Okay, turning to Psalms 126 this evening. Psalms 126. It appears that the theme of this psalm is the celebration of the returning captives from Babylon. The author is unknown. The occasion, again, it's a psalm of degree. Again, I believe probably referring to after the 70 years of captivity being able to return. Now, notice as we begin reading in verse 1, I guess if you were to try to outline the chapter, verses 1, 2, and 3, we see again the return of the exiles, the happy celebration. In verses 4, 5, and 6, we would see a prayer here in this section of the psalm that God would continue His work or complete His work among the captives. Reading in verse 1, he said, When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue was singing. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seeds shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Let's pray. Father, again, we thank You for this evening. Lord, we thank You for the Word of God. We thank You for the blessed truth that You've given us in this Scripture. And we see, Lord, Your redemption of Your people here in the Old Testament. Lord, we see Today, have that You've redeemed us out of bondage and Lord's spiritual bondage and give us freedom. Lord, help us to rejoice in that. Father, we ask Your anointing and blessing this evening upon the reading of Scripture. Lord, we pray that You speak to our hearts. Lord, we pray this evening that You would work among each one of us. Again, we thank You for this day. Thank You for Your love and kindness and mercy to us. For it's in Christ Jesus' name we pray, Amen. You may be seated. Now, he says here, coming to verse 1 again, and by the way, this is just the opposite of Psalms 137, that just in a matter of weeks we will be there. If you want to go ahead and turn there, let's go ahead and read just a few verses from this chapter. This chapter would have to do with when they went in to captivity in Babylon, and they could not sing, and they could not celebrate, rejoice in the songs of Zion. Notice he said in Psalms 137, in verse 1, he said, by the rivers of Babylon, there we, that is, the Jewish people that was carried there, said, there we sat down, yea, and we wept when we remembered Zion. Now keep in mind, in Psalms 26, they're returning back to Zion. And he says here in verse 2, notice they're having trouble singing and rejoicing. He said in verse 2, we hanged our harps upon the willows and the mist thereof, for they that carried us away captive required of us a song. And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. And verse 4 says, How shall we sing? the Lord's song in a strange land. If I rather forget the old Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." So here in this passage, there was sadness carried into captivity. And the Lord had prophesied that they would be there 70 years. Now, as we come to Psalms 126, at least we believe, or I believe, that this is where they're returning from probably this captivity in Babylon. Some believe it refers to another time, but it seems to fit. He says in verse 1, he says, when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, he says here, we were like them that dream. Now, the turning again, the returning to Zion, the Bible tells us in Psalms 85 and in verse 1, I'll read just a few verses, it says this, It says, "...Lord, Thou hast been favorable unto Thy land, that Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob." Psalm 53. If you're taking notes tonight, Hosea 6.11, Deuteronomy 30, verses 1, 2, and 3 is talking about the return to the land. In Psalm 53, we have these words in verse 6. He says here, "...all that the salvation of Israel was come out of Zion, when God bringeth back the captivities of His people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad." Now, I'm not saying that each one of these would refer to the Babylonian captivity, but the thought here at least fits. Now, in verse 1 again, we have these words. He said, "...when the Lord returned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dreamed." Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them." In verse 1, when we consider this, we know that Cyrus the king had published a decree in favor of the Jewish people. and giving them liberty to return. I'd like to remind you of this. I know that we've looked at this in the past, but 2 Chronicles. And you'll notice here in 2 Chronicles, I'll be reading in chapter 36. We're going to look at Ezra chapter 1 also just for a few moments. Jeremiah 25.12 if you're taking notes, and Jeremiah 29.10. Cyrus had been prophesied in Scripture that he would be one of the deliverers of Israel long before that he was ever born. Now, as we come to 2 Chronicles chapter 36, I'm going to show you the importance of the text that we're looking at in the book of Psalms. And if we were to begin reading this chapter in verse 14, we'll see the reason that they went into captivity. He talks about their condition, their rebellion against God. He said in verse 15, the Lord God of their fathers sent them by His messengers, rising up at times and sending because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. In verse 16 it says, And they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, misused the prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy. And then he talks about in verse 17 and 18, he talks about the Chaldeans coming, of course