So this morning, we dealt with the goal of glorifying God publicly by testifying of his goodness to us in the past. And we saw that from Psalm 126, the first three verses. This afternoon, we're going on to the second goal, which is to renew our personal commitment to the church's future progress. to renew our personal commitment to the church's future progress. Let's read the psalm then, bearing that in mind, and we'll read the whole of it. The Bible says, a song of ascents, when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us. We are glad. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy. He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. I mentioned the fact this morning that in coming to Psalm 126 in order to learn from it something of God's expectation of us as we seek to celebrate his goodness among us, we are not really going to a passage that brings out everything that we ought to do. The reason is quite simple. There is a difference between Israel and the New Testament church. Here, no doubt about it, the psalmist was, first of all, referring back to the restoration of Israel from Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. It was an amazing situation. where instead of them having an army to fight for their own liberation, the king of Israel, rather the king of Babylon, simply produced a decree that enabled the Israelites to be freed from captivity and to make their way back to the promised land. And hence you can well understand why they are rejoicing here. It was an amazing situation. They themselves are saying here that we were like those who dream. In other words, it was almost too good to be true. It was a sudden situation, whereas for us, we're not so much speaking about some sudden deliverance that took place that we should be rejoicing in, we are celebrating progressive We are progressing, we are celebrating God saving souls among us, God sanctifying us, God preserving evangelical Christianity, evangelical truth among us as it is taught in scripture. We are celebrating the level of financial sacrifice that we are putting into the Christian church here. We are celebrating the outward nature of the ministries that are among us. We are celebrating the church planting efforts that are taking place from the context of this church. We are celebrating all those realities that are clearly there before us. So clearly, there is some level of difference. But again, as I said this morning, it's the principle that I want us to capture, the principle. And there's no doubt about it that when you read Psalm 126, verse 1 to verse 3, what you are finding there is a recollection of the Lord's past blessings. A recollection of the Lord's past blessings. And then on the other hand, when you look at verse four to verse six, what you are seeing there in principle is the seeking of the Lord's future blessing. The seeking of the Lord's future blessing. And that's a second responsibility that we clearly see from the Lord upon us, that we don't just celebrate God has been good to us and then forget about it. No. We then renew our commitment that we are going to play our role to ensure that the Christian church shines with the splendor of the noontime sun so that All who come around can find a truly healthy church when we ourselves are gathered with our fathers. And so I want us to look at this 4 to 6 in that light, this seeking of the Lord, seeking of the Lord, which is the second goal that we have for us. What do we learn from these verses? First of all, it is the fact that we seek the Lord because we know that things among us could be more God-glorifying. The situation among us could be more God-glorifying. And that is surely what made the psalmist pray to God for a restoration of fortunes. He says there in verse four, Psalm 126 and verse 4. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Now, let's tie it up with verse 1. Because in verse 1 he had said, when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Basically the same language. The Lord restored the fortunes and we're like those who dream. Now we are saying, Lord, restore our fortunes and do it like streams in the Negev. Earlier, the restoration had to do with the children of Israel being brought from captivity in Babylon and being brought back to the promised land. What then was the psalmist praying about now when he says, restore our fortunes? Is it that they are back in captivity? The answer is no. At least we don't know of a time after this happened when the children of Israel were again chased out of the promised land and taken by another nation in such a way that before the Old Testament was put together, somebody could write about it. We certainly don't know that. Bible commentators have obviously wrestled with this issue. The first restoration is not difficult because we have it in the scriptures. The people of Israel were taken into captivity by Assyria and later by Babylon. And as we are already reading in Isaiah, towards the end, they were then later on restored back to the promised land. What is this restoration that was being prayed about. There's no obvious answer, but many commentators take us to the more spiritual decline rather than a physical decline. And in speaking about the spiritual decline, they take us to at least two passages in the Old Testament. One is Haggai. and the other is Malakai. Haggai and then Malakai. Haggai and then Malakai. Now, let me help you to find Haggai. Begin with Malakai, which is the last book in the Old Testament. Then go back two books, Kwasila, you find Haggai. It's literally just one paper, that's why it's a little difficult to find. Okay, so begin with Malachi, then go backwards to Zechariah, and then you'll find Haggai. Haggai chapter one, this is what it says. I begin from verse two. Thus says the Lord of hosts, These people say that time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord. Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, and this is what he said, is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house, referring to the temple, lies in ruins? Now, therefore, That says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. And this is the frustration that you're now going through. You have so much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. I'm tempted to add, you put money in the bank account and the currency is halved. Eh? You sow and then there are no rains coming. Eh? You fill your fridge with things, Zesko Katspa. Okay, you know what I mean, just trying to make it more recent or applicable there. That's one passage that they tend to refer to, that clearly here was a restoration of fortunes, a very real restoration of fortunes in the sense that they've come back. They never thought they would come back. But having come back, instead of putting all their efforts into bringing back a most glorious temple, a most glorious day, each one has gone to his own activity. And consequently, the actual cult, which is the worship center, is still begging for attention. And consequently, the author of Psalm 126 could cry out, Lord, restore our fortunes. Let's see something of that past glory again. and chapter one, Malachi chapter one. Now, if you don't know where to find Malachi, now I'm despairing. Okay, chapter one. This is what it says, I begin from verse 6. A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I'm a master, where is my fear, says the Lord of hosts. to you, O priests, who despise my name." And it is this despising that is often spoken about. But you say, how have we despised your name? And here it is, by offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, how have we polluted you? By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present them to your governor. Will he accept you or show you favor, says the Lord God of hosts? And now, entreat the favor of God that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you, says the Lord of Hosts? And then this is what he says. Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors that you might not Kindle fire on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. Okay. Again, the picture there is obvious. It is the fact that the Israelites did not stop going to the temple. They did not stop the outward form of religion. They were back in the promised land, by the way. But clearly, true religion, spiritually speaking, had been drained out of them. So when a man was going through the flock to choose which one he should take to the temple for sacrifice, he would say to his shepherd boys, that one, which is limping, that one, come on, get it, get it for me. That's the one I'm taking. In other words, it's that which I would even want to get rid of anyway. That's the one I take to the Lord. And it's, again, very easy for Christianity, if we cross over to where we are, to reach those levels where, yes, clearly we are not that bad. There has been real spiritual progress. There has been real spiritual achievement, but we know that we could be better. We know that the vast majority are simply following along. They are not throwing in their weight to ensure that there is God-glorifying achievement. Well, it becomes assuming that most commentators who take us there are right. It then enables us to begin to see that it's the spiritual eye that was now more active. Yes, physically, we had been brought into the promised land and we rejoicing, but there was a better day. there was a better day that God might restore us to that better day. And what is important is this note of dissatisfaction in the souls of God's true children, knowing that we could be better. And brethren, this ought to be the effect on us, especially when we read the book of Acts. When you read there about the thousands that were getting saved from one same one, about the love that belonged to the people of God, about the way in which an entire city was being turned upside down by the gospel, that even the enemies of the Christian church would say that these men who have turned the world upside down, they are here. When you hear of the commitment of the church to its prayer meetings, surely it ought to challenge us that we could have a better day. we could have a better day. So however growing a picture I may have presented earlier on this morning, when we look at God's amazing acts among us, we must long for a better church of Jesus Christ. That's what we should long for. There must be holy dissatisfaction in our souls. We must be conscious that this is not showers of blessings. It is not. These are but mercy drops. That's what they are, mercy drops. We could do a thousand times more if we were all truly filled with the Spirit of God. We can. And consequently, we will cry to the Lord, restore our fortunes, oh Lord, like streams in the Negev. Now that phrase, streams in the Negev, refers to the southern part of the land of Israel, where when there would be a drought, as soon as the first rains come, they would pour so much in torrents that all the dry river beds, particularly in the Negev itself, would suddenly be filled with rivers. Suddenly be filled with rivers. Water would be flowing there. And that's what he's saying. Lord, let it be like that. One moment, drought, dryness. The next moment, water, rivers flowing. Lord, do this among us. And all I'm saying, brethren, is that that should be our longing. Yes, we thank God for what he has done and we don't want to despise it. We don't want to belittle it. But at the same time, there is such holy dissatisfaction in our souls that we still cry out to him. Now, Clearly, there are two ways in which this holy dissatisfaction will express itself. First of all, it is through ardent prayer. It is through ardent prayer. And whereas in the morning service, I had to come up with illustrations to try and bring those first three verses into life. And you remember, we went all the way to Gabon, didn't we, in order to see the Zambian national team winning the Africa Cup, to just try and capture something of the atmosphere of this passage. Thankfully, the psalmist, as he now deals with this five and six, he himself provides an illustration. And he uses the picture of agriculture, of sowing and reaping. Let's read that in verse 5. Let's read that in verse 5. It says there, those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy. Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy. Clearly, what he is picturing here is something of Prayer. Remember the previous verse was a cry, it was prayer. Restore our fortunes, oh God, like streams in the Negev. He's crying out to the Lord, Lord, restore. And then comes this next verse, which is saying, those who are doing this, who are thus sowing in tears, something's going to happen. They are going to reap. and they're going to reap with shouts of joy. So I can immediately see that he must have something along the lines of prayer in mind. That ultimately, it is God we are longing to see acting. It is the Lord who must restore the fortunes of Zion. and he will do it in answer to our prayers. Brethren, it's exactly the same challenge to us. We must commit ourselves to the church's prayer meetings. We must. You know, to many of us, we still have the attitude that Spurgeon once named his own book And it is, imagine a title of a book, it is only a prayer meeting. It is only a prayer meeting. And he was capturing something of an attitude. Perhaps a wife saying to the husband, you know, honey, we are late to church this morning. And the husband answers with a very sort of strong male voice, it's okay dear. It's only a prayer meeting today. That's the point of that. In other words, prayer meeting is not important, even if we miss it. And what I'm saying is that that is a fatal mistake. It's a fatal mistake. Because true spirituality can only be produced by God, can only be produced by God, the Holy Spirit. And God acts in answer to the prayers of his people. I mean, read concerning any revival in history. Read it, and you'll soon discover that behind that revival were a people that were praying, praying hard, even when circumstances were getting from bad to worse. And God ultimately answered the prayers of his people. It is said of C.H. Spajon, that one day, and if you don't know about Sitsperson, let me quickly tell you, he was perhaps the most outstanding preacher of the Word of God at the end of the 19th century. In fact, his sermons, beyond any other human being in the history of the world, continue to be sold up to today. and they are in many volumes. I think it's between 50 and 60, if not between 60 and 70 such volumes. He had an outstanding ministry. But one morning he got to church and found a man sitting outside the church building and it was very, very cold. You know, it was in the center of London. So The gentleman didn't know who had arrived. Because of the weather, he was in very big coats and covered all over. And as he found this gentleman, he opened the door and said, come quickly, let me take you downstairs to the heating chamber of this building. You must be dying with cold. And as he took him down, the man thought this is the janitor of this building, in other words, the caretaker. And they finally opened a room where they found something like 500 people praying. And then Spejon said to the man, this is what keeps this place warm. Can you imagine? More people than would feel this place or just about feeling this place. All of them crying to the Lord that he might rain down a blessing. Are you surprised at the effectiveness of the ministry in that place? Of course not. Why? Because they were sowing in tears and consequently they were reaping with shouts of joy. Brethren, there's need for a personal commitment. If the church is important, if it's welfare is important, then it's church's prayer meeting is crucial to all of us. Crucial. We need to make the kind of New Year resolution that says, I'm going to make sure From this year onwards, I will not miss the church's prayer meeting, unless it's a matter of life and death, unless perhaps I'll be fired from work. I'm going to make sure I'll be sowing with tears that I might reap with joy. But I also want to suggest that the psalmist had more than just prayer in mind. He also had preaching, or what I'm calling in my notes here, true service, saving the Lord. In other words, not just speaking to the Lord on behalf of souls, but also speaking to souls on behalf of God, both at the same time. How do I know that? Look at the way he phrases the same thing in verse six. When he says, he who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing. There seems to be a slight transition there. First of all, the emphasis was sowing in tears and then reaping with joy. Crying to the Lord, experiencing joy afterwards. Crying to the Lord, experiencing joy afterwards. Here, there seems to be an emphasis on going out. Not only going out, but bearing the seed for sowing. So they're still weeping, there's no doubt about it, but there seems to be this slight emphasis on bearing the seed for sowing. In other words, for Israel, this would have meant, for instance, the prophets speaking to the people, doing what Haggai was doing, doing what Malachi was doing, taking the word, taking the truth, and challenging people with it, and