When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion

THE CAPTIVITY TURNED

Now we come to Psalm 126, another outstanding psalm in this section. It opens in this way: “When Jehovah turned again the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream” (v. 1). The turning of their captivity was like a dream because it was too good, too great, too wonderful, and it occurred so quickly. You remember the account of Peter’s release from prison in Acts 12. When he came to the door of Mary’s house, the people reacted as if they were in a dream. It seemed too good to be true. Peter himself, when he was first released, imagined that he was in a dream. But the release of Peter from prison is quite insignificant when compared with the return of the captivity. Many times when I have considered the recovery of the church life, I also have felt as if I were in a dream. It is so good. We never expected it, and it came so quickly. I believe that many of you feel this way also. You would say, “Now I am in the church life! Two years ago I would never have thought I would be here, and even a few months ago I never imagined this. But, Hallelujah, here I am. I must be dreaming! ” It is too wonderful; it is too sweet; it is something which has transpired so quickly and unexpectedly. Hallelujah, we are the returned captivity, and we are all in a wonderful dream. Yet, praise the Lord, it is so real! The Lord has turned the captivity of Zion.

For many years I was familiar with the last two verses of Psalm 126: “Those who sow in tears Will reap with a ringing shout. He who goes forth and weeps, Bearing seed for scattering, Will no doubt come in with a ringing shout, Bearing his sheaves with him” (vv. 5-6). I never realized, however, that these two verses are the psalmist’s words for the return of the captivity. When we cry to the Lord to turn our captivity, the tears flow down. Many dear saints in ancient times experienced this. They wept as they prayed for the return of the captivity. Then they went out to sow the seed, the seed of turning, the seed of recovery.

Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms

Chapter 21 (LSM)

The Lord hath done great things for us!

This is a psalmist’s delight
A song of hope, belief and faith
Glory to God!

I used to sing this song at the Bread of Life Church in South Buffalo. We used a guitar. I could sing it to you. I cannot find it the way that we sang it on YouTube.

It is a very lovely song.

Very uplifting. Blessed be the songwriter. Blessed be all those whose hope is in the Lord. Their tears will be turned to joy and they will weep no more. How great Thou art. Amen

Beautiful the hope we have! Thank you for sharing this song. Very encouraging!

I Like the tune. But I am not clear how to sing stanzas 3,4,5,6. Can someone help out? I won't mind an actual singing of all the lines in my email, if possible.

Grace