Dreams of Restoration

Psalm 126

Verse 1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.

We start a new psalm of ascent and this one is a bit unlike the others as it is from a time period that was after the exile. Though most of us have not been exiled from our homeland we can guess at the joy of coming back home.

When something is cherished and then taken away it can rip at our very core. We have all experienced that in one way or another. It may have been a job, loved one, home, relationship, physical ability or many other possibilities, but when it was taken away from us we mourned its loss. We had to adjust to life without it and at times learn how to manage without it.

For the people of God who were exiled part of that managing without was living in a place that didn’t acknowledge Jehovah as God. They were in a place where the gods that were worshiped had different worship practices than the God of Heaven. In fact some of their worship practices were things that God prohibited His people from practicing. Even things that God said were evil.

This exile lasted for 70 years. This meant some never made it back to their homeland and some were born while in the foreign land. A generation was being raised never having known the Promised Land. They could only dream of the things that the older generations told them. They would have heard stories of Solomon’s Temple, stories of festivals where all of the people would come to Jerusalem to worship God and the things He had done for them.

Of course the Jerusalem they were going back to was not the Jerusalem they had left. It needed restoring. The entire city was destroyed and after 70 years it wouldn’t look very good. If anything had been rebuilt it wouldn’t have been done by those who cherished the city as being the place where God met with His people. But those coming back had dreams of rebuilding. Dreams to make it all that God was worthy of. But that required knowing who God was and that was one of the reasons even those in exile needed to raise their children to know God.

Making It Personal

When is a time you felt torn from something that was cherished? Did that time of trial affect your relationship with God? What can you praise Him about from that time of loss?

Making It Personal Kids

Have you ever lost something that you held dear to your heart? Did you ask Jesus to help you with the pain? What is something good that came out of that pain?

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for bringing us back after the broken places of life. We worship You for bringing us out of the dark times and showing us the way back home to You. Give us wisdom to see You in every detail of our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.