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Monday, October 25, 2004
Remember the reality of the Psalms of Ascent: They were part of a hymnal the Israelites used in worship on their way to Jerusalem for one of the three festivals they attended each year. Looking back historically, we can glean that there are a lot of elements of the spiritual life contained in the order.
First, you choose to live God's way rather than the world's way.
Then you trust God as an individual.
That leads to worship of God.
Part of that worship will be serving others.
Which leads us to trusting God as a body of believers, which will sharpen each of us.
And then eternal security gives us a base from which to live a life free of rules and regulations while walking with Christ...freedom.
And that freedom should lead to joy in our lives.
That's what the author of Psalm 126 is getting after. Note how the Psalm begins: "When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion..."
We touched base on this in earlier studies, that after years of being dispersed throughout the region at that time, Nehemiah and Ezra led a coalition to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore the city. They accomplished the goal in record time. Then, the city needed inhabitants and they spent 7 months getting people to move back "home." The "captives" were now "free."
At first, they were "like those who dream." Have you ever been in one of those dazes that you only experience when you can't believe what is happening is really actually transpiring right in front of your face? When I was 16, I wanted a car for my birthday and had saved enough for an old beat-up clunker one of my great-uncle was willing to unload a little cheaper than he would've for somebody else. It smelled like his cigars but I didn't care. I wanted a car.
Then, on my 16th birthday, which up to that point was a surprisingly unremarkable day, I got home from athletic workouts and my mom had gotten me a car that was MUCH better than what I could've afforded. It was great! Sure, I added some things to it later, but it was a reliable and safe and kinda cool car that didn't smell like cigars. I drove it around all day and showed it to friends.
The whole day I was in a state of suspended belief. I was IN the car, but I couldn't really comprehend that it was MY car. I was in life, but kept wondering if it was a dream.
Okay, it's a small analogy. I mean, these people had been in captivity for generations, and now they were home. But I can relate to it. Even though the event of the Israelites was prophesied about and they knew that it was going to happen (see Jeremiah 30:3 and others), when it finally happened, they were pinching themselves.
Then their mouth was filled with laughter. Notice they didn't have to "force" the laughter like you might with a friend who made an average joke. It was simply filled. I'd imagine it'd be like those 3A.M. times when something really struck you as funny and you couldn't stop laughing and the more you tried to stop the funnier it got until you were finally so exhausted you just couldn't laugh anymore. Yeah. Like that.
And their tongue was filled with joyful shouting. I'd imagine that it involved songs of praise for God. I have friends in The Netherlands. Like the rest of Europe, their passionate about soccer, and when their team scores a goal in a big game, they go crazy. In fact, they sing this song very loudly about it "being so very quiet on your side of the arena" that the other team's fans have to pretty much agree with.
And I'm sure, in the other team's fans minds they're wishing, "I want our team to score a goal so we can have as much fun as they are."
Which is the reaction of the onlookers in the Psalm. Verse 2 says that the nations see how much joy they have and it gives God glory. Even the outsiders can say how good their God is to them.
Because they're showing so much joy...no matter their circumstances. There is no better defense of the Christian faith than an abundant life that is well-lived. You live abundantly, well, that's the "better mousetrap" that the world will beat a path to your door to buy (it's an old saying...you can Google it if you need to). If we're outliving outsiders they'll see how great our God truly is.
In fact, in verse 3, we'll even be reminded that we're actually SO blessed by God that we'll be reminded of it hanging out with joyful people. And that will make us glad that God has done great things for us.
So, today, think through some of the great things God has done for us. Think through all the blesings God has done for you, especially in relation to those in the Body all around you, and see how glad you become.
Brent 7:29 AM
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