posted on Oct, 15 2021 @ 05:02 PM
Cards on the table. The Psalms are not really my thing. Even in poetry, I prefer narrative to lyric. So while I’m looking at this group of Psalms,
I won’t rely entirely on my own conclusions. I’ll separate out my own observations (in this first post) from what I find in commentaries and add
in the later posts..
Psalm 126
This psalm is in two parts. They cover two different versions of “restoring the fortunes of Zion”, one relating to gratitude for the past, and the
other relating to prayer for the future. The best explanation is that the phrase has two different meanings, being used in word-play.
First part- vv1-3
“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream… then they said among the nations ‘The Lord has done great things for
them.”
If the event is so great that “the nations” can recognise it, then this can be nothing less than the event celebrated in Isaiah ch40. Babylon has
fallen. Cyrus has given permission for the exiles to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the nation. The nation was near death, and has come back to
life.
So it is not surprising that “our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy… we are glad.”
Second part- vv4-6
So what kind of restoration do they need now?
The event would be “like the watercourses in the Negeb”. The Negeb is a dry area in the south of Judah, and the watercourses would frequently be
dried up. I imagine that water would return in fresh floods, not so much from local rain as from rain in the hills. The restoration would be like
that.
An alternative image is the “harvesting” image. We are given this image twice, in v5 as a prayer and in v6 as a prophecy. Firstly, “may” those
who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Then those who go out weeping, carrying their seed, “will” come home with shouts of joy bringing their
harvested sheaves.
Water and harvest are both images of fresh life. I think I have it. The desired “restoration of fortunes” is about the need for children. When the
Jews came home from Babylon, they came home as a small population. That was the nation’s weakness. The community would not be viable in the
long-term without population growth.
And the next two psalms are also about the need for children, so that it becomes a running theme.
The first restoration was about bringing the nation back from the dead.
The second restoration will be about filling the nation with true vitality.