Psalms

Chapter 126

Zion’s Captives Restored

This psalm remembers a past restoration so astonishing that it felt like a dream and turned Israel's mouth to laughter and song. But remembrance does not end the prayer; the chapter immediately asks the LORD to restore again, and it closes by setting present sorrow inside a pattern of hope, where tears become seed and weeping labor returns with rejoicing and a gathered harvest.

Within the Songs of Ascents, Psalm 126 stands between remembered rescue and unfinished longing. It fits Book V by teaching the pilgrim community to hold gratitude and petition together: God's past mercies are real and public, but they also become the basis for asking him to act again and for trusting that grief can still be turned into joy.

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Psalms 126

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vv. 1-6

Zion’s Captives Restored

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A¹ song of ascents. ²Then our mouths were filled with laughter, ³The LORD has done great things for us; ⁴Restore our captives, O LORD, ⁵Those who sow in tears ⁶He who goes out weeping,

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01vv. 1-6Zion’s Captives RestoredThe psalm recalls a restoration so great that it seemed dreamlike and drew even the nations into acknowledging what the LORD had done for his people. From that memory it turns into a fresh plea for restoration like overflowing desert streams, then ends with the promise that those who sow and go out in tears will return with joy and with sheaves in their hands.