.... He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him (Psalm 126:5, 6). The Lord has used this Psalm, and in particular these two verses, over and over to encourage me to keep pressing into, and believing a particular promises, though it be long delayed. The Psalm opens by recalling the joy the return of the exiles from the captivity of Israel in Babylon, “our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongue with singing.” I am reminded of the night the United Nations voted for the Partition of Palestine on November 29 1947, there was dancing, laughter and singing in the streets. The original prophesied return from the captivity in Babylon was a mere seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11, 12). The promised return of Israel to the land was close to two thousand years. However “In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from .... (Isaiah 11:11-12). Note “the second time, ” indicating that this is not the Babylonian captivity, see also “many days” (Hosea 3:4-5).
As indicated by the word “doubtless” in verse 6, God is faithful to His promises! He is not a man that He should lie, what He has said He will do, He will do. However, many (but not all) of His promises come with a condition. I keep coming back to the “If my people ..” promise (2 Chronicles 7:14). We have a part to play. The Psalmist's part in whatever it was He was contending for, was to sow in tears. Perhaps he was pressing into the promise that if we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). In any case it's a promise that I'm tapping into. Note the condition here, to “delight yourself in the Lord.” You see we cannot delight ourselves in Him while we still have issues He's calling us to deal with. And part of delighting ourselves in Him is seeking to please Him, seeking His will, and following His ways. When we do this our desires are right and He can and will answer.
The part “continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed ..” is important too. We need to realize that part of His way is to refine us in the process, or as James put it we need to “let patience have its perfect work” (James 1:4). And so when we have received the promise, we should never, never, never give up. I like to hold Him to His promise “Lord You promised, and You are not a man that You should lie. And part of letting patience have its perfect work is to ask Him “continually” to search me and see if there be any wicked way in me, and to lead me in the everlasting way (Psalm 139:24).
Lord Jesus, You are the same yesterday, today and forever, and You were, are and will be, faithful. Thank You Lord for all that You have done in the past, not only in fulfilling Your promises to Israel, but also in fulfilling many of the promises You have given me. Thank You too that every times I have wanted to give up, You have done something to encourage me to continue and to strengthen me as I wait. And I give You honour, glory and praise Lord in Your precious Name Amen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment