If you’ve been away for a while, we’re nearing the end of our Lenten journey. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday; the Sunday after that is Easter Sunday. This year, instead of following one of the gospels, we’re letting the Psalms show us the way from Galilee to Jerusalem.

The Psalms are the songs of Israel, and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There are psalms of praise, thanksgiving, lament and trust. There are songs of Zion, historical litanies and psalms of wisdom.

Individually, the Psalms can be the source of great inspiration: “Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing….” Collectively, they bear witness to God’s faithfulness in watching over the people of Israel through the trials and tribulations of life. As we look more closely at Psalm 126, I hope you’ll get the message of how God is just faithful in watching over us today. The psalm begins,

“When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with singing” (Psalm 126:1-2).

The background is the Babylonian Captivity. Long story, short, under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem and took the brightest and best of the Jewish population to Babylon. The old and infirmed were left to die.

The Babylonian Captivity lasted seventy years. None of those who were carted away lived to see their freedom. They died in captivity. It ended in 537 B.C., when Cyrus the Great let the people go back to Judea.

You can imagine the celebration when he did. The psalmist says it was like a dream, too good to be true. As the shock wore off and reality set in, the people rejoiced:

“Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with singing.”

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I don’t know this for a fact, but I think you’ll find that elation is proportionate to despair.

Do you remember, a few weeks ago, the news about the mountain climbers who were trapped in the snow on Mt. Hood? The weather was worsening. The chances of rescue looked slim. Tension mounted by the moment as the world watched and waited. Then the news we’d all hoped for came over the wire – they’d been reached. They were on their way down, safe and sound. Jubilation filled the air. Broad smiles and laughter told the story. What seemed to be a hopeless situation proved to be nothing short of a miracle.

You can judge for yourself, but I think it’s true – the worse the circumstances, the more dramatic the response when the situation is reversed. Had the climbers been delayed momentarily – say, they were thirty minutes late reporting in – their loved ones may have had a few anxious moments and then let out a sigh of relief, but it wouldn’t have caused a nationwide celebration.

Now, translate that into the Babylonian Captivity and you can appreciate what the psalmist is saying. After hoping and praying to be released for seventy long years, the people of Israel got to go home. “Unbelievable!” “Out of sight!” “Pinch me, I must be dreaming.” It was that kind of moment in history.

So, what’s that got to do with us? Just this: The more you know the power of sin – the “total depravity of man,” as Calvin put it – the more you can appreciate the redemption bought for us by death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Charles Wesley got it right when he penned the words,

“O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

“He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.”
(O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing)

If you were to rewrite Wesley’s hymn today, how many tongues would you need to praise God for your deliverance from sin and death? Would you sing, “O, for a tongue to sing …?” Ten tongues? A hundred? Wesley is so thankful only a thousand will do: “O, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise …”

I’m sure you must get tired of me saying this, but this is why I think it’s so important to be up front about our sinful nature and not to be ashamed to sing with Isaac Watts,

“Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
And did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?”

The more you know your absolute dependence on God’s forgiveness and grace, the more you can appreciate the gift of salvation bought for you through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s like a dream, too good to be true. The psalm goes on to say,

“Then they said among the nations,
“Yahweh has done great things for them.”
(Yes,) Yahweh has done great things for us,
and we are glad” (Psalm 126:2-3).

Two things stand out about this verse: When Cyrus the Great ended their exile, the people of Israel didn’t praise Cyrus, they praised God – “the Lord has done great things for us.”

The story is told of a couple of rowdy kids who wanted to play a trick on an old widow woman. Every day she’d sit at her kitchen table and pray for the Lord to provide for her needs. One day they snuck up under the open window and heard her say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” So they pooled their money and went to the store and bought her a sack of groceries. Then, when she went to the other part of the house, they slipped in and put it on the table, then waited outside for her to find it. When she came back to the kitchen and saw the sack of groceries, she exclaimed, “Oh, thank you, Jesus, thank you!” At that, the boys rushed inside and said, “You old bag, Jesus didn’t bring them groceries, we did!” She looked at them and said, “Oh, yes, Jesus brought them all right. The Lord gave me the groceries; he just used the devil to deliver them.”

Cyrus may have issued the decree, but, as far as the people of Israel were concerned, it was God who gave the word. Their deliverance was from the Lord.

Next time something nice happens to you – say, you get a windfall or receive an unexpected blessing – instead of saying, “Today’s my lucky day,” simply whisper this little prayer: “Thank you, Lord.”

The people of Israel attributed their good fortune to God. And, what’s remarkable is that the heathens did too, and that’s the second thing that stands out about this verse:

“Then they said among the nations,
“Yahweh has done great things for them.”

Make no mistake about it, when God acts, people notice, even people of little or no faith.

You see it all the time: Bill and Melinda Gates donate a billion dollars to fight AIDS in Africa, and the whole world sits up and takes notice. A deserving family is chosen to receive a Habitat for Humanity house, and all the neighbors say it was a blessing from God. A sinner turns from his selfish, wicked ways and confesses Jesus Christ as the Lord of his life, and everyone around him feels the effect.

Never doubt the influence you have, both individually and as a church, on the life of others. Every Sunday, as people drive by the church and see your cars in the parking lot, as people read the sign outdoors and know what we’re doing, as they sense your enthusiasm for the church, they know the Lord is at work among us. Whether they’re willing to admit it or not, your faithfulness has a positive effect on others:

“Then they said among the nations,
“Yahweh has done great things for them.”

The Psalm ends with a prayer:

“Restore our fortunes again, Yahweh,
like the streams in the Negev.
Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.
He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing,
will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.”

The Negeb is the desert in the southern part of Israel. We drove through a portion of it on our way from Jerusalem to Cairo in 1997. I can tell you, it’s a desolate place. To put it this way, you know when go into a travel agency and see all the posters of beautiful and exotic places to visit? Well, you won’t find a poster of the Negeb!

To the naked eye, it’s a God-forsaken place. Yet, in the middle of the desert there are natural springs, and they’ve been the source of life for thousands of years for those who travel by foot. And that’s what gives teeth to the psalmist’s words:

“Restore our fortunes again, Yahweh,
like the streams in the Negev.”

I love the way Michard Saward paraphrased this verse in our closing hymn. He writes,

“O God, restore our nation; come, irrigate dry souls,
That those who sow in sadness
May reap their sheaves with gladness,
And sing the song of joy, and sing the song of joy.”
(Presbyterian Hymnal, p. 237)

When we were living in Odessa, folks used to say that anything would grow out there if you watered it enough. And it was true. We had so much sunshine and warm weather, with a little fertilizer and lots of water, you could grow rocks.

Well, that’s the image the psalmist leaves us with: By his great mercy, God has set the captives free. He’s led them back to the Promised Land. By his grace, he’s restored their good fortune. Theirs is, once more, a land flowing with milk and honey.

I’ll never forget a poster I saw years ago. It was of a prison cell. The inmate was sitting on his bunk with his head in his hands, as if lamenting his crime. What he could have seen, if he’d looked up, is that the door to his cell was open. He had been released. He was free to go. The caption read: “Christ has made us free.” (Gal. 5:1)

I don’t know how to say it more clearly than this: The gift of life in all of its abundance – salvation – is yours for the asking. Christ died for the forgiveness of your sins that you might receive the promise of eternal life. He broke the power of sin and death. He has set you free. God has unlocked the prison door and is inviting you to come out and live in perfect peace and love and joy and thanksgiving.

Too good to be true? Not on your life!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Copyright 2007, Philip McLarty. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), a public domain (no copyright) modern English translation of the Holy Bible.