Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

In the New Testament times Peter experienced a ‘dream-like’ deliverance from prison where he was awaiting execution at the hands of King Herod Agrippa: “Suddenly there was bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel tapped him on the side to awaken him and said, ‘Quick! Get up!’ And the chains fell off his wrists…So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision (dream). He didn’t realize it was really happening.” (Acts 12:7, 8, 10) The initial act of God’s deliverance is usually sudden and miraculous.

“We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, ‘ What amazing things the Lord has done for them.’ Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!” (2, 3)

The laughter and song is almost an ‘involuntary’ reaction; their mouths are filled up unexpectedly with bursting emotions of joy! The Israelites could not help but sing at their sudden deliverance from the Egyptians at the Red Sea: “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord: ‘I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;…” (Ex. 15:1) The people who had been praying for Peter’s deliverance were filled with joy and had to be quieted down so Peter could explain the details of his su- pernatural escape from death: “He motioned for them to quiet down and told them what had happened and how the Lord had led him out of jail.” (Acts 12:17) They most likely were laughing, shouting and singing uncontrollably with joy! And now at the inaugural address of Cyrus, King of Persia, the Jews are told to return to Jerusalem and are allowed to take the gold of Babylon with them to rebuild their tem- ple. They are amazed beyond belief for; ‘no nation known to history, except the Jews, ever did return to rebuild their ancient cities and homes.’ 3 The other nations realized God’s good fortune for the Jews even before they understood it. The Prophet Zephaniah foretold this very situation: “On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction among all the nations of the earth. They will praise you as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the Lord, have spoken.” (Zeph. 3:20) The Jews began to give thanks with the same words that the heathen nations had used to describe their favor: “Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!” (3) When God’s dream for our life comes to pass; it is unbelievable! The psalm had begun by celebrating the past deliverance but now it turns into a prayer for the fu- ture well being of the nation. Even though there has been a turn of events for Israel, there is much left to do to re-establish their fortune. The psalmist is ‘praying the promises’ of God; reaching into the as- surances of what the Lord has written and making them his personal petition. The words of Jeremiah would not be far from his mind: “For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it and live here again. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Jer. 30:3) He is using an image that is familiar to all the Israelites; the seasonally dry riverbeds of the southern Negev desert that are replenished by the spring rains. There are spiritual implications here: ‘Even as the Lord sends floods down the dry beds of southern torrents after long draughts, so he can fill our wasted and wearied spirits with floods of holy delight.’ 4 II SHOUT FOR JOY - 4-6 Sustained Deliverance (Sowing and Reaping) “Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert.” (4)

“Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with harvest.” (5, 6)

The ascending and expanding thought from one sentence to the next is one of the main traits of the ‘Songs of Ascent.’ What was gained by the sudden intervention of the Lord must now be sustained by sowing good seed both into the ground and into the spiritual realm of life. The night the Israelites left Egypt was sudden and miraculous: “This night had been reserved by the Lord to bring his people out of the land of Egypt, so this same night now belongs to him.” (Ex. 12:42) They were going to the land of Canaan where they would have to sustain their lives by sowing and reaping: “So the people of Israel ate manna for forty years until they arrived in the land of Canaan, where there were crops to eat.” (Ex. 16:35)

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