We May Never Pass This Way Again
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A Song of Ascents. 1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. 4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb! 5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! 6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Get On The Bus:
Dan Fogelberg. Auld Lang Syne
Just for a moment I was back at school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home
The snow turned into rain
There are times when we want “familiar”, even if it is painful.
Life needs to get back to normal. Thanksgiving, Christmas, it’s all been so different. School, sports, no musical events, no live entertainment.... everything has been upended. We long for normal.
I want to walk into a store with no mask, I want to shake hands, I want to breathe again normally.
You know what i mean.
And Israel knew this too. They had been in Babylonian exile for 70 hears. Taken from their homeland, the Promised Land, and placed captive in a foreign place.
Things weren’t normal for them either.
I want to talk to you about why it will never be the same again.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
70 years of captivity in Babylon have passed. Many died in captivity. Many more were born, who did not know Babylon. When the Time came that they could return, only a very small handful, the remnant, returned to Jerusalem. Many went in other directions.
The date was about 538 BC.
.The return to Zion was predicted in scripture multiple times… they knew it would happen.
But when it did, they couldn’t believe it. It seemed like a dream.
Look at how Job felt in Job 9.16:
16 If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
But when it did, they were ecstatic at just the smallest of benefits. Note verse 2:
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
this was a partial piece of the restoration… but more was to come.
To properly understand their joy, you need to understand the depth of their sorrow. LOok at Psalm 42-43
To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah. 1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation 6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. 8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” 10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. 1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! 2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! 4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Again, look at the latter half of Psalm 126:2
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The nations heard about it too. He was revealing his glorious ability to deliver his people from anything.
3 The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.
The amazing deliverance God is working out is amazing. and precious to God’s people . Note, first they were in shock, as if they were living in a dream. then, the shock wears off and changes into a great joy.
When Mary was told of Jesus’ pending birth, listen to some of what she said in the magnificat:
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb!
Laughter.... shouts of joy.... happiness. All good things. were to be only a part of life in Canaan.
Life, though returned to the Canaan land, was a very harsh existence.
Out of the ashes of Judah’s total destruction.... and land that had lain fallow for 70 years… the returnees had to find a way to exist.
This verse is a prayer. “We are back. But nothing is how it was. Return us to our previous state.”
God’s answer is streams in the Negev. in these mostly dry areas, even one inch of rain would cause torrential rivers to come down the mountains, sometimes destructively. These “streams in the Negev” are not ordinary, they represent proverbially the sudden unleashing of God’s blessing on the land.
Read together.
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! 6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
This is God’s answer to the prayer of verse 4.
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
YOu can count on God. this is the answer that God gives. You are sowing in tears, but you shall reap with joy.
The work is hard. The results are uncertain. The Lord will be with the people to bless them.
Remember the Sermon on the mount, specifically Matthew 5.4
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Be responsible. Don’t sit idly by, waiting for God to somehow “magically” come through.
Go out and sow!
Pray that God blesses.
YOu and I take for granted that we can walk into any lowe’s, home depot, walmart, or dollar store this spring and we will find seed packets. We don’t understand the concept of weeping in sowing, of nervousness about the sowing.
The seed going into the ground would have been the sower’s profits from the previous year. And putting that into the ground, he was investing.... and if that investment didn’t turn out right…If the environment got too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry- they could suffer serious great financial loss.
The psalm began with joy and happiness at the return to the promised land. It ends with expectation… anticipation...
of another miracle:
The people returning “coming home’ singing songs of joy because of God’s incredible provision of a great harvest.
They wait, living on what he’s done, and waiting for what He will do.
They live in assurance that He will come through for them.
But how?
And that brings me to my bottom line:
Experience Builds Assurance But Anticipation Builds Faith
Experience Builds Assurance But Anticipation Builds Faith
time passes
we may never pass this way again
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.