Psalm 126:5-6 - Decemeber 2, 2009

Ps 126:5-6 “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."

This passage in verses five and six of Psalm 126 is a continuation of the theme of restoration that is begun in earlier portions of Psalm 126. There is an image of desperation in this passage. Sorrowful sowing brings to mind an image of that person who is just hanging on by a thread. They are at the end of themselves and giving of their last strength with a mixture of hope and hopelessness! The widow that the prophet is sent to in the town of Zarephath in I Ki. 17 is just such a person, despairing to the point of hopelessness.
This widow woman is compelled by the prophet to supply him with a meal even though her expectation is to finish out her food and then die because of the famine in the land. She is called upon to sow one last time, to exercise one last act of faith and then to believe. She is called upon to sow in tears. Have you ever been to the place where your pain is burning in you so strongly and yet the Lord asks for one more thing? As if to say “just trust me this one last time,” God asks of you an investment of faith that you have to reach down deep inside for the strength to obey. This is sowing in tears!
God’s way is to call upon us when it seems like we cannot go on any further, compelling us to take one more step of faith. “Just one more, you can do it!” “Just one more prayer, sow one more seed, try one last time, reach higher, dig deeper, forgive, trust, believe;” God challenges our comfort zone and we grow! We grow stronger. We grow richer. Our faith is matured and seasoned by the request of God that calls us to more than we thought we could possibly endure. But it is not a vain exercise that the Lord is engaging us in. The Lord encourages His people Heb 6:12 to “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” NIV This is the work of God in a life, to grow our faith and bring us into the inheritance that is waiting for us.
As Ps 30:5 says “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” NIV This is the promise of Psalm 126:5-6. Gal 6:8-9 exhorts us “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” NIV There is a promised harvest that awaits us even if we have walked through a valley of tears. There is a hope in God that is worth fighting for. Do not let your spirit grow faint during those times when all you can do is sow in faith. Eph 6:13-14 warns us of the battles to come by saying “… put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” NIV Do not despair in the long hard season but do all you know to do then stand in faith until you receive further direction from the Lord. His promise is that you will reap in joy!