Prayers of Repentance – Psalm 130

“But with [the Lord] there is forgiveness…”

Psalm 130:4

Take a moment and read Psalm 130. 

Have you ever hit your thumb with a hammer?  It hurts.  But it doesn’t just hurt the small injured appendage.  The pain shoots up your arm and rattles around in your brain.  Your whole hand and arm tingle with pain.  It’s as if your whole body is alight with the fire.  What happens to one part of the body affects the whole.  One of the great truths about making our home in the Lord, our dwelling in the New Jerusalem, is that we are called to live with others.  As St. Paul reminds us, “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:5).  Whatever we do in the Body of Christ, therefore, affects not ourselves alone, but everyone who dwells with us in the New Jerusalem.

Psalm 130 is an individual lament, expressing penitence and trust in God’s mercy.  And though it is written in the first person singular, it is a cry of repentance for the whole people of Israel.  The penitential element of this psalm is geared toward helping the new inhabitants of the Promised Land to see themselves as forgiven people, whose only right to enter God’s presence lies in His mercy.  “And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

The call is to repentance, a cleansing of all the people, that we may live together in harmony.  And so, we repent for ourselves, yes, but also on behalf of the whole Body of Christ.  Both Ezra the priest, and Daniel the prophet recognized the need for this corporate repentance before the land could be properly settled.  Daniel cried to the Lord: “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us” (Dan 9:16).  Ezra prayed, “From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt… But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving… to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem” (Ezra 10:7-9).  

The challenge of dwelling in the New Jerusalem is to move from self will into God’s will, to turn our attention from the things of this world and onto the way of life in Christ Jesus.  Our desire should be to seek to be transformed into the sorts of people who live lives of grace in Christ.  Through baptism we were born into Zion, we were made citizens of the New Jerusalem, but we have been separated from the land of our birth by our sin.  It was a long journey to get here, but the work has just begun.  Living in the New Jerusalem requires a new heart and a new attitude, a different set of skills than we possessed and employed while living in exile.  Repentance is key.  We will get distracted from time to time and will return to our old ways of living.  We need to be held accountable.  We need each other to build ourselves up.  And we need to be patient, compassionate, and understanding of one another.  Not tolerating sin, but loving the sinner.  And repenting for ourselves and the whole Body of Christ.

Blessings on Zion, Shame on Her Enemies – Psalm 129

“May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward!”

Psalm 129:5

There is a story that I heard many years ago about a banker who, each evening on his way to the bus stop for his ride home, would pass by a homeless man living in a cardboard box.  The man wore threadbare clothes, a thin blanket wrapped about his shoulders, and a can with a sign propped against it reading, “Hungry, please help”.  The banker would put a coin or a bill in the man’s can each time he passed, but nothing ever seemed to change for the man.  One day, the banker decided to take a different approach.  He purchased a $100 gold coin from the bank, and when he came to the man’s box, he saw that the homeless man was asleep.  So, rather than put the coin in the can where someone might steal it, he put it in the man’s pocket.  The next evening as he approached, again nothing seemed to have change.  The man had on the same ratty clothes, the sign leaning against the can still read, “Hungry, please help.”  The banker asked the man, “Did you not cash in that coin I gave you?”  “What coin?” came the reply.  “It’s in your pocket,” said the banker.  The homeless man reached in his pocket and pulled out the gold coin.  He looked at the banker and said, “I didn’t know it was there.”

God’s blessings are always there.  In Ephesians 1:3, Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”  God HAS BLESSED us in Christ with EVERY spiritual blessing.  It is a done deal.  But many of us live as if we are completely oblivious to those blessings.  Even though we are residents of the New Jerusalem, living in Christ’s paradise, too often we live as if our home is no better than a cardboard box.  We are waiting for blessings that are already there, but we are not actively seeking Christ and His love in the everyday things of this world.  

As mentioned in yesterday’s meditation, the latter part of Psalm 129 is what is known as an imprecatory psalm.  It is a curse upon those who would do harm to the righteous.  These reproaches and curses that we find in Holy Scripture may make us uncomfortable, but we must acknowledge that these are honest expressions of what is in the human heart.  Jesus said that “from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:21).  That is a nasty collection of things.  And though we may want to deny that we are holding onto all of this unpleasantness, nevertheless, these thoughts are there.  The Psalmist has simply expressed what all of us feel from time to time.  But in Psalm 129, the imprecation is stated in the negative.  He is saying, the blessings are there for the wicked as well as for the righteous, but these blessings are simply not received by the wicked.  The wicked have absented themselves from the flow of God’s grace.  They are oblivious to the presence of God’s love and favor, because they have chosen to turn their backs on Him.  There is a gold coin in their pocket, but they aren’t looking for it.