that's Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians. He talks about them carrying away the vessels of the house of the Lord in verse 18. And then verse 19, he said they burnt the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burnt all the palace there with fire and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And then basically, again he comes back and he tells us again why. that they were carried into Babylon, verse 20, and he said, "...and them that escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia." Now notice this, "...to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths, for as long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath to fulfill threescore and ten years." So they rejected the word of God. They did not obey Him, did not obey the commandments. They violated the Sabbath. So the Lord just allowed the land to lay 70 years. Now, you'll notice in verse 22, now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, here's their deliverer, 70 years in bondage, and now here's the decree showing favor to the Jews. God had said that He would send this king. He said that the word of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, might be accomplished. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me. And he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. And he said, Who is there among you of all his people? God be with him and let him go up." Going up. Going back to their promised land or the pleasant land. In Ezra chapter 1, notice reading in verse 1, we have these words. He said, Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, the king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all of his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, basically have the same thing that is said there. Notice verse 3, "...Who is there among you of all these people? His God that be with him, let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his palace help him with silver and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, and beside the free will offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem." You know, they came out of Egypt with the possessions that were given to them by God. And here they are coming out of bondage in Babylon, and it was Nebuchadnezzar that carried them into Babylon and destroyed the temple and carried the vessels of the house of God into this land. And we see here in this passage that as the Persian, the Medo-Persian kingdom had destroyed the Babylonian kingdom, here is Osiris, the king, that God had placed in his heart, send them back. They've been in bondage, they've been in captivity, and it's time to return. Now, as we come here, Back in Psalms 126, in verse 1, he says, "...when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dreamed." In other words, it seemed too wonderful. It was so exciting, it just did not seem real. Now, let me give you three passages in the Bible that will give you the thought here in this word, dream. And one of those is in Acts chapter 12. I do want you to turn to that one. The book of Acts in chapter 12. And verse 9 and verse 11. And then the other passage would be in Genesis 45 verse 26. And then in Luke chapter 24 and verse 11. There are those that just could not believe that Christ had been raised from the dead. In the book of Luke, when the women told them that He was not in the tomb, they had to go and look. But notice in Acts chapter 12. We're talking about something that just seemed too wonderful. The deliverance was so surprising, exciting, that it seemed like a dream, like it was not real. Have you ever woke up before and wondered where it was real or where you're dreaming? Notice the news was so exciting to them, and they could hardly believe that they were actually going back. Well, it's not really a dream, it was a promise that was delivered on the exact time that God has given to them. Now, you'll notice with me, as we come to the book of Acts chapter 12, Peter is in prison. And if we were to begin reading in verse 6, we'll see here verse 7, It says, "...And behold, Peter sleeping," in verse 6, "...between two soldiers." In verse 6, he's bound with chains. And you notice with me in verse 7, "...An angel of the Lord came unto him, and a light shone in the prison, and smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly." And his chains fell off from his hands. In angel 7, "...Then gird thyself." and bind on thy sandals. And so he did, and he said unto him, Cast thy garments about thee, and follow me. He went out and followed him, and knew not that it was true, which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, and opened to them of his own accord, and they went out. and passed on through one street and forthwith, the angel departed from him. When Peter noticed come to himself, he thought he saw a vision. He couldn't believe this is real. He thought he was dreaming. And he said, Now I know of a surety that the Lord had sent his angel and had delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews, and when he had Considered the thing, he came to the house, and let me just stop reading there. You know what he did? He went to where the church was meeting at, and they were surprised too. They thought it was a dream also. And when the lady answered the door and ran back and said, This is Peter, they didn't believe her. So now as we come to Psalms 