which it should be excluded; it

may degenerate into coarseness, into unkind sarcasm and satire, into
irreverence, into mere selfish indulgence and excess. But the habit of mind
which is especially the degradation of that cheerfulness permitted by God and
the result of its unrestrained enjoyment is undoubtedly frivolity. He who is
frivolous regards everything in a ludicrous or trifling aspect, whether it is some
high effort of the intellect, some sublime truth or noble action, or the very
revelations of Christ's Gospel. Such is not the condition of him who remembers
the duties which he owes to the kind and loving Father who endowed us with the
capacity of enjoyment, who knows that his first duty is to serve God and
sacrifice his own inclinations, and so accepts laughter and cheerfulness as
merciful recreations to the real work of life.
Bishop Cotton, Marlborough Sermons, p. 285.
References: Psalms 126:3.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 161. Psalms
126:5.—Preacher's Monthly, vol. ix., p. 297.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Psalms 126:2. Then was our mouth, &c.— From that moment was, &c. From
that moment said they, &c. i.e. "Never before would we indulge any joy; never
before would the heathen, the Babylonians, acknowledge that God had done,
&c."
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible
They did and well might wonder at it, that a heathen emperor should of his own
mere motion show so much kindness to so hateful and despicable a people as the
Jews were.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
2. Said they among the heathen—So astonishing was the decree of Cyrus, (Ezra
1:1-4,) that the Gentile nations spoke of it as an act above the level of humanity,
and ascribed it directly to Jehovah, the Hebrews’ God, which, in the next verse,
they repeat and accept with gladness, as true. The allusion to the common
remark upon the event by “the heathen,” implies a friendliness and good will on
their part toward the Jews at the time of their departure. This was a fact in the
reign of Cyrus, with whom they were in honour; and afterward in the reign of
Darius Hystaspes; and the same of the Egyptians toward Israel at the time of the

exodus.
Exodus 11:3; Exodus 12:36
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on Psalms 126:2". "Whedon's Commentary on
the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/psalms-
126.html. 1874-1909.
return to 'Jump List'
Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments
Psalms 126:2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter — We thought ourselves
in a new world, and the surprise of it put us into such an ecstasy and transport
of joy, that we could scarcely contain ourselves within the bounds of decency in
the expressions of it; and our mouth with singing — We gave vent to our joy, by
singing hymns and songs of praise to God, and thus gave notice to all about us,
what wonders God had wrought for us. Then said they among the heathen —
Who had observed our calamity and triumphed in it, Jeremiah 22:8-9; Psalms
137:7. The Lord Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath done great things for them —
This truly is Jehovah’s work, who hath magnified his power in the strange
deliverance of this nation. Well might they wonder, that a heathen emperor
should, of his own mere motion, show so much kindness to a people so hated and
despised as the Jews were.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
Light. That is, your early rising, your labour and worldly solicitude, will be vain,
that is, will avail you nothing, without the light, grace, and blessing of God.
(Challoner) --- Nehemias divided the people into companies, to prevent their
being too much fatigued. (Calmet) --- Without light it is impossible for man to
work, John ix. 4. (Haydock) --- The labours of those who live by the robbery of
the distressed, are vain. (Chaldean) --- Rise ye, is not in Hebrew. (Haydock) ---
Sitten. Allow yourselves proper time for rest, after your labours and sorrows:
for his beloved, whom he favours with his grace, shall sleep and rest under his
wing, and yet abound with offspring, and all blessings. (Challoner) --- Sorrow.
St. Jerome, "of idols." This worship of God is odious. --- Beloved. Solomon.
(Houbigant) --- Yet some explain the Hebrew in the plural, as it is applicable to
all the people. The Jews were under great alarms: but were encouraged to hope

that God would protect them, and give them a numerous progeny; though, as
the country was probably never so well peopled as under Solomon, this may
rather refer to the elect, who after the sleep of death (Berthier) shall behold
those whom Christ shall acknowledge for his children, (Haydock) and obtain an
eternal reward. (St. Hilary) --- Whatever people may think they have done well,
without God's grace, is all useless, and they must begin again; whereas those
who are guided by it, perform all with as much ease as they would sleep, and yet
merit a reward, which is promised in heaven to the true children who are born
to God in the Catholic Church. (Worthington)
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
singing: i.e. the songs of Isaiah 38:20.
said they = was it said.
heathen = nations. The reference is to 2 Chronicles 32:22, 2 Chronicles 32:23.
The LORD hath done great things. Figure of speech Anadiplosis (App-6),
because the phrase is repeated at the beginning of the next verse.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
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.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing - as Job's,
notwithstanding his suffering for a time, was destined at last to be (Job 8:21).
The future forms, in the Hebrew here, 'Then shall our mouth be filled ... then
shall they say,' etc., are used in allusion to the future in Job; or else, as De Burgh
thinks, they refer to the fulfillment, yet future and in the last days.
Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them -
from Joel 2:21.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(2) Singing.—As frequently of the restoration in Isaiah—, 44:23, 54:1
THE PULPIT COMMENTARY
Talking to Your Tears

Article by John Piper
Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy!
He that goes forth weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.
There is nothing sad about sowing seed. It takes no more work than reaping.
The days can be beautiful. There can be great hope of harvest. Yet the psalm
speaks of “sowing in tears.” It says that someone “goes forth weeping, bearing
the seed for sowing.” So why are they weeping?
I think the reason is not that sowing is sad, or that sowing is hard. I think the
reason has nothing to do with sowing. Sowing is simply the work that has to be
done even when there are things in life that make us cry. The crops won’t wait
while we finish our grief or solve all our problems. If we are going to eat next
winter we must get out in the field and sow the seed whether we are crying or
not.
This psalm teaches the tough truth that there is work to be done whether I am
emotionally up for it or not; and it is good for me to do it. Suppose you are in a
blue funk and it is time to sow seed. Do you say, “I can’t sow the field this
spring, because I am in a blue funk.” If you do that you will not eat in the
winter.
But suppose you say, “I am in a blue funk. I cry if the milk runs out at
breakfast. I cry if the phone and doorbell ring at the same time. I cry for no
reason at all. But the field needs to be sowed. That is the way life is. I do not feel
like it, but I will take my bag of seeds and go out in the fields and do my crying
while I do my duty. I will sow in tears.”
If you do that, the promise of the psalm is that “you will reap with shouts of

