Like Streams in the Negev

Today I was reading Psalm 126, and I want to share with you some thoughts that emerged from my time with the Lord.

Verse 1 says:

"When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed."

This psalm describes the reaction of those who have experienced the miraculous grace of God - in this case, the overturning of physical captivity in exile. I'm right now in the process of experiencing the excitement of seeing the Lord bring me out of captivity into the glorious freedom of His health and resurrection life.

Verse 2 goes on to say:

"Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them.'"

This is the normal reaction of anyone who has experienced the miraculous intervention of God. Laughter was the response of Abraham to the news that God was going to fulfil his long-awaited promise to give him a son, and God even named that son Isaac (in Hebrew, Itzhak), which means "laughter".

And the response of "the nations", in verse 2, was: "The LORD has done great things for them." All along, my desire has been that God would use both my trial of faith and the ultimate miraculous answer to be a witness to others of His goodness in my life. "Let the Lord be glorified in my life" is my prayer.

Verse 3 then gives the psalmist's own reply, in agreement with the voice of the nations:

"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."

Again, we see that the hallmark of the psalmist's experience is being "filled with joy". For me, like Abraham, I'm filled with joy in anticipation of what the Lord is doing and what He will do in my life.

Verse 4 then says:

"Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev."

The Negev is the wilderness, or desert region, to the south of Israel. I've been to the Negev on two occasions, both times in June (mid-summer), and the Negev is totally barren. Life can barely get a toehold in this place of desolation, and you could never believe it possible for this place to become a garden of fruitfulness. But the moment the autumn rains come, in the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, the place suddenly bursts out with life - overnight, a blanket of green grass covers the hills and flowers of every colour spring out of nowhere. This total reversal of death-to-life and barrenness-to-fruitfulness is reflected also in Isaiah 51:3:

"The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing."

This total transformation is what the psalmist is referring to. When God's grace comes in a miraculous reversal of one's fortunes (from sickness to health, from captivity to freedom, from desperate need to overflowing abundance), it is like the sudden explosion of life in the Negev that comes after the start of the autumn rains.

Verse 5 continues this "sudden explosion of life" theme with these words:

"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy."

The psalmist remembers the tears he has shed during the dry months of apparent barrenness in captivity (note Psalm 42:3), but realises that there is a "sowing and reaping" principle at work. During the time of weeping, crying out to the Lord (note Psalm 56:8), something was being produced in his life which has directly resulted in the time of reaping he is now experiencing.

In Psalm 116:7-9, the psalmist expresses a similar theme:

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living."

At last, in verse 6 of Psalm 126, the psalmist declares a scriptural principle that he has learned out of his experience:

"He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."

Take a hold of this promise for yourself. If you're going through a time of weeping at the moment, realise that there is "seed to sow". A time is coming when you will return "carrying sheaves" of an abundant harvest with you.