126. Psalms 126. The news is so exciting. If you can imagine, you know, being in captivity. And here we come in verse 1, he said, And when the Lord turned again, the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream." Now, in other words, how can this be real? This is so exciting to them. Now, notice with me in verse 2. In verse 2 we have these words. He said, "...then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen..." Notice, the heathen even recognized that God was dealing with His people. And whether the heathen liked it or not, they recognized it. Because they knew that you take a small nation, a small group of people, and this great kingdom of Babylon, then the Medo-Persian kingdom, only God could bring deliverance. You're not going to fight your way out. Only God can bring deliverance. And maybe the heathen that were centered around Jerusalem saw them going back to Zion. But he says here, In verse 2, "...then was our mouth filled with laughter." In Genesis 21 and 6, we see that Sarah had laughed. This is a happy laughter. We're not talking about, as in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 6, the laughter of fools. But we're talking about a saintly laughter, a holy laughter. We're talking about joy that is generated. This is a sign, by the way, of joy and gladness. The Bible says in James 5.13, you know, is any happy, let him sing psalms. In Revelation 5 and verse 9, those that are redeemed, we see there a new song. Revelation 14 and verse 3, the 144,000 that are redeemed, they have a song in their heart and in their mouth. Revelation 15 verses 1 through 4, we see that the Bible mentions those that are redeemed, we see them standing before the Lord. And it says that they sang the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. And in Exodus chapter 14, or is it Exodus 15, verse 1, I guess, through the chapter, we see that they sang on the shores of the Red Sea. So he says in verse 2, he said, Then was our mouth filled with laughter. Laughter is an expression of joy. And some hearts, I believe, are still in captivity. You know, our hearts can be in captivity as well as our bodies. And he's talking about the fact that this is a saintly laughter here. We're not to lose the wonder of what God has done for us. We're not to lose the hallelujah that we have within our mouth, within our heart, within our tongue. And he says here in verse 2, he said, "...then was our mouth filled..." By the way, it didn't take Israel long after singing on the shores of the Red Sea singing the song of Moses. It didn't take them long to begin singing the desert blues. And here, even when they went back to Babylon, it wasn't all that many years that we see the problems again. But he says here in verse 2, he said, Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue noticed with singing. And he said, Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. When God's people are delivered, and when God's people are happy, when they are singing, and when we are happy, we do sing. And when God's people are rejoicing in the Lord, the heathen pay attention to this. Now, when we're grumbling and carrying on with the same things, same deal as them, they don't notice it. But when God delivers His people, And when they're walking with the Lord and they see that, then they take notice of that. Even the heathen admit God's workings. Now, he says here in verse 2 again, Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue was singing. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. Verse 3, The Lord hath done great things for us, the psalmist says, whereof we are glad. We are glad. Great things. You can read, I'm thinking about Joel, chapter 2 and verse 21. The Bible speaks of great things, but if you read the entire chapter, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, you'll see in chapter 1 God's enemy against His people. You see in chapter 2 again God's enemy. God's calling on them to fast and pray in a solemn assembly. And in chapter 2 and verse 21, He talks about the great things and reads through the end of that chapter, you see the deliberance that God has for His people. And of course, the ultimate prophecy of Joel chapter 2 had to do with Pentecost, which includes you and I. He says in verse 3, the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad. The Bible says here in Psalms chapter 68, in Psalms 68 in verse 3, we have these words. He says, but let the righteous be glad Let them rejoice before God, yea, and let them exceedingly rejoice." Now, notice with me as we come to verse 4. He says in verse 4, now this would be, as I said a moment ago, the second part of the psalm, and there's a simple prayer here. And the second part of this psalm, I believe, I could be wrong, but I believe they're asking God to continue the deliverance or to complete the redemption that He had started. You've got to understand, they went up at different times from Babylon. I mean, we're talking about Ezra and Nehemiah. Those two books are written about this time. And there were different ways of them, I believe, that went up. And so, there's some of them probably still in Babylon. Some of them are back in Zion. They're getting ready to build the walls of Jerusalem and thinking about rebuilding the temple. And obviously, there's burdens and there's problems that arise. There's enemies, by the way, that oppose them and