Psalms 126:1-6 (NLT)
1 A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!
2 We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the LORD has done for them.”
3 Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us! What joy!
4 Restore our fortunes, LORD, as streams renew the desert.
5 Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.
6 They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.
When things that are longed for, committed to, and given great effort are acquired, there is great relief and rejoicing at their successful culmination. Graduating from a school, bearing a child, getting a positive return on a hard-fought venture, and gaining release from unjust confinement are reason for celebration and gladness. This natural exuberance, though, is an opportunity to discover where the hope has been placed during the period when great patience was required for the answer to come. While there is personal effort and focus required to attain the goal, for those who have put their hope in God, there is a much greater recognition that everything good comes from Him, and the uncontainable joy erupting in the celebration has its focus on the One who really brought it to pass. He’s the One who created them, surrounded them with favor, and gave them the strength to endure through the endless striving to acquire.
Rather than letting the joy of blessing be an honoring alone of personal effort and ability, there is a wonderful opportunity for the redeemed to let every reception of a blessed harvest be an experience in worship, where the One from who this wonderful thing came is given highest priority in praise and gratitude.