SERIES: Songs of Ascents
TEXT: Psalm 126
MESSAGE: “The Already and Not-Yet Kingdom”
“In my 20s I really bought into it, reading copious self-help books, consulting with psychics, attending new-age workshops. I sought to “become a whole person,” as though that were some kind of finite destination one could arrive at and then remain there… I’ve sought to fulfill my longing for something bigger than myself — something, I will call a higher power — through a particular feeling. I’ve wanted a higher power to provide that same narcotic delight one feels in the early stages of a relationship. In those rare white-light moments when I have felt a holy bliss, I’ve quickly purchased a candle or crystal, hoping to pocket the feeling. Unfortunately, that feeling cannot be contained in an object any more than it can be pinned down to one human being.”
– Melissa Broder, New York Times
Through our text, how can we look to God to restore our hearts? It’s by 3 ways. Through…
1. Looking back (v1 – 3)
2. Looking here (v4)
3. Looking forward (v5 – 6)
Looking back (v1 – 3)
“Whatever Saul asked David to do, David did it successfully. So Saul made him a commander over the men of war, an appointment that was welcomed by the people and Saul’s officers alike. When the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul. They sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals.”
– 1 Samuel 18:5 – 6
Looking here (v4)
“It would be like a dramatic transformation. And if the Lord sends the rain, the desert can be transformed into a place of grass, flowers, and fruit overnight.”
– Derek Kidner
Looking here (v4)
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
– John 7:38
Looking here (v4)
“You don’t just get a single drink, but you get a spring, a fountain, a well. You get Jesus. Rivers of water will flow because a River-Maker is in you. That’s the point. You will never have to search again for a source of satisfaction for your soul. Every river that needs to flow for the joy of your soul will flow from Jesus. When you come to him, you get him. And he never leaves.”
– John Piper
Looking forward (v5 – 6)
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, fif we do not give up.”
– Galatians 6:7 – 9
Looking forward (v5 – 6)
“Until you have cried, you don’t know God.”
– St. Ephrem
Looking forward (v5 – 6)
“And it seemed to her that morning, as she ran, almost as if the whole world had been made anew, almost as if the whole world was singing for joy—the trees, tiny sounds in the grass, the birds . . . her heart. Was God really making everything sad come untrue? Was he making even death come untrue? She couldn’t wait to tell Jesus’ friends. ‘They won’t believe it!’ she laughed.”
– Sally Lloyd-Jones, “The Jesus Storybook Bible”
Looking forward (v5 – 6)
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.”
– Psalm 34:17 – 22