As a Song of Ascent, this psalm is well-suited to remind us that as we walk the pilgrim way and begin to make our home in the Lord, we are never to take our blessings and privileges for granted.  May the Lord give us grace to be receptive when we hear, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you! We bless you in the name of the Lord!”  And let us thank the Lord for His abundant provision of blessings.

The Lord’s Victory over the Wicked – Psalm 129

“The Lord is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.”

Psalm 129:4

Take a moment and read Psalm 129. 

In the movie “Glory,” about the first all-African-American regiment in the United States Army during the Civil War, there is a scene where a former slave is subjected to punishment by whipping.  Private Trip, played by Denzel Washington, is stripped of his coat and shirt, and as he drops his shirt we can see the numerous welts across his back from previous whippings.  They look like long furrows in a plowed field.  This would not have been an unfamiliar sight to the exiles having made the journey to Jerusalem.  Many of the Jews who had been taken captive to Babylon were made slaves of their captors, and many were subjected to harsh treatment.  As the Psalmist says in Psalm 129:3, “The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.”  Their backs may have looked like Private Trip’s.

We have entered the New Jerusalem, but many of us are carrying scars from our time in captivity to the flesh, the world, and the devil.  However, like the Psalmist affirms, though we may be carrying the scars inflicted by the wicked, “yet they have not prevailed against us.”  These past afflictions hold no power over us.  And those who inflicted harm on us in the past cannot harm us again if we stay firmly rooted in the Lord.  For, “the Lord is righteous; He has cut the cords of the wicked.”

As we shall see in tomorrow’s meditation, this Psalmist is both hurt and angry.  He lashes out with curses upon those who brought about this woe.  That is not an uncommon practice in the Old Testament, and sadly, as we saw in the meditation on Tuesday of 2 Lent, it is something that all of us are tempted to do ourselves.  But we have been born again into a new identity in Christ Jesus.  We have come into the New Jerusalem through the body and shed blood of Jesus—a body that was whipped, and spit upon, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross, and pierced with a sword.  And as Jesus hung from that cross, did He curse those who abused Him?  No.  He prayed for them.  This is a challenge for us.  

The first part of this psalm is a hymn of trust.  It is an affirmation that God has protected us, and will continue to be with us.  We can put our trust in Him.  This deliverance at the hands of the Lord from persecution is a sign of the Lord’s favor.  Psalm 41:11 says, “I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.”  As we begin to make our home in Christ Jesus, in His New Jerusalem, we have full assurance that if we abide in Him, His favor will rest upon us and the enemy will never triumph over us.  “The Lord is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.”  Let us stand firm in that faith, confident that the Lord will show us His favor.

Making Jerusalem our Home

“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Galatians 5:24-25

During this fourth week of Lent we will begin the work of making the New Jerusalem our home.  The Lord has set us free, and we have entered into the fulness of life in Christ’s Kingdom, the New Jerusalem.  But what are the demands upon us as we make our homes here?  Paul says, in the verses quoted above that our passions and desires — our selfishness and self-will — must be crucified, and that we must begin to live and walk in the Spirit of God.  We must be different.  We have been living and walking in the way of the world.  Now the challenge is to be like Christ.  We have been working hard to get here to the Promised Land, but that is only the beginning.  The goal is not to get to the New Jerusalem, but to live in the New Jerusalem.  

As we observed in the meditation this past Thursday, our relationship with Christ is a marriage.  Jesus is the bridegroom and the Body of Christ is the bride.  This relationship is one that is intended to be joyful and filled with love.  But as any married couple knows and comes to understand more fully over time, marriage takes work.  When the exiles had successfully made their way back home to Jerusalem, they knew that their work had just begun.  They had worked hard to get there, having traversed over hostile terrain, and having overcome physical, mental, and spiritual obstacles.  But now, the work of making Jerusalem their home was ahead of them.  And that would require hard work.  Now that we have arrived at our destination in the New Jerusalem, we have work to do in order to make this marriage work.  St. John gives us a glimpse of the great joy that we can expect when we have made the effort to embrace this marriage relationship.  He says, “‘Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Rev. 19:7-8).

