Advent 3 B - Psalm 126

Psalm 126

The first four verses of Psalm 126 remember the dream come true as exiles returned home and mouths were filled with laughter and tongues tingled with joy. When the memory of the moment is recounted the psalmist is glad indeed. But apparently those fortunes have been spent and in the same way that the dry wadis of the Negev wait for the spring rain, the psalmist asks that the past be repeated in the present. Restore our fortunes like the watercourses of the Negev so that tears sown will reap joyful songs. Faith remembers the joy of the past to endure the pain of the present by hoping in the promise of the future. You might be in a time of waiting and if so need to remember the times when rejoicing came easily and if you cannot perhaps there is someone who can. Which is why if you are so gifted as to be in a laughter, tongue tingling time of being glad indeed, give thanks to the Lord and do what you can to share your sheaves of joy with those who weep.