hope y'all had a great week okay uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... Okay. Good morning, everybody. I'm glad you all made it today. I hope you all had a blessed week, a constructive and a good week. Today's Psalm is 126, Psalm 126. And before we get started, let us bow our heads in prayer. Our gracious and merciful God, we thank you, Lord, for this day that you have given us. We thank you for another day that we get to gather together as one body and praise your name together. Lord, I pray for all the things that are happening in the Middle East, Lord, and in Russia and Ukraine. Lord, I pray, Lord, that your mighty work may be done in those places, and the gospel reaches those people who are in dire need of a Savior, Lord. And I pray that you use those wars to gather your saints upon yourself. And we ask, Lord, that everybody that is here today is edified by today's lesson, Lord, that everybody will receive it and learn something. And I ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen. Okay. So, I'm gonna go ahead and recap last week's Psalm, Psalm 125. The author describes the Lord as being a fortress of his people. He safeguards, and this is just to kind of get us in the flow of things. He safeguards his people from their enemies as they are geographically located around them. The Lord intentionally planted Israel in the middle of her enemies, vulnerable and surrounded. The purpose of giving his people a land surrounded by dangerous enemies is so that his people would place their trust on him, that they would stand firm in their faith in God. So his might would be on display to both his people and all the nations. that he is the protector of the righteous, a shield of security that will last forever for the righteous, Israel. He is the cause of the righteousness of his people, and he is faithful to his promise of granting a land that will be ruled by the righteous, his people, the righteous, righteous Israel being the exclusive group of true believers, the offspring of Abraham to which the Lord is faithful and protecting through all the ages forever and ever. Which brings us to Psalm, this week's Psalm, which is Psalm 126. It is the seventh in the series of Pilgrim Songs. It is believed to have been written after the Babylonian exile and believed to have been authored by Ezra. But it could also be describing David's return from exile after Absalom's attempt to overthrow him, which can be found in 2 Samuel, chapters 13 through 19. Either way, the psalm is speaking about a painful exile and God's gracious return of his people to their homeland. After being a prisoner for 70 years in some foreign land or being away from your home because of imminent danger, I can only imagine the joy that these people were feeling upon being able to return home. The psalmist describes the feeling as being unreal like a dream. The restoration of his people to their land causes, I'm sorry, the restoration of the people to their land caused distress to be overcome with happiness and caused the people to sing in praise to the Almighty. God's gracious deliverance of his people caused the nations to recognize that it has, It was his great work that had delivered his people. But when his people finally reached their homeland, sadness returns. The city was destroyed, the animals gone, the farms gone. There was no food, no shelter. The memories of a once beautiful city that was filled with the resources to sustain the people living within it has been reduced to a war-torn and desolate pile of rubble. Imagine the feeling you would get upon returning to something like that. The psalmist describes this cycle of sadness and joy by using a farmer. A farmer who sows his seed in sadness because he had to use the last of his food and hope to grow more food. So for a short time, which may have felt like forever, it would be tough. But once the seed grows and it is ready for harvest, then the sadness of his hardship will come to an end. A season of sadness that produced no harvest is replaced with a better season that produces much fruit. In this psalm, the author shares three points. The first point, which is in verses one and the first half of two, is the effect of God's deliverance and restoration of his people. The second, which is the second half of verse two through three, God's great works recognized by the nations and the righteous affirming it. And number three, which is found, which is verses four through six, is the prayer that God's providence of a quick restoration returned a joy to his people. So now, if you would please turn with me in your copy of God's Living and Active Word, I will begin reading Psalm 126. Psalm 126 and verse one. A song of degrees. 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 with 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. that they sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. So, let's start with verse one. When the Lord turned again, the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. The author's writing of a time where Israel was separated from the city of Jerusalem, their home, anyone who had been separated from, anyone who has been separated from their home might long to be back to their normal place of comfort, the comfort of being home. It is a familiar, it is familiar and safe Home is where family and friends reside, a place where people can gather and enjoy the company of one another. The city of Jerusalem is where God tabernacled with his people. Therefore, they were separated from God. They were unable to gather in the place that God had set for them to worship and praise him. Spiritually speaking, we can all think back to a time when we too were separated from God and free from righteousness. In hindsight, those memories, for me at least, were constantly filled with sorrow, distress, depression, strife, anger, and no understanding as to why things happened the way they did. Imagine what it was like to be displaced from the comfort and security of your homes and being without God. That is what it was like for Israel. But God is merciful. He hears the cries of his people, and being faithful to his promises, restored his people to the promised land. He delivered his people from exile or separation from their homeland and from himself. He reconciled their relationship and brought them home to Jerusalem. The psalmist describes the captive hoping, wishing, dreaming for the day that the Lord would return them to Zion and then describes Israel as living out the captives dream. The delivered Israel was so amazed at the work of the Lord that they were almost in denial that it had happened. They were having a pinch me moment because they were witnessing the power and goodness of the Lord and delivering his people from expulsion from Jerusalem. So the first half of verse two. Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing. After realizing that they were not having a dream but living their dream of returning home God's people were filled with a joy that can only be produced by the Lord's work in the lives of a people redeemed. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you, my soul also which you have redeemed. Psalm 71, 23. then the sudden and unexpected deliverance caused an overwhelming joy in the hearts of the newly freed people. All they could do in response to the mercy was laugh and sing, laughing and singing praise to the almighty and merciful God to the point of joyful tears, joyful tears that were filled with thanksgiving for God's display of goodness to his own people. His people witnessed and experienced that his anger is but for a moment and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30 verse five. So let's move on to the second half of two. Then they said among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them. The heathen nations are nations of unbelievers, idol worshipers who worship demons and hate God. They mock God and the believer by saying things like, there is no help for him, there is no help in God for him, or where is there God? And just by worshiping demons. But the Lord had commanded his people to be still and know that he is God, that he will be exalted among the heathen and will be exalted on the earth, Psalm 46, 10. In God's mighty work of delivering his people out of captivity, the heathen nations recognized that it was their Lord, Yahweh, the God of Israel, that was responsible for the emancipation of his people. His power is so far reaching that even the blind, unbelieving people were able to see and reluctantly admit, even in their unbelief, the dead state of the natural man without God, that it was God, creator of all things, the God of Israel, the giver of all that is good, that had done these great things for them. Verse three. The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. In response to the heathen nations, the author responds in the affirmative. He knows that it was the Lord that made their hearts glad in him because they trust in his holy name. Psalm 33, 41. He being a believer entrusts himself to God for everything. He emphasizes that the Lord has done great things for us, for us. He boasts that the Lord came directly for his own people, that the Lord loves justice and that he will never forsake his own and they are preserved forever. That's Psalm 37, 28. Because of the Lord's hand in freeing his people from exile, the hearts of the righteous are glad and their whole beings rejoice that they have been secured by the Lord of hosts. Psalm 16, 9. The confidence in the Lord that is expressed in the short statement, whereof we are glad, exhibits the absolute trust that the true Israel has in the Lord, a true peace that is shown to the wicked that they could never experience without God. So this is a prayer. God's providence of quick restoration and to return joy to his people. Verse four, turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. In verse four, the author begins a prayer to restore Israel, a prayer that the Lord will bring all the captives back home, that they may be reunited in Jerusalem together once again and restore what was destroyed, that they may gather again at home to worship and praise the Lord as he had prescribed for them to do. In this prayer, the burning desire in the heart of the author was that all Israel may be saved. He asks that the restoration may happen suddenly, they were delivered unexpectedly. Like the streams in the south, the Negev Desert is in the southern part of Israel. When it rains in the mountains, the water runs down to the desert, creating flash floods that happen quickly, suddenly, and without warning. I personally have never seen floods happening in the desert, but I've seen them on TV, the Nature Channel. I don't know if anybody has seen that before. How the floods can change a barren desert into a flourishing ecosystem where all sorts of plants and animals could thrive. This is the imagery being used by the author in asking the Lord to restore Israel. That Israel may be taken from a barren state to flourishing as quickly as a flash flood happens, and as the waters that flood a barren desert bringing life to the dry land. Verse five, that they sow in tears shall reap in joy." The psalmist is referring to the reconstruction that will take place upon the return to Zion. Since no one has been there to oversee the crops or the maintenance or governance of Israel, there will be lots of work that needs to be done to restore the buildings, infrastructure, agriculture, and to restore law and order. It is going to take numerous hours per day to fast-track the reconstruction, and most of it will be done with little sleep and little food rations. So the suffering and sorrow returns, but it would only be for a short amount of time. The mind of the believer is to rejoice in all circumstances and that the Lord takes and the Lord gives, blessed be the name of the Lord. He brings good from evil and always provides for his own. Verse six. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. The psalmist restates the fifth verse, but intensifies how he states it. He says that whoever in faith casts precious seeds, the last or the little seed that they have left, fully trusting that God will provide, will not come back empty-handed. that the Lord will assure that their labors, their tears, their cries will be seen and heard, and the Lord will deliver to them an abundance of joy. The harvest of joy will be like large bundles of grain. The Lord will provide faith, joy, wisdom, guidance, resources, physical and spiritual strength and endurance, food and water to sustain their bodies. But ultimately, he has reconciled his exiled people to himself. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will return, and I will turn away your captivity. And I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, saith the Lord. and I will bring you again into the places whence I caused you to be carried away captive." Jeremiah 29, verse 14. Brothers and sisters, although this beautiful psalm is short, it is packed with much more than I could discover in a lifetime, or any of us for that matter. This psalm should encourage us to know that God is the only one who can bring the exile into his fold. That he is the one who reconciles us to himself. That upon regeneration, he provides us with a joy that surpasses understanding and that we might be able in him to rejoice in all circumstances. I encourage you all through these uncertain and interesting times to stand firm on Christ. He is the one the Father sent to reconcile us to himself for all of eternity. He is the one who has forgiven us from everlasting to everlasting. He is the one perfect atonement or payment for our sins that We will never see the wages of sin, which is death, but all who belong to Christ will have everlasting life. Brother, okay. I also encourage all those who aren't belonging to Christ that are with us visiting today or watching online, that faith comes through hearing and hearing the word of Christ, that it is Christ's truth that it is Christ's truth that melts the heart of stone and replaces it with one of living flesh. And to my brethren, we do not know who belongs to God, but it is our commission as Christians to sow the seed of the gospel, and the Lord has already prepared the soils that it will land on. So the next portion of this lesson is how our King Jesus relates to this text. I'm going to share with you three points that the Lord revealed to me in my study of Psalm 126. And the first point being that Christ is the ultimate salvation of the captives. The third point is that King Jesus is the ultimate source of joy. And last, Our suffering will not compare to the glory we have in Jesus. So as sinners, we are incapable of coming to Christ. In fact, the Bible states that there's an unrighteous, no, not one there. There's none that seek for God. And that's Romans 3, 10 through 12. So in other words, we are not, or I'm sorry, 3, 10 to 12, if you wanna read the whole thing. That was just a small portion of it. So in the other, so in other words, we are not good and are bound to our sin and can do nothing out of ourselves to seek or pursue Christ. We are then captives to sin. Spiritually, we are dead without Christ. We are chained, enslaved, imprisoned, exiles to sin and free from righteousness. Jesus tells us no one can come to him unless the Father draws him. The scripture tells us that it is Christ that seeks for us and it is us who run from him. He is the one who leaves the 99 to bring the lost one into the fold. You can find that in Luke 15, verses 4 through 7. Paul, in Ephesians 2, tells us that the circumcision, which are the Jews, and the uncircumcision, the Gentiles, are made one in Christ. That we have become one body through the cross. That all who believe on Christ grow into a holy temple in the Lord. So to summarize, Because all fall short of the glory of God, none righteous, and no one seeks for God unless he draws them, God came to the world in the likeness of sinful flesh, tore down the wall of hostility, sin, on the cross, making the Jews and Gentiles, the spiritual captives and exiles, one together in Christ, reconciling us to the Father. Jesus is the salvation of the captives. He died on the cross so that all who believe in him will not perish, but have eternal life. Okay, so King Jesus is the ultimate source of joy. Can a person who is not saved experience joy? Anybody? Yes? No? Got some mixed answers here. No? OK. So the answer to that question is yes, they can. The joy of being a parent, or the joy of winning a sports championship, or maybe the joy of being married. But that joy eventually comes to an end. then becomes a mere memory of joy that quickly just, it just disappears. That joy is temporary and superficial. As soon as tribulation comes, the joy is nowhere to be found and is very hard to find joy in tribulation without Christ. I would even go to as far as to say it is impossible. 1 Thessalonians 5 16 through 18 says to rejoice always pray without ceasing give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you the joy that We come to know in Christ is a joy that lasts forever. And I'm not saying that Christians are immune to depression or sadness or anger or any of those types of emotions or circumstances. But what I am saying is that the joy that Christ has, what I am saying is that the joy that Christ has delivered us from death to life can overcome anything we face, even death. Because Jesus rose from the grave and that we too will have a resurrection like his. That we are no longer slaves to sin, that when we and our brethren die, we will be face to face with our Savior. That very joy leads us to rest in peace for our souls. And the final point that I have this morning is our suffering will not compare to the glory we have in Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I assure you all today that we will all suffer. If we're not suffering now, we will eventually meet distress. It can come as persecution, imprisonment, illness, death. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Excuse me. Jesus told us that by following him, whatever the world does to him, they will also do to us. Revelation 2 10 through 11 tells us not to fear what we are about to suffer, the devil will influence the imprisonment of some of us, but to be faithful unto death and we will be given the crown of life. I urge you all, brothers and sisters, stand firm on Christ. The suffering that we will encounter and endure will only be for a short time. Paul in Romans 8 verse 18 and 30 says, I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. Brothers and sisters, stand firm, stand firm. Because no one can separate us from the love of Christ. No tribulation or distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword can remove us from his hand. Romans 8.35. Now if you all turn with me to Romans 8, verse 38. I will read verse 38 through 39. So that we may be reminded. Hear that Baptist air conditioning. So, it goes like this, verse Romans 8 and verse 38. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God and Christ Jesus our Lord. Our suffering, brothers and sisters, is not even a bump in the road. Look forward to the glory that is at hand. Keep running the race. And at the end, we don't get a medal, but a crown. And with that crown, we get eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, I thank you, Lord, for this beautiful psalm that you had. have for us. Lord, I thank you for my brethren, Lord, and I thank you for the wonderful work that you did on the cross, Father. And Lord, I pray that you prepare each one of our hearts today, Lord, as we As we worship you corporately today, Lord, I pray that your spirit may be here with all of us and that the words that you want your sheep to hear are said today, Lord, and that they are fed by it. And I pray all these things in Christ Jesus' name. Amen.