Psalm 126:5
Be sure that you take the words of Psalm 126:5 in their context and setting. The psalmist writes, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Scripture here does not teach us that there will be no crop failures for those who weep, for one reason or another, while they sow their seed.
The psalmist had been speaking about the sin into which we fall so easily because of our old man of sin, who is with us until the day of our death. And he who in sorrow for his sins, with a soul that is weeping in sincere grief because he loves God, prays for conversion and deliverance from the bondage of sin shall reap in joy. He will reap conversion and complete deliverance from sin in the day of Christ.
In that sense we may sing this versification (PRC Psalter):
Although with bitter tears
The sower bears his seed,
When harvest time appears
He shall be glad indeed,
For they that in sorrow weep
Shall yet in joy and gladness reap.
Here you and I have God Himself — for this is His Word assuring us that every sincere prayer for spiritual growth and full triumph over our sinful flesh will be fulfilled. And, to return to the first part of the Psalm, great things will be done for us, and He will make us glad.
We can be sure that in the new Jerusalem our mouths shall be filled with laughter, and our tongues with singing. We will be like those that dreamed of heavenly blessedness and found that their dreams became true. For they were God-given dreams proclaimed in the gospel as it is in Christ.
The gospel is good news. The angel who told the shepherds of the birth of Jesus said "I bring you glad tidings of great joy.'' And because all the blessings of salvation, and all the glory of the kingdom of heaven is realized by Christ, the King of the church, the harvest will be full. Every elect shall reach it. Every elect child of God shall be given the full measure of glory designed for him. We shall reap the harvest which Christ has sown and comes to reap. Our salvation is sure because our Savior is the almighty God Who loves us and keeps all His promises.
Read: Jeremiah 31:1-17
Psalter versification: #358:4
Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #315
Why not sing along?
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus 37 ; Exodus 38:1-31
Matthew 28:1-20
Psalm 34:11-22
Proverbs 9:9-10
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Quote for Reflection:
“If he died to expiate our sins, He reigns in heaven that He may apply the benefits accruing from that expiation to His people, and may thus bring them into the glory He has purchased for them. If, says Paul, while we were enemies, we were reconciled with God through the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. Christ no more died for us two thousand years ago at Calvary, than He now lives for us in heaven….We today, in the special trials to faith which an age of critical doubt has brought to us, need to keep in constant remembrance that our trust is put not in a dead, but in a living Christ—in a Christ who died, indeed, but whom the tomb could not retain, but lo! He is alive for evermore.” Hebrews 2:9 -- B.B. Warfield
Additional Info
- Date: 14-February
Heys, John A.
Rev. John A. Heys was born on March 16, 1910 in Grand Rapids, MI. He was ordained and installed into the ministry at Hope, Walker, MI in 1941. He later served at Hull, Iowa beginning in 1955. In 1959 he accepted the call to serve the South Holland, IL Protestant Reformed Church. He received and accepted the call to Holland, Michigan Protestant Reformed Church in 1967. He retired from the active ministry in 1980. He entered into glory on February 16, 1998.