The righteous deeds of the saints.  The right relationship with the Lord.  That relationship will make us different from those of the world.  We are not called to be at odds with those around us, but to be the very image of Christ, a light in the midst of the darkness.  The Church is called to be a light upon the hill, beckoning to those living in darkness to come up to the banquet table of the Lord and feed on the fruit and blessings that flow from the Heart of God.

There is work to do.  We all carry scars from our journey, and we must unlearn habits that we have picked up while in exile.  God will give a new heart and a new spirit to all who seek Him.  We can learn a new way of living.  But it will take time and effort.  It will take a penitent heart and a transformed mind.  Then we can truly know the peace of Christ, and put our hope firmly in Him.  So let us come together as One Body in Christ and make our home in the New Jerusalem.

The Lord bless you from Zion! Psalm 128

“The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!”

Psalm 128:5

“No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” (John Donne, Meditation 17)

The man who fears the Lord is blessed.  But he does not keep those blessings for himself.  He extends his interests beyond himself and his family.  He seeks blessing for his community and for the whole people of God.  He is “a part of the main”.  The promise of the preceding verses of Psalm 128 becomes a prayer for blessing on all of Jerusalem.  The man of faith knows that.  He knows that his own welfare is tied up in the welfare of the whole community.  Once again the prayer for Israel’s welfare is repeated because the hopes of all that fear the Lord center in Jerusalem, for all their springs are in her.

We are coming home.  We are entering the New Jerusalem, and we cannot do it alone.  We are the Body of Christ.  The blessing of the Psalmist on his neighbors should be ours as we seek the Lord and His Promised Land.  “The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!”  We are called to care for one another, to encourage one another, and to help one another along the way.  St. Paul exhorted the Church at Thessalonica (1 Thess. 5:11) with these words: “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up.”  We are also instructed to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).  And Paul tells the Church at Philippi (2:4), “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  Whatever God has given to us is to be used “for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7).  We do this so that we “may see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of our lives.”

“The Lord bless you from Zion!”  Yes, so that you may be a blessing to others.  In this seemingly endless time of change and turmoil in which we find ourselves today, we need each other more than ever.  We need the blessings from Zion.  But we need to share those blessings with friends, neighbors, bothers and sisters, and the strangers we meet on the street.  We have entered into the New Jerusalem.  Now let us look forward to the next challenge.  How shall we live here?  What would the Lord have us do in this place of blessing?

The Blessing of God upon our Labors – Psalm 128

“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways!”

Psalm 128:1

Take a moment and read Psalm 128. 

Psalm 128, like Psalm 127, is a wisdom Psalm in the tradition of Solomon.  Psalm 127 is attributed to the wise king, but that attribution is most likely a nod to the fact that the content of the psalm is in keeping with the content of the wisdom literature of the Solomonic books.  The basic message of Psalm 128 is also in keeping with the wisdom literature of the Bible.  The message is essentially practical instruction on how to live a life of reverence, regardless of your place within the community.

The Psalmist declares that blessings belong to those who practice reverence as the basis of the good life.  Whereas Psalm 127 uses poetic imagery to illuminate the directives of the Lord, Psalm 128 is more like utilitarian prose than creative poetry.  What we find here is practical instruction for entering the Promised Land.  This psalm speaks to the common man.  It would ring true for all of the laborers who have made the long pilgrimage to their homeland.  Be it a shepherd, or the craftsman, the farmer or the merchant, all would hear the call to place the Lord first in their work, then watch the blessings flow.

There was no expectation that the exiles would find happiness in their journey, nor in their labors in reestablishing the homeland.  They knew it would be hard, sometimes grueling work.  What they would find is blessing.  The cause of happiness, according to the Psalmist, is found in the blessedness of our walk with the Lord:  “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.”  Fear, as it is used here, is not terror, but rather reverence.  It is the sense of standing in awe of God.  The work in which the returnees were to engage was to be immersed in their worship of God.  They were called to do the work as if for God alone: to “walk in His ways.”  What we do in daily life must be done in awe of God, with hearts knit to God.  The wisdom writer of the Book of Ecclesiasticus in the Apocrypha states this clearly, saying that these workers “will maintain the fabric of the world, and in the handiwork of their craft is their prayer” (Ecclus. 38:34).  Would that we could all see our work as prayer to God.

