Psalms 126:1

PSALM 126

WHEN THE LORD RESTORED THE FORTUNES OF ZION (RSV)

For the title here we have selected the opening line of the RSV. There is nothing in the psalm that can be applied exclusively to the return of Israel from the captivity; but, at the same time, there is nothing to exclude that example of God's restoring the fortunes of Israel.

Delitzsch declared that, "Any other rendering than that of the LXX in these opening lines is impossible."[1] That rendition is, "When the Lord turned the captivity of Sion, we became as comforted ones."[2] Nevertheless, we accept the RSV rendition here as correct, because Christ himself used the expression, "release of the captives" as an idiom for saving people from sin (Luke 4:18). The captives in that passage were primarily those whom the Devil had made "captive" to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:26).

Also, there is a key verse in the understanding of this idiom in Job 42:10 which reveals that, "God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends; and God gave Job twice as much as he had before." In this passage, the turning of Job's "captivity," simply meant the restoration of his good fortunes and not his release from imprisonment or captivity.

It is impossible, of course, to determine the exact date of this psalm. Briggs placed it in the "Greek period, when the people longed for a return of prosperity."[3] There are also a number of other scholarly "guesses"; but none of them carries any particular authority.

The paragraphing of the composition was understood by Spurgeon as: "(1) a narrative (Psalms 126:1-2); (2) a song (Psalms 126:3); (3) a prayer (Psalms 126:4); and (4) a promise (Psalms 126:5-6)."[4]

The occasion for the psalm is likewise impossible to identify with any certainty. Allen believed that, "The turning point to which the people looked back in this psalm was probably the reestablishment of the worship of the religious community in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile."[5] However, there are several other occasions in the history of Israel which are just as likely to have occasioned this psalm.

McCaw attempted to express the meaning of the whole psalm with the following adequate analysis.

"The gladness of this psalm is unmistakable, and yet there is a sense of tearfulness, as if the expected blessings (Psalms 126:1) ought not to have turned into depression in Psalms 126:5,

"The message of the psalm is that there is no simple solution on earth for the problems of the people of God, no single act of God that could bring them into unbroken joy, rid them of trials and temptations, or establish them in perfection this side of heaven!"[6]

Psalms 126:1-2

THE NARRATIVE

"When Jehovah brought back those that returned to Zion,

We were like unto them that dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

And our tongue with singing:

Then said they among the nations,

Jehovah hath done great things for them."

It is obvious here that the ASV, which we are following, renders these opening lines as a reference to the return of the Babylonian exiles; and, as we noted above, there is nothing in the psalm that denies this possibility.

"We were like unto them that dream" (Psalms 126:1). This must indeed have been an understatement. After two or three generations (some 70 years) of captivity in Babylon, they are suddenly on the way back to Jerusalem, just as God had promised. Not only are they on the .way back home, but the all-powerful Medo-Persian monarch Cyrus is financing their return, sponsoring and encouraging it in every way possible. No wonder they laughed and sang for joy. Never before, in the whole history of the human race, had there ever been anything like this; and, we might add, there's never been anything like it since then! Surely the hand of Almighty God is visible in those events.

"Then said they ... Jehovah hath done great things for them" (Psalms 126:2). This refers to the testimony of the Gentile nations to the effect that they recognized the hand of God in what happened in Israel's resettlement in Canaan. But, why did they not give the honor to Cyrus? Was he not the one who really engineered the whole business? Cyrus himself led the way in proclaiming, not himself, but God as the author of Israel's return to Jerusalem. Josephus gives this account of the edict of Cyrus.

"Thus said Cyrus the King: Since God Almighty hath appointed me to be the king of the habitable earth, I believe that he is the God which the nation of the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a house at Jerusalem, in the country of Judea."[7]

Some question Josephus' writings; but the pertinent question is, "If Cyrus did not indeed give God the honor of ordering the return of Israel, how can we account for the fact that the Gentile nations of the world of that period ascribed the honor to God instead of to Cyrus?