Again a good morning to all of you. I’m just trying to imagine people who are not in the hall, you’re out there somewhere. I remember many faces. This morning I’ll like especially to acknowledge the children. I hope you are joining with your parents with us in worship. So we have children that we have been missing- Ezra and Eden, Keeron, and others alright. I hope that you are with us together in worship the One and true God. Now, this morning we are continuing our study on the Psalms. Remember there are many psalms, a hundred and fifty of them. And they are actually divided into five different books. And this morning we’d like to look at Psalm 126. Psalm 126. So again let me just read through this psalm.

Psalm 126, now this is “A Song of Ascents”, beginning in verse 1. “When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” Yes, the LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad. Bring back our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the South. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”. Now let us again look to the Lord for help. Let us pray.

“Our dear Father in heaven, we bow humbly before You as we draw near to You. As we come and hear Your truth, we know that this is the very Word of God. We know that You have something to say to us this morning, and we only pray that You will give us attentive ears. And so help us. Grant us enlightenment, grant us understanding, and grant us obedience as we study Your Word, for these, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

As I mentioned that this is a song of ascents. And this is therefore one of those hymns or songs that the pilgrims sing when they go up to Jerusalem, to Mount Zion to worship. And you can see that the different hymns or songs that they sing here have different themes. Just like the hymnal that we have that there are many hymns but with different themes. Hymns like “Day By Day”, hymns like “Glorious Things” about the church, hymns like “The Love Of God” about God’s great and amazing love, and so on. And so we have different themes. Remember we looked at Psalm 124 the last time, it was on a different subject. So what is this particular hymn about, this song of ascents about?

So let me, therefore, point out at the very beginning here that this song is about the time when the LORD restores their fortune (now according to ESV). It’s read and translated as “when the LORD restores the fortunes of Zion”. And restoring the fortune of Zion there in the other translation is about God bringing them back from captivity. And so that is what this song is about. It’s about the time when God brought them back from captivity. But it’s not just about that. It’s not just about the time when the LORD brought them back from captivity. But this song is also about the desire, the prayer, the cry to the LORD for that to happen again as you see in verse 4: “Bring back our captivity (or restore us), O LORD, as the streams in the South”.

And so that is what this hymn or this psalm is about. So they were singing. They were singing about the time when the LORD brought them home, and they are singing about their desire for that to happen again. So what does that mean? What were they crying for that they want this to happen again? And so let us find out. Now I have entitled this psalm as “A Dream Comes True”. I think in a sense that is what this psalm is about. And this psalm, so this song has three stanzas. We have the first three verses the first stanza, and then verse 4 the second stanza, and then verses 5 and 6 the last stanza. And so we shall look at these three stanzas in turn.

So the first stanza of this hymn is this. It is an expression of joy. It is an expression of joy. The second stanza is a prayer for joy again. And then the third stanza is the condition for joy. It is about joy. The first is an expression of joy at their return from exile. And so the psalmist begins here by looking at a remarkable time in the history of this nation, of these people when they were brought back from captivity. As I said, that is what verse 1 is about when the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion. And we know that the well-known time that they were brought back was when they were brought back… In fact, there were many times they were brought back from captivity.

But that well-known, famous time alright they were brought back was when they were brought back from Babylon. After seventy years in exile, and they are home finally. They are home finally. Now that might sound so sweet to the ears of these people. Home. Home sweet home. For many of them, for many years they have not been back home. When they were taken away from their home in Jerusalem, perhaps they were just teenagers. Maybe they were just children. Some of you perhaps were born elsewhere as a baby alright. And then you left that place and you’re never back that place again.

But it’s that kind of feeling. They left home when they were still very young. And now for many of them, they are back. They are back. They might be rushing to see their kampung or rush to that wantan shop alright which they loved alright or things like that. Now they are back home. Maybe by this time, things have changed. But for some others, they’ve never seen home. They were born while in exile. Then their parents say: We are going home. Home? What is it like? Then they are back. They are back, and that is the scene here in the first verse that the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion. Oh what a feeling that must have been for them!

Now there is a well-known song written by Pat Boone some time ago. Some of you who are older might remember Pat Boone. And the song is called “The Exodus Song”. And that song captures the feelings of the Israelites when they returned home so to say in 1948, back to the Jewish land. And that song begins this way: “This land is mine, God gave this land to me. This brave and ancient land to me. And when the morning sun reveals her hills and plain, then I see a land where children can run free” and so on. So I think that song was trying to capture that feeling. And I think it wells capture the feelings of this psalm, of the people when they are finally brought home. How did they describe this feeling?