try to stop them from finishing the project that they had come there to do. Well, they came to rebuild the city, rebuild the temple, and again, there's others in captivity, burdens that would come upon them there. So I believe they're praying for a perfect and a complete deliverance. He said in verse 4, turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. Let me read Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 18. The streams of the south has to do with abundant life, I believe. And the streams of the south, I guess, If we were to think of the area as like a desert, hot sun the summer, and then the autumn rains that would come and so forth that would bring blessings, bring greenery. And in Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 18, we have these words. It says, I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys, and I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. So God can turn the desert into a beautiful place. And so as rivers in a dry place as in a desert, God is blessing. In other words, it has the ideal of renewal, revival, restoration, and also to remember what God has done in the past. Even in the midst of our blessings, we need to be reminded and have our strength renewed. And so, he says here in verse 4, he said, turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. Down in the south part of Judah, desert land, those kind of things, and asking for spiritually speaking, probably as well as the physical aspect of this, that God's blessings would be upon them. You and I can look at this and we can see as God blesses us, as we rejoice not to forget that, have Him to renew in our hearts the truths of His Word. It's very easy to be blessed one day and be grumbling the next day. Amen? It's very easy to forget what God is doing. And we need to rejoice in what He is doing, what He has done, but we need to always ask Him to keep our hearts stirred within us that we not forget Him. Now, you'll notice as we come to verse 5 and verse 6, the last two verses of this chapter. He says in verse 5, he said, "...they that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Verse 6, "...and he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." This is figurative language here. Using farming, we'll refer to this as spiritual farming because we're talking about spiritual things as far as we're concerned. Sowing and reaping is a principle that we see throughout the Scripture. I want to ask you to turn, there's many passages, but let me just ask you to turn to Hebrews chapter 6. And we see a promise that's given to the people of God. And it's talking about sowing and reaping. And we see a promise given to God's people when they have prayer and faith and labor. Israel was in a dry and pagan land while in Babylon. But they were promised by God through the hand of Jeremiah and even Daniel himself read the book of Jeremiah. When you read through the book of Daniel, he calculated, asked God about this time and when they would be able to go back and restore Jerusalem and so forth. And so this is a promise that God has given to them. It's not a dream. Even though it's science, it's not a dream. It's a promise. And I'm going to be reading. There's many paths. Let me give you some other verses you can jot down. Sowing and reaping. We'll read it in Hebrews. We'll go also to Galatians. But in Jeremiah 31.9, a chapter that's dealing with the New Covenant, Hosea 10.12 and 2 Corinthians 9.6, and I'll give you one more and then we'll read two, in Luke 6 verse 21. Now notice as we come to Hebrews chapter 6. What do you mean when he says they sow in tears and reap in joy? Well, farming, if you've ever been around farming, done any farming, you don't always sow in the greatest climate. It may be even dry. I've seen farmers put seed in the ground. We've done it ourselves growing up. And you're thinking, nothing going to come out of this. There's no rain. It's dry. You've got to have rain and sunshine and all of this. And so many times, farmers sow in weeping. In other words, they pray over their seed that they place in the ground. And if they're not a Christian, they worry over them. And so that's what he's talking about. And you've heard me tell the story. I've been in farming country pastoring for five years. And many farmers in the church, just like many fishermen here, And many times I've had farmers come in, different farmers, that's come in and asked, you know, prayer for rain or God would stop the rain or whatever the case may be. I've seen people, it'd be so wet that they couldn't get the machinery into the field. I've seen it so wet they couldn't plant. But I've also seen it so dry that they debated whether they should even put the seed in the ground or not. So there's a lot of... A lot of anxiety there, a lot of worry, a lot of prayer and things of that nature. And I believe that's what he's talking about here. These Jews, you think about the Jewish people, God's people, that God allowed them into captivity to teach them, to chasten them. And then there's probably many, I'm sure some of the Jews settled down and said, I'm never leaving here. They like Babylon. But many of those Jews that believed God, wanted to follow God, wanted to follow His promises, wanted His Word, you can imagine that many of those Jews, that they counted the days and the years. Remember when I was in the military, I counted the