WE WERE LIKE THOSE WHO DREAMED
Ps. 126:1-6
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: THE CATCH
1. Ever since the firm he worked for went bankrupt, Benny has been looking for a job. Many months pass without success but then, one day, Benny rushes back home to his wife Cindy with a big smile on his face.
2. "Darling," he says to her, "I've at last found a job." "Awesome!" said Cindy. "So what's the job like?"
3. "It's a four days a week job," replies Benny, "and includes 7 weeks paid holiday each year. Overtime is at double-rate, and the job comes with a small company car."
4. At first, Cindy can't help smiling at this news, but then she gets serious and says to him, "That's sounds great, darling, but what's the catch? There must be a catch somewhere."
5. "No, there's no catch," replies Benny. "You start tomorrow."
B. A SPECIAL PSALM
1. Beginning with Psalm 120 and continuing to Psalm 134, these Psalms are called “Songs of Ascents.” They were sung by the pilgrims who were traveling to Jerusalem to keep the various feasts days on the religious calendar of Israel.
2. When the pilgrims would stop for rest and refreshment, they would sing one of these Psalms in worship to the Lord. Psalm 126 is the seventh of these fifteen “Songs of Accents.” Let’s read it.
C. TEXT (let’s read it together)
“When the Lord restored the fortunes of [brought back the captives to] Zion, we were like those who dreamed. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. 4 Restore our fortunes, [Bring back our captives] Lord, like streams in the Negev. 5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out
weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” Ps. 126:1-6.
D. THESIS
1. This is also a special Psalm for the Church of Jesus, those He redeemed from death and Hell! We’re reminded of where we were headed and how good God has been to us.
2. Tonight, I want to look at three powerful lessons in this precious Psalm: to remember, to pray, and to go.
3. The title of this message is “We Were Like Those Who Dreamed!”
I. THIS IS A WORD ABOUT PRAISING GOD (1-3)
A. THEY REMEMBERED THEIR DELIVERANCE
1. This Psalm was evidently written by the Jews during their return from the diaspora – when the Assyrians or Babylonians carried them away and resettled them in other countries.
2. They thought they’d never see their homeland again. Ps. 137 recounts their experience; “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” Ps. 137:1-4.
3. Here they remembered how they had been oppressed and held captive by their enemies, and how God in His great power had delivered them. They praise Him for the day He set them free and brought them back to their homeland.
4. Note: We should always remember where we were when the Lord found us, and how He delivered us from our lost and hell bound condition by His matchless grace.
B. COMPARISON: LIFE BEFORE & AFTER
1. They couldn’t hardly believe what had happened to them. They were amazed at the grace, love and power of their God. They felt like people who were living in a dream. It was too good to be true! But, when it finally dawned on them that what they were experiencing was real, they were filled with joy and they lifted their hearts and their voices in praise to the Lord.
2. Even some of the sinners around them recognized the work of God in their lives and gave God the glory. These saints had to agree with the assessment of the heathen, “The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.”
3. They were filled with praise for God and couldn’t hold back their praises, but they exalt the Lord for His grace, His goodness and His blessing in their lives.
4. What a lesson for the children of God! We have been delivered from death and Hell by the grace of God. Our names have been written down in glory. We are children of the living God! We have a reason to rejoice.
5. Another reason of why they felt like they were in a dream, was because when you get saved, it’s so much better than you would have thought it would be! Amen?
6. Before I knew Jesus, I had no concept of how loving and forgiving God was. It broke my heart when I saw how God’s grace covered my sins.
7. Our God is an awesome God! He’s kind and gracious
C. THEY MADE A DECISION TO PRAISE GOD
1. They make a conscious decision to praise the Lord. David often said to his soul, “Why art you cast down, O my soul?...hope thou in God” Ps. 42:5,11; 43:5.
2. There’s lot to be distressed about in the world today. Crime, war, politics, disease, death, sin, evil, etc. all combine to cause our hearts to despair. However, if we can learn to focus on the Lord and what He has done for us, we can have joy even in the midst of trials.
3. If you allow your happiness to be dependent on the circumstances around you, there’s a good chance you’ll be sad and defeated. If, however, you make God your highest joy, then nothing can dampen your victory!
II. THERE IS A WORD OF PRAYER Vs. 4
A. PRAYING FOR OTHERS STILL ENSLAVED
1. As the Jewish pilgrims began to praise God for their deliverance and their good fortune, they suddenly remembered those who were still enslaved.
2. It’s the disease of fallen man that we tend only to think about ourselves! This must not be! Our hearts should go out to others still in the bondage of sin and long for them to be set free.
3. These good Jews began to do that; they lifted their voices up in prayer to the Lord. They prayed that just as God had delivered them from captivity, He’d deliver others from captivity and restore them to their homeland.
4. This is what the Church of Jesus should be like too! We should have a burden for other’s souls!
B. ILLUSTRATION: HE DIDN’T GET THE MESSAGE
1. John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.
2. In 1968, Currier’s sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it.
3. He was a free man, but nobody bothered to tell him! Life on that farm was hard. Ten years went by.
4. Finally a state parole officer learned about Currier’s plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.
5. “Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message—the most important in your life—and year after year the urgent message was never delivered?”
6. We who’ve heard the good news and experienced freedom through Christ dare not forget those who are still held in Satan’s dread sway! [George Sweeting, The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing]
III. THERE IS A WORD OF PROMISE Vss. 5-6
A. PROMISE OF A FRUITFUL FUTURE
1. This Psalm suddenly changes at this point. The pilgrims, having arrived at their homeland, find it decimated and totally destroyed. The fields were unplowed, the few roads and buildings falling apart.