Childbearing and childrearing is also a part of the work of these laborers in the Lord.  But the fruitful vine mentioned in verse 3 is more than childbearing.  It is all the ways a wife blesses her husband as listed in Proverbs 31.  She is faithful, not just fruitful.  She is not like the adulterous woman in Proverbs 7:11, whose feet do not stay at home.  She embraces the dignity of marriage and motherhood with contentment.  The picture the Psalmist paints is one which depicts that the basis for peace and tranquility within the home is nothing less than the fear of God.

Our Heritage – Psalm 127

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord…”

Psalm 127:3

Children are the Lord’s gift.  Some couples are blessed with many children.  Some only one or two.  Some none at all.  But all of us, regardless of the biological children entrusted to our care by the Lord, are responsible for the heritage that we leave to the next generation.  How we live our lives in Christ Jesus will impact those who follow us in the Lord.  What legacy are we building upon, and what inheritance are we leaving for the children of the following generations?

The parent/child relationship is not the primary relationship given to us in Holy Scripture.  The primary motif we find regarding our relationship with the Lord is the bride/bridegroom relationship, the marriage of the Lamb.  Jesus is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride (Matt. 25; Rev. 19).  But sadly, what we see modeled in the Church today is the disintegration of the family unit.  The divorce statistics for the Church are no different than those of the secular world.  Children are not being raised in stable home environments.  When the Psalmist says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain,” he is speaking of the fabric of home life as well as the physical structure of the house.  Is it stable?  Is it built upon the firm foundation of faith and worship?

It is said that God has no grandchildren, meaning that each of us is responsible for our individual relationship with the Lord.  We cannot ride the life of someone else’s faith into the Kingdom.  But it is also true that God has no stepchildren.  St. Cyprian said that “You cannot have God for your Father if you have not the Church for your mother.”  We cannot have a stepmother.  The essential component of building a godly legacy for the next generation is our personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ in the fellowship of His Body, the Church.  That love relationship is the model for what we are to pass on to our children, the younger generation in the Church today.  St. John tells us, in the prologue of his Gospel, that “to all who received [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13).  It is through our relationship with Jesus that we can become children of God.  We need to model that relationship for the younger members of the Church.

What the Psalmist is proclaiming in Psalm 127 is that as the exiles return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city with the Temple at its heart, they must also rebuild their families on the foundation of the Lord Himself.  The prophet Malachi made clear the Lord’s expectation, saying, “And what is the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth” (2:15). The returnees’ marriages, and the lives of their families, the prophet declares must be grounded in relationship with the Lord and firmly rooted in the worship of the Temple community.  For us today, we also must reclaim that primary relationship with the Lord and with His Bride, the Church.  We must restore the primacy of Christian marriage as a reflection of the relationship between Christ and His Church.

Unless the Lord builds the House… – Psalm 127

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

Psalm 127:1

Take a moment and read Psalm 127. 

This psalm appears to be two separate wisdom psalms that have been bound together.  That was not an uncommon practice in Biblical times.  But the two parts are tied closely together by a common theme.  In the midst of coming into the devastated land of Judah the returnees may have wanted to take up their tools and get to work, trusting in their skills and talents.  The Psalmist, though, is reminding them in his Song of Ascent, that without the Lord’s blessing all human toil is worthless and will account for nothing.  The psalmist then lists four common human endeavors which cannot be successfully completed if God is not the one who champions the cause, and provides the means.  Let us look at these.

First, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”  There is a double meaning here for the returnees.  They were building their houses, but the Lord exhorted them through the prophets, especially Haggai, that unless the Lord’s house was established in their midst, their labors on their own homes would be fruitless.  He said, “You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house” (1:9).  And secondly, unless the Lord builds the “house”—that is the family of each individual—their home and family will not prosper.  

Second, “Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”  The walls of Jerusalem had been breached and torn down by the Babylonians when they overran the city in 597 BC.  The returnees, therefore, felt very vulnerable.  They wanted to restore the walls first, before the Temple, but Zechariah, gave this word of prophetic encouragement:  “I will be to [Jerusalem] a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst” (2:5).  The Lord is our watchman.

Third, “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”  We are reminded in this verse what St. Paul said to the church at Corinth:  “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7).  And Jesus also exhorts the faithful in Luke 12:22-31, saying in part, “But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!”

And fourth, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”  This was prefigured in the first verse.  It is God who builds the family.  Whether you have children or not, the homes of the faithful must be grounded in the worship of the Lord.  There will be more about this tomorrow.