Well, they tell us in verse 1, the second part, says: “When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion (it says there), we were like those who dream.”. It is in other words a dream comes true. For many of them, they were thinking of that. They were dreaming of coming home, and now it is a dream comes true. Now can you think of such a time in your life? Have you ever experienced a feeling like this where you exclaimed like the Israelites, like the Jewish people here? But this is so marvellous, and this is so amazing. This is indeed like a dream comes true. We were like those who dream, they say in verse 1. Have you ever had such a time in your life?

Maybe for some of you, it was that dream holiday to New Zealand or to Hong Kong or to some places, and then you say it’s a dream comes true. For others, maybe it was that time when you received your scholarship, say: Hooray! I got a scholarship to that prestigious university. It’s like a dream come true. Of course, for many, it is your big day, your wedding day on that day. Now try to think of that day. That is the feeling of the Jewish people here. It’s marvellous. It’s a wonderful time. It is a dream comes true. Like a dream means that is too good to be true. That is what dream means. It’s just too amazing. I can’t believe my eyes.

Now try to capture the feeling of these people here. That is their feeling. That is the feeling that this psalm is trying to express. And this is the hymn, the song that they were singing. I believe that sometimes we sing songs like that, and it will you know create that kind of feeling in us. I say it’s amazing. “Amazing love, how can it be?” Amazing, that is the feeling here. Now I say perhaps the closest to this experience, to these feelings would be your conversion experience. In here, I’ve heard of many testimonies when they share of how God by His grace saved them. The emotions at which they shared their feelings, it’s a mixed emotion. And they can see the joy. The unthinkable, unbelievable experience as it were they say that God saved a wretch like me.

I was going in that direction. I was going on my way to hell, and God snatched me and saved me. Now that is what it means to be a Christian. Now if you are a Christian, then I’m sure that you know something of the feeling that is being expressed in this psalm. It is like a dream. If you have not had that experience, then you do not understand what conversion means, what salvation actually means to you from what you have actually been saved. Not simply from poverty, from loneliness, or from failures in your life. But it’s from eternal damnation in hell. What a feeling that you have been rescued! That is what it means to be a Christian. It is the best thing to have happened in your life. 

If you have not had that feeling, then you don’t understand the saving grace of God. You don’t understand what it means to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. You don’t understand. But once you see something of it, then you will say like these people: “We were like those who dream”. We were like those who dream. This joy is unconcealable. This feeling, this joy is impossible to hide. You see that? If you see a Christian, a person has been converted. And very often you hear of their testimony, you can see the joy. It’s just impossible to hide. That’s this reason why people write hymns like “Oh what a wonderful, wonderful day” or “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound”. Or people who write of their conversion experience like C.S. Lewis in his book “Surprised By Joy”.

Now, this is what they mean. They say that this is how it feels to be saved by God. And I would like to ask you: Can people see that joy in you? For the psalmist, he says here in verse 2: “Then our mouth was filled with laughter”. It’s impossible to hide this joy. Or some translation or ESV says: “Then our mouth was…”, or in the second: “our tongue with shouts of joy” alright or here we’re singing. We will sing. That’s the reason why Christians sing. Why do we sing when we come to church to worship? Oh, it’s just a tradition. We just have to go through with that.

No, because we want to sing. We want to sing. We want to sing praises to God. We want to sing because we want to express our joy. We want to express our feeling, our hearts. That’s why we sing. So we don’t mumble. We don’t just sing without thinking. No, we sing like these people. Our tongue is singing. “Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.””. In other words, the nation here refers to the Gentiles, the other people. And it says here: Then the other people say among themselves. When the Christians expressed their joy by their lives and by their singing and by their conversation, the non-Christians (the Gentiles), the nations will say among themselves: These people are different. These people are happy people.

Now, what a sad thing it is when our neighbours see us, our friends see us, and they say these are pitiful people. They are unhappy people. No, that should not be the case. If we understand something of what it means to be a Christian, there would be joy that is unconcealable, impossible to hide. Your friend will know that. Your neighbours will know that. Your relatives will know that. These people, they know something we don’t. They have experienced something we don’t. What is it about them that they are so happy? “I’m singing for my Lord, everywhere I go”. That is what it means to be a Christian. See, the nations say among themselves: “The LORD has done great things for them.” And then they said yes. Verse 3: “The LORD has done great things for us”.

You are right. You are absolutely right. There is something special about us. There is something special that we have experienced that makes us so joyful. Christians are joyful people. We are happy people. To be a Christian and not happy, now these two they don’t come together. They don’t match. Christians are joyful people. Verse 3: “And we are glad”. And we are glad. Now how can people or what is it about Christians? How can people know that you are a happy person, that we Christians are happy people? How they can see like in Psalm 122: “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.””.

They can see Christians joyfully going to the house of the Lord. They can see Christians singing in the house of the Lord. They can see Christians happy in their serving the Lord. They can see a happy person when you see a Christian. You see a happy person when you see a Christian. Yes, we live in a world filled with pains and suffering. We live in a world filled with dangers and sicknesses that brought so much sadness and sorrow to so many people in the world today.