joy.” You will “come home with shouts of joy, bringing [your] sheaves with
[you].” Not because the tears of sowing produce the joy of reaping, but because
the sheer sowing produces the reaping, and you need to remember this even
when your tears tempt you to give up sowing.
So here’s the lesson: When there are simple, straightforward jobs to be done,
and you are full of sadness, and tears are flowing easily, go ahead and do the
jobs with tears. Be realistic. Say to your tears: ‘Tears, I feel you. You make me
want to quit life. But there is a field to be sown (dishes to be washed, car to be
fixed, sermon to be written). I know you will wet my face several times today,
but I have work to do and you will just have to go with me. I intend to take the
bag of seeds and sow. If you come along then you will just have to wet the rows.”
Then say, on the basis of God’s word, ‘Tears, I know that you will not stay
forever. The very fact that I just do my work (tears and all) will in the end bring
a harvest of blessing. So go ahead and flow if you must. But I believe (I do not
yet see it or feel it fully)—I believe that the simple work of my sowing will bring
sheaves of harvest. And your tears will be turned to joy.”
Learning to sow steadfastly,
Pastor John
PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
Psalm 126:6 ►
Great Texts of the Bible
Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy
Though he goeth on his way weeping, bearing forth the seed;
He shall come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him.—Psalm 126:6This
is a song of grateful remembrance celebrating the return of the Jews from exile.
But though it begins, as so many of the psalms do, with a local reference, it ends

with a general application to universal human life. The end of the Captivity
came unexpectedly; the singer declares that it was like a dream to them; they
could hardly believe at first that it was true. But when they were sure that they
were awake, and that the long exile was really over, that they were going home
again to rebuild the Temple, and the city of their pride and love, their mouths
were filled with laughter and their voices burst forth into singing. Gratitude
towards God swelled their hearts; they gave God all the glory; they bore
testimony before the heathen that it was God who had done these great things
for them. Studying this signal illustration of the sweetness of victory after defeat,
of the blessedness of home after exile, of the glory of the harvest after the long
seedtime and waiting, the singer bursts forth into inspired poetry, drawing from
this illustration a beautiful truth applicable to human life in general, and of
special spiritual significance to those who seek to bless and uplift human hearts.
“They that sow in tears,” he sings with confidence, “shall reap in joy. Though he
goeth on his way weeping, bearing forth the seed; he shall come again with joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.”
Some one has said that the finest example of the use in English literature of a
quotation from the Bible is the reference to this text in Thackeray’s Esmond.
Entering Winchester Cathedral on his return from the wars, Harry Esmond sees
again the widowed Lady Castlewood, who in his youth had been to him more
than sister and mother, and whom he now loves as a woman. The period of their
separation is ended. “I knew,” she says to him at the close of the service, “that
you would come back. And to-day, Henry, in the anthem, when they sang it,
‘When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that
dream,’ I thought, yes, like them that dream—them that dream. And then it
went, ‘They that sow in tears shall reap in joy; and he that goeth forth and
weepeth, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bring his sheaves with him’;
I looked up from the book, and saw you. I was not surprised when I saw you. I
knew you would come, my dear, and saw the gold sunshine round your head.…
But now—now you are come again, bringing your sheaves with you, my dear.”
She burst into a wild flood of weeping as she spoke; she laughed and sobbed on
the young man’s heart, crying out wildly, “Bringing your sheaves with you—
your sheaves with you!”1 [Note: W. M. Thackeray, The History of Henry
Esmond, Bk. ii. chap. vi.]
I

Sowing in Tears
1. The sower is represented as weeping. The language here is very strong. One
commentator puts it in this form “may indeed weep every step that he goes.” It
has also been rendered, “takes no step of his way without weeping.” Dr.
Thomson, the author of The Land and the Book, in giving an interpretation of
the Psalmist’s words, says: “I never saw people sowing in tears exactly, but have
often known them to do it in fear and distress sufficient to draw them from any
eye. In seasons of great scarcity, the poor peasants part in sorrow with every
measure of precious seed cast into the ground. It is like taking bread out of the
mouths of their children; and in such times many bitter tears are actually shed
over it. The distress is actually so great that; government is obliged to furnish
seed, or none would be sown. Ibrahim Pasha did this more than once within my
remembrance.”
In all of this there is much to make sowing sad work. Again, the extreme danger
to which the sower was exposed made his labour one of sadness. Dr. Thomson
tells us that the sower was often obliged to drop the plough and seize the sword.
His fields were far from his home, and so near the lawless desert. As in Job’s
day, when the oxen were ploughing and the asses feeding beside them, the
Sabeans came and took them all away, so often since fierce hordes from the
deserts have swept down upon the peaceful husbandman, and robbed him of
seed and implements, sparing only his life. In all of this there was much to make
the work of sowing also a work of weeping. Again, the frequent fruitlessness of
the labour made it sad toil. The land had gone to weeds. The ground was fallow.
It was no easy task to break up this stubborn soil. Their once fruitful land was
barren, and its cultivation was a work of the utmost toil. Their implements were
poor and inefficient, their oxen were small and weak, and their own skill was
very unlike that of the farmer of modern days. For these and similar reasons the
sowing of the seed might literally be called a work of weeping.
2. It is a law of the spiritual life that through tribulation we enter into the joy of
the Kingdom. God means us to reap in joy, but first we must sow in tears. See,
for example, how this law meets us at the very threshold of the Christian life.

Great though the blessedness to which Christ invites us is, the beginnings of His
life in the soul come to us amid tears. Then for the first time we see the mystery
of the cross; and what strikes us, in what we see, is the spectacle of a Saviour
there for us. We see the wounds in His body, but, behind these, wounds in
ourselves, for the healing of which He died. No one ever truly opens his eyes on
these facts who does not weep. Sharp and into the very heart goes the pangs; “It
is I who have crucified the Lord!”
Contemplation of Christ’s sufferings, combined with prayer, will do more than
any other exercise to cause genuine sorrow for having offended the love of God.
… In following the scenes of the Passion, contemplate our Lord as the sin-
bearer, and think of each insult, or indignity suffered by Him as representing to
us the penalties due to our own offences.… Thus we come to feel the stirrings of
real sorrow for having rejected God’s love. Moved by that sorrow, we take our
place beside Him in His Passion, enduring; our small sufferings cheerfully,
uniting our half-hearted penitence with His Divine, all-comprehensive sorrow,
whereby it can be deepened, and strengthened, and purified.1 [Note: Bishop
Chandler, Ara Coeli.]
3. Then the thought of the shortcomings of our service is enough to moisten the
driest eye. That in a sin-stricken world so much needs to be done is bad enough,
but that we should so often leave undone the very little we can do, that we should
let the ground around us lie fallow or run to weed, that we should permit the
forces of sin to do their worst while we are content to do nothing at all, is
infinitely worse. We must be stony-hearted indeed if such thoughts as these
never cause a pang at our breast or a tear in our eye.
There is nothing more grateful in the service of Christ than spontaneity—
nothing more welcome to Himself, nothing more welcome to His servants. To
have some services offered, to know of some kind deed done, quite apart from
any pressure or appeal or even suggestion—that is so like Jesus that it is a joy to
think of it. We are so ready to wait till someone moves, instead of following
unbidden the first impulse of our hearts; we are so inclined to act only under the
spur or the whip; we are so ready to criticize instead of helping, that willingness
is a cardinal virtue indeed.1 [Note: R. W. Barbour, Thoughts, 86.]

