So please hear the Word of God as I read Psalm 126, the seventh song of ascent. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us. and we are glad. Bring back our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. This is the word of God and may God by his spirit teach us and convict us according to his will this morning. You may be seated. We've been looking through the songs of ascents. Those are Psalms 120 through 134. We can consider these as pilgrim songs because they were collected together at some point in the putting together of this altar into 15 psalms that were to collect together almost like a mini hymnal. that the Jewish pilgrims could take with them and be singing with them as they traveled during the three annual feasts when they went back to Jerusalem during the Feast of Passover, Pentecost, and the Day of Atonement. And these songs of ascent are descriptive of the Christians' joyful yet difficult upward pilgrimage. We are strangers in this dark world for Christ's sake, but our citizenship is in heaven. We desire to represent our Savior here but we long to be with our Savior who is there. We said often, perhaps even six times since this is the seventh one, that these are discipleship songs that encourage the Christian who's pursuing Christ in his long obedience in the same direction. A long obedience in the same direction. I hope you've noticed there's a certain flow in the first six, and now we'll say there's a certain flow in the first seven of these songs. as we cover the 7th today, with the first three songs of ascent, Psalm 120-122. We saw a certain progression from Psalm 120, there's the beginning of the journey, as the pilgrim is looking at the deceitful, harsh world that he's going to be traveling through, and his response is to cry out to his God for deliverance. And then in Psalm 121, he looks up from his despair, and he looks up to the hills that surround Jerusalem. He cries out, I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help? Well, the help's not just from the hills, but from the creator of the hills. And then he further, in Psalm 122, looks to the temple, from the world, to the hills, to the temple, where the saints gather to worship and to fellowship. He says, I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. And then the next three have a further progression, I think, because in Psalm 123, not only is he looking up from the world, to the hills, to the temple, now he looks to God himself. His eyes are fixed on the hand of his God, looking for his mercy and strength. Why? Because now we're still thinking about the troubles and the trials we have in this journey. Because there's contempt and scorn from the proudful all around him, he says. So he's asking for mercy. And so that leads us to Psalm 124. Now he's not merely looking at God, but now he's looking back. He's looking back and remembering. Remembering what God had done in the past and how He had been with His people to preserve His people along the journey in the past. Therefore, he can trust Him now and in the future. And in Psalm 124, the psalmist says, If it had not been the Lord who is on our side, we would have been doomed. We would have fallen to the prowling enemies, to the roaring waters about us, to the snares of life. But he says in Psalm 124, Blessed be the Lord, that He was and He is on our side as our help, so we can praise and trust in Him. That leads us to Psalm 125. We're seeing how He has preserved us. Now we can look back to God again and trust in Him. So the theme of Psalm 125 is trusting in the One who founds us, who surrounds us, who bounds us, And Psalm 125 begins with, those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved. And so in Psalm 125, as we've already read at the beginning of our worship, the psalmist says, so do good to us now, and keep us from the crooked ways of the wicked, and may there be peace upon Israel as we go about this journey. So now we get to Psalm 126, the seventh song of ascent. And now we see the pilgrim is still looking. He's even looking back again. There's repetition with these psalms. I hope you don't get tired of those things. There's already, again, a sense of looking back to what God has done in Psalm 126 to gain strength for today. But with Psalm 126, the thing that is added that makes it different than, say, Psalm 124, the other looking back to remember psalms, that here in Psalm 126, he's looking back with an added desire for joy in the midst of the journey and in the future. The added ingredient here is looking for joy in the midst of the journey and in the future. Psalm 126 begins with remembering a delirious time of joy and even laughter that could not be avoided from God's past work of deliverance. And most likely, what Psalm 26 is looking back at is when the Jews were released from their captivity in Babylon. And those who are with us on Wednesday night, we talked about that. Then the great joy of Cyrus saying, a pagan king saying, I'm going to send you back to Jerusalem to rebuild your temple. You're