From Tears to Joy

Psalm 126

Let’s read it together.

Psalm 126 (CSB)

1. REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE

• Psalm 126:1–3
• When THE LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
• we were like those who dream.
• The psalm starts with REMEMBER.

• And their response was basically: THIS FEELS UNREAL
• WE WERE LIKE THOSE WHO DREAM

• The people singing this psalm had been in exile. Babylonian captivity. And this was not a metaphor - it was brutal, real history. 

• Then - this is actual history - Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia, tells the Jewish exiles can go home. 
• And Isaiah had prophesied this by name — the name "Cyrus" — one hundred and fifty years before it happened (Isaiah 44:28, 45:1, CSB). 
• AND GOD TOLD THEM HOW LONG THE EXILE WOULD BE THROUGH JEREMIAH (Jer. 29)

• Have you ever had a moment like that?
• A prayer answered after a long wait.
• A relationship healed that looked dead.
• A breakthrough after years of struggle.
• A burden lifted.
• A season where God’s presence became so real that you thought, “I can’t believe the Lord did this.”

• WHEN THE LORD RESTORED...
• The whole psalm begins with the central truth that restoration belongs to God.

• HE IS THE GOD OF RESTORATION
• AND HE DOES THE UNBELIEVABLE

• Verse 2 says:
• Our mouths were filled with laughter then,
• and our tongues with shouts of joy.
• THE WORD PICTURE IS OVERFLOW

• Some of us need to remember that Christianity is not just about surviving until heaven.

• There should be moments in the life of God’s people 
• Where laughter returns.
• Where joy returns.
• Where hope returns.

• How long has it been since you REMEMBERED how Jesus has saved you and rescued you?

• Then VERSE 2 continues:
• Then they said among the nations,
• “The Lord has done great things for them.”

• EVEN THE OTHER NATIONS NOTICED

• When we genuinely encounter the grace of God, it should be so transformative, so visible, that people around us go, “Something happened to them.”

• And then VERSE 3 says:
• The Lord had done great things for us;
• we were joyful.

• That is important.
• There comes a point where borrowed testimony is not enough.
• WE HAVE TO SAY IT YOURSELF!
• WE HAVE TO KNOW IT AND DECLARE IT
• THIS IS YOUR STORY
• If you are a follower of Jesus
• You were in exile
• You were separated from God because of your sin
• You were dead in your sins

• ARE YOU LIVING LIKE IT IS REAL?

• This is why throughout Scripture God’s people are called to remember.
• Remembrance strengthens trust.
• Our deepest memory is the cross and the empty tomb.

• REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE

• But the psalm does not stop there.

2. PRAY FOR GOD TO DO IT AGAIN

• Psalm 126:4
• The Tone Shifts

• Verse 4 says:
• RESTORE OUR FORTUNES, LORD,
• like watercourses in the Negev.

• So why is he praying again for restoration?
• Because restoration had happened, but the story was not finished.
• Yes, they were home. But home doesn’t look the way it used to.

• THIS IS THE TENSION OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
• THIS IS THE LIFE OF THE “ALREADY” and “NOT YET”

• The Israelites were living in this tension
• SO WHAT DID THEY DO?
• THEY PRAYED

• The image here is powerful:
• LIKE WATERCOURSES IN THE NEGEV
• The picture is SUDDEN TRANSFORMATION.

• GOD, DO IT AGAIN

• That is the prayer.
• LORD, WILL YOU BRING LIFE WHERE THINGS ARE DEAD?

• Some of you have stopped praying because you got disappointed.

• That is not faith. That is the way of grief that doesn’t know Jesus.

• And Psalm 126 gives you permission to pray honestly:
• RESTORE OUR FORTUNES, LORD

• There is humility in that prayer.

• So REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE
• AND PRAY HE WILL DO IT AGAIN

3. TRUST GOD AND KEEP SOWING

• Psalm 126:5–6
• Those who sow in tears
• will reap with shouts of joy.
• Though one goes along weeping,
• carrying the bag of seed,
• he will surely come back with shouts of joy,
• carrying his sheaves.

• Why?
• BECAUSE SOWING IN TEARS IS AN ACT OF TRUST
• This is where the Israelites were:
• Their land was decimated
• They had experienced famine and drought while they were in Babylon
• It was not an encouraging picture.

• That is what obedience to God often feels like.

• Psalm 126 does not deny the tears.
• Tears are not proof that God has abandoned you.
• Sometimes tears are proof that you are still sowing in faith.

• The question is not whether tears are present.
• The question is whether you will keep sowing.

• That is faith.

• And the promise is stunning:
• He will surely come back with shouts of joy,
• carrying his sheaves.
• SURELY. ABSOLUTELY 

• Now that does not mean every sorrow resolves on your schedule.
• And it does not mean every earthly loss is reversed in exactly the way you want.

• Because Jesus himself entered that pattern.
• He is the truest seed that went into the ground.
• Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. (John 12:24, CSB)
• Jesus sowed in tears.
• Jesus entered suffering.
• Jesus carried the cross.
• Jesus was buried in the ground.
• And on the other side came resurrection life and a great harvest of redeemed people.

• Psalm 126 finds its fullest meaning in him.
• Because Jesus is the one who turns tears into joy.

• HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD
• Keep sowing.
• Keep trusting.
• Keep praying.
• Keep obeying.
• Keep bringing your tears to God.

• Why?

• BECAUSE THE LORD WHO RESTORED STILL RESTORES

CONCLUSION

1. REMEMBER the joy of what God has done.
2. PRAY for God to do it again.
3. TRUST God in the season of tears.

8 Reflection/Application Questions

1. In Psalm 126:1–3, what stands out most to you about the way God’s people responded to his restoration? Have you responded the same way?
2. When have you experienced a season where “the Lord had done great things for us”? How does remembering that season strengthen your faith today?
3. Verse 4 says, “Restore our fortunes, Lord.” What area of your life right now most needs God’s restoring work?
4. What do you think it means practically to pray for restoration “like watercourses in the Negev”? Where do you feel spiritually dry?
5. Psalm 126:5–6 connects tears and sowing. What acts of obedience feel costly or tearful for you right now?
6. Why is it important to remember that tears are not a sign of weak faith? How does Jesus reshape the way we view sorrow?
7. How does the death and resurrection of Jesus give deeper meaning and stronger hope to Psalm 126?
8. What is one concrete way you can keep “sowing” in faith this week even if you are in a hard or discouraging season?

QUESTIONS TO ASK WHILE READING SCRIPTURE

What does this reveal about God?

What does this reveal about you in relation to God?

What do you need to do about it?