Psalm 126 is a look backward into a scene that hardly seems real to the writer. “When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.” Joy and laughter sprang from their mouths, so much so that even the nations noticed, saying, “The LORD has done great things for them.” Many scholars read this as a memory of the return from exile, and in these words you can feel how hard it was for people to believe it was actually true.

Then, in the immediate wake of the joyful song, the people pray again: “Restore our fortunes, LORD, like watercourses in the Negev.” The Negev is an exceedingly dry country, where a riverbed can sit empty and barren for months only to fill almost overnight when the rains come. These people have tasted restoration, and yet they long for more. This is such a clear picture of the Already and the Not Yet in one single Psalm.

Next comes the line we’re most familiar with: “Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.” This text paints a conflicting picture os someone walking along weeping while carrying the bag of seed, sowing as they go. But Genesis 3 told us the ground would resist the work of our hands, and this Psalm reminds us of that truth. Someone who is hurting can still go out and sow, and if they do, they’ll “surely come back with shouts of joy, and carrying the sheaves.”

Here’s where this passage hits home for many of us; when we’ve been disappointed enough, it’s tempting to protect ourselves by hoping for less. We stop praying for the prodigal, stop forgiving those who hurt us, and stop investing in our churches, in our marriages. We feel like if we continue to sow we’re setting ourselves up for another loss. At times, cynicism sounds wise, but it’s really a way of refusing to plant.

Psalm 126 provides us with the words and permission to cry out and an admonition to keep sowing. Jesus walked this road long before us. He wept at the grave; he wept over a city, and He said a grain of wheat has to fall to the ground and die before it bears much fruit. The cross certainly looked alot like sowing in tears, and the empty tomb was the firstfruits of the resulting harvest. Your tears aren’t wasted on the cursed ground, because the One who holds the harvest has already wept there Himself.

Where have you stopped sowing because you’re tired of crying over it, because you’ve had enough? What would it look like for you to pick up the bag of seed one more day, tears and all?

Father, You know where I’ve grown tired of hoping. Thank You that You don’t scold me for having tears, but You see every one of them. Give me courage to keep sowing in prayer, sowing in forgiveness, and to remain faithful when the ground is hard and unyielding. Thank You once again for Jesus, who sowed His own life and rose as the firstfruits of the harvest. Teach me to wait for the shouts of joy. Amen.

“I’m tired, but I’m not giving up on __________________.”