going to go home. I think that's what we're looking at here. There's a great joy that had to happen that would be unmistakable and unavoidable. So he's looking back at that, but then the psalmist then comes back to the present. where times are difficult. Their service to the Lord seems to be unrewarding and dry in their labor for the Lord. Maybe you've been there? And so in this psalm, he then prays for help now and in the future both for restoration of that joy and success in kingdom work. Looking back to the joys of the past, So he can look on now in the present and then look forward with that same renewed and restored joy is what he's looking to see in his psalm. And though the Christian life is to be taken seriously, we should have a special joy and even laughter in the Christian life. I know we're Baptists and we're supposed to be sullen and engraved, but there should be a joy and even a laughter in the Christian life. Joy is commanded for the Christian. We've seen that in our study in Philippians. It's commanded. And joy and laughter is infectious. But due to the difficulties and the discouragements and the disappointments and even the duties that we have of life, we're often glum and passive. Even in our worship and our fellowship, the two things that should give us the greatest joy and even laughter, the greatest glimpse of heaven in our worship and our fellowship, even there, there's not so much joy and laughter as there probably ought to be. Sinclair Ferguson, and it's his teaching on Psalm 126 that I'm indebted to a whole lot for this psalm, so I'll give credit to him for many of the thoughts and even the outline of this psalm. Sinclair Ferguson said, as only he can, with his Scottish accent, being a Christian is no laughing matter, except sometimes it jolly well ought to be. I like that line. If Christians don't have something to laugh about, then nobody has anything to laugh about. So we'll look at this psalm in Psalm 126. We'll look at it in three parts. A very simple outline. Verses 1-3 we'll see this almost reflection upon the joy of the past. It's something that we should be doing. Reflecting on the joy that we've known in the past. So in verses 1-3 we'll see the reflection upon the joy of the past. And then verse 4, we see this almost request for joy in the present. Request for joy in the present. Then verses 5 and 6, he recognizes the joy promised in the future. A recognition of the joy that's promised in the future. So we go from the reflection upon the joy of the past, to request that same joy in the present, but then recognizing the joy that's promised in the future. So we look at verses 1 through 3, the reflection upon the joy of the past. Again, in this psalm, we see the first three verses, the pilgrim looks back and expresses a great gratitude to God for his past deliverance and joy. And Calvin, as well as several others, but Calvin especially, he is certain that the context of this psalm is the exiles returning from Babylon. So, in his mind, and I think in many commentators' mind, This is all about looking back to the great joy of the exiles returning from Babylon. Even Calvin thinks that Ezra wrote this psalm. What comes after 2 Chronicles? Will we have Ezra explaining what happens when Cyrus made his decree? It could be. We don't know. It's speculation. But then the last three verses of this psalm look to the present and to the future to ask God to do it again. Can we have this again? Can you help us again to know this great joy? And even success in our labors. So in verse one, the psalmist says, when the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. And he seems to be reflecting on the marvelous restoration that God had given the Israelites. And perhaps he was part of that. We don't know when this was written, but perhaps he was part of that. The restoration and joy that God had given them from getting them out of Babylon and having them be able to come back to Israel. He's saying that when that happened, do you remember when that happened? It was like we were dreaming. I remember saying, pinch me, this can't be real. Did you hear what's happening here? We're going back home from the far country. This likely does refer to God's deliverance from captivity of Babylon. And as we've seen in our Wednesday night studies through Chronicles 1 and 2, it was in 598 BC that the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had already taken away the Judah king Jehoachin, or Jehoakin, but if you say the CH you can tell him from the other one it sounds just like the same thing if you pronounce it right. And he appointed his uncle Zedekiah to be king in his place, Nebuchadnezzar did. So in 598, the last king of the royal line of David, it's kind of a dangerous thing, he's taken away in 598. But then in 586, Zedekiah rebels, he's already rebelling against God, but now he rebels against Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And so in 586, B.C., Nebuchadnezzar attacks, rebelling Zedekiah and Judah. And now the inhabitants of Judah are