passage for this afternoon is Psalm 126. Let us hear together God's word to us from Psalm 126. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us. And we are glad. Bring back our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the South. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your word to us. We pray now that by your spirit, you would strengthen us for your glory, for our good. In Jesus's name, amen. Amen. Often in scripture, God's salvation is likened to various parts of the harvesting process. And just as the preparation of the ground because of the curse is often a backbreaking experience, just As the preparation of the ground is often filled with much pain and many tears, so too is the Christian life. And therefore, the Christian life is in great need of God's renewing grace. And it is God's renewing grace that enables us to toil in the Christian life. and to not grow weary. It isn't always easy for us to believe that God is working all things for the good of our souls and for our salvation. But even when we find ourselves in the parched and barren seasons in this life, God desires for us to trust Him. When we are in the seasons of toil, in the seasons filled with many tears, God's desire for us is that we can say with the Apostle Paul, through prayer, in the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. Psalm 126 is a psalm that reminds us that our present circumstances and the sense of incompleteness when it comes to God-saving work are not reasons to doubt His power and His grace. This psalm reminds us that we are sustained by faith through prayerful dependence upon the Lord We are sustained by assurances of His past deliverance and His faithfulness in Christ. And we are sustained by the promise of the fullness of His salvation when Christ returns. And because our triune God is bringing about our full salvation in every season and in all circumstances, we can humbly trust and depend upon His power and upon His grace. Verses 1 through 3 are a reminder of the past. A reminder of the past. Shortly after Solomon's death, The northern tribes of Israel revolted, and they set up their own king. And this was the beginning of the period known as the divided kingdom. And the divided kingdom period was the beginning of over 300 years of political, social, and spiritual decline in the land of Israel. And this decline would culminate in the fall of Jerusalem and Judah to the Babylonian kingdom, which marked the beginning of the exile period. But just as God had promised, the exile would be temporary. And God would bring his people back into the land as he said in Jeremiah chapter 29, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. And Ezra-Nehemiah, records the story of God fulfilling his promises in bringing back the exiles, in restoring them to the land. And specifically, he restores Jerusalem. He restores Jerusalem with the rebuilding of both the temple and the city wall. And so it's not hard to imagine the enthusiasm, the joy that the returning and restored exiles would have experienced. After 70 years of exile in that foreign land, they were helplessly without Jerusalem. They were helplessly without their temple. And they were helplessly without their king. And while the exiles were in their helpless condition, according to God's plan and purpose, he stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, fulfilling the words of the prophet in Jeremiah 30. For behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will bring back from captivity my people. Israel and Judah, says the Lord. And I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it." And in Amos chapter 9, I will bring back the captives of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. And when the Lord brought about the exiles, prophetically announced return to that land. And when the Lord brought about the reestablishment of the worship of His people in the city, the city which He chose as His central, His special meeting place, verse 1 says, they were like those who dream. They couldn't believe their eyes. They couldn't believe their eyes. It wasn't like a dream come true. For those returning exiles, it was a dream come true. The Lord had reversed their helpless and needy condition. And in verse 2, They recall the joyful excitement, and they recall even that the Gentile nations were amazed at the power and grace of God in the lives of His people. In a great act of salvation, God had done a great work. It wasn't long before a sense of incompleteness started to set in. The restoration of the exiles in the land, in the city, and in the worship was a slow and difficult process. And it was an incomplete process. In Ezra and Nehemiah, we see that one of their first tasks was to rebuild the altar. And they were to rebuild the altar so that the sacrifices and the offerings could be reinstituted. About one year later, the foundations for the temple were laid. But because of opposition, it would take 20 years to complete the temple. And the city walls wouldn't be complete until 70 years later. And even when this was complete, it all paled in comparison with the former city of David. It all paled in comparison with the former temple of Solomon. And it paled in comparison with the glory promised by the Lord in the prophets. In Ezra chapter 9, Ezra is praying and reflecting on their restoration in light of their history that led to their captivity. And we're told, but now for a brief moment, favor has been shown by the Lord our God to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place. that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving, to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem. And in Nehemiah 9, we're told, behold, We are slaves this day. In the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please. And we are in great distress. Throughout Ezra and Nehemiah, there is a sense of incompleteness. There is a sense of anticipation. There is a sense of longing for more and more. And longing for more and more because full restoration remained to be seen. Perhaps you can remember a time of God's great deliverance. Perhaps you can remember a time when you or someone close to you was totally helpless, totally hopeless. Perhaps you can remember a time when the Lord opened your eyes to how awful your sin is and how great of a Savior Christ is. Perhaps it was a time when you saw the power and the mercy and the grace of God in a much greater way. Or maybe, maybe you are in a season where those times of joy have been gone for so long now, they're difficult to remember. Perhaps it's difficult to see anything except the parched and barren season of frustration, the parched and barren season of difficulty that you're currently in. Our difficult circumstances in this Christian life, whatever they may be, and even the incompleteness of our own sanctification cannot nullify God's power in deliverance. If you have turned to God, hating and forsaking your sin, trusting in the risen Lord alone for the eternal safety of your soul, then God has rescued you. And if God can come in the flesh and be born of a virgin, if God the Son can live a perfect life, die and rise again for his enemies, there isn't anything in the life of his children that will escape his power, that will escape his purpose. Verse four is a prayer for the present. Verse 4 is a prayer for the present. Bring back our captivity, O Lord. Liberation and restoration had come. In verse 1, the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion. Restoration had begun, but the full realization of the promises found in the prophets was still yet to come. And that is the prayer of verse 