Psalm 126 Dreams Do Come True! June 3, 2018

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. 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.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, LORD, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. (NIV11)

Do you ever dream? I'm not asking if you ever go to sleep and slip into a state of consciousness in which you see yourself wearing sun-god robes and standing on a pyramid while people scream and throw little pickles at you. (But if your dreams are like that, you may want to consider changing some aspect of your pre-bedtime routine.) No, I'm asking if you ever daydream. Do you think about "what could be." Do you ever dream about what couldn't be (but it sure would be nice if it could)? Do you ever dream about what it would be like if you could change the past? That's all it is, of course--just a dream. No one can change the past. And I imagine fans of the Phoenix Suns daydream about winning an NBA title. They dream that John Paxson missed that shot in Game 6 in 1993, and that Charles Barkley and the Suns went on to win Game 7 along with the NBA championship. But Paxson didn't, and Barkley didn't, and no matter how many times Suns fans run an alternative reality in their head, the actual reality will never change. Because changing the past only happens in dreams. But sometimes you can’t change the future, either. I imagine prisoners on death row daydream about freedom in the future. But that's all it is--just a dream. Because unless you are Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, you're not going to be able to escape from prison. So after a while people give up, realizing that the writer of Proverbs was right when he said, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." (Proverbs 13:12) So they commit to having themselves firmly grounded in reality. But they're not quite able to succeed--because reality is so discouraging. But even as they can't help dreaming, they know better than to expect their dreams to come true. Until they do. Although we don't have a clear indication of the circumstances involved in Psalm 126. But traditionally it has been suggested that it refers to a time when the kingdom of Judah was living in captivity in Babylon. It's hard for us to understand how painful that was for them. Especially when we remember that this "captivity" was not like when they were in Egypt 900 years before this. Back then they were slaves, forced to work for Pharaoh and beaten if they didn't work fast enough. In contrast, it would appear that in Babylon they were allowed to live with some degree of freedom, raising families, owning houses, perhaps even running businesses. No, they're not living in the land of their ancestors, but many, many people find that they don't end up where they grew up. Life takes strange turns, and that's just the way it goes sometimes. But the Jews knew that they weren't in Babylon because life had "taken a strange turn." They knew that they were in Babylon because God had sent them there. God had sent them from the land he had promised to them, the land he had given to them--and the land that he had now taken back from them. And it wasn't just their homeland, the place in which they grew up. It was also the place in which they could worship God in a way they could not in Babylon. It was the place in which God's temple, the very dwelling place of God, was. It was right there on one of the hills that formed Jerusalem, the hill known as Mount Zion. Think of everything that any home has meant to you, think of what the term "home" might still mean to you, and now multiply that by ten. Then think of the church building that has meant the most to you over your lifetime, the place where you felt that you were able to encounter God in a way that was just...for lack of a better word, "special." Maybe it's this building we are in today. Maybe it's the church building that you went to every Sunday as a kid and were confirmed in and maybe occasionally still get to. Now imagine that you'll never get to go there again. Even though you know that if this building is destroyed, you can still attend church in another building, think of how you might feel. Now multiply that by 50. That's how the Jews would have felt. Because there weren't any other temples. They couldn't build a temple in Babylon. God was the one who decided where he would allow a dwelling for himself to be built. God decided where there would be a physical location where people could come to be with him. And it was also God who had decided that the Jews were going to be in Babylon, a nation without a temple. Even worse, they knew why God had decided that. It was because he had had enough of them. It was because of their sins. It was because God was tired of them insulting him and desecrating his temple with thoughtless, "meaningless offerings" (Isaiah 1:13). After years upon years and decades upon decades of being insulted and ignored by the Jews, God had finally done what he had wished for through Malachi, when he said, "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors so that you would not light useless fires on my altar!" (Malachi 1:10). Now God himself had shut the doors--seemingly for good. And so during those 70 years in captivity, the Jews dreamed. Some of them dreamed about what they had experienced in the past on Mount Zion--and clearly never would again. They dreamed of the land in which they had lived as children, and they dreamed of the majesty, awe, wonder, and comfort of going to the temple on Mount Zion—a place unlike any other place in the entire world!—where they were actually able to enter into God's presence! Those who were younger dreamed about those same things--but they dreamed about them in the way that younger generations dream about pictures that are painted for them by older generations--as things that they have never experienced--and never will. I imagine the "tears of sorrow" were there for both generations. But they were probably greater for the older generation, who knew from experience exactly what they had lost. They in particular were the people who said the words of Psalm 137:1: "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion." And that was all they could do, and daydreaming about it was all they could hope for. Because the Babylonians were the ones in charge. Until they weren't. The Persians defeated the Babylonians. But what's really changed? "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss", right? But the new boss, the Persians, said, "Go back to your land...No, seriously. We mean it." So they did. What do you think that trip was like? Do you think that even as they were traveling, they were looking at one another with looks that said, "Is this real? Are we sure this isn't a dream?" But the LORD had allowed them to go back (And that's the only way to explain what happened here. King Darius may have issued the decree allowing them to go back, but clearly it was God himself who had restored their fortunes) to Zion! By the rivers of Babylon they had wept and "sown with tears." But now the Lord had "done great things for them", and they were able to "return with songs of joy." Yay. It's a happy story. But it's also our story. Part of me wishes that we could all feel what sort of captivity we were born into. We were born spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and held captive by sin. We had no “fortunes”— because we were spiritually bankrupt. All that we could do in that situation was dream—dream of an alternate reality in which we weren’t enemies of God, an alternate reality in which we weren’t condemned to sow tears of sorrow until we die and wept bitter tears forever in Hell. Part of me wishes that we could feel that spiritual hopelessness. Because if we did, then I think we’d have a greater appreciation for what it means to us that Jesus has restored our fortunes. We confess our sins on Sunday mornings and are told that God has been merciful to us and has sent his one and only Son to sow with tears throughout his life of persecution and rejection here on earth, followed by tears of agony on the cross as he suffered Hell in our place, and that therefore we are now at peace with God. When we hear that each Sunday, we ought to be “like those who dreamed.” Maybe we should pause for a few moments at that point in the service, so we could look at each other with looks that say, “Are we dreaming?...Is this real?...It’s too good to be true…This is real! This is true!” Then we could have “mouths…filled with laughter” as we realize that the impossible has taken place. And after having marveled at the fact that our dream has come true, then our “tongues [would be filled] with songs of joy” as we praised the Lord “in the peace of forgiveness.” Because “the Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” One day I believe our stunned, nearly uncomprehending reaction will match and even surpass that of the exiles as they returned to Israel. When we first set foot in Heaven, I wouldn’t be surprised if in that very first moment we become like those who dream, not really comprehending that we are not dreaming, and that the glory all around us is real. But that state will vanish almost immediately, and we shall know that the glory is real. Our mouths will be full of laughter and our tongues full of praise! If you look at the top of Psalm 126 in your Bibles, you’ll see something like “a song of ascents.” All 15 psalms from 120-134 are called “a song of ascents.” Most people believe this refers to the way that those making annual religious pilgrimages as they went up/ascended to Jerusalem would sing these psalms together. I doubt the journey to Jerusalem was easy. I imagine that for some the combination of heat, uphill, and aging legs led to tears of sorrow. But they were getting closer to Zion! And they knew that when they arrived, the sorrow would be gone, replaced by the joy of being in the presence of God. Keep that in mind as you sow here in tears of sorrow. You are approaching Zion, and soon you will reap heavenly, dreamy, and yet 100% real, eternal joy! Amen.