Suffering Beyond Compare

 Luke 23:33

It is Good Friday as I write this, though it may be a different day when you read it.  Good Friday, the day we commemorate when Jesus was brutally abused and then crucified, all to pay the debt for our sins.  What exactly did Jesus go through on that day?  We read the Good Friday narratives in the Gospels, but they just say simple words, such as that He was flogged, carried His cross, and then was crucified.  No other details or descriptions were given.  Many of us have a crucifix hanging in our home and our church, and we have seen paintings of the crucifixion, but they are rather sanitized.  Several years ago I read a physician’s account of what exactly Jesus would have gone through during His crucifixion.  I would like to share some of that with you, along with my own thoughts, as we take a closer look, and meditate on what our Lord went through for each of us.

The suffering of Jesus on that first Good Friday really begins on the night before, when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Following the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples went to the Garden, and there He spent several hours in intense prayer.  Jesus knew what lay ahead of Him for the next approximately 18 hours.  He knew what unspeakable and terrible agony He would go through.  We read in the Gospels that Jesus prayed so intensely that His sweat became bloody (Luke 22:44).  Occurrences such as this, though quite rare, are medically verified.  It is called hematