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!”