4. Lastly, there is the sorrow of disappointment. All earnest labourers are liable
to fits of despondency, Christian labourers certainly not less than others.
Overwork, perhaps, is followed by reaction, or the too eager hope is
disappointed because we do not see any results for all our doing. We think that
our fellow-labourers are not as earnest as we, that we alone are bearing the
burden and heat of the day. Then there comes up the question, What is the use
of all our toil? the murmur, “Verily I have laboured in vain, I have spent my
strength for nought, and in vain.” The whole world seems weary; all effort
appears but restlessness; there is no profit to all the labour that is done under
the sun. One generation passeth away and another cometh; life is ‘too short for
hope, too short for any effective effort. “The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth
down”; “all the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full”; “all things are full
of labour; man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear
filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that
which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the
sun.”
We pass; the path that each man trod
Is dim, or will be dim, with weeds:
What fame is left for human deeds
In endless age?
Therefore we hate life; “because the work that is wrought under the sun is
grievous unto” us; “for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” Yet for all our
despondency, the call to labour ceases not. If we would not be faithless to all we
have known of duty and of God; if we would not be false to all we have learnt of
life, and to every principle by which our souls are moulded, we must do the work
that lies ready to our hands. We have taken up the basket, and the furrows are
still yawning to receive the seed: we must sow, though we sow in despondency

and in tears. God’s great call to us is to labour, and His call to labour continues
though there is no joy to us in working. But it is still God’s call, and not our
gladness, that is to give character to our lives; the claim of duty ceases not with
our impulses of joyful work.
Lessons of persevering toil, of contented doing of preparatory work, of
confidence that no such labour can fail to be profitable to the doer and to the
world, have been drawn for centuries from the sweet words of this psalm. Who
can tell how many hearts they have braced, how much patient toil they have
inspired? The Psalmist was sowing seed the fruit of which he little dreamed of
when he wrote them, and his sheaves will be an exceeding weight indeed. The
text gives assurance fitted to animate to toil in the face of dangers without, and
in spite of a heavy heart—namely, that no seed sown and watered with tears is
lost; and further, that, though it often seems to be the law for earth that one
soweth and another reapeth, in deepest truth “every man shall receive his own
reward, according to his own labour,” inasmuch as, hereafter, if not now,
whatsoever of faith and toil and holy endeavour a man soweth, trusting to God
to bless the springing thereof, that shall he also reap. In the highest sense and in
the last result the prophet’s great words are ever true: “They shall not plant,
and another eat … for my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”1
[Note: A. Maclaren, The Book of Psalms, 321.]
I saw in seedtime a husbandman at plough in a very raining day; asking him the
reason why he would not rather leave off than labour in such foul weather, his
answer was returned to me in their country rhyme:
Sow beans in the mud,
And they’ll come up like a wood.
This could not but mind me of David’s expression, “They that sow in tears shall
reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” These last
five years have been a wet and woful seedtime to me, and many of my afflicted

brethren. Little hope have we, as yet, to come again to our own homes, and, in a
literal sense, now to bring our sheaves, which we see others daily carry away on
their shoulders. But if we shall not share in the former or latter harvest here on
earth, the third and last in heaven we hope undoubtedly to receive.1 [Note:
Thomas Fuller, Good Thoughts in Worse Times.]
Sow;—while the seeds are lying
In the warm earth’s bosom deep,
And your warm tears fall upon it—
They will stir in their quiet sleep;
And the green blades rise the quicker,
Perchance, for the tears you weep.
Then sow;—for the hours are fleeting,
And the seed must fall to-day;
And care not what hands shall reap it,
Or if you shall have passed away
Before the waving corn-fields

Shall gladden the sunny day.
Sow; and look onward, upward,
Where the starry light appears—
Where in spite of the coward’s doubting,
Or your own heart’s trembling fears,
You shall reap in joy the harvest
You have sown to-day in tears.2 [Note: A. A. Procter, Legends and Lyrics, i.
134.]
II
Reaping in Joy
Now comes the promise—“He shall come again with joy, bringing his sheaves
with him.” We have here in the Hebrew a striking form of expression. It is the
combination of the finite tense with the infinitive; it is difficult in our idiom to
bring out the exact thought. In some versions it is rendered, “Coming, he shall
come.” This, however, conveys neither the peculiar form nor the precise sense of
the Hebrew phrase. Luther’s repetition of the finite tense, most scholars are
agreed, gives us the best approximation to the force of the original, “He shall
come, he shall come.” The certainty of His coming again is the thought; this is
what our common version, with its “shall doubtless come again,” clearly teaches.

1. The sower shall shout in the joy of his harvest. He goes forth in the dull winter
when leaden clouds hang overhead, and the wild winds moan dismally, and the
rain-showers sweep suddenly upon him, and the dead leaves are swept by every
gust, and the trees stretch up their bare black arms to heaven. But though it
begins thus, it has another ending. There comes the happy time when the row of
reapers bend over the falling corn; when they that bind the sheaves are busy,
and others pile the shocks; when the laden waggons go homewards with the
precious burden, and about the farmsteads are they who build the stacks. Then
shall the sower come again. He who went out with handfuls shall come back with
armfuls. He who scattered seed shall gather sheaves. He who went out with a
basket shall come with a waggon-load.
At Clanwilliam he heard some wonderful and well-authenticated instances of the
marvellous fertility of the soil near the Oliphants River, where in good seasons
the land yields even two-hundredfold. Mr. Fryer, one of the churchwardens, had
himself seen “a stool of wheat which, after successive cuttings, had thrown out
320 stalks”; and knew of a particular crop which was even more wonderful: A
farmer sowed 1/4 of a muid, or sack, of corn; the river overflowed and he reaped
57 sacks! He found rather a difficulty in disposing of it all, and next year he did
not sow. But grain shed by the harvest of the previous year, and escaping the
appetites of the birds, actually produced, after another overflow of the river, a
self-sown harvest of 72 sacks; i.e. the farmer, with one sowing and one
ploughing, reaped in two years, from 1/4 sack of seed 129 sacks of corn! 516
fold! This is vouched for by several persons.1 [Note: A Father in God: W. W.
Jones, Archbishop of Capetown, 93.]
2. The spiritual harvest is assured to us on the same authority as assures the
earthly harvest. He who has never broken His first promise, “seedtime and
harvest shall not cease,” will never break His second, “they that sow in tears
shall reap in joy.” There is no joy like that which comes from successful work
for Christ. All the joys of earth are nothing when compared with this. This
endures; this allies us to angels and God. This awakens the purest and noblest
instincts of the soul. In this joy we feel the throb of Christ’s heart. The promise
to Him is that “he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” This
joy is mingled even with the gloom of Gethsemane and Calvary. It was for the

joy set before Him that He endured the cross and despised the shame.
Most of the thoughts that cluster round the season of autumn are worn and
common enough. No new ones can be spoken; we can only vary the key of the
old. So when we think of harvest time, and of life’s harvest being similar to it, we
think a well-worn thought; but its very worn condition makes it dear, for it has
been the constant thought of all our brother men. It is bound up with a thousand
lovely poems in which the thoughts of solitary men took form, with a thousand
lovely landscapes in which, by vintage and by cornland, human energy and
human joy, the long day’s labour and the moonlight dance were wrought
together into happiness. Few sights are fairer than that seen autumn after
autumn round many an English homestead, when, as evening falls, the wains
stand laden among the golden stubble, and the gleaners are scattered over the
misty field; when men and women cluster round the gathered sheaves and
rejoice in the loving-kindness of the earth; when in the dewy air the shouts of
happy people ring, and all over the broad moon shines down to bless with its
yellow light the same old recurring scene it has looked on and loved for so many
thousand years.1 [Note: Stopford A. Brooke.]
3. “They that sow shall reap.” The seed is God’s, and God’s too is the increase;
only let us cast God’s seed into God’s soil, it matters not though we sow in tears,
He will bless us with the harvest. God has His purpose in every call of duty; His
purpose is to give us the blessedness of what we do. Were the work ours alone,
were we left to do it by ourselves, were success dependent on our efforts or skill,
then as we think how imperfect we are, and as we contemplate the powerful
influences at work to hinder and mar the cause which we have at heart, we
might well despair. But the word of the Lord standeth sure; God’s promise
cannot fail of fulfilment. The “shall come again” of the Omnipotent absolutely
ensures success. Only sow faithfully, and you shall reap abundantly—here, if
God sees it wise and well, hereafter, beyond all question. Yes, the harvest will
come, must come. There may be cloudy skies, and dark days, and cold winds
first—much that makes the sower anxious, and even causes weeping and painful
fear; but still, the harvest will come.
Every promise of God hath this tacitly annexed to it—“Is anything too hard for
the Lord?”1 [Note: John Owen.]

The Methodist Chapel at Shotley Bridge, of which Mr. M‘Cullagh became
minister in 1849, was the only place of worship in this small village. One very
interesting member of the congregation, a most godly woman, was the sister of
that brilliant man of letters, De Quincey, the English opium-eater. A local
preacher of much originality was also a prominent figure in the congregation.
Mr. M‘Cullagh in after years wrote of him: “Henderson’s prayers were
sometimes remarkable. Once I heard him quote the passage, ‘The promise is
unto you and to your children,’ thus, ‘The promise is unto Henderson and his
children.’ Some years afterwards I met one of his children in the ranks of the
ministry, and I thought of the good man’s faith in wedging his own name and his
children’s into the promise. Once when I was preaching on the text, ‘Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises,’ as I quoted one
promise after another, Henderson half-audibly said, ‘That is mine! and that is
mine! and that is mine!’ And when I uttered the words, ‘Having nothing, and yet
possessing all things,’ he said with added emphasis, ‘and that is mine.’ ”2 [Note:
Thomas M‘Cullagh, by his Eldest Son, 62.]
The Great Texts of the Bible - James Hastings
DAVID LEGGE
Good evening to you all again, it's good to be with you once more this Saturday
evening. Psalm 126 please, just two verses from it, and then John's gospel
chapter 11 and one verse from it. Psalm 126 verses 5-6: "They that sow in tears
shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him". Then John
chapter 11 please, verse 35: "Jesus wept".
You see, that is the reaction that the reality of hell - that we considered last night
- requires of us: to bow our heads and weep...
Last night, if you were here, we looked at the title of 'When Hell Freezes Over' -
Evangelicalism's modern aversion to the doctrine of eternal punishment, and the
evangelistic consequences of that. I'm not going to repeat anything really, apart
from the two major points - and that was: we found first of all that we must
rediscover the truth of hell; and then secondly we saw that we must allow the
rediscovery of hell to motivate us again to world evangelisation. Tonight I'm

taking as my title 'Tiny Tears' - and, as you can imagine, I'm not going to talk
about a child's doll, but I'm taking that as a title because I believe that
Evangelicalism has come to have an emotional detachment from the pain and
the peril of the lost. Very few tears are shed for those who are without Christ.
An evangelist tells the story of visiting Francis and Edith Schaeffer in their
Switzerland home in L'Abri. After dinner one night the conversation ranged
over several profound theological subjects, and suddenly someone asked Dr
Schaeffer: 'What will happen to those who have never heard of Christ?'.
Everyone around the dinner table was waiting for some great theological
answer, a weighty intellectual response - and none came. Instead, he bowed his
head and wept.
You see, that is the reaction that the reality of hell - that we considered last night
- requires of us: to bow our heads and weep. Yet it is so lacking. I know it is
lacking in my life, and I imagine that you're no different. R. Dale once said of
D.L. Moody that 'he had the right to preach about hell, because he so clearly did
so from a weeping heart'. Do we have weeping hearts when we attempt to speak
to others about their need of Christ?
I stumbled across a website on the Internet on the subject of mental health, and
it was talking about tears and weeping. It said that crying is our first language -
as babies we cried to let our parents know that we were scared, or hungry, or
tired. It was our way of saying 'I need help right now'. It listed two purposes of
crying: one, it announced that something is hurting us; and two, it is a
mechanism to release the pain of whatever is hurting us. One, it announced that
something hurts - does it hurt to us to know that people are lost? Do we shed
tears to release that pain because of the hurt that it causes?
We have allowed our tear ducts to become cauterised by the spirit of the age,
whether it's materialism, pluralism, atheism, post-modernism - eternal realities
are no longer real enough to make us want to cry over them!
Albert Smith, a Christian writer, said: 'Tears are the safety valve of the heart
when too much pressure is laid on'. M. R. DeHaan said: 'A tear is the distillation
of the soul, it is the deepest longing of the human heart in chemical solution'.
Herbert Lockyer said: 'Tears are liquid prayer'. So we might well ask the
question: why it is then that the church seems to be suffering today from 'dry-
eyed syndrome'? Whether it's in the pulpit - and I'm as guilty as any - or in
prayer meetings, or in private: if tears are an expression of our emotions,
therefore it can only be the conclusion that we reach that Christians have