carried off Jerusalem is burned, the temple is destroyed, the Great Wall is in rubble. And I don't know if we can understand, but that was about as much of a devastation as anyone could ever know. And then years went by, even decades passed, and Jerusalem became just a mere memory, almost like a legend to those who are now in Babylon. Those who were elderly would tell stories of the splendor of Jerusalem. Oh, you remember the temple? Remember how wonderful Jerusalem was? And they would tell those children who were born in Babylon, but now had become adults in Babylon who had never seen Jerusalem or the temple, knew anything about it. So it almost seemed like a dream to them, a legend. In the meantime, the great city of Jerusalem had become overgrown and for years was nothing but a pile of weeds and rubble and remains. And the thought for those in Babylon, those captives in Babylon, in the far country of Babylon, the thought of ever returning and restoring their city was beyond the realm of possibility. If you thought you were going back to Judah and Jerusalem, you must be dreaming. And maybe when Jehoiachin was unexpectedly released 37 years into the captivity from prison, He's given a change of garments, which seems to be a picture of salvation. It makes us think of Mephibosheth with David. He's given a change of garments. He's given a seat at the table. Now he's being treated kindly. He's promised you'll be treated kindly as a king all the days of your life. You see it at the end of 2 Kings. Maybe that brought some joy and hope to some folks. Maybe somebody said, wait a minute, why? Why would this pagan king release Jehoiachin and treat him so well? It certainly brought joy to Jehoiachin, but surely then in 538, in 538 BC, when God moved upon the Persian pagan king Cyrus, as was predicted by the prophets decades before, God moved upon the Persian king Cyrus, who had conquered Babylon in the meantime, to decree this, and we see this at the end of 2 Chronicles, at the beginning of Ezra, The Lord God of Heaven, Cyrus decreed, has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem." Now who's behind that? It's pretty clear it's God who's behind this. And then King Cyrus made the provision to send thousands of the Israelites back to Jerusalem to repopulate it and rebuild it. Can you imagine the great joy and laughter and even singing? Singing is a good thing, by the way. It's like a dream, the psalmist is saying. How could this be? This is the sort of joy that the pilgrim of Psalm 126 is reflecting upon. And even the way he writes in these first three verses, the impression is that even as he's writing this, he's starting to... Remember that? You ever have that happen where you're remembering something in the past and you just start smiling? And maybe even whistling or singing and laughing. Then maybe the person next to you kind of hears you giggling. What are you laughing at? That's what's going on here. And for us, I think there's a lesson in this. To think back about the original joy of our salvation. Perhaps we've lost our first love. It happens. But remember the joy of our salvation. Whether it was a sudden event like this was that would just cause joy to happen, or whether it was more of a process, at least in your mind. Or looking back at the joy of first being in the Word, after being saved. And the Scriptures actually made sense. This is wonderful. I can actually commune with my God through Christ by His Spirit and the Word of God. And you couldn't get enough of it. Or the joy of being in worship. And you wanted to be here. And you're anxious on Saturday to be here. Early on Sunday, I'm worshiping my God through Christ with His people. And even the fellowship in the church. There's not much of anything more precious than when you're a new believer and you find fellowship in a local church. You understand me. We share these things together. So perhaps, There's a lesson here to be looking back to those days if things are dry and seemingly unrewarding now. Look back to those things and like the psalmist here, bring it back. Bring it back. Then in verse 2, the psalmist says, Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue was singing. Then they said among the nations, Now notice he's speaking about the pagans. Depending on your version, it might be Gentiles. It could be pagans or heathens. Then they said among the Gentiles, the non-believers. The non-believers would see the laughter and the joy of the Christians. Or in this case, the pilgrims, the Jews, God's people here. And they said, the Lord has done great things for them. They could see by their reaction to God's deliverance and their joy that God had done something great for them that He wasn't doing for the pagans. So there's a genuine joy and laughter and singing that was effervescent and contagious here, to cause the unbelievers to notice and be drawn to it, and to give glory to God. Again, it is just like when something unexpected occurs, it causes one person to laugh. I have somebody in my family who, when you