But when they look at the Christian, they ought to see something different. Something different about us. We are singing, we are happy, for we are glad, the psalmist says. We are glad not just when times are good. We are glad even in suffering. That’s how they can know that you are a happy person. Even in your pain, in your suffering, in times when things are not going well with you, they see joy in your face. That is the first stanza here. That is what this psalm, this hymn is about. It’s about an expression of joy of God’s people when they were brought back from captivity; when they were saved; when they were rescued from danger.

Now the second stanza is a prayer for joy again or a desire for joy again. That’s what we read in verse 4 where it says here: “Bring back our captivity (or restore us again), O LORD, as the streams in the South”. So what is this psalmist writing about as he moves to the second stanza here? Now there’s a change. There’s a change in as it were the scene. Now what he’s writing about is this. He’s saying that at the moment as they looked at the people of God, as he looks at the Israelites, then he sees something about them that is not quite right. And therefore this stanza is a cry. This stanza is a longing. I say the first stanza is an expression of joy.

The second stanza is a desire, a prayer for joy again. When I say again, it means this, that this joy can be lost. This joy can be lost. Now, why in this stanza the psalmist is writing about this prayer for joy again or this desire or this cry for joy again? Well, it’s perhaps when the psalmist was writing this, the first stanza was about the past when God first brought them back from captivity. When God first saved them, when God first delivered them, there was this joy, this immense joy. It was like a dream. As I said there are many people, many Christians when they were first converted, when they first became Christians, there was this great and immense joy that they experienced.

But then reality sets in. The returning exiles, while they were thrilled to be at home, it was like a dream. But after a while when they are back home, they see their home in ruin. They saw Jerusalem burned down. They saw the temple burned down and destroyed. Jerusalem was in a bad shape, and there was a need to rebuild. And as they rebuilt, they faced hostility and challenges and they face hardship. Now, these were told to us by people like Ezra in his book and Nehemiah when the people of God finally returned home. They realised that life was not as easy as they thought. Now the Christian life is not a bed of roses.

You may have that initial joy. But then you realise that the Christian life is hard. Christian discipleship is costly. And also there were many who returned and they quickly settled down and became nominal. There was nominalism in their midst after coming back. And these were recounted to us by people like Malachi and Haggai where they told us that many of them begin to be so rooted in their own comfort zone. They just lived their life and they built their own houses and they became worldly. And so spiritually, they were like the South. And so in verse 4, he says: “(Restore us or) Bring back our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the South”.

Or in the ESV is translated as in Neged. Neged is a place in south of Jerusalem, and that area south of Jerusalem is known to be a desert place, dry and arid. And so to refer to the South, sometimes we say the east coast, monsoon, or something like that alright. So when they speak of the south, they are speaking of a place that is dry and arid. And so the psalmist is using that as a picture to describe the condition of the people of God at this time. Now their life is like the South, dry and arid. They have settled into nominalism. Yes, they faced hardship and hostility. And then they begin to go downward, go downhill in their spiritual life.

Now perhaps many Christians are experiencing this. Many Christians are like that. After a while of being a Christian, they lose the joy of salvation. That initial joy that was there somehow is not and no longer present now. They are still Christians, but there is no more laughter, no more singing, no more evangelising, no more the zeal, no more the vitality of the Christian life. They are dragging their feet to come to church. They are like the South. And that’s what the psalmist is thinking now about the people of God. They are now in a bad shape. Yes, they’re back home. They have been delivered from captivity. They’re back home. Initial joy has gone. They begin to face the hardship, the trials, the difficulties, and the temptation.

And so the psalmist cries: “Bring back our captivity”, meaning to say bring back that first experience. Bring back that joy that is now lost. Restore our fortune, he writes, like streams- “like the streams in the South”. Now like the streams in the South meaning to say that just like in the South where it is dry and arid, but from time to time there will be a flash flood. The rain will come, and we see the flood hydrating the land. I say we want back that experience. In other words, verse 4 is a prayer for revival. Revive us again, O Lord. We want that experience. Come to us and sweep away the liturgy, now sweep away the despondency that so often grieves our Christian life. That is the cry.

Is that our cry this morning? Perhaps you are like the South. Your life is best described as dry and dead and lifeless. There’s no vitality. O Lord, bring the rain down and water us and flood us, and bring back the joy, the singing, and the zeal, and the enthusiasm that is lost in our lives. Bring that back, that is the cry. Revive us again. Revive us again. Is that your prayer this morning? That is what verse 4 is about. That’s what the second stanza of the song is about.

Now that leads us to the third and final stanza of this hymn or this psalm, and that is condition for joy again. There is a condition. If you want joy again, if you want vitality again, if you want back your life and your zeal, there is a condition for it to happen. I say the people’s condition is now like the dry land of the South- no life, no interest, no excitement. And sadly we can so often say this of so many Christians- no life, no interest, no excitement, no joy. It’s a sad state to be in, that’s why this psalm it is about. He said it’s a sad state to be in.

