Psalm 126 Restored A song of the stairway.
1 It was like a dream come true When You freed us from our bondage And brought us back to Zion! 2 We laughed, and laughed, and overflowed with gladness! We were left shouting for joy, And singing Your praise! All the nations saw it and joined in, saying, “The Lord has done great miracles for them!” 3 Yes, He did mighty miracles, And we are overjoyed! 4 Now Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of Your refreshing flow over us, Until our dry hearts are drenched again! 5 Those who sow their seeds with tears420 Will reap a harvest with joyful shouts of glee! 6 They may weep as they go out, Carrying their seed to sow, But they will return with joyful laughter, And shouting with gladness as they Bring back armloads of blessing, And a harvest overflowing.
I love this Psalm because not only does it speak of God’s favor, but it also speaks of how to respond to favor so that more favor can be manifested. Most of the time, Christians are trying to do things to attract favor from God, but I have found that favor is something God longs to manifest in our lives, and the real trick is how to respond to favor once it is manifested, so that you can know even more increase, and then move from glory to glory. God never intended for us just to experience a time of glory in our lives that is something we look back at and speak fondly of; instead, His intention has always been for us to move from one season of glory to the next, always advancing. For that to happen, stewarding the favor we have is imperative.
The remnant of Jews that were left behind in Jerusalem prayed for 70 years for the Jews in Babylon to be restored to their homeland, and this Psalm is about God answering that prayer. It begins by saying that when God released the captives from Babylon, the people of Israel who were left in Jerusalem were like those who dream and whose dreams come true. The result of their dreams coming true was great joy and laughter and the testimony that God was doing great things, even the miraculous in their midst.
Whenever we have a breakthrough, it is imperative that we celebrate the goodness of God, but celebration isn’t the only way that we steward a breakthrough. The other way that we steward a breakthrough is found in verse four, where it says, “Do it again, Lord.” That is the way to steward favor: ask for even “more.” When we taste and see the goodness of God, God wants that taste to provoke us to hunger for an even greater portion. Even in the slightest expression of favor, we should stop and joyfully celebrate the goodness of God, but then the very next thing we should do is to, in faith, cry out for the more that God longs for us to experience. No matter how good it has been, trust me, it will get better if you will be faithful with what you have. True faithfulness is marked by celebration and desperation for even more.