become emotionally detached from the pain and the peril of the lost. We have
allowed our tear ducts to become cauterised by the spirit of the age, whether it's
materialism, pluralism, atheism, post-modernism - eternal realities are no longer
real enough to make us want to cry over them!
Now when we look to this book, we find that all the great men of God in it - and
indeed in Christian history - who saw a great work done for God, were broken
spirits with wet eyes. Men and women whose hearts were broken! Jeremiah
compared his weeping as a fountain, a river of tears - the expression insinuates
that his whole head had become water because of his weeping for the nation. We
come to the New Testament, and Paul the apostle four times described himself as
'serving the Lord with all humility and with many tears'. But of course there is
no greater example than the Man of Sorrows Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ - a
life, I believe, that was saturated in tears, though we only read of a number of
occasions. We read of Him weeping over a sinful city in Luke 19: 'And when he
was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it'. We read of Him tonight in
John 11:35, and He is weeping over sin's wages - for the wages of sin is death,
and a very close friend of His, Lazarus, had died. He is weeping over what sin
has done to humanity. We read of Him in Hebrews 5 and verse 7, weeping over
sin's sacrifice: 'Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and
supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him
from death, and was heard in that he feared'. He was weeping in Gethsemane
over the sacrifice that He was about to pay for our sins. He wept.
It seems today that if the church in general isn't freezing in intellectualism, it is
frying in emotionalism - and yet even with those two extremes, there are few, it
appears, who weep over lost souls. We are more moved at times over a dead dog
lying in the street, or a child lost in the woods, than we are about millions of
people heading to hell. If we're going to see revival in Ulster, and if we're going
to see it in Ireland, and if we're going to see people thrust into the harvest field
from this place, we are going to need to see brokenness! Like the brokenness of
the prophets, like the brokenness of the apostles, like the brokenness of Christ
Himself, like the brokenness of our forefathers - they knew it! We need to
discover again the weeping way of our Lord: that they that sow in tears, shall
reap in joy. 'He', or she, 'that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed',
the word of God, 'shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing their
sheaves with them'.
This was the way of Murray M'Cheyne, an old Scottish Presbyterian minister.
His old sextant had the privilege of showing some tourists around his church in

Dundee, and his manse. Some of these American tourists asked the sextant to
show them how his old master used to study and preach. So he took them into
the manse, into his study, and he said: 'Now sit down and put your head in your
hands on the desk, put your face in your hands and let the tears fall - for that is
the way my master studied!'. Then a little bit later on he brought them into the
church, and he went up into the pulpit and said: 'Now lean over, lean way over,
stretch out your hands to the congregation, and now let the tears fall - that's the
way my master preached!'.
It was the way George Whitefield sought to win souls. One who knew him well
said he hardly knew him go through a whole sermon without weeping...
It was the way George Whitefield sought to win souls. One who knew him well
said he hardly knew him go through a whole sermon without weeping. His voice
was often interrupted by tears, sometimes so excessive as to stop him. He said:
'You blame me for weeping, but how can I help it when you will not weep for
yourselves, though your immortal souls are on the verge of destruction? For
aught you know, you are hearing your last sermon, and may nevermore have an
opportunity to have Christ offered to you'. What a great soul winner George
Whitefield was.
It was the way Colonel Clark of the United States preached. R. A. Torrey, the
evangelist, recites - I'm just giving it to you as he gives it to us - 'One of the
mightiest soul winners I ever knew was Colonel Clark of Chicago. He would
work at his business six days every week, and every night in the week all year
round 500-600 men would gather in that Mission Hall. It was a motley crowd:
drunkards, thieves, pickpockets, gamblers and everything that was hopeless. I
used to go and hear Colonel Clark talk - and he seemed to me one of the dullest
talkers I have ever heard in my life. He would ramble along, and yet these 500-
600 would lean over and listen, spellbound, while Colonel Clark talked in his
prosy way. Some of the greatest preachers in Chicago used to go down to help
Colonel Clark, but the men would not listen to them as they did to Colonel
Clark. When he was speaking, they would lean over and listen, and be converted
by the score! I could not understand it. I studied it, and wondered what the
secret was - why did these men listen with such interest? Why were they so
greatly moved by such prosy talking? I found the secret: it was because they
knew that Colonel Clark loved them, and nothing conquers like love. The tears
were very near the surface with Colonel Clark'. What a statement! The tears
were very near the surface with Colonel Clark. 'Once in the early days of the
mission, when he had been weeping a great deal over these men, he got ashamed

of his tears. He steeled his heart and tried to stop crying, and succeeded - but
lost his power. He saw that his power was gone, and went to God and prayed, 'O
God, give me back my tears'. God sent him back his tears, and gave him
wonderful power with God and with men'.
Do we not need to pray: 'O God, give me back my tears'? If ever we had those
tears! Is there more that we can do than just ask God to give us tears back?
Well, I think there is. That mental health website I was looking at describes how,
when we grow into adulthood, we are pressurised by others to bottle up our
tears, not express ourselves - whether we think, as men, that it's not manly, or it
shows weakness in some way. Of course, as you probably know, that's not a
healthy thing - the best thing, at times, is just a good old cry. It's not spiritually
healthy not to be able to shed a tear. They suggest on this website, on a human
level, that to get yourself crying you need to sit there and watch a soppy movie
or something like that, or watch Bambi - and everybody seems to cry when
Bambi's mother gets killed. Those are crocodile tears, aren't they? That's not
what we're looking for, we're not looking for theatrical tears - and so often we
can think of things that hurt us in our minds, and we can start to blurt, and it's
got nothing to do with lost souls that are dying.
It was Dr William Chapman who suggests a way whereby we can stir up
concern and brokenness in our hearts. He simply says: 'Take your New
Testament and go quietly to a quiet place, and read a sentence like this, 'He that
believeth not is condemned already''. Chapman says, 'Think about that for 10
minutes. Put your boy over against that verse. Put your wife there, your
husband, your little girl. Then take another verse, 'He that hath not the Son of
God hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth on him''. He says: 'I know that a
soul thus burdened generally gains its desire'.
Charles Finney, who saw great revival in the United States, urged seekers after
concern to look, as it were, into a telescope into hell - now if you want to do that,
Luke 16 is the best place to start, for that's where the Lord Jesus gives us a
telescope into hell. 'Hear their groans', he says, 'Turn the glass then upwards,
look into heaven and see the saints there in their white robes, hear them sing the
song of redeeming love - and ask yourself: is it possible that I should prevail with
God to elevate the sinner there?'. 'Do this', Finney says, 'and if you're not a
wicked man, you will soon have as much of the spirit of prayer as your body can
sustain'.
We're not looking for theatrical tears - and so often we can think of things that
hurt us in our minds, and we can start to blurt, and it's got nothing to do with