2. There was no harvest and little food to eat. All they had was a few precious seeds that held the promise of a future harvest. God tells them to take those few seeds, and with tears, sow those seeds into the fields, and God will bless them.
3. Wait patiently with faith. In a few weeks, life would stir in those fields! When harvest time comes, those few seeds would be transformed into an abundant harvest -- the workers rejoicing, carrying their sheaves in their arms.
4. The Church too has a sowing job to do. We’ve got to take
the seed of the Gospel message/ the Word of God and go into a lost world and sow it for the glory of God.
5. I want us to take a few minutes to look at these last two verses and what they have to teach us about this matter of sowing the Gospel.
B. THE TASK OF THE SOWER
1. The sower is to “go forth” and sow the seed. When Jesus gave them the Great Commission, He said to them “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,” Matt. 28:19.
2. That word “Go” really means “as you go.” In other words, our testimony is not something we should be able to turn on and off like a light switch, but we’re to be constantly going and telling a lost world about Jesus.
3. When it says, “Bearing precious seeds,” it means “leaving a trail of seeds.” The idea here is that everywhere we go; we are to be dropping the Gospel seeds!
4. Imagine if I were to put up a map of Walker County tonight. Then, imagine we drew lines of everywhere you have been in the county the last month. The county would covered with lines!
5. So if you and I are obedient to drop Gospel seeds as we go, all of Walker County would be covered with the Gospel! May God help us to do just that!
C. THE TEARS OF THE SOWER
1. Notice that as this farmer sows, he’s shedding tears. Why does he weep? Because he knows that everything depends on the next crop. If he has a good harvest, his people will live; if not, they’ll die! Life and death are in the hands of each sower! Motivations?
2. The memory of sin and a life lived apart from the Lord should be enough to drive us out into the world to witness! God loves them and died to save them.
3. The Bible is also clear in that there are only 2 possible destinations for men when they leave this life. One is Heaven and the other is Hell. I submit to you that if we really believed in an eternal hell, where the condemned burn for eternity with no hope of relief or release, then we would be more active in spreading the news that Jesus saves sinners!
4. ILLUS. One time the morale of the Salvation Army was at all-time low. The organization had hit rock bottom. They didn’t know how to get out of their funk.
5. They sent a telegram to their founding father, William Booth, asking for advice on how they could get back on their feet. William Booth sent back a telegram with two words: "Try tears!" When they did, revival came to the Salvation Army!
6. We can talk about revival, preach about revival, pray for revival, but revival never comes until desperation comes, and the sign of desperation will be the tears of our eyes, and the brokenness of our heart. Isaiah said, “For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.” Isa. 66:8.
D. TRIUMPH OF THE SOWER
1. The scripture says “he returned with rejoicing, carrying his sheaves.”
2. I still remember the wonderful Christian song, “Thank You, For Giving to the Lord.” It tells the story of a person who didn’t think they’d touched many lives, but when they got to heaven, they were approached by many people who told them that he/she was responsible for them being there. Touching!
3. There will be much more fruit than the few seeds we plant, so keep planting! Great will be your reward!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. There was a simple pastor who, earlier in his life, had tried to share Christ, even going door to door.
2. He was asked to preach a revival in another state, and after the last night was over people had come to the front to say their goodbyes.
3. He noticed out of the corner of his eye a young woman with two small blond-haired girls standing over against the wall obviously waiting to talk to him.
4. When the last well-wisher had walked away, this mother and her two little girls walked up to the platform and she said, "Pastor, I’ve come many miles to be here tonight."
5. "You mean you came all this way just to hear me preach?" She said, "Oh no, I came here just to tell you something." He said, "Ok, what is it?"
6. She said, "Over twenty-five years ago I was just a nine year old little girl in the Delta of Mississippi, and I lived alone with my mother in a little one-room shanty not far from town.
7. There was a knock on our door. It was a local pastor and a tall man in a black suit. They asked if they could come in.
8. One of them sat down on our dirty floor right beside me, pulled out a little Bible out of his pocket and opened it and told me about the Lord Jesus Christ. She said, "I bowed my head and I asked Jesus to come into my heart. My mother and I were saved and we joined that little church. I was baptized and my life has never been the same."
9. The Pastor said, "Well, that is a wonderful story, but what does that have to do with me?" Well at that point, tears began to well up in the eyes of this young lady.
10. She said, "Pastor, you were that man in that black suit, and I drove all this way just to tell you thank you for telling me about Jesus."
11. At that point the Pastor's eyes filled up with tears, and the tears began to roll down his cheeks. He said with quivering lips and a cracking voice, "Honey, would you do me just one favor?" She said, "Yes."
12. He said, "When you get to heaven will you tell Jesus what you just told me?" She said, "Yes, I will." He said, "That will be heaven enough for me." [R. Q. Leavell was the pastor.]
B. THE CALL
1. Tonight I am speaking to a group of people who have been given much. You have been saved by His grace and are headed to His heaven.
2. I would just remind you that “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required,” Luke 12:48.
3. Remember where the Lord found you and what He’s done for you. Let’s don’t forget those still in bondage! May God give us a renewed burden to see the lost saved.
4. Let’s make a decision tonight to go out in the field of this world and sow the Gospel seed. Will you do that? Let’s pray!
[This is a rewrite of Alan Carr’s, The Psalm of the Sowing Saint]
