Psalm 126

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!” (v5).  Sowing and reaping are major themes in the Old and New Testaments.  This psalm remembers the dream-like joy of the exiled Jews who were allowed to return to Jerusalem (v1).  Coming home was even better than they expected, just as the harvest is greater than the seed sown into the ground.  Paul used the same metaphor for the resurrection - the joy we can hardly imagine. 

Our “sowing in tears” won’t last forever. The resurrection which began with Jesus Christ will one day include us, and we too will reap a harvest of joy (I Cor 15).