see someone fall down unexpectedly on a movie, that person just breaks out in laughing. But then that person starts laughing, and somebody else in the family starts laughing, because this person, maybe you don't even know what they're laughing at, but when you hear someone, that's what's going on here. And even those in the world are seeing this, and they're noticing it. In the same way our response of joy and singing to God's restorative works in our life can cause unbelievers to take notice and give credit to God, the God who did it. We often worry about what to say as a witness of Christ to others. I don't have the words to say. I'm not as smart as Brother so-and-so who can always have all the right things to say. So it makes us maybe shrink back and do nothing. But remember, when you live a life of joyful obedience to your God and for your Savior, reacting to His goodness sincerely but joyfully, It's noticed by the loss and it's a powerful witness for Christ. When the world sees Christ in us as we love Him and we're joyful in Him, as we love one another and we're joyful together, then we can tell them why. Because it picks their interest. When God's people realize what amazing things that God has done for them, a joy takes hold and the world sees and they say, God must have done something great in their lives. And we can say, well, let me tell you about it. With an even bigger smile, perhaps. So then in verse 3, the psalmist says, the Lord has done great things for us. The psalmist is echoing this. Yes, indeed, the Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad. This is almost like Droopy, the old cartoon character, saying, you know what? I'm happy. This is about as understated as you can get when it says, and we are glad. Some commentators would say, what a rotten translation, and we're glad. I think it's right, though, in Scripture, when it says we are glad, it doesn't mean we're happy. It's an effervescent, bubbling joy, a bliss, because of what God has done. and we can look back to see what God has done for us in Christ. Now the Spirit has applied it to our lives. Surely we can say, indeed, God has done great things for us, and we are glad. So in verses 1 through 3, this almost reflects upon the joy of the past. We think in particular in the context of the release of captivity, we can apply it to so many other things. But in verse 4, we have his request then for joy in the present. Now it appears the pilgrim's spiritual life seems dry and difficult, and his labors are unrewarding, it seems. And if this is in context of returning to and rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple and the wall about it, eventually, as we'll find out on Wednesdays, because we'll be looking through Ezra soon, eventually the initial joy and laughter and singing, we're going to come back from the far country to go home, faded as the work and the opposition became hard and long. Exceptional joy does not last long for us, because life is a combination of ecstasy but agony, because there's sin. The world is not as it was meant to be. And life is a combination of good times but yet bad times, and so it's hard to have exceptional joy be the norm. It's hard for us to maintain such a joy due to our own sin and our frailty and our surroundings that we live in. And for us, the initial joy of salvation can morph into a settled trust, which isn't a bad thing, but it can morph into a settled trust that lacks the songs and the laughter that once were there. Because the discouragements of defeats and doubts and difficulties slip in and steal our joy. And for us, the joy of a spiritual victory. Maybe there's a victory of God that He gave us over a certain sin, over addiction, or maybe restoring a relationship that seemed hopeless. There was joy at that time, but then it fades as another battle props up. Because we have to deal with the next thing. Or maybe there's the joy of Christian fellowship, the closest thing to heaven. But even that begins to wane if we're not careful. because of weariness, because of our own sin, because of the sin of our brethren, because of our bitterness against others, that maybe we used to overlook, but it builds up. I think that's what's happening here. There was such great joy once, but it seems to be gone now. And the psalmist says, bring back our captivity, O Lord, in the first part of verse four. Bring back our captivity. I like that phrase. It's a way of saying, restore this joy from the past in the present, please. Restore our fortunes. I think even some of your translations would say that's a more generic way of saying it. It's the same phrase that's used in Job 42.10 when it says that his fortunes were restored after all he went through. And if we relate this to the captivity and then the return, The first years were filled with hard tasks of rebuilding, reconstituting, great opposition. We see it in Ezra and Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah. The temple began its work and then it stopped. Then it began again. Then it finally