restored

Scripture: Psalm 126

¹When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
  then were we like those who dream.
 ²Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
  and our tongue with shouts of joy.
 ³Then they said among the nations,
  “The Lord has done great things for them.”
 ⁴The Lord has done great things for us,
  and we are glad indeed. 
 ⁵Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
  like the watercourses of the Negev.
 ⁶Those who sowed with tears
  will reap with songs of joy.
 ⁷Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed,
  will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves. 

Observation:

In 587 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (present-day Iran) led his army into Jerusalem and burned the city to the ground.  Many Jews were slaughtered.  Many were deported back to Babylon as forced labor.  Those who remained were left to starve in the barren city streets.  This initial crisis was followed by 70 years of exile for the Jewish people.  Uprooted.  No temple ( the location of their God and of their ritual religious sacrifices was destroyed).  The question, "Why has God allowed this to happen to us, God's chosen people?" generated a lot of creativity.  The Jews remained faithful apart from the temple by focusing on their sacred writings (the torah---1st five books of the Hebrew bible).  Rabbis and synagogues were established in exile to remember God's promises and mighty deeds.  Many of the prophets' writings (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel) and a lot of the book of Genesis came out of this period. Their hope was rooted in their history.  God had rescued them before and God would rescue them again.  They trusted God's goodness and mercy.  And so they were resilient as they waited patiently for God.  And after 70 years, they were freed and sent home---a new generation.  They would be conquered and threatened again and again.  In the 1st century world of Jesus.  Even in the 20th century.  But they remain because they have experienced God's faithfulness, power,and liberating intervention on their behalf.

Application:

I love this Psalm.  The first line is poetry to me.  Zion is another name for Jerusalem, the holy city.  It is an endearing name for 'home.'  Exile and return, deportation and homecoming, wandering and settling, slavery and freedom.  These are major themes in the bible.  Because the bible was written from the perspective of the losers and not the winners,the defeated and not the victors; the weak and not the great.  These are people who have known suffering, oppression, traumatic violence, and despair.  But they have the most powerful weapon of all---Hope.  This Psalm is hopeful.  A season of weeping will be replaced by one of laughter.  Sowing seeds with tears will end with a  harvest of joy.  They will be restored.  They will go home again. The hopeful yearning of these people made them resilient.  The God of the bible doesn't prevent suffering, but shows compassion to those who suffer and brings justice to the oppressed by setting them free.  Death and resurrection is the gospel's version of this perpetual story.  Restoration and healing, justice and freedom don't always happen in a single life time.  Generational change is the way God works.  Dr. King said, "The moral arc of the universe is long and it is bent toward justice."  When we get discouraged in our part of Jesus' mission to end poverty and the world's many injustices, we remember this Psalm, the stories of exile and return, the story of Jesus the healer who is wounded and killed and raised from the dead.  His story will be ours.  We are invited to keep the dream alive, the dream of a restored creation.  Where do you see suffering and injustice?  What brings you hope? 

Prayer:

Lord we pray for refugees, and for any people separated from loved ones by war, incarceration, or borders.  Give them hope to trust in your promise to restore their fortunes one day. Amen.