Psalms 126:3

The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. THE LORD HATH DONS GREAT THINGS FOR US; (WHEREOF) WE ARE GLAD. And certainly what they say is true: we acknowledge and are glad of the great benefits which the Lord hath conferred on us....

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 126:3. _THE LORD HATH DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US_] We acknowledge the hand of our God. _Deus nobis haec otia fecit_, "God alone has given us this enlargement." _WE ARE GLAD._] This is a mere burst of ecstatic joy. O how happy are we!...

THE LORD HATH DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US - All that the people around us say is true. We see it; we feel it; we acknowledge it. Those to whom this pertained would see it more clearly than those who had merely observed it. A surrounding world may see in the conversion of a man, in his being turned from sin, in the influence of religion upon him, in his comfort, calmness, and peace, that “the Lord has done great things” for him; but he himself, while he responds most fully to what they say, will see this more clearly than they do. There is more in his redemption, his conversion, his peace and joy, than they do or can perceive, and with emphasis he himself will say, “The Lord has done great things for me.” WHEREOF WE ARE GLAD - It fills our souls with joy. If this is understood of the returning Hebrews - coming back from the captivity in Babylon - all must see how appropriate is the language;...

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

THE LORD HATH DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US,.... These words are generally supposed to be the words of the Jews, taking up those of the Gentiles, and confirming them; acknowledging that the Lord had done great things for them indeed; which, had they not owned, they would have been exceeding ungrateful; had they been silent concerning them, the stones would have cried out, and the very Heathens condemned them. But I see not why they may not be thought to be the words of those among the Heathens continued; declaring that the great things done were not for the Jews only, but for them also; as the great redemption by Christ is of persons out of every tongue, people, and nation; for he is the propitiation, not for the Jews only, but for the sins of the whole world; and having this in view, thus they express themselves. The work of redemption is a great thing of itself; the produce of great wisdom;...

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

DISCOURSE: 719 DELIVERANCE FROM SPIRITUAL BONDAGE ACKNOWLEDGED Psalms 126:1. _When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. 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. The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south._ THE great body of the Psalms was composed by David: but some were written many hundred years before his time, as the 90th was by Moses; and others many hundred years after him, as that before us, which was evidently written after the Babylonish captivity. It relates in the first instance to the delivery of Israel from their sore bondage, and their restoration to their long desolated country: but it is well applicable to that redemption which is vouc