lost souls that are dying...
Now Paul had that. Turn with me quickly to Romans 9 to illustrate this. Verse 1:
'I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the
Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I
could wish that myself were accursed', damned, 'from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh'. He spoke of it again in Galatians chapter 4
and verse 19, though he was speaking to believers, he was expressing the travail
that was in his soul. He says: 'My little children, of whom I travail in birth again
until Christ be formed in you'. There is a birth process, birth pangs that need to
be experienced by the church and by the child of God, if people are going to be
born again at home or on the mission field.
When we read the words of Paul, it's as if the heart of Christ dwelt in his own
bosom. Let's face it, none of us in and of ourselves have any love that is worth
anything in God's eyes. The love we are talking about here is agape love, it is a
supernatural love, it's something that is a fruit of the Spirit. It is the heart of
Christ in our bosom, as it was for Paul - and it will transform human
relationships, it will pay the price that David and Rachel have done in their
family to go and tell others, it will love the unlovable. It will enable us not to be
indifferent any longer, for it is the heart of Christ!
Now how do you know someone else's heart? We celebrated 10 years married,
but I know there's a lot of people here many more years married - but you know
how it gets: you learn to second-guess one another, don't you? You grow to
know the person, you know their heart - the only way to get the heart of Christ
is to be intimate with Him, to spend time with Him. His burden becomes your
burden. That's what Laodicea was asked to do, individuals in it that is, in
Revelation 3 and verse 20: 'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me' - that's communion. I speak reverently, but what the Lord is
describing is you sitting down and - we would have a cup of tea with each other
and share burdens from our hearts - and He wants to do that with us! The only
way to get it is meeting with Him.
We need brokenness over lost souls, and the only way we can get it is
communing with our brokenhearted Saviour. Winners of souls must first be
weepers for souls. John Henry Jowett said: 'We can never heal needs we do not
feel. Tearless hearts can never be heralds of the passion. We must pity if we
would redeem. We must bleed if we would be ministers of the saving blood. The
disciple's prayer must be stricken with much crying and many tears. The

ministers of Calvary must supplicate in bloody sweat, and their intercession
must often touch the point of agony. True intercession is a sacrifice, a bleeding
sacrifice'.
Tiny tears have been a mark of the church for too long. Evangelicalism's
aversion to the doctrine of eternal punishment, and its evangelistic
consequences, has born within us an emotional detachment from the pain and
peril of a lost world. George Bernard Shaw was no Christian, but he spoke the
truth when he said: 'The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate
them, but to be indifferent to them'. If true soul winning is to be revived, if
missionary endeavour in our country is to be revived, we must rediscover true
spiritual brokenness - that they that sow in tears will reap in joy - for tears are
God's glue that makes the gospel stick, tears are the oil that lubricates the wheel
of world evangelisation: tears at home for missionaries abroad, tears of
preachers, tears of Christians for their lost souls in their families and friends.
Tears are God's glue that makes the gospel stick, tears are the oil that lubricates
the wheel of world evangelisation: tears at home for missionaries abroad, tears
of preachers, tears of Christians...
Someone has said: 'Tears win victory. A cold, unfeeling, dry-eyed religion has no
influence over the souls of men. Either you don't really believe in hell, or you are
culpably callous' - there's no in between. You either don't believe in this place,
or your heart ought to be broken for those who are going there.
I benefited in my teenage years from a group called 'Young Life' - they used to
be called 'The National Young Life Campaign' - they have a very distinct
hymnbook. There's a lot of hymns, soul winning hymns, in it that I don't find in
many other hymn books. One of them - you might know it, some of you - goes
like this, and I'll leave you with these words:
'With a soul blood-bought and a heart aglow,
Redeemed of the Lord and free,
I ask as I pass down the busy street,
Is it only a crowd I see?
Do I lift my eyes with a careless gaze,
That pierces no deep-down woe?
Have I naught to give to the teeming throng,

Of the wealth of the love I know?
As I read in the Gospel story oft,
Of the Christ who this earth once trod,
I fancy I see His look on the crowd,
That look of the Son of God.
He saw not a number in might or strength,
But a shepherd-less flock distressed,
And the sight of those wearied, fainting sheep
Brought grief to His loving breast.
Dear Lord, I ask for the eyes that see
Deep down to the world's sore need,
I ask for a love that holds not back,
But pours out itself indeed.
I want the passionate power of prayer
That yearns for the great crowd's soul,
I want to go 'mong the fainting sheep
And tell them my Lord makes whole'.
And here's the chorus:
'Let me look on the crowd as my Saviour did,
Till my eyes with tears grow dim,
Let me look till I pity the wandering sheep,
And love them for love of Him'.
Amen.
Don't miss part 3 of Evangelicalism's Evangelical Emergency: “Mis-gourded
Zeal”
------------------------

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Transcribed by:
Preach The Word.
October 2008
www.preachtheword.com
CALVIN
1. When Jehovah brought back the captivity of Zion, etc. It is unnatural and
forced to suppose, with some expositors, that this is a prediction of what was to
come. For my part I have no doubt that the Psalm was composed upon the
return of the Jewish people from the Babylonish captivity; and for this reason I
have translated the verb , beshub, in the past tense. Now, whoever was the
author of it, 88 whether one of the Levites or one of the Prophets, he affirms that
the manner of their deliverance was too wonderful to be attributed to fortune, in
order to lead the faithful to the conclusion that the prophecy of Jeremiah, which
had assigned seventy years as the term of the captivity, was truly fulfilled.
(Jeremiah 25:12, and Jeremiah 29:10.) By the verb dream, which expresses the
astonishing character of the event, he teaches us that there is no room left for
ingratitude. As often as God works by ordinary means, men, through the
malignity of their natures, usually exercise their ingenuity in devising various
causes of the deliverance wrought, in order to darken the grace of God. But the
return of the Jewish people from the Babylonish captivity, having been a miracle
of such splendor as was sufficient to swallow up and confound all the thoughts of
men, it compels us to own that it was a signal work of God. This is the reason
why the Prophet compares this deliverance to a dream. “So far,” he materially
says, “is any mind from comprehending this unparalleled benefit of God, that
the bare thinking upon it transports us with amazement, as if it were a dream,
and not an event which had already taken place. What impiety, then, will it be,
not to acknowledge the author of it.” Moreover, he does not mean that the
faithful were so dull of understanding as not to perceive that they were delivered
by the hand of God, but only that, judging according to carnal sense and reason,
they were struck with astonishment; and he was apprehensive lest, in reasoning

