Annotations Upon the Books of Poetry, Psalms · Psalm 126
PSALM CXXVI.
Verſ. 1. WHen the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, &c.] That is, When the Lord brought the Jews back from Babylon into their own countrey: we were like them that dream; the mercy ſeemed ſo incredible, ſo far above all hope and expectation, that at firſt we could ſcarce tell whether it were ſo indeed, or whether we were not all the while in a dream; as it is ſaid of Peter, when the Angel had carried him out of priſon, Act. 12.9. that he wiſt not that it was true which was done by the Angel, but thought he ſaw a viſion. And indeed that a heathen king ſhould of his own accord ſend home Gods captived people into their own land, & that with a charge to build again the city Jeruſalem and the Temple therein, & a command to his ſubjects, to afford them all requiſite accommodations thereunto, giving them likewiſe all the veſſels of the Temple, with great riches beſides, it was a matter of great wonder; & the people here do obſerve it, to ſhew what great cauſe they had to bleſſe God for it.
Verſ. 2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, & our tongue with ſinging.] See the Note Job 8.21. The time was when they hung up their harps upon the willows, & could not ſing for bitterneſſe of ſpirit, How shall we ſing, ſay they, the Lords ſong in a ſtrange land? ſee Pſal. 137.2, 4: but now they had taken them down again, and could ſing Pſalm upon Pſalm, and were never weary of ſinging. Then ſaid they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them; that is, even the Chaldeans & Perſians, together with other nations, amongſt whom the Jews had lived as the moſt deſpiſed nation under heaven, and who had wont to inſult over them for their confidence in God, and to flout at them and their religion, Pſal. 137.3. Sing us, ſay they, one of the ſongs of Zion, were by the wonder of our deliverance forced to acknowledge, that our God had ſhewed great love to us in the great things he had done for us.
Verſ. 3. The Lord hath done great things for us, &c.] As if the Jews ſhould have ſaid, (for in their name the Pſalmiſt here ſpeaks) If you that are our enemies ſay ſo, who ſpeak it haply with repining ſpirits, well may we ſay ſo with glad hearts, for whom God hath done it.
Verſ. 4. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, &c.] That is, Bring home the reſt of our brethren, that are ſtill captives in Babylon, as thou haſt brought us home. For we muſt know, that though part of the Jews were returned, when this Pſalm was penned, upon liberty granted them by the Proclamation of Cyrus, as is noted before verſ. 1; yet the greateſt number by far ſtayed ſtill in Babylon, according to that Iſa. 10.22. though thy people Iſrael be as the ſand of the ſea, yet a remnant of them shall return: apprehending the tediouſneſſe of the journey, how great the perils were they were like to meet with in their way homeward, & how impoſſible it ſeemed that they ſhould recover their land again, from which they had been carried away captives ſo many years ago, and withall being grown, ſome of them at leaſt, well enough contented with their preſent condition; either for fear or ſloth, they preferred certain reſt, though under bondage, & that amongſt idolaters, before hope of liberty, & of recovering their ancient inheritance, accompanied with ſo many dangers and troubles. And therefore no wonder it is, though that remnant of the Jews that were returned to their own countrey do ſtill pray thus for their brethren that were behind, Turn again our captivity, O Lord, &c. Yea ſome conceive that in theſe words they do alſo pray that God would perfect the mercy of their deliverance out of Babylon to thoſe that were returned, by ſettling them quietly in their land, & freeing them from that mighty oppoſition they met with in their rebuilding of their city & Temple, by means of the envy & malice of their neighbours round about them. As for that clauſe, as the ſtreams in the South, we muſt take notice, firſt, that by the South here is meant barren and dry deſarts; for becauſe on the South of Canaan there lay great deſarts, dry and ſandy, yea the South parts of Canaan it ſelf were dryer then other parts of the land were, whence was that of Calebs daughter to her father, Thou haſt given me a South land, give me alſo ſprings of water, (ſee the Note Joſh. 15.19.) therefore by the South in the Scripture is uſually meant the deſart or wilderneſſe, as in Pſal. 75.6. promotion cometh neither from the Eaſt nor from the Weſt, nor from the South, which is in the Hebrew, nor from the deſart: and 2. that in thoſe dry deſarts God did ſometimes ſend mighty land-flouds, either by ſudden violent ſhowers of rain, or by the melting of the ſnow upon the mountains. Accordingly therefore when the Church here prayes, Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the ſtreams in the South, either 1. they mean thereby, that God would bring home their captivated brethren in great multitudes, ſo that they might cover the waies as they went, as thoſe mighty ſtreams in the South were wont to overflow & cover the earth, and that ſpeedily & ſuddenly too, as thoſe land-flouds uſed to come ſuddenly, when there was a little before no appearance of water: or 2. they would imply hereby, that though it would be a work of great wonder, like that of bringing ſtreams of water into the dry deſarts, yet God was able to doe it: or 3. they would hereby intimate how great a refreſhing this would be to them; that the turning again of their captivity would be as welcome a mercy to them, as it would be to the traveller, that is to goe through dry deſarts, to meet there with ſome ſweet ſtreams of water for the refreſhing of himſelf.
Verſ. 5. They that ſow in tears shall reap in joy.] That is, as the poor husbandman that ſows in tears, either for the toil of his work, or the unſeaſonableneſſe of the weather, or eſpecially when in times of dearth & ſcarcity he caſts the corn, that ſhould nouriſh himſelf & his family, into the ground, and that too but upon uncertain hopes, as knowing that often when men carry out much, they bring in little, as is threatned Deut. 28.38. yet when a plentifull harveſt comes, he then reaps with joy; & haply hath the richer harveſt, when his ſeed-time was ſaddeſt, according to that uſuall proverb, that corn ſowen in a flood, comes up like a wood: ſo they that do what God requires, in hope of a retribution from God, according to his will revealed in his word, though they may meet with much affliction & ſorrow therein, yet ſhall doubtleſſe at laſt reap what they expected with exceeding great joy; yea their foregoing ſorrow ſhall be in part a cauſe or occaſion of their greater joy. And with this generall ſentence the Pſalmiſt concludes this Pſalm: partly with reſpect to the experience which ſome of the Jews had already had of the truth hereof in their deliverance out of Babylon, when they went into captivity, in hope that God would make good what he had promiſed them by the prophet Jeremy, that after a certain time he would bring them back again with joy into their own land, their faith & patience & prayers was precious ſeed, ſown not without many tears becauſe of their miſery; but when God brought them back with ſo much riches & glory, then they reaped with joy, according to that Iſa. 51.11. the redeemed of the Lord shall return, & come with ſinging unto Zion, & everlaſting joy shall be upon their head: & partly by way of encouragement for the time to come, both to thoſe that were behind in Babylon, & thoſe likewiſe that were imployed in repairing Jeruſalem, &c. but were many waies in a very ſad condition, by reaſon of the great oppoſition, & manifold diſcouragements they met with in that ſervice; even to put them in hope, that after this ſad ſeed-time they ſhould have a joyfull harveſt; which is again repeated in the following verſe.
Verſ. 6. He that goeth forth; &c.] That is, that goeth out of doors to ſow his ſeed; or, that in the field goeth on ſtill forward, caſting his ſeed into the ground: & weepeth, bearing precious ſeed; that is, good & choice corn, that is fit for ſeed; or corn when it is ſcarce & dear, & ſo it grieveth him the more to part with it: shall doubtleſſe come again with rejoycing, bringing his sheaves with him; to wit, when at harveſt he comes home out of the field with his carts laden with ſheaves.