Psalm 126: The Poem of the Sower

Today’s reading is Psalm 126.

the Sower’s Shocking Harvest

In Psalm 126, our pilgrim and his compatriots sow in a dry time. The floods have not come, filling the streams with water. When the pilgrim sows, he has no reason to believe the harvest will be plentiful except the Lord’s promise. Yet, though he sows in tears, he believes the shouts of joy will return when he brings his sheaves with him.

I hope we recall another sower. A sower whose sowing seems equally pointless. We find three accounts of Jesus telling and explaining this farmer’s story: Matthew 13:10-23; Mark 4:3-20; Luke 8:4-15. When this sower casts his seed, most of it is completely wasted. Please, don’t make the mistake of so many, thinking this was just the way ancients farmed. They were not so stupid as to waste most of their precious seed on ground they knew would not produce harvest. Yet this farmer sows like a crazy man. He throws the very means of providing for his family everywhere. Most of it lands on soil he knows by looking at it won’t produce. However, he has an incredible harvest: thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and hundredfold.

Certainly, we can learn all kinds of lessons from Jesus’s Parable of the Sower about us. We can make application to evangelism. However, we need to know first and foremost, Jesus is the Sower in the parable. He sows the word everywhere. Most of it is rejected and ignored. In fact, just before He started teaching in parables, He is accused of casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons. We might wonder why He keeps on teaching the Word. But this sower can keep on sowing and expect an incredible harvest. Why? Not actually because at least some ground is good and because the soil of our heart is so amazing we produce a large harvest. Rather, the real point is this sower receives an incredible harvest because this farmer uses incredible seed: the Word of God. Just as Jesus tells stories about tiny mustard seeds that grow into large garden plants and incredible trees, He tells the story of a seemingly crazy farmer wasting the precious seed on useless ground but still has an incredible harvest. When Jesus died, all abandoned Him. After He rose from the dead, He had only 120 followers. Today, millions call Jesus King.

We might even say He sowed in tears, but will reap with shouts of joy. In the Psalm 126 Poem of the Sower, Jesus is the ultimate farmer. Let’s be thankful He kept sowing even though it was with tears. Let’s allow His Word to sink deep in our heart and produce a harvest thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.

Praise the Lord!

Next week’s reading is Psalm 127.

PODCAST!!!

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PATHS:
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What do you want to share from Psalm 126?

Psalm 126: Don’t Grow Weary

Today’s reading is Psalm 126.

Sowing in the spirit’s Garden

Our pilgrim’s metaphor pictures a farmer sowing in a dry time. The work is hard. The weather promises little. The dried up ground and cloudless skies suggest sowing is useless. He sows in tears. However, his harvest doesn’t spring from his own work or the good fortune of good weather. His harvest comes from God. As the old saying goes, he prays like it all depends on God and he works like it all depends on him.

Of course, we know the parable of the sower. We are trained to think of farming pictures as metaphors with deeper spiritual meaning. As we apply this today, I can’t help but think how New Testament teaching uses the metaphors of flowing streams and sowing in gardens. Both connect with the Holy Spirit.

In John 7:37-39, Jesus says if we are thirsty, we can turn to Him. He will cause rivers of living waters to flood up out of our very own hearts. Then John explained Jesus was actually talking about the Holy Spirit. In like manner, Paul uses the sowing and reaping metaphor in Galatians 5-6 to speak of the fruit of the Spirit. Connecting these pictures with our psalm, we understand sometimes we’ll feel and know the blessings of the Spirit prompting easy and great joy. Other times, not so much.

In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul presents the abundant life as a cornucopia of incredible fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Many have wisely recognized this list is called the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of my super-awesome, incredibly-skilled spiritual farming. The Spirit grows this fruit when I follow His lead. However, when we read on into Galatians 6:7-10, Paul returns to this gardening metaphor. He explains while this fruit is the Spirit’s, we must sow to the Spirit. If we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption. We only reap abundant life when we sow in the Spirit’s garden. At the same time, Paul expects dry times. He expects times in which, if you will, we sow in tears. Times when we sow but it seems the sowing is fruitless. So he encourages us, saying, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (ESV). In other words, those who keep sowing, though it be in tears, will reap with shouts of joy if they do not grow weary and give up.

May we recall the pilgrim psalmist and keep sowing in the Spirit’s garden. In due season, the Spirit will provide the abundant harvest.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 126.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 126 prompt or improve your hope in God?

Psalm 119:129-144: Streams of Tears

Today’s reading is Psalm 119 (vss. 129-144).

What Makes Me Cry?

The final line of the PE section forces a question upon me. What makes me cry?

Just the other day, I was in a group chat in which someone asked if a particular book made people cry. I think about videos, stories, songs, shows, movies that make me cry. Honestly, every time I read or hear that kids’ book “I’ll Love You Forever,” the water works turn on. The older I get, the more that prompts me to cry. However, I have to admit, I fall short of our psalmist’s statement.

My eyes shed streams of tears,
because people do not keep your law.
Psalm 119:136 (ESV)

I live in a world full of sin. Sadly, I’ve contributed my own fair share of it myself. I do often shed tears over my own sins. There are some particular people, family, friends, loved ones whose sins prompt tears. However, I rarely cry just over sin around me in general.

I either ignore it. Or it makes me angry. Granted, the psalmist is angered by sin as well (see vs. 113). I don’t have to feel guilt about being angered by sin. At the same time, I am moved to considered the psalmist’s response of sadness.