was completed. When the temple was completed, the second temple doesn't look as good as the first temple. So there's a disappointing contrast even when things did get done. So the early days of joy were replaced with the dark days of discouragement and hard work. So the psalmist says, bring back our captivity, O Lord, restore our fortunes, restore our joy and the good things that we once knew, even the success of our labors and bring it back in the present. Deliver us again and make us serve in joy and laughter and singing again. Have you ever been there? I have. And then the second part of verse 4, he uses a wonderful short image. As the streams in the south, restore our fortunes, bring back our captivity as the streams in the south. What he's picturing here is the Negev region, it's south of Judah. A hot, harsh, arid, parched, desert-like area that's south of Judah. In the summer, it was dry. and cracked in places where there might have been streams and life. It was all cracked and dry. There were just gutters left over with nothing in them but dust and no signs of life. But in the winter, when the rains came, it was almost immediate. The refreshment and even the evidence of refreshment. The rains would come and then the waters would come down from the hills and go into the valley and actually then fill up those gutters that were crusty and dry with no life. And almost immediately there was refreshment. It would almost seem like immediately vegetation would sprout forth and even flowers. That's what the psalmist is doing here in verse 4. He's praying for God's wondrous refreshing Praying for sudden help, just like the sudden joy of being able to return from exile, bring a sudden refreshing, a life-giving rain like we have in that desert in the South. So our spiritual barrenness would be replaced with the joy of a great harvest. So as Psalm 30 says, the weeping that endures for a night would be replaced with joy that comes in the morning. I like what Sinclair Ferguson says at this point. He says the psalmist realizes that as the blessings in the past would make them smile in the present, he needs those blessings in the present so he might be able to smile in the future. And thinking of how this is centered on the Babylonian exile, Old Testament terminology. You can even see that in the Old Testament. The terminology would be when they were in Babylon that they were in a far country. It was considered a far country. And now God had brought them back when the captivity was over. God had brought them back from the far country back to home in Jerusalem. It wasn't just a geographical thing. There was a spiritual component to this. Rather than being the far country in pagan Babylon, now we're a home in Jerusalem. And so the psalmist here, I think, is saying, is as this happened geographically for us in the past when we were brought back home to Jerusalem, we need it to happen to us spiritually in the present. To be brought home from the far country. And if you're thinking about Jesus' parables, you might be thinking of a particular parable where he uses the terminology of a far country. Do you know which one I'm thinking about? In Luke chapter 15, Since it's a long parable, I won't go there to read it. I'm assuming you're familiar with it. But in Luke chapter 15, you have the parable of the prodigal son. And Jesus said in verse 13 of Luke chapter 15, He said, "...the prodigal son journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living." He journeyed to a far country. And the audience at that time would have recognized what he was saying when he mentions the phrase, far country, and journeying to a far country. Not merely a geographical distance, but a spiritual distance from his father on earth, but from his father in heaven. But at the end of the parable, the non-prodigal son, the brother who stayed home, who never went to the far country, actually is the one who is in the far country. The one who'd went away to the far country geographically now had returned home, but he returned home spiritually. He was no longer in the far country spiritually, but the brother who stayed home actually is the one who is in the far country spiritually. Because when there's a party given and there is singing and joy and laughter, kind of like Psalm 126, The brother who had stayed home could not partake in the joy and the singing and the laughter of the party for the prodigal son, who now come home, because though he was in the house, though he was home, he was spiritually a million miles away in his heart, still in the far country. At the end of the parable, Jesus says, speaking of the father, who's speaking to the other son, he says, it was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead. and is alive again and was lost and is found. So now the psalmist in Psalm 126, he's back in Jerusalem. He's remembering what God had done and he smiles. He says, we need this again, oh God, spiritually. Bring us back from the far country and bring us home spiritually. And we too, Christian, should reflect and remember and cry out when we are dry, like in the desert of Negev, for refreshing rains to come, for our joy to be restored. That takes us to verses five and six. After looking at the first part, those first three verses, reflecting on the joy in the past, and then requesting for that joy to be here in the present. Now the psalm finishes with a recognition of the joy that's promised in the future. The psalmist says, those who sow in tears, I thought we were talking about joy, we're not talking about tears? Well, we'll just go through this. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless, that's a promise, come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves, that's the fruit from the harvest, with him. The psalmist recalled the blessing and joys of the past. He then makes a request for the restoration of such blessing now. And now he expresses a recognition for how those blessings and joys can come in the future. It's interesting, the first image in verse 4 was those of streams suddenly filling the arid valley, and it was sudden and unearned. But now with verses 5 and 6, it's an image of the harvest, which required difficult work and results that occurred after a long period of time. That's a spiritual reality. There are times that God works suddenly without our labor, but often, in fact, most times, Our God uses our hard, diligent labor as a means. He doesn't need it, but He uses it as a means for the joy and the fruit that comes from it. So we're to be remembering our past, and then be encouraged that we might pray and work now, because it's the Lord who gives us this work to do, even if it is hard, who then brings the harvest and the joy as a result. And the image of a farmer is an important one in verses 5 and 6. The image of the farmer is an important one. So much of the harvest is out of the hands of the farmer. So he must work, he must pray, he must wait. Sounds like the Christian life. And the farmer sows in tears and in struggle and in diligence, trusting that there will be a harvest. It mimics the day-to-day obedience, the long obedience in the same direction of the Christian, the day-to-day obedience to God and service in Christ, being in the Word and prayer, being in the fellowship of the saints, and sowing the seeds of the Gospel as we go. And the farmer invests all he has into the seeds to be sown. My dad is a farmer. It costs a lot of money. You buy the seeds that would be planted and you're investing all that you have in the seeds to be sown. And then you take those seeds that takes all of the investment of all you have and those seeds are just thrown. So the very thing invested in is thrown knowing that it's the only way to have a harvest. It reminds us of Jesus saying, what profit is there to gain the whole world but to lose your soul? That we're to be investing into the treasures of heaven, willing to deny self and to forsake all to follow him. And there's a principle in this. The principle is the way to lasting spiritual blessing and joy is, even with tears in our eyes, to be the releasing into the hands of the Lord everything that we possess that gives us security today. in order that in God's house there may be lasting security forever." I think what the psalmist is saying in conclusion in verse 6, when he says, "...he who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." What the psalmist is saying in conclusion of the psalm is, for the diligent one who goes forth sowing and serving, He doubtless will have fruit and joy. It might not be today. There's no promise that he'll be happy all the day. But he does promise that this will occur, and so there's hope. The psalmist recognizes that the ultimate harvest of joy is in the reaping of the world to come. And so what the psalmist is basically saying at the end of this, he's saying, So God, oh God of restorative joy and deliverance, can't you give us just a little foretaste of what is to come now to help us along our way? Can't you help us then to be diligent in our day-to-day service of you finding joy in the journey and obedience even if the road is hard? I think our God will do this. I like how Sinclair Ferguson closed this by looking at Christ in the psalm, which is always a helpful thing to do. If Jesus was reading this psalm, where would he see himself in this psalm? I think we can see Christ. If you look in verse 6, who is this he? He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. I think the he here could easily be considered Christ. We're fulfilled in Christ. Think of Christ when He went to Jerusalem for Passover at the end of His life on earth. I'm thinking of Luke 19. And when Jerusalem came into sight as He's going there for the final Passover before He goes to the cross. Before Jerusalem, He bursts into tears. And He weeps over Jerusalem. And He says, if you had known the things that make for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. And Jesus had said in John chapter 12, starting verse 23, that the hour has come that the Son of Man would