Psalm 126

This song is sung by the pilgrim in captivity.  It looks back on a captivity experience (v1) but also pleads for deliverance from a current captivity experience (v4).  Captivity is a situation where we find ourselves bound or limited, against our will, by someone or something else.  Israel was captive in Egypt and then in the Assyrian and Babylonian kingdoms.

We seldom speak of being in captivity.  In America we fought a war of independence so as not to be subject to any foreign power. Yet our souls are often captive to any number of powers.

1.             Multiplied troubles may hold us captive.  We have one trial, then another and another until we think nothing else can happen, but it does!  We feel trapped or overcome. 

2.             Spiritual depression may hold us captive. Our days are not merely blue, they are black.  We have no motivation, no friends (it seems).  We go to bed at night to get away from it, but awake to find its frightful yoke still around our necks.

3.             Miserable backsliding may hold us captive.  There may be a wrong we cannot escape.  It may be the disease of alcoholism, an addiction to pornography, or an obsession with our credit card.  But the disease, the addiction, and the obsession are slavery.  I am held and I have no power to break free.

4.             Grievous doubt may hold us captive.  Guilt for any of the above or for some past misdeed may overcome us.  We lack an optimism (hope) about tomorrow and have no confidence to live today.  There is no assurance about our relationship with our Creator.  This too is captivity.

Listen carefully: slavery is not something reserved for a few people that society labels sick or addicted.  When Jesus uttered those well known words, "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32), the crowd argued that they had never been held captive by anyone and didn't need freedom.  Jesus' answer was simple: Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin (v34).  That definition of captivity makes us all captive.

Finally, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, Who watches over the pilgrim can deliver the pilgrim from captivity so sorrow is replaced by singing and laughter (v1-3). Jesus says this deliverance involves being true disciples by abiding in His word (John 8:31).  This deliverance is for the one who seeks God (Ps. 126:4).

Songs of deliverance are common in the Bible. 

In Exodus 15 The Song of Moses and Miriam rejoiced in the deliverance from Egypt and it's multiplied troubles. 

In Judges 5 The Song of Deborah remembered deliverance from the Canaanites, the result of Israel's backsliding. 

In 2 Sam. 22 The Song of David recounted deliverance from David's enemies. 

In Rev. 15:3-4 The Song of Moses and the Lamb praises God for deliverance of the martyrs from the future antichrist.

In our Psalm the pilgrim begins by recalling a song (vs.1-3), the theme of which is: the Lord has done great things.  It is a joyful tune sung before the nations.  Forty years after Israel's deliverance from Egypt the people of Jericho knew about it and feared (Josh. 2:8-11).  Many years later the Philistines knew of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt and feared (1 Sam. 4:5-8).

What path must the pilgrim take for deliverance from captivity?

A.            It is a path of faith, v4.

In his captivity, his oppressive situation, the pilgrim cries out to the Lord.  He has not forgotten Who promised to be his help along the way (Ps. 121).  He realizes that the freedom he longs for will not be the result of his own effort; he has by now grown weary of this solution.  His deliverance will necessitate a work by God Who is greater than the captors. 

B.            It is a path of perseverance, v5-6.

Captivities are not quickly turned around; that's the nature of things.  We may live with a particular difficulty or temptation for years.  During that time our willingness to stay on the path of faith is tested.  So with the pilgrim!  But he trusts his Helper, and is getting to know Him better.  He is learning that his God is a God of grace Who will perfect, establish, strengthen and settle the pilgrim after he suffers (1 Pt. 5:10); a God Whose grace will be sufficient in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9); a God Who gives more grace to the humble as the difficulties increase (Jas. 4:6).  Perseverance means the pilgrim goes about his life, even with tears, with the conviction that those who sow in tears shall reap in joy (v5). 

Do you see why the pilgrim begins by recalling the past deliverance from captivity?  It encourages his faith to know that God has done this in the past.  He can believe that the Lord Who has done great things for them (v2) will do great things for us (v3).