Skip to main content

Do It Again!

 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.  Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. (Psalm 126.)

 

Today’s psalm focuses on anticipated blessing (hope) and joy. The Israelites been slaves in Egypt and in Babylon. When they returned home, it was a great joy them. They were free! They were home!

I relate better to the second half of the song, though mine isn’t as dramatic. The streams in the Negev spent part of the year dry. The rains would come, and they would swell, providing water for crops. Whether or not they had food depended on that rain. I live in modern America, where I can get all the water I want, if I pay for it. Otherwise, I also have to wait for the rain, and put out a rain barrel. It’s not nearly as dramatic, but I’m still one of those who tends to rejoice when it rains and get grumpy when we have clear blue skies for weeks on end.

In Peterson’s book Long Walk In The Same Direction, he uses the phrase, “Do it again, Lord!” as the feeling of the song. Just as the annual rains restore the Negev bless with harvest, bless us now. Just as You blessed us when You brought us out of this or that difficulty, bring us out now. And I realize that the things the psalmist was singing about are a whole lot more important, but it brings to mind the child’s sense of wonder and blessing as his father does something that delights the child. “Again! Do it again, Papa!”

With that in mind, He is doing it again with something that others may think tiny. I have tomato and marjoram seedlings! And the latter are tiny. My service berries are budding. I mulched my blueberries with spruce needles I found in my driveway. A number of herbs either survived the winter or seeded themselves. And all I can say is, “Yay God! Keep doing it again!”

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more