SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 10/11/2012 8:13:49 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm
126 PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
126:1-3
Message
of the verses: We will begin to look
at the 126th Psalm in Today’s SD by looking at a number of different
commentator’s introduction to the psalm in order to be better able to
understand it.
“It
was with reference to some great and surprising deliverance of the people of
God out of bondage and distress that this psalm was penned, most likely their
return out of Babylon in Ezra’s time.
Though Babylon be not mentioned here (as it is, #Psalm 137) yet their
captivity there was the most remarkable captivity both in itself and as their
return out of it was typical of our redemption by Christ. Probably this psalm
was penned by Ezra, or some of the prophets that came up with the first. We
read of singers of the children of Asaph, that famous psalmist, who returned
then, #Ezra 2:41. It being a song of
ascents, in which the same things are twice repeated with advancement (#Ps
126:2-3, and #Ps 126:4-5), it is put here among the rest of the psalms that
bear that title.”.
(Matthew
Henry)
“A
Song of Degrees. This is the seventh Step, and we may therefore expect to meet
with some special perfection of joy in it; nor shall we look in vain. We see
here not only that Zion abides, but that her joy returns after sorrow. Abiding
is not enough, fruitfulness is added. The pilgrims went from blessing to
blessing in their psalmody as they proceeded on their holy way. Happy people to
whom ever ascent was a song, every halt a hymn. Here the trustor becomes a
sower: faith works by love, obtains a present bliss, and secures a harvest of
delight.
“There
is nothing in this psalm by which we can decide its date, further than this, —
that it is a song after a great deliverance from oppression.”Turning
captivity" by no means requires an actual removal into banishment to fill
out the idea; rescue from any dire affliction or crushing tyranny would be
fitly described as "captivity turned." Indeed, the passage is not
applicable to captives in Babylon, for it is Zion itself which is in captivity
and not a part of her citizens: the holy city was in sorrow and distress;
though it could not be removed, the prosperity could be diminished. Some dark
cloud lowered over the beloved capital, and its citizens prayed "Turn
again our captivity. O Lord.’
“This
psalm is in its right place and most fittingly follows its predecessor, for as
in #Ps 125:1-5, we read that the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot
of the righteous, we here see it removed from them to their great joy. The word
"turn" would seem to be the keynote of the song: it is a Psalm of
conversion — conversion from captivity; and it may well be used to set forth
the rapture of a pardoned soul when the anger of the Lord is turned away from
it. We will call it, "leading captivity captive.’” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“Some
students connect this psalm with the sudden deliverance of Jerusalem from
Assyrian siege during the reign of Hezekiah (Isa. 36-37). But the Hebrew verb translated ‘turned again’
in verse one (KJV; ‘brought back,’ NASB, NIV) and ‘turn again’ or ‘restore’ in
verse four, is also used to describe the return of the Jewish exiles from
Babylon (Ezra 2:1; Neh. 7:6; Isa. 10:22; Jer. 22:10). Cyrus gave his decree in 537 B.C., and event
prophesied by Isaiah (44:24-45:7).
Isaiah also prophesied the joy of the people at their liberation (Isa.
48:20; 49:8-13; 51:11; 54:1; 55:10-12) and the witness of this remarkable event
to the other nations (Isa. 43:10-21; 44:8, 23; 52:7-10). But once the exiles were back in their land,
their joy began to subside, for life is not always easy when you are making a
new beginning after a time of discipline.
But life is so arranged that we must often make new beginnings, and the
Lord helps us by giving us special encouragements.” (Warren Wiersbe)
Within Us, the Joy of Freedom
(vv. 1-3)
“1
A Song of Ascents: When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion, We were
like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter And our tongue
with joyful shouting; 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.”
I think by now that those who are familiar
with the writings of these Spiritual Diarys know the background of the nation
of Israel, but in case you don’t I want to give just a brief history of the
nation of Israel. God called a man named
Abram, an idol worshiper to go into what we call the Promised Land with his
wife. God would give them children.
Abram, who was later named Abraham by God was 75 years old when he
followed the Lord by moving into the Promised Land and his wife was 65 years
old. God did indeed give them a son and
then later on God gave Isaac their son two sons, one who would follow the Lord
named Jacob, and one who would not follow the Lord named Ishmael. Jacob would have twelve sons and their family
would end up in Egypt where they would multiply to more than a million people
some four-hundred years later when God would do ten miracles through Moses
which would bring this family, now a nation out of Egypt in what is called the
Exodus. Forty years later the second
generation would go into the Promised Land and conquer it led by Joshua. Their generation and the next would follow
the Lord, but later generations would not follow the Lord. Later on God would raise up David to be king
over Israel and God would promise that the coming Messiah would be a descendant
of David. In 722 B.C. the Assyrians
would conquer ten tribes of Israel and then in 586 Babylon would conquer Judah
and take them captive into Babylon where they would live for the next 70 years. Now it is good to know that there were
representatives of all the twelve tribes of Jerusalem in those who would go
into captivity in Babylon. It is believed that the psalmist who wrote Psalm 126
was one of those who returned to the Promised Land and he truly had a hard time
believing that the Lord had fulfilled the promises that were written in the
books of Isaiah, and Jeremiah stating that this would happen and so he writes
“The Lord has done great things for us; We are glad.” We see that phrase in other places in the
Scriptures by different people of the Bible.
Moses in Deut. 10:21, Job in 5:8-9; Samuel in 1Samuel 12:24; David in
2Samuel 7:21-23, the prophet Joel in Joel 2:21, and Mary in Luke 1:49, and we
also see it from an unnamed demoniac in Luke 8:39. Dr. Wiersbe states “This ought to be the
confession of every Christian and every local church.” Dr. Bob Cook states “If you can explain what
is going on, God did not do it.” It
seems from these first three verses that the only way that the psalmist could
explain it was to say that the Lord had brought them back.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I have
seen things that have happened in my life that the only way to explain it was
that the Lord did it. This happened to
me in Jan. of 1974 when the Lord saved me.
I was not looking for God when I went to Florida in 1974, but God called
me to be His child there and my life has never been the same, and because of
that I can echo what the psalmist said, “The LORD has done great things for us;
We are glad.” The Lord has done great things
for me and I am glad.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Give thanks to the Lord for the great things that He has done for me.
Memory
verses for the week: 1Cor. 13:8-10
8 Love never fails; if there are
gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will
cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesize in
part, 10 but when the perfect comes the partial will be done away.
10/11/2012
9:17:14 AM
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