be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, when you sow a seed, it has to die before it gives life. It remains alone. But if that seed does die, it produces much grain." And Jesus is speaking of Himself. Whomself is like a seed that was planted on Calvary to sprout forth a new life. He who goes out weeping, bearing seed for sowing. Then what do we see in Acts chapter 4? In a matter of weeks after the death of Christ, In Acts 4 we see that 5,000 men, it just says men, trusted Christ in Jerusalem, which means there's maybe 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 people. These are just men. We could at least have double. There's going to be women and youth who would put their faith in Christ. So let's just be concerned and say 10,000 people actually came to Christ just a few weeks later after Christ's death and resurrection. At the time in Acts chapter 4, there's between 25,000 to 50,000 people in Jerusalem altogether. Do you see what kind of a harvest that is? Why would that many people come to Christ? Well, Jesus had gone forth weeping to Jerusalem, bearing with Him the seed of His life. He had to fall and to die to produce much grain. He was planted to death in the soil of Mount Calvary. then in a few weeks he would come home at his ascension from the far country of earth and come home and to be welcomed home at his ascension with much joy. And so we in response are to yield all to Christ with the passion of our heart being, O Lord, do whatever you want with me that you might bring the blessing of Christ to others. And remember, on one day, Christ was despised and hung on the cross. And even at that point, He says, forgive them, they know not what they do. But in weeks, 10,000 to 15,000 people, perhaps many of the same people, were gathered in Jerusalem, saved by the same Christ, and singing His praises, and I bet laughing as well, in joy. And when you think about it that way, it's so unexpected and sudden. And when you think on it, it makes you laugh. I'm happy to see some smiles when I said that last thing. It makes you laugh. It makes joy come to your face. So may we reflect on what God has done for us in Christ and applied by the Spirit to bring us the joy of salvation, unearned, all because of Christ. And may we request that He restore that joy and blessing in our dry lives today. And may we recognize the joy and success promised in the future in God's timing. There will be a harvest that will be reaped in us and through us and for him. That we might diligently and joyfully seek to go forth in sowing and service for Christ. And may God grant us a joy in our lives that will then cause the lost to ask, what great things has God done for you that he's not done for me? then maybe with a growing smile, with a granted further joy, we can tell them about Christ. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, like the Israelites who were set free from captivity and able to come home from the far country and be home, we too know a great joy, a joy unspeakable, being relieved and delivered from the far country of sin and death and hell and the grasp of Satan, to be home with you as our father. Christ is our brother and abundance of brothers and sisters now in the kingdom of God through Christ and by the power of your spirit. May you help us, Lord, to be renewed in the joy that probably once was greater about all of the blessings, the eternal blessings that we have in Christ. Restore those things even now and then help us then to look forward to the greatest joy that awaits us in the end. We might be able to walk with you in joy and singing and laughter even now. It makes us think of the hymn that we'll be singing at the close of our worship as well with our soul. There's the same pattern as in that hymn that the hymn writer looks back to see the great work of restoration and deliverance that brought such great joy. He says, though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control that Christ has regarded my helpless estate and has shed His own blood for my soul. And my sin, oh the bliss, and that's more than just being glad, it's a bliss of this glorious thought. My sin not in part, but the whole. It's nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. And help us to be as the hymn writer as well, that in looking at that joy in the past that should be in the present, we can look ahead to the greatest joy that awaits us. Oh, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight. The clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound and the Lord shall ascend, descend. Even so as well with my soul. May we be a people of joy for all the right reasons. Work that into our lives. And we pray, Lord, that those who are among us even today and who we meet during the course of the week, Lord, that our worship and ourselves, our lives, even our life and our church would be a witness to them. There'd be an unmistakable and eternal joy about us that would draw people to Christ as well. It's in Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.