Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy
Scripture — Psalm 126:4-6 (NRSV)
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Focus
In Psalm 126, those who sow in tears end up reaping with joy. The fact that God is at work in our times of weeping, leading us into seasons of rejoicing, does not mean we should minimize the hard times of life. Scripture does not teach us to deny our suffering or pretend as if everything is great when, truly, it is not. In difficult times, we cry out for God’s mercy and open our hearts to know God more deeply. We do so with hope that the same God who comforts us in our affliction will also restore us. Like the writer of Psalm 126, our memories of God’s restoration in the past encourage us to pray for future restoration and the joy it inspires.
This devotion is part of the series: Experiencing the Fullness of Joy.
Devotion
In** yesterday’s Life for Leaders devotion**, we reflected upon the first half of 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;
then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
The second half of this psalm continues the theme of restoration but with a different tone. Whereas the first three verses joyfully celebrate God’s having done “great things” for Israel, the last three verses are a plea for God to do this once again. The psalm writer cries out to the Lord who once “restored the fortunes of Zion,” praying, “Restore our fortunes, O LORD” (126:4).
We don’t know exactly what the Israelites were experiencing such that they needed God’s restoration. But as I noted yesterday, the long history of Israel in the Old Testament is one of times of blessing intermingled with times of suffering. Whenever God’s people chose to reject God’s ways, they inevitably ended up in all kinds of trouble from which they needed God to deliver them.
In verses 4-6, the memory of God’s earlier restoration motivates the psalm writer to ask for God to do it again. Confident that God will indeed show mercy to Israel once again, the psalmist prays for and envisions what will happen in the future. Such moving contrasts in this passage! Sowing in tears leads to reaping with shouts of joy! Those who weep as they go out to plant seeds will rejoice when they come home with a bountiful harvest.
This passage from Psalm 126 captures in a few words the mixed reality of our existence on this earth. Yes, at times we shout for joy. And yes, at times we weep with sadness. Plus, of course, we experience all kinds of “in-between” emotions as well.
But Psalm 126 doesn’t simply juxtapose the diverse emotions of joy and sadness. Rather, the psalm envisions a movement from sorrow to joy, from mournful tears to celebrative shouting. Moreover, the future joy is somehow a product of the earlier sorrow.
This theme of sorrowful sowing that becomes joyful reaping shows up elsewhere in Scripture. In John 16, Jesus uses similar imagery as he talks with his disciples about his pending death:
Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you (John 16:20-22).
Jesus knows that his disciples will soon experience the pain of his crucifixion. But that will not be the end of the story. Rather, the crucifixion is an essential step forward on the way to the resurrection.
Recently, I was talking with a man I’ll call Ron about his experience of God in his professional life. He mentioned seasons of blessing, times in which he rejoiced over God’s goodness to him. But Ron also spoke of seasons that felt like “anti-blessing,” such as when he was unexpectedly fired from a job in which he believed he was excelling. Yet that time of weeping, while truly painful and embarrassing, turned out to open up new possibilities for Ron. He learned some valuable lessons about himself as a leader. And he ended up in a new job in which he is flourishing. Ron looks upon his season of weeping as a crucial time in which the seeds of his future flourishing were planted by the Lord.
In Psalm 126, those who sow in tears end up reaping with joy. The fact that God is at work in our times of weeping, leading us into seasons of rejoicing, does not mean we should minimize the hard times of life. Scripture does not teach us to deny our suffering or pretend as if everything is great when, truly, it is not. In difficult times, we cry out for God’s mercy and open our hearts to know God more deeply. We do so with hope that the same God who comforts us in our affliction will also restore us. Like the writer of Psalm 126, our memories of God’s restoration in the past encourage us to pray for future restoration and the joy it inspires.
Reflect
Can you remember a time (or times) in your life when you prayed like the second half of Psalm 126? What happened? What was that like for you? How did you pray?
In some part of your life today, are you “sowing in tears”? If so, what’s happening? How free do you feel to cry out to God at this time?
Act
Share with a trusted friend or your small group what you’re doing through so that they might pray with you and for you.
Pray
Gracious God, in times of suffering and sorrow, we remember how you have restored us in the past. Thus, we cry out, “Do it again, Lord. Do it again!”
Use what is so hard in our lives for good. Turn our weeping into rejoicing!
Today, we pray for those who are in seasons of weeping. We think of those who are struggling with physical illness or financial peril. We remember those who have lost loved ones or are estranged from family or friends. We consider victims of violence, injustice, and oppression. For these and so many others, we cry out, “Restore their fortunes, merciful God. Turn their weeping into rejoicing.” Amen.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: From Bitter Tears to Shouts of Joy.
Mark D. Roberts
Senior Fellow
Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Fellow for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders, and t...