4. The restoration in return promised in Jeremiah 30 would culminate in the restoration of the throne of David. The Lord said in Jeremiah 33, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called, the Lord is our righteousness. Just as in Jeremiah, so also in the final verses of the prophecy of Amos, the restoration of God's people and the raising up of the house of David went hand in hand. And in Acts chapter 15, the apostles saw this promise, restoration, fulfilled in Christ's resurrection and fulfilled in the turning of the Gentiles to God through Christ. The fulfillment of the covenant God made with David in his salvation among the nations began with the resurrection of Christ and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2. But even the apostles recognized that the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation was to be accomplished in stages. They, too, looked forward to the fullness of salvation. They looked forward to what the New Testament describes as the new heaven in the new earth, when the fullness of God's kingdom will encompass the whole world in a new creation. The new creation began in Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension to the throne of David in heaven. And it begins in us, by His Spirit, the moment we are made alive by the Holy Spirit. And yet, We, too, pray this same prayer of verse four, longing more and more for the fullness of our salvation. We ought to pray this prayer, longing more and more for the work of God's free grace in our lives. Bring back our captivity, O Lord, like the streams in the South. The south, or the Negev, is the dry desert region southwest of the Dead Sea in southern Israel. And this region depended upon seasonal flooding. The seasonal flooding of the streams in that region brought refreshment. Those flooded streams brought relief. Those streams brought life to what otherwise would be a parched and dry land. The Christian life, like that of the early returning exiles, is often a parched life in need of renewing streams of God's grace and power. And at times, we are plagued with physical and spiritual difficulties, at times we are plagued with great discouragements. At times we are like dry and helpless riverbeds in great need of streams and refreshment. This prayer is a cry for just that. Verse four is a desire for change in the midst of great difficulty. And that is a very natural and good desire. We must never romanticize suffering under the curse simply because it's true that God works all things together for good according to the counsel of His will. Like the psalmist, we too ought to cry out for change, but never putting our trust, never putting our hope in change. We must never measure God's goodness. We must never measure God's love and care by the amount of change that we do or don't see in our circumstances. We must never measure God's goodness, His love, His care. by the amount of change that we do or don't see in ourselves or in others. Like the dry and helpless riverbeds, we are in great need of streams of refreshment. And these streams of refreshment come only from our triune God. And these streams of refreshment come only to those who are united to Christ by faith alone. And these streams of refreshment come to us by the power of His Spirit. And they come to us by the power of the Spirit through the reading and especially the preaching of His Word. These streams of refreshment come to all who are united to Christ by faith through the power of His Spirit, through His ordinances, baptism, and as we will observe this afternoon, the Lord's Supper. When we receive His Word, when we receive His truth, that is, when we believe and trust His Word by the power of the Holy Spirit, The Apostle tells us that our minds are renewed and our souls are transformed. We are refreshed. We are comforted. And we are enabled more and more to die into sin and live under righteousness. Verses 1 through 3 are a reminder of the past. Verse 4 is a prayer for the present. in verses 5 and 6 are a comforting promise. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Just as there is incompleteness that remains in the planting and harvesting process, so too there is incompleteness that remains until our glorification. In light of Jesus's perfect and personal obedience, and in light of his death and resurrection, in his own words in John 16, Jesus said, In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. In Romans 5, we're told by the apostle that our suffering isn't meaningless. We're told that our union with Christ by faith is the foundation upon which we rejoice in hope of our future glory. As we respond to our circumstances by faith, dependent upon His Spirit within us, as we avail ourselves to the divine resources of prayer, His Word, and the ministry of His Church, we are transformed by His Spirit. We are being prepared more and more for our future glory. So that we can say with the Apostle, through prayer and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. And regarding the final end, the Lord says in Isaiah 25, on this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine. And He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever. And the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, For the Lord has spoken, and it will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him that He might save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for Him. Let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation. While sin and death remain, Restoration isn't complete. However, just as certainly as we will go out going about weeping in this life, we will certainly arrive home rejoicing. The Christian life in our salvation is something like the planting and harvesting process. There is a sense of incompleteness that remains. And in the midst of seasons of great difficulty, we are often proud. We are often discontent. And too often in those seasons, we ignore God's Word. We ignore God's ways. The very ways that He uses to bring the spiritual refreshment, the spiritual growth that we desperately need. The saints of old were often encouraged by the prophets to look up from the midst of their suffering and to look back to the faithfulness of God. They were encouraged to look forward to the fullness of their salvation. And with even greater clarity regarding God's promises, we too can look up and back to the giving of His own Son, the giving of His Holy Spirit, as the guarantee that He will give us all things necessary for our full and final restoration. As we remember God's faithfulness in the past, as we prayerfully depend upon Him in the present, and as we trust His promises, He is graciously carrying us by His Spirit through every season and every circumstance in this life. He is graciously carrying us to that heavenly banquet that the prophet Isaiah spoke of. And there, we, with our heavenly family, around that heavenly banquet. We will never again taste sorrow nor tears, but we will be glad and rejoice forever and ever. So let us say with the prophet that we have waited for the Lord. Let us wait upon him and let us make use of the divine resources that he has given us for our refreshment. and for that renewing grace that we desperately need. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we praise you and we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, for the gift of the Holy Spirit, for your word, for your church. Forgive us for our sins always, oh Lord. Teach us to hate and forsake our sins and teach us to depend upon your resources for your glory, for the good of our souls in Christ's kingdom on earth. In his name we pray. Amen.