Journal Entry ~ 07/07/19

fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 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."  - Psalm 126:1-2

This psalm has been such a treasure for me as I’ve dove a little deeper into its meaning. As the 3rd psalm in one of the trios from the Psalm of Ascents, it sings of victory and triumph. Psalm 124 is a cry of trouble, Psalm 125 is the response of trust to that cry, and this psalm is the victory that comes as we trust. And what sweet victory it has been for me!

In the first half of this psalm, the author remembers what the Lord has done for Israelites in the past. He recalls the great ways God has shown favor to them, and he shares a time when they were filled with shouts of joy and laughter. Clearly, they are dwelling on a beautiful memory of God’s abundant blessings. I love the imagery of shouts of joy and laughter. It makes me want to dwell on those moments in my own life. 

Over and over in scripture, God reminds us to recall His blessings in our lives. He knows our hearts, and He knows the daily battle we’re in, so He continually reminds us to remember. When we dwell on all that He has done for us, or even when we recall one specific moment we felt God’s presence, He is glorified and our faith is strengthened. Not only do we find our trust in His goodness deepen, but we discover the perseverance and endurance to press on through the fight. Recalling His past goodness gives us hope for the future. 

This psalm demonstrates the power in recalling His blessings - while the first half is focused on the past, the 2nd half of the psalm is the confident expectation of future blessings. The psalmist chooses a word that translates as “shall” or “will”.  It doesn’t say “might”, it says “shall”. It’s going to happen. Those who sow in tears shall reap shouts of joy. We can know this with confidence. It’s going to happen. If you have shed tears over a prayer request, you can know that you know that you know He will answer, and that you will be shouting for joy in the answer. 

The psalmist exists in the in between - in between the blessings he is recalling from the past and the blessings he confidently waits for in the future. This is where so many of us live so much of our lives - in the “in between”, waiting and hoping. We’ve got a prayer request out there we’re waiting for Him to answer...and sometimes, we wait a long time. The waiting can be our greatest challenge because it is in these moments that our hope begins to wane. When our hope fails, when we begin to doubt His future goodness, we need to remember. Dwelling on the rich blessings of the past restores the confident expectation that God will bring us back to victory again. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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