with themselves about that redemption, as about an ordinary thing, they should
make less account of the power of God than it became them to do. The noun ,
shibath, translated captivity, might be rendered bringing back, as some do,
which would give greater elegance to the expression of the Psalmist, as in that
case would be a noun of the same verb which is used in the beginning of the
verse. 89 As, however, this makes little difference in regard to the sense, it is
enough to have noticed it to my readers in passing.
2. Now shall our mouth be filled with laughter. The adverb of time, , az, is
commonly translated then; but as the verbs are in the future tense, I have
thought that it might not be improper to translate tires — grow shall our mouth
be filled, and now shall they say. If, however, we admit what some Hebrew
Doctors affirm, that the force of this particle is to change the future tense into
the past, the adverb then will be the appropriate word. The design of the
Prophet is not at all obscure. He would have the people so to rejoice on account
of their return, as not to bury in forgetfulness the grace of God. He therefore
describes no ordinary rejoicing, but such as so fills their minds as to constrain
them to break forth into extravagance of gesture and of voice. At the same time
he intimates that there was good ground for this joy, in which it became the
children of God to indulge, on account of their return to their own land. As there
was at that period nothing more wretched than for them to live in captivity, in
which they were in a manner dispossessed of the inheritance God had promised
them; so there was nothing which ought to have been more desirable to them
than to be restored. Their restoration to their own country having been
therefore a proof of their renewed adoption by God, it is not surprising to find
the Prophet asserting that their mouth was filled with laughter, and their tongue
with exultation. With a similar joy does it become us at the present day to exult
when God gathers together his Church and it is an undoubted evidence that we
are steel-hearted, if her miserable dispersion does not produce in our minds
grief and lamentation. The Prophet proceeds farther, declaring that this miracle
was seen even by the blind; for in that age of the world, as is well known, the
heathen were wandering in darkness like blind men, no knowledge of God
having shone upon them; and yet God’s power and operation were so
conspicuous in that event, that they burst forth into the open acknowledgment
that God had done great things for his people. So much the more shame-fill then
was the indifference of the Jews to be accounted, if they did not freely and loudly
celebrate God’s grace, which had acquired so much renown among the
unbelieving. The form of speech employed is also to be marked, which forcibly

expresses the idea intended to be conveyed, that the mighty power of God in this
deliverance was known by the Gentiles. In the following verse the Prophet
repeats in his own person, and in that of the Church, the words uttered by the
heathen in the last member of the preceding verse. Let us at least, as if he had
said, put forth a confession corresponding to that which God has extorted from
the unbelieving Gentiles. When he adds that they were glad, there is an implied
antithesis between this fresh joy and the long continued sorrow with which they
were afflicted in their captivity, he expressly declares that joy was restored to
them, to enable them the better to estimate the dismal condition from which they
had been extricated.
HENRY LAW
Restoration from captivity is the Lord's gracious work. In due time the sorrow
of the righteous shall be swallowed up in joy.
1. "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like those who
dream."
When the days of Babylonish bondage were fully run, what transports of joy
thrilled through Israel's sons! Their minds were almost bewildered by the grand
event. The good tidings seemed almost as the mocking of an illusive vision of the
night. So when deliverance from Satan's yoke is realized, what floods of delight
overpower the soul! We were born captives in the devil's prison-house, his
shackles held us tightly bound. We were slaves toiling under a cruel tyrant. But
when Jesus comes and grants liberty we awake to a new world of happiness. We
breathe the air of freedom. We exult with joy unspeakable and full of glory. We
are tempted to exclaim, "Can this be real?"
2. "Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing; then
said they among the heathen, The Lord has done great things for them."
Their homeward march was lively with exuberant thanksgiving. The voice of
pious melody was heard around. The heathen beheld the marvelous return. At
once they exclaimed that One mightier than man had come forth for their
rescue. May we ever ascribe our redemption to free grace!
3. "The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad."
The Lord, indeed, has done great things for us. Omnipotence has mightily come

forth to save us from the grasp of Satan. Jesus, the incarnate God, has grappled
with our deadly foe. He has snatched us from his thraldom. The great God
brings salvation. Shall we not rejoice and sing!
4. "Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south."
When the heat of summer burns, many torrents show dry channels. The cattle,
thirsting for refreshing waters, are mocked with empty beds. But when the rains
return, their channels are again replenished, and gladness smiles beside their
banks. So when the days of banishment are passed, the captives move homeward
with delight. May the Lord speedily bring this joy to those who groan beneath
Satan's cruel yoke!
5-6. "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who goes forth and weeps,
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his
sheaves with him."
An image from rustic life gives comfort. The husbandman in hopeful toil casts
the seed into the furrows. Months pass and there is no sign of life. In due season
spring returns. The fields again are clad with verdure. Summer glows with
ripening rays. The harvest is gathered in amid full shouts of joy. So a long
period of dreary waiting may depress the soul; but the promised deliverance
comes, and sorrow flees in shouts of fervent joy. May this be speedily our glad
experience.
CARL BERNHARD MOLL
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.—In Psalm 126:1-3 the poet recalls the rejoicing
which filled the hearts and mouths of the Israelites on their return home from
captivity, in the midst of the acknowledgment by Gentiles and Jews, that this
deliverance was a wonderful and mighty deed of Jehovah. In Psalm 126:4-6 he
adds a prayer for a like restoration to their homes of their companions who still
lingered in captivity, together with the declaration, that a full harvest of joy
would grow from such seed sown in tears.
It is impossible to discover any closer approximation to the time of composition
than the period in general succeeding the exile. [So the commentators generally
agree. Hengstenberg: “The special references are as usual only slightly

