Fall 1984
Psalm 126
Bernice Cunningham
Pinecrest Staff

For many years Psalm 126 has seemed to me to be a strange combination of statements. Recently, however, the Lord has spoken to me from this Psalm. It relates to the period of time in which the Israelites had been exiled in Babylon for seventy years. God had finally delivered them from captivity and caused them to be returned to Jerusalem. This was such a great deliverance for an oppressed and broken people that they could hardly believe it. It seemed that they must be dreaming. They laughed, sang, and danced until even the heathen said, “The Lord hath done great things for them.” The people echoed this testimony in their praise unto God. They called upon God to refresh them in the same way that the flooding of the Nile River watered, irrigated and refreshed all the surrounding land, causing everything to thrive for another year.

Then a soberness comes into this portion of the Psalm; “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed . . .” It seems so strange to be sowing and weeping at the same time. Oh! Such a contrast. They were now in the spring of the year; the cold of winter was gone. They were in the warmth, light and newness of life which accompanies spring. Why then were they crying? It was because of the difficult choice that lay before them. They had to decide whether to eat or to plant the precious little seed they had. This is similar to the decision which faced the widow in I Kings 17:8-16. She was preparing to eat her one last morsel of bread with her son and die. Elijah instructed her to plant the bread (give it to him) and live.

The Word of God is quite plain. There is a time and a season for everything (Ecc. 3:1). It is too late to plant seed at harvest time. The need must be anticipated in the spring time and seed must be sown in anticipation of a harvest. Yet many feel they can continue to meet needs with their “seed grain,” and fail to sow. But this is not God’s divine principal for bringing us into His abundance. The tighter our belts are, the more our backs are pressed against the wall, the more impressive it is that we begin to plant; to invest in the Kingdom of God, knowing that the Lord of Glory, Faithful and True, will give us a harvest in both realms, Natural and Spiritual, Visible and Invisible.

In the natural, we must sow the right seed in the right field, at the right time for the best harvest. Also in God’s Kingdom we must seek Him to know where we are to plant and sow. We cannot indiscriminately give according to our own thinking. God blesses those things that are ordained by Him.

“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” At harvest time, they were so glad they had made the sacrifice. When you face the decision between sowing and living, or eating and dying – by all means, PLANT AND LIVE. The harvest will come.