Psalms 126:2

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. THEN WAS OUR MOUTH FILLED WITH LAUGHTER, AND OUR TONGUE WITH SINGING - as Job's, notwithstanding his suffering for a time, was destined at last to be (). The future forms, in the Hebrew here, 'Then shall our mouth be filled ... then shall they say,' etc., are used in allusion to the future in Job; or else, as De Burgh thinks, they refer to the fulfillment, yet future and in the last days. THEN SAID THEY AMONG THE HEATHEN, THE LORD HATH DONE GREAT THINGS FOR THEM - from ....

2._Now shall our mouth be filled with laughter. _The adverb of time, אז, _az, _is commonly translated _then; _but as the verbs are in the future tense, I have thought that it might not be improper to translate tires — grow _shall our mouth be filled, _and _now shall they say. _If, however, we admit what some Hebrew Doctors affirm, that the force of this particle is to change the future tense into the past, the adverb _then _will be the appropriate word. The design of the Prophet is not at all obscure. He would have the people so to rejoice on account of their return, as not to bury in forgetfulness the grace of God. He therefore describes no ordinary rejoicing, but such as so fills their minds as to constrain them to break forth into extravagance of gesture and of voice. At the same time he intimates that there was good ground for this joy, in which it became the children of God to in

1-3 It is good to observe how God's deliverances of the church are for us, that we may rejoice in them. And how ought redemption from the wrath to come, from the power of sin and of Satan, to be valued! The sinner convinced of his guilt and danger, when by looking to a crucified Saviour he receives peace to his conscience, and power to break off his sins, often can scarcely believe that the prospect which opens to him is a reality....

Verse Psalms 126:2. _THEN WAS OUR MOUTH FILLED WITH LAUGHTER_] The same effect as was produced on the poor liberated Grecians mentioned above. _THEN SAID THEY AMONG THE HEATHEN_] The liberty now granted was brought about in so extraordinary a way, that the very _heathens_ saw that the hand of the great Jehovah must have been in it....

THEN WAS OUR MOUTH FILLED WITH LAUGHTER - Then were we happy; completely happy. See Job 8:21. AND OUR TONGUE WITH SINGING - We expressed our joy in songs - the natural expression of joy. Young converts - those “turned” from sin to God - sing. Their feelings find expression in the songs of Zion. This is natural; this is proper; this will occur when sinners are converted. An assemblage of young converts is always a happy assemblage; a place where there is a “revival” of religion is always a happy place - full of songs and singing. THEN SAID THEY AMONG THE HEATHEN - The nations; the people among whom they dwelt. THE LORD HATH DONE GREAT THINGS FOR THEM - In causing their return to their own land; in ordering the arrangements for it; in bringing

EXPOSITION This psalm seems to be a joint thanksgiving and complaint, composed soon after the return from the Captivity. It has been said to present an "enigmatical contrast" (Cheyne) in its two portions. But as the "complaint" is first subdued, and then merges into a joy-song (Psalms 126:5, Psalms 126:6), there is really no want of harmony in the composition. The double aspect of the Return—its "bitter-sweetness"—impressed itself upon the nation from an early date (see Ezr 3:9 -14). PSALMS 126:1 WHEN THE LORD TURNED AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF ZION; literally, _when the Lord turned again the returning of Zion_;_ i_._e_. "brought back those who r

THEN WAS OUR MOUTH FILLED WITH LAUGHTER,.... Who before mourned, and hung their harps on the willows, and could not sing the Lord's song in a strange land; but now, as their hearts were filled, with joy, this was externally and visibly seen in their countenances, and expressed with their mouths and by outward gestures; it was so great, they could not contain it, to which respect is had, Isaiah 35:10. It may be rendered, "then shall our mouth be filled with laughter" q; that is, when we awake, says Arama; or rather when the captivity is returned, either in a literal or in a spiritual sense, both being matter of great joy: the Midrash says, this will be in the world to come, and not in this; AND OUR TONGUE WITH SINGING; the praises of God, and the songs of Zion; THEN SAID THEY AMONG THE HEATHEN, THE LORD HATH DONE GREAT THINGS FOR THEM; it was taken noti

This is one of the «Songs of Degrees.» They are supposed to have been sung as the pilgrim caravan was going up to the temple at Jerusalem. Every time they halted and pitched their tents, they sang a Psalm. If carefully read, it will be found that these Psalms exhibit a real advance in experience. For instance, the keynote of the 125 th is stability, while that of the 126 th is joy, and especially joyful hope. Each one appears to advance a stage higher than the one that precedes it. Psalms 126:1. _When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream._ «It seemed too good to be true. We were in a delirium of joy: ‘We were like them that dream.' Our slumber had been profound; we thought that God had altogether forgotten us; but when we found that he was coming to our rescue, ‘we were like them that dream.'»...

PSALM 120-134 The Psalms of Degrees Fifteen brief Psalms follow, called songs of degrees, or, ascents. They were in all probability used by Israel going up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate the feasts of the Lord--”Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.” They are indeed Psalms of “the goings-up” for we rise higher and higher as we read through them. Prophetically they give us again the steps from trial and suffering to the glorious consummation. As they are so simple in language and construction no lengthy annotations are needed. Psalms 120:1 begins with distress, picturing again the suffering of the righteous godly remnant. In Psalms 121:1 the Keeper of Israel, the Covenant Keeping God, is revealed

CXXVI. COMFORT IN TEARS. An apparently easy and really very difficult Ps. According to the usual interpretation which is adopted in RV we have in Psalms 126:1 a picture of the joy felt when Cyrus permitted the Jews to settle in their own land. The time is that of 2 Is. and the reference to the restoration under Cyrus seems to be inevitable. But in Psalms 126:4 it is startling to find the poet praying for a restoration which had already taken place as if it were still in the future. To express this meaning in each place, he has the same phrase turning the captivity, on which see Psalms 14:7 and note. We get something like a consistent explanation by the following changes, not in the text, but the translation. (1) If Yahweh