days. Counted the days. I think everybody did that, when it went out. Counted the days. You can imagine those Jews. You say somebody went in. And they're maybe in their fifties or sixties, knowing they'll never leave there, but they probably taught their children, their grandchildren and said, look here, this is when you're going to get delivered. Seventy years be looking for it. You can imagine there are probably thousands like Nehemiah, Ezra, Daniel. Read through Daniel chapter 9 and other places in the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 1. Daniel was reading the book of Jeremiah, trying to discern whenever they would leave Babylon. And so there are those that are weeping, praying, seeking God. They're sowing their life. They're sowing and they're ready to reap. You'll notice in Hebrews chapter 6, one verse in this chapter, the Bible said in verse 10, "...For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed toward His name, and that ye have ministered to His saints and do minister." I read this and I'm reading Galatians. Notice he said that God is not unrighteous to forget. He never forgot Israel and Egypt after 430 years. He never forgot Israel and Babylon after 70 years. You and I think 70 years. Who can believe a promise would be fulfilled in 70 years? You figure up your age. I know what I would be. You figure up your age and you think, but the promises came true. Now notice in Galatians. in the book of Galatians in chapter 6. We're talking about spiritual farming as far as we're concerned. We're talking about a promise that if we pray, that if we labor and we have faith and we sow, the afflictions of God's people is sowing now. God says you're going to reap with joy. In Galatians chapter 6, let me read three verses from this chapter. I'm going to be reading of verses 7, 8, and 9. And notice here, I'm mainly after verse 9, but I've got to read the other two verses for the context. He said in verse 6, "...let him that is taught in the Word communicate on him that teaches in all good things." Verse 7. Well, I'm going to read the before verses total. "...Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh Sha'allah, the flesh reap corruption." Now here's what we're focusing in on tonight. We're talking about sowing and reaping good things, okay? He says in verse 8, he said, "...but he that soweth to the Spirit, sha'allah, the Spirit reap life everlasting." Verse 9, now here's the verse I'm after. A very important verse, a very encouraging verse. He said, "...and let us..." Now this is written to the church. "...and let us not be weary in well-doing." Have you ever gotten weary in well-doing? It's easy to become weary in well-doing. I see it in Christians all the time. I've seen it myself before. I see people get weary in just coming to church week after week and serving God and praying. But he said, let us not be weary in well-doing reason, for in due season we shall reap, notice, if we faint, not another promise in God's Word. You'll notice back in Psalms, Psalm 126. Beautiful psalm. This psalm we need to be singing. He says here, coming back in v. 5 and in v. 6, notice this again. He says, "...and they that sow in tears shall reap in joy." You may shed tears in your prayers and weeping for the lost. Family, friends, neighbors, whatever. And God is saying that you're going to reap. You may sow in your labors. You may sweat. Again, the afflictions of God's people are sowing. But He said here, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. A promise. As Israel had the promise, seven years they go back home. They begin rebuilding their city, rebuilding their temple. The same is true with you and I today in a spiritual area. He said in verse 6, "...and he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seeds." We see that in the passages there are precious tears. There are precious seeds. And there are also precious rewards in this context. And he said here in verse 6, he said, "...and he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing." Do you believe that tonight, church? Can you say amen to that? This is a promise. And he says, "...bringing His sheaves with Him." This is a promise that we have. And when I look at this psalm as an overview, we see coming out of captivity. You and I, spiritually speaking, have redeemed from being captive of Satan and this world and the flesh. And we should rejoice, we should never forget our conversion, what God has done for us, and the physical things that He supplied to us as well. And we should always keep our mouth filled, verse 2, with laughter, and our tongue with singing, and so that the heathen will know that we are the redeemed of God. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, amen. Psalms 107. Then, as we look at this, we need to recognize ourselves in verse 3. Not just let the heathens say it, but ourselves, we need to recognize that God has done great things and we're glad. In verse 4, we need to continue to pray to God that this returning seed, that it not end, that it not stop, that God would complete His work in our lives. And then in verse 5 and verse 6, we need to realize that when we sow, whether it be in prayer, labor, whatever that we do, when we sow in tears and weeping that we will reap, we will be rejoicing in our reaping. These are promises that God has given to His church. Well, we're going to stop right here.