Restore our captives, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. Sermons
In renewing prayer for the "turning again of captivity," the psalmist may but put into a figure his desire that God's full work of redemption may be completed, and some form of present limitation or peril may be likened to the old captivity, and even seem to be a sort of relic of it. There is a sense in which we may always be praying, "Turn again our captivity." But the figure may be one giving force to prayer for an immediate and unexpected Divine deliverance, such as the return from captivity had been. "O Jehovah, relieve our misery suddenly, and, as it may well be said, miraculously; as streams in the wilderness, which one moment are dead and dry, and then suddenly become flowing rivers." It may be that in the mind of the psalmist was the fact that only a small portion of the nation had responded to the edict of Cyrus. And his prayer may be that the rest of Israel might be induced to flood the still desolate land. "Restore our captive compatriots, just as water is restored by heavy rains to the water-courses of the parched district south of Palestine, to the delight of the inhabitants" (comp. Isaiah 49:18, where the land, like a bereaved mother, waits for her children, whose return will fill her heart with joy). I. THE PAST OF GOD'S BLESSING MAY BE JOYFULLY RECOGNIZED. It should be. Israel loved to hear the story of God's ways with the fathers told over and over. We should never tire of going over our early experiences of delivering and redeeming mercy. II. THE PAST OF GOD'S BLESSING OUGHT NEVER TO SATISFY US. It is past and gone; it is but a memory. "Things won are done." We continue, and we cannot rest without the assurance that God is doing for us what he has done. The restored exiles cannot rest with God's turning their captivity, and restoring a few of their number; they must ask for a renewal of the blessing. "Turn again our captivity." From God's grace in the past we "draw a plea, to ask him still for more." We cannot be satisfied save with renewals of joyful experiences. III. THE PAST OF GOD'S BLESSING IS THE PLEDGE OF GREATER BLESSING. God never exhausts himself in any good he does. Instead, by a present blessing, he opens the way for, and prepares us to receive, a larger blessing. Giving, he does but make possible his giving still more. - R.T. Turn again our captivity, O Lord. For they have proved the use of prayer. As prayer found cause for praise, gratitude sees reason for renewed supplication. "The Lord turned Himself to the turning of Zion." God returns to His people when they return to Him ( Deuteronomy 4:30, 31; Deuteronomy 30:1-3, 9, 10; Nehemiah 1:9; Job 42:10; Psalm 145:18, 19; Isaiah 10:21, 22; Isaiah 55:7; Isaiah 59:20; Jeremiah 31:8, 9; James 4:8). He liberated the exiles when they repented and offered supplication. If they have reached Mount Zion, there is still need for them to pray. Jehovah's gracious hand has so lifted them a degree higher on the footsteps of His throne, that they may be nearer His inclined ear with their petitions. Let them say to Him, in the language of humble dependence, "Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south." Thou art to the soul like rain and fountains to the fields. Drought disappears before Thy breath; and the touch of Thy merciful feet clothes earth with beauty and plenty. And, from their past experience, from the constancy with which God has kept His word, from His demonstrated and eternal unchangeableness, they expect that for which they pray. Faith pleads the promises of Him who cannot lie ( Genesis 8:22; Psalm 85:1.). "Thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy." Thy sure mercy we look for. A praying and praising heart is ready for showers of blessing ( Joel 2:21). () As : — In the East the rivers in the dry seasons are little more than fleeting streams, and sometimes they are entirely evaporated by the powerful action of the sun's rays. The rainy season comes, and the beds, forsaken of the ancient river, begin to receive their annual tribute from the fruitful clouds, and the mountain-torrent, rolling in its accustomed channel, causes the streams to return again, changing the sandy waste into the majestic river, raising the sewer's hopes, replenishing this parched land with the long-desired verdure, and man and beast again rejoice in the earth's abundance. Thus prayed the pious psalmist: — "Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south": that as the inhabitants of these sultry regions rejoice in the return of the reviving streams, so we, restored to our beloved country and temple, may rejoice in the long-expected deliverance. () People Psalmist, SolomonPlaces JerusalemTopics Captivity, Changed, Dry, Fate, Fortunes, Negeb, Negev, O, Restore, South, Streams, Turn, WatercoursesOutline 1. The church celebrating her incredible return out of captivity
4. Prays for and prophesies the good success thereof
Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 126:4-6 4824 famine, spiritual Library The Lost Silver Piece
But, my dear friends, the three parables recorded in this chapter are not repetitions; they all declare the same main truth, but each one reveals a different phase of it. The three parables are three sides of a vast pyramid of gospel doctrine, but there is a distinct inscription upon each. Not only in the similitude, but also in the teaching covered by the similitude, there is variety, progress, enlargement, discrimination. We have only need to read attentively to discover that in this trinity of …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871The Scattering of the People
[Illustration: (drop cap A) The Fish-god of Assyria and Babylonia] At last the full punishment for their many sins fell upon God's chosen people. The words of warning written in the fifth book of Moses had told them plainly that if they turned aside and worshipped the wicked idol-gods of Canaan, the Lord would take their country from them and drive them out into strange lands. Yet again and again they had yielded to temptation. And now the day of reckoning had come. Nebuchadnezzar, the great king …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making The Seed Growing Secretly.
"And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."--MARK iv. 26-29. This is the only parable that is peculiar to Mark. The subjects contained in …
William Arnot—The Parables of Our Lord The Comforts Belonging to Mourners
Having already presented to your view the dark side of the text, I shall now show you the light side, They shall be comforted'. Where observe: 1 Mourning goes before comfort as the lancing of a wound precedes the cure. The Antinomian talks of comfort, but cries down mourning for sin. He is like a foolish patient who, having a pill prescribed him, licks the sugar but throws away the pill. The libertine is all for joy and comfort. He licks the sugar but throws away the bitter pill of repentance. If …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 Death Swallowed up in victory
Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory! D eath, simply considered, is no more than the cessation of life --that which was once living, lives no longer. But it has been the general, perhaps the universal custom of mankind, to personify it. Imagination gives death a formidable appearance, arms it with a dart, sting or scythe, and represents it as an active, inexorable and invincible reality. In this view death is a great devourer; with his iron tongue …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Of the Necessity of Divine Influences to Produce Regeneration in the Soul.
Titus iii. 5, 6. Titus iii. 5, 6. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. IF my business were to explain and illustrate this scripture at large, it would yield an ample field for accurate criticism and useful discourse, and more especially would lead us into a variety of practical remarks, on which it would be pleasant …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration Introduction. Chapter i. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers.
St. Hilary of Poitiers is one of the greatest, yet least studied, of the Fathers of the Western Church. He has suffered thus, partly from a certain obscurity in his style of writing, partly from the difficulty of the thoughts which he attempted to convey. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. He learnt his theology, as we shall see, from Eastern authorities, and was not content to carry on and develop the traditional teaching of the West; and the disciple …
St. Hilary of Poitiers—The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Psalm 126:4 NIV
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