When spiritual things and spiritual activities no longer thrill you, they don’t excite you anymore. We talk about church, talk about church ministries. These things don’t excite many people anymore. So how will this vitality, this joy return or come back to us? Verses 5 and 6: “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”. I know that many people look at these two verses and immediately make an application to evangelism.

I think there is a principle here that can be applied to evangelism. But in this context, it’s not talking about that. But it’s using a picture language that of farming to tell us that if there were joy again in our life using this picture, there is a condition. There’s something you must do in order to get back the joy. So what is it? What does that mean? What does it mean? It means that you must go out. It says those who sow in tears. You must sow in tears. Those who go out weeping continually, only these people will come back, will doubtless come back with rejoicing. You must sow in tears. You must go forth weeping continually. Only then joy will come back to you.

That is what it means. It means I believe that first of all we must recognise our poor spiritual condition. It’s so hard to sometimes even tell people who are dead, who are so lifeless in their spiritual life to tell them that they are lifeless, that they need to be awakened. But that is the first thing we must realise. Or else, there is no hope for us. We must realise our poor spiritual condition. We must I believe what this verse means do what God tells Solomon to do in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

2 Chronicles 7:14, where God says: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”. That can only come about if My people would humble themselves, acknowledge their poor spiritual condition. Do not deny anymore. That is you. You are not what you ought to be. Humble yourself. Those who sow in tears, that is what he means. Or in the book of Ezra, Ezra chapter 9. I say Ezra speaks of the condition of the people at this time when they have returned home.

And then we see in Ezra chapter 9, beginning in verse 3 where Ezra writes here: “When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished.”. You must come to that place where you are astonished. How can that be? What kind of a Christian am I? What kind of church are we? We cannot be. We are so far away from the will of God. We are so far away from what we ought to be. That’s what astonish means. It’s amazing what these people have now come to. And verse 4: “Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat down astonished until the evening”.

I think that is what it means. Those who sow in tears, those who go forth weeping like Ezra here, he’s there. He’s sowing in tears. He’s weeping. He’s mourning for his sin and the sin of the people of God. Verse 5: “At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God.”. And verse 6: “And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.”.

Until we come to the point to recognise the true state of our Christian life; until we dare to say as Ezra said here that we are too ashamed even to look up into heaven; until we are able to come to the place and say to God that our sins have risen higher than our heads and our guilt have grown up to the heavens, the enormity of our sin, how far have we backslidden? It is a sad thing if people; if Christians have backslidden so far away and still not recognise it- and still not recognise it. There will be no joy. Joy can only come back. That excitement, that thrill, that fervency, that enthusiasm in your spiritual life, that vitality in your spiritual life can only come back when you recognise that.

And then like Ezra, like Nehemiah, like Solomon, like many others kneel and spread your hand before God and plead and pray: “Bring back our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the South”. Bring back the joy, O Lord, and flood our soul again. And flood our soul again. Condition for that joy to come again is when you humble yourself. When you humble yourself before God; when you recognise your true spiritual state and turn back to God in repentance.

So the psalmist is only using here as a picture a farmer alright, what a farmer needs to do. There are conditions if the farmer were to sow. And so there are conditions to be fulfilled if we were to regain that joy. Or in the words of Revelations 2:5. In the words of Revelations 2:5, it says here: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”. Now that is what the psalmist means. Recognise from where you have fallen, and then turn back. Repent. And unless you repent, God says I will remove your lampstand.

And so I would like to ask you as I end: Do you remember something of the joy of being a Christian? If you are a Christian, sure along the way somewhere you remember that point, that time, that joy that you once experienced. I want to ask: How is it with you now? Are you still that joyful, vibrant Christian, always singing for the Lord and serving Him with joy? Now if not, do you desire the joy to come back again? Then pray. Then pray like the psalmist here as: “Bring back our captivity, O LORD”. Restore us again. Bring back our joy. And the only way for the joy to come back is to recognise your true spiritual conditions, to repent, and to turn to this great and amazing God for that joy again. Let us pray.

“Our dear Father in heaven, we want to thank You for those of us who are believers, who are Christians, who have been saved from sin and damnation. Help us to remember that day or that time when we have that joy. Indeed it was like a dream that sinners like us could be saved from eternal damnation, saved by the amazing love and grace of God. And Lord, we know that in our Christian life so often this joy is taken away by so many things.

Lord, we pray indeed like the psalmist here that You would restore that joy to us again. Help us to be Christians where people around us can see that we are different. We have something that they don’t have. We have that joy that they had not experienced. Help us to be Christians that will be indeed salt and light to the world, for we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.