indicated. The sacred Psalmists were deeply impressed with the conviction that
they sung for the Church of all ages. The Psalm always finds a new application
in those circumstances of the Church in which joyful hopes, awakened by a
previous deliverance, are in danger of being frustrated; it was also composed for
the purpose of expressing the feelings of the individual believer, in whom sin
threatens, after his first love, to become again powerful. It guides us to prepare,
out of the lively realization of the hope already received, a sure foundation for
prayer and hope in reference to grace yet to be bestowed.”—J. F. M.]
Psalm 126:1-3. It follows from the use of the perfect , Psalm 126:1 b and3b, that
the bringing back is not represented as about to happen (Isaaki, Aben Ezra,
Kimchi, Luther, Geier, et al.), but as already past (Sept, Jerome, Calvin and
most recent commentators). It is doubtful whether is a tenable form with the
transitive signification: leading back, after the analogy of , Lamentations 3:63
(Aben Ezra), while there also exists the form , Isaiah 30:15 return=conversion,
or with the intransitive sense: return =those returning (Delitzsch and most), or
whether we are to assume that it is an old mistake of a copyist and read here, as
in Psalm 126:4, the familiar phrase with8 codices of Kennicott (the ancient
translators, J. D. Mich, De Wette, Olsh, Hupfeld, Böttcher, Hitzig). [Taking the
common explanation, Psalm 126:1 would be translated: When Jehovah was
leading back the returning ones of Zion, we were like dreamers. It will be
noticed that the English translators adopted from the ancient versions the view
last given above.—J. F. M.] Psalm 126:1 b does not refer to a situation in which,
like dreamers, they had no control over their senses, that, therefore, they are
represented as being beside themselves with joy and in an ecstasy (Hengst.), but
to one in which they could hardly consider the reality anything but a dream
(Geier, et al.). [Alexander combines the two: “Incredulity may be included, but
must not be suffered to exclude all other feelings.”—Perowne and most adopt
the latter. In Psalm 126:2 a, b, Dr. Moll renders: “Then laughter filled our
mouth and rejoicing our tongue,” instead of following the construction in the
Heb. text as given correctly in E. V. In this he seems to have been misled by the
translation of Delitzsch which he follows pretty closely throughout the Psalm.
The freer rendering might be admissible in the plan pursued by D, in which he
follows the Hebrew rhythm closely in his German translation; but it is hardly so
when it is not necessary to forego the literal rendering.—J. F. M.]
Psalm 126:4 prays for great accessions to the population of the Holy Land and
for consequent renewal of prosperity, as the Negeb (dryness), that Isaiah, the
Land of Judah ( Genesis 20:1) and the country generally lying towards the
desert of Sinai represents the same thing in its geographical relations by the

rivulets which disappear in summer, and in winter are filled with water from the
rains.
Psalm 126:5-6 contain a general truth ( Matthew 5:4; Galatians 6:7 f.), but, at
the same time also, an historical allusion to the tearful return homewards
( Jeremiah 30:15), and the rebuilding of the Temple amidst the tears of the
people ( Ezra 3:12.) It is not a mere exchange of joy for sorrow ( Psalm 30:6) but
a transformation which depends upon the exercise of patience and a humble
working and waiting in hope and faith. The sowing is literally: the drawing,
either because the hand draws the seed out of the seed-bag (Clericus, Köster,
Hupfeld), or in allusion to the scattering of the seed in long extended furrows
(Gesen, Del, Hitzig) Amos 9:13.
[The translation of this word by “precious” in E. V. was a conjecture and has no
support.—The infinitive here, with the finite verb, is generally supposed to
express continuous action. Hengstenberg translates by simply repeating the
finite verb: he goes, he goes. Alexander does the same, but is careful to give the
force of the Hebrew future. Delitzsch, whom Dr. Moll follows, renders: he goes
back and forward, which is more graphic. But in the conclusion the idea of
continuous or even of repeated action is unsuitable, for it expresses the final
triumph. And therefore it seems better to give to these expressions the sense
which similar constructions often have, of certitude, the fundamental notion
being the same, that of emphasis or intensity. See Green, Gr, § 282. Ewald, Gr, §
280 b. The sense will then be: “He surely weeps now as he sows, and he will
surely rejoice as he brings in his sheaves.” Or better, “just as surely as he weeps
now, so surely shall he rejoice then.” But the text does furnish also in the first
member the idea of continuance, so beautifully representing the patience of
hope; for the verbs of motion are not the same in both parts. In the former it is :
the sower keeps walking along as he works in patience. In the second it is : in the
harvest he comes in with his sheaves. Thus viewed, the verse is not only seen to
have a greater fulness and beauty of meaning, but the common idea that it is
“merely an expansion of the image in Psalm 126:5,” (Perowne) is shown to be a
misconception. It is in reality an advance upon it. For it declares success to be
the necessary result of patient and hopeful, even though sorrowful toil. And it
then becomes the exact Old Testament counterpart of Paul’s words: “Let us not
be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.” The
following rendering is therefore suggested:
He surely toils along weeping,
Carrying the burden of seed;

He surely comes in with rejoicing,
Carrying his sheaves.—J. F. M.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The joyful harvest after tearful sowing: Who assures it? Who receives it? Who
awaits it?—We often accompany our working and suffering upon earth with
tears, but is their desired fruit given to us? If not, with whom lies the cause?—
God’s doings in His Church in their effects upon the world and the Church.
Starke: The spiritual redemption which was effected by Jesus Christ is the
Christian’s highest consolation and joy; and the greatest miracle which God
ever wrought among men.—God often so deals with His children, that they
receive greater blessings than they themselves had hoped for.—It is our duty as
Christians to remember before God, in our prayers, those who are in distress
and have been wrongly imprisoned.—The tears of true repentance and of
sanctified affliction are a precious seed, from which will spring a joyful harvest.
—In the kingdom of nature the seed bears after its own kind, but God has a
different order for believers in the kingdom of glory. They sow tears and reap
joy.—Where nothing is sown, nothing will be harvested.
Luther: The prophet would exhibit a constant truth by the repetition of a little
word: they go, they go. For our weeping will not be finished until we are hidden
in the tomb, although a short season is given for rest.
Frisch: Know, dear soul, that as long as thou hast to live, and to be a pilgrim in
the Babel of this world, it will cost thee many tears in sowing: It costs tears of
repentance, as those of David, Peter, and the great sinners. It costs tears of thy
ministry as those of David, Jeremiah, Paul, and Christ Himself. It costs tears of
supplication, as those of David, whose tears had almost become his meat. It costs
tears for the sorrows of others, yes, and of thyself, too. But let none of these
things make thee sad. The joy of harvest restores everything to thee.—Rieger:
This song contains (1) a joyful declaration of the great deeds of God, as they
have been enjoyed by the children of Zion, and have been acknowledged even by
strangers; (2) a prayer for the deliverance of those left behind; (3) a word of
encouragement to their hearts, to strengthen themselves by patient waiting for
the Divine help.—Your mourning shall be turned into joy. But this process of
change is that of sowing and reaping.—Richter: Men are often comforted in the
midst of, but usually after tears. The true and complete harvest of grace follows
only in eternity.—Tears of wickedness and of hypocrisy are not the sowing of
grace.—Guenther: We are all sowers. Grant, O Lord, that we may sow Thy

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