Today's Meditation
Read Psalm 126
1When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
2Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
3The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
4Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.
6Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
As I mentioned yesterday, Psalms 120-134 are considered Songs of Ascent; spiritual songs from the psalms that the Hebrews used as prayers on their pilgrimages to Jerusalem or as they ascended Mt. Zion to worship God. I thought it might be good for us to use some of them between now and the time that we return to our own pilgrimage back to in-person, corporate worship at church.
If you look back through history, there have been groups of people/nations/tribes or races that have been persecuted for a long period of time, sometimes for centuries. They have endured hardship and distress. They have been through periods of genocide and annihilation. You would think that the more "advanced" we become, the more "civilized" we become, the less these types of things would happen. But, unfortunately, we haven't changed much. We still seek to destroy one another and to harm one another, to eradicate what we do not like or those of whom we do not approve. Those who know history well might criticize this comment (and for good reason, to a point). Often times these people have also done their own fair share of plundering and destruction, but not always. In essence, we do not treat one another well. And there have definitely been peoples who have been "marked" for persecution.
In this psalm, the Hebrews name their dream. They would love to have their fortunes restored to them. They have been exiled, they have been conquered, they have been persecuted, they have been through terrible times of genocide, in both ancient past and recent past. For them, it is a dream...a dream to have their sorrow turned to rejoicing.
We don't have far to look in our own country for another group to feel the same way. As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to show us their hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow to have their own dreams turn from sorrow to rejoicing, I'm hopeful that we can stand with them, listen to their stories, discover ways that we've been complacent, correct them and create a more equitable world for everyone.
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