challenging them even with tears. even with tears. And this is something again that we must never divorce from prayer. I mentioned this morning that the prosperity of the Christian church is achieved through two things. praying and preaching, praying and preaching, praying and preaching. That's what turns the tide around. And that's why the apostles, when they were now bogged down with feeding widows, finally said, let's come up with a diaconate so that we can give ourselves to the ministry of the word and to prayer. And brethren, we can be closed up in a room and cry to God and cry to God and cry to God, but if we finally don't get the word out there, we still will not see Christianity progressing and going from strength to strength. In fact, if you read the account that I've just spoken about in the book of Acts, immediately the deacons were appointed. The Bible goes on to say that many ended up being converted as a result of that. You say, how? You appoint deacons who are feeding widows. And then many get converted. The word of God spread. In fact, that's the way it is put. Spread. How? Oh, simple. It is the fact that now these people were freed from the cumbersome work of feeding widows, that they may commit themselves to preaching, to sharing the word, getting it out there so that it can produce its fruit. Well, For Israel, the prophets were speaking. For us, it's gospel preaching. It's gospel preaching. And not all of us are preachers. That's why we use ministries, so that we can play different roles in the ministries and finally aid those that are called to the work of preaching. so that they can preach. The rest of us also are witnesses. We can play different roles in terms of following up individuals, sharing the gospel with them on one-on-one, in the homes, and so on and so forth. The word of God getting out there is how we are going to see prosperity for the Christian church. Hence the challenge. If we're going to see a better Kabwata Baptist Church in years to come, which is a goal we are aiming for, each one of us must answer those two questions. What am I doing with respect to prayer? What am I doing with respect to aiding the gospel to go out? Aiding the gospel to go out, what am I doing? And am I doing it passionately? Am I doing it with heart and soul? Is it something that I can even weep about, cry to the Lord about? Is that so? It is out of this that we have the promise, finally, at the end of verse six. Those who sow in tears shall reap the sows of joy. He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. Sheaves are basically bundles of harvest. Bundles of harvest. He will bring these things along. Clearly, again, if I can rush on to conclude, this is the same picture. But it's now a harvester coming back home. And it's coming back with a truckload of goats from the farm. Truckload of goats. One of my favorite jokes is about visiting my village in April. Never really happens. But the reason why I joke about it that way is because I know that by April, there will be mountains of groundnuts in the village. Mountains. So that's a good time to visit, because all you'll be doing is just... You know, the whole day, giving them stories about life in the city while you are eating away at the groundnuts. If you go this time, probably you'll be part of those who are going sowing with WIPI. So it's the picture of harvest that is being caught here. This is what you want, two things. First of all, the joy that is being spoken about shall come home with shouts of joy. That's what we're learning about earlier on. Shouts of joy. Why? Well, the second, bringing the sheaves with them. In other words, we will see God glorifying churches at levels we have not seen before. We, our theme for our celebrations is Christ, the church rather, Christ's glorious bride. Glorious, glorious. That's what we're going to be celebrating. That's what we'll be rejoicing about when we see the church shining in all its glory. But that's only going to happen because we are paying the price. May God help us not to end our celebrations with simply popping bottles of champagne. Now that's figurative. I hope none of you will end up doing that. And then that's it. We've had a nice time. Life is back to square one. God forbid that that should be the case. May we end our celebrations with renewed commitment, with resolution that we are going to be committed to prayer as never before. We're going to be committed to the dissemination of the word of God as never before. And this won't be other people while I'm laughing in the background. This is going to be all of us. The hymn that we'll be singing, I hope I'm correct, says, consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine. Consecrate me now. That's the way it ought to be, to say, Lord, consecrate me, not him, not her, not them, me as an individual. Consecrate me now. to thy service so that I can share your word. Consecrate me." It also speaks about prayer. It says, oh, the pure delight of a single hour that before thy throne I spent when I kneel in prayer and commune with thee as friend with friend. Again, the word and prayer, the word and prayer. And what we should be doing is really praying to the Lord that he might draw us nearer and nearer to him until this becomes a reality. Imagine, brethren, if we all threw our weight into this. Fast forward 30 years. what kind of church they will be if we all did that. But if we are satisfied with the Haggai situation and the Malachi situation, 30 years from now, there will be nothing to show for it except that we popped champagne. God forbid that it should be so. May we consecrate ourselves so that so many years from now, as a fruit of these celebrations, people might say, our fortunes were restored. Amen.