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Is that always, altogether, and necessarily, a good thing? "When the edict of Cyrus went forth allowing the captives to return, it was so unexpected, it was so miraculous, that we deemed the accomplishment of ancient prophecy a dream." "To turn again captivity" is to bring back God's redeemed ones. Perowne skillfully presents the points of thought and feeling in this psalm. "The first colony of exiles had returned to Palestine. But, after all, what was that little band of settlers which formed the first caravan? It was but as the trickling of a tiny rill in some desert waste. Hence the prayer bursts from the lips of the psalmist, 'Bring back our captives like mighty streams, which, swollen by the wintry rains, descend to fertilize the parched and desolate wilderness.' Then comes the thought of the many discouragements and oppositions which the first settlers had to encounter; it was a time of sowing in tears. Still, faith could expect a joyful harvest. He who had restored them to the land would assuredly crown his work with blessing."

I. CAPTIVITY IS BEST WHILE WE CHERISH SELF-DEPENDENCE, Because it means that we are under the Divine discipline. So long as we are wrong-minded - and to be self-trusting is to be wrong-minded - the saddest thing that could happen to us is for God to let us alone. That he is smiting us is the all-satisfactory proof that he is intimately concerned for our truest well-being. Until Israel had lost that self-reliance which had wrought such mischief for the nation, it was altogether best in captivity, heavy strain though that was to them. The time our captivity continues is always the Divine measurement of the time necessary for doing the work of our captivity. If true-hearted, we should not desire relief from affliction one moment before God's time has come. Far better W keep the humiliation and affliction than to keep the self-dependence.

II. LIBERTY IS BEST WHEN WE HAVE LEARNED TO DEPEND ON GOD. And that is the lesson to be learned in all captivities and afflictions. Liberty is then best, because the man or the nation knows what to do with it. The victim of the French Revolution, apostrophizing liberty, said, "O Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!" Liberty is but captivity of another kind, when man has no principle and rule for his use of it. Restored Israel could have its liberty, because it had learned to lean on God. - R.T.

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KJV: {A Song of degrees.} When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

WEB: When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream.