Psalms 126:1-6: a reflection

This psalm holds out a promise for those in a season of tears: those who sow in tears will reap in joy, and the one who goes out weeping, carrying seed, will come again with joyful singing, carrying his sheaves. Those who sow in tears will reap in joy, the psalm says; he who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves. The image is of a farmer sowing in a hard season, weeping as he scatters precious seed; but the tears of sowing give way, in time, to the joy of harvest, coming home with sheaves and singing. Present weeping is not the end; it is a sowing toward a joyful harvest to come. This shows the promise that those who sow in tears will reap in joy. Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. Present weeping is not the end, but a sowing toward joy. The tears of sowing give way, in time, to the joy of harvest. What you sow in sorrow now, you may reap in joy in time.

Notice the movement this promise traces, from tears to joy. It pictures a farmer who must sow in a hard season, going out weeping, carrying his precious seed, scattering it in tears, perhaps in want or grief. It is a sorrowful sowing. But the psalm promises that this is not the end of the story: those who sow in tears will reap in joy; the one who goes out weeping, carrying seed, will surely come again with joyful singing, carrying his sheaves. The tears of sowing give way, in time, to the joy of harvest. This holds a hope for those in a season of tears. Perhaps you are in a hard season, sowing in tears: laboring, giving, enduring, doing what is right, and weeping as you do it, with the harvest not yet in sight. This psalm promises that present weeping is not the end. The tears of sowing are not wasted; they are a sowing toward a harvest, and in time will give way to joy. What is sown now in sorrow, faithfully, may be reaped in time with joy. This does not promise that there will be no tears in the sowing, but that the tears will not be the end; joy is coming, the harvest will come. We do well to hold this hope in our seasons of tears: that those who sow in tears will reap in joy, and present weeping is a sowing toward a joyful harvest. Hold the hope that those who sow in tears will reap in joy. Present weeping is not the end, but a sowing toward joy. The tears of your sowing are not wasted; a harvest is coming. What you sow now in sorrow, you may reap in time with joy.

That is worth resting in, for those who sow in tears will reap in joy, and present weeping is not the end but a sowing toward a joyful harvest, as the psalm promises. In a hard season we can feel our tears are the end, our sorrow without hope; but the psalm promises that the one who sows in tears will come again with joy, carrying his sheaves. Joy is coming. When you are in a season of tears, sowing in sorrow, hold the promise that your weeping is not the end but a sowing toward joy, and those who sow in tears will reap in joy. Hold the promise that those who sow in tears will reap in joy, that present weeping is not the end but a sowing toward a joyful harvest, as this psalm holds out that those who sow in tears will reap in joy and the one who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy carrying his sheaves; for the image is of a farmer sowing in a hard season, weeping as he scatters precious seed, but the tears of sowing give way in time to the joy of harvest, coming home with sheaves and singing, so that present weeping is not the end but a sowing toward a joyful harvest to come, which traces a movement from tears to joy, picturing a farmer who must sow in a hard season, going out weeping and scattering his seed in tears perhaps in want or grief, a sorrowful sowing, but the psalm promises this is not the end of the story since those who sow in tears will reap in joy and the one who goes out weeping will surely come again with joyful singing carrying his sheaves, which holds a hope for those in a season of tears, since perhaps we are in a hard season sowing in tears, laboring and enduring and doing what is right and weeping as we do it with the harvest not yet in sight, but this psalm promises that present weeping is not the end and the tears of sowing are not wasted but a sowing toward a harvest that in time will give way to joy, so that we do well to hold this hope in our seasons of tears.