The Lord Has Done Great Things (Psalm 126)
Today we come together to testify in the words of this doxology; Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
The Lord has done so much for us over the year that today we stand in His presence as a living testimony and the evidence of his grace and mercy.
It is not clear what kind of captivity the children of Israel had been through which is reflected in this Psalm. The truth reflected is that it was like a dream when finally restoration happened.
Charles Spurgeon while commenting on Psalm 126 said, Let our hearts gratefully remember the former loving kindnesses of the Lord: we were sadly low, sorely distressed, and completely past hope, but when Jehovah appeared He did not merely lift us out of hopelessness, He raised us into wondering happiness. The Lord who alone turns our captivity does nothing by halves: those whom He saves from hell He brings to heaven. He turns exile into ecstasy, and banishment into bliss.
The children of Israel due to their constant backsliding found themselves in captivity in different ways; First in Egypt and later in Babylon. During the time of the Judges whenever they sinned, they were handed over to their enemies until they cried out to the Lord to send them a judge to deliver them. It is a Psalm of conversion that reflects a pardoned soul when the anger of the Lord is turned away from it. It is possible that this year many of us have been through trying times that have distressed us and we never expected to be alive today. We have survived death at different levels, our children have been in school and God has provided, you have travelled several times without any plane crush, floods have swept families away but you are still alive, you have survived robbery, you have completed construction, we have bought cars, plots of land, we have move moved from rentals to our own house, promotions and new jobs; the list is long.
Think about all these and return thanks to the Lord. You can identify with the Psalmist today that you sowed the seed weeping but now you return with great joy and celebration. One writer called Horne said,
“For thus thy blessed Master ‘went forth weeping, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, bearing precious seed,’ and sowing it around him, till at length His own body was buried, like a grain of wheat, in the furrow of the grave. But He arose, and is now in heaven; from whence He ‘shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,’ with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, ‘bringing His sheaves with Him.’”
Will you join this great celebration when our Savior returns again (Revelation 21:1-4)? Have a blessed celebration. Amen!
The Very Rev. Canon Dr. Rebecca Nyegenye
PROVOST