What the Psalmist is declaring in this Song of Ascent as an encouragement for the newly arrived Jews is that faithfulness in everyday life and vitality in worship go together.  Without the Lord on our side we will fail.  Therefore, “seek first His Kingdom and righteousness,” and all the other things we need will be provided by His all-encompassing love.

God’s People will Dwell in the Midst of Jerusalem – Psalm 126

“Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb.”

Psalm 126:4

In the first part of this Psalm we were looking back, remembering how “the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion…”  Now the Psalmist turns his eyes toward the future, petitioning God to continue His work of restoration.  He appeals to God for the same power that was made manifest in bringing them to the Promised Land to be with them in rebuilding the city and the Temple.  Discouragement is threatening to replace the enthusiasm that all had felt in being allowed to return to their homeland.  It was taking longer than expected to rebuild the Temple and the walls of the city.  Life was hard.  

But God did not leave His people without hope.  He sent messengers, the prophets, to proclaim His Word to them.  In the darkest of days, when the obstacles against them seemed like unscalable mountains, Zechariah brings God’s word to Zerubbabel, the governor, saying, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.  Who are you, O great mountain?  Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain.” (Zech. 4:6-7).  And to the people, Zecharaiah brings this word of hope:

Thus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the Lord of hosts…I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness. (8:3-6,8) 

The experience of the returnees is not unlike the experience of many in our day.  It has taken much longer to get a handle on this pandemic than anyone expected.  The political turmoil, international tensions, and economic uncertainty are all potential catalysts for discouragement and despair.  Even within the Church there are divisions and infighting.  God is allowing the dismantling of His Church so that He may rebuild it in the Image of Christ.  That is a frightening prospect for many of the faithful.  But God has allowed these things to take place that the people of God will turn to Him, that we may be His people and He will be our God.  Looking at the magnitude of the task ahead with eyes of faith and righteousness we can the discern that only God can remake His Church.  God brought us here, He can establish us.  He can remake us in His Image.

Through this Song of Ascent we have God’s promise.  If we stand firm in Him, He will restore us.   “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”  Let us stand firm in Him.  Let us stand on His promise.  And we, too, shall dwell in the midst of the New Jerusalem.

Remember what the Lord has done for us – Psalm 126

“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.” 

Psalm 126:1-2

Take a moment and read Psalm 126.

Many years ago I had a wound on the middle finger of my right hand that would not heal.  Every time I bent that finger the wound would open and start to bleed.  Once, while celebrating Eucharist, I bent that finger and it started to bleed.  I had to stop the celebration to deal with the wound.  I asked the congregation to pray that God would quickly heal that injury.  After the service, a well-meaning parishioner told me that if I only had faith, God would have already healed it.  Her comfort was like the comfort of Job’s three friends.  

Whenever difficulties happen to faithful believers, there are those who begin to doubt the calling of God in their life.  In essence they say, “If God were truly with us, these bad things would not have happened.”  And the enemy joins in to discourage the believers.  The exiles returning to Jerusalem met immediate opposition from their neighbors in the surrounding regions.  Ezra records that “The people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose…and they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem” (Ezra 4:4-6).  But the Psalmist reminds the people Who it was that called them to this homeland of theirs, and how excited they were to receive that call:  “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.”  Throughout the Old Testament the people of God remind themselves of who God is by reciting what He has done for the Jews throughout their history.  And Ezra the priest, Nehemiah the governor, and the psalmists all encourage the people with repeated recollections.  “…[the Lord] saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh…” (Nehemiah 9:9).  “In [the Lord] our fathers trusted; they trusted, and [He] delivered them” (Psalm 22:4). “The hand of our God was on us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way” (Ezra 8:31).  We all need to be repeatedly reminded of God’s grace, that “The Lord restored the fortunes of Zion.”

Everyone has moments in his or her life when the Lord has done great things, moments when He is tangibly real, moments when in retrospect it all seems like a dream.  And we hold on to those moments.  Like the Psalmist we remember the Lord’s work in our lives and “Then our mouth is filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.”  But there are those desert moments as well, like the exiles experienced in dealing with opposition to the rebuilding of the city.  Doubt creeps in.  Discouragement becomes the reality of our days.  And despair threatens to take root.  That is the time for us to remember the “goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:12-14).  That is the time to sing His praise.  When the Psalmist said, “My tears have been my food day and night,” he remembers how he “would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival” (Psalm 42:3-5).  It has been a difficult couple of years.  But there has never been a better time for us to remember the goodness of God, and to sing His praise.  Let our “our mouth be filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.”  Remember!