The psalmist doesn’t explain the exact motivation of his sadness. Yes, he is sad because people do not keep God’s law. However, he doesn’t say if his sadness is directed toward the law or the people. Is he sad because God’s law is worthy of keeping? God is worthy of obedience. It makes the psalmist sad to see God so ill-treated by those who ignore His will. Or is he sad because he knows what disobedience to God’s law means for the people who disobey? He knows disobedience corrupts and enslaves those who disobey. Sin leads people away from being the good kind of people we all want to be. Ultimately, of course, sin leads to judgment and condemnation. The psalmist cries as he considers the outcome of their disobedience.

Perhaps the psalmist doesn’t delineate between the two because both issues motivate his tears. The world is full of disobedience and of the disobedient. Can you think of anything more sad than that?

With that said, let us commit to be no cause for those tears. May we be those who bring joy to the psalmist, to the Spirit who inspired him, and to God who listened to his pleas. May we commit to keep God’s Law.

Today’s reading is Psalm 119 (vss. 129-144).

PODCAST!!!

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PATHS:
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How does Psalm 119:129-144 admonish you?

Psalm 116: The Lord Saved Me

Today’s reading is Psalm 116.

A Surprisingly Overlooked Call Back

In Psalm 116:16, the psalmist declares, “O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant” (ESV). A maidservant is mentioned only one other place in the entire psalter: Psalm 86:16. There, David cries out to the Lord saying, “Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant” (ESV).

Obviously, I have little idea when either of these psalms were written. Though the ascription for Psalm 86 suggests (perhaps simply claims) it was penned during the reign of David. I have no idea if these psalms are related. However, I simply can’t miss these are the only two with this same notion of a servant, the son of God’s maidservant.

Then I read them side by side. If you haven’t done it yet, do so now. Did you read them? Did you hear what I heard? In Psalm 86, the psalmist begs God to incline His ear to hear pleas for mercy and grace to save the psalmist’s life from the depths of Sheol. Then in Psalm 116, the psalmist declares He will love God forever and call on Him forever because the LORD inclined His ear, gave mercy and grace, broke the bonds of Sheol, and delivered the psalmist’s soul. He would walk in the land of the living.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Psalm 116 is the follow-up to Psalm 86. Maybe I don’t know any better.

A Song of Salvation

For a minute, can we pause and marvel, knowing this psalm, along with the other Hallel psalms of Psalm 113-118, were commonly sung at the Passover meal even by the first century. In other words, Jesus very likely sang this song with His apostles the night He was betrayed. If so, what do you think it meant to Him on that night?

Let’s think about us. Apart from the potential connection to the Psalm 86:14 of insolent men seeking David’s life, we don’t know what threatened the psalmist’s life in Psalm 116. This psalm has not been written to expose and lament the threat, but to declare and thank God for the deliverance. Here is a song of salvation.

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Psalm 116:5-7 (ESV)

The Lord saved me! Wow!

Whatever connection Psalm 116 may have with other psalms, I can’t help but notice the connection it has with the previous ones found here in Book V. In Psalm 115, we heard about statuary, representing gods, which had eyes that couldn’t see, feet that couldn’t walk, and a host of other body parts that didn’t work. Then the Psalmist claimed those who worshiped them become like them. That is, they became lifeless. We had already noticed the fantastic connection between Psalm 111, in which we learned about the God who is to be feared, and Psalm 112, in which we learned about the one who fears God. We learned by comparing them the God-fearer becomes like the God he fears. And now, in Psalm 116, we meet a God-fearer having cried out to God because he was dying. Though he was simple, what did the Lord do? He cleared the supplicant’s hindered eyes, strengthened his stumbling feet, and lifted him up to walk in the land of the living. What do we see here but a worshiper becoming like the Lord?!

That is salvation! That is the same salvation the Lord is giving us. I hate to jump the gun regarding our coming good Friday discussion, but we have a claim to this psalm in incredible ways. Because our Lord Jesus, who very likely sang this song the night He was betrayed, loved, believed, worshiped, called on, and walked before the LORD, He was delivered from death. His deliverance provides our salvation.

When we cry out for the Lord to save us, He has already responded with the sacrifice that will allow us to walk in the land of the living instead of going down to the land of silence. In Jesus Christ, we can say, “The LORD saved me! Hallelujah!”

Praise the Lord! Let us sing this song of salvation always.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 116.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
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How does Psalm 116 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Psalm 56: God Sees Our Tears

Today’s reading is Psalm 56.

Have you ever had the feeling of being watched? David did. He claimed his enemies lurked, watching his steps. They lay in wait for his life. It’s no wonder he spent nights tossing and turning. Some claim “wanderings” more accurately translates the word than “tossings.” “Wanderings” fits the historical context given in the ancient heading for the psalm. When Saul pursued David, he wandered in the wilderness just like the ancient Israelites. In 1 Samuel 21:10-15, he wandered into Gath. However, that didn’t work out well for him. The Philistines took hold of him and demanded Achish do something drastic with him.

Enemies and attacks pervade David’s life. The lurking enemies may be the Philistines in this psalm, possibly Saul, maybe both. The fear, the torment, the emotional pain increased as time went on. No wonder David cried. But what good did those tears accomplish?

Tears embarrass us. We wish we were stronger than to cry in the face of our pain and anguish. David cried. Did those tears mean anything? Yes. While the enemies kept track of David’s steps, God kept track of David’s tears. He collected them in a bottle. He wrote them in His book. God records these not merely for the sake of having a record. Rather, this record indicates God has a plan. He knows exactly how much pain our enemies cause. We leave vengeance to God because He knows precisely the degree of vengeance our enemies deserve. He knows the pain, the torment, the agony they caused. He collects the tears.

God sees your tears. Do not be embarrassed. Let God collect your tears. He will wipe them away. He will take vengeance on the impenitent enemy who causes them. Blessed are those who mourn. God will comfort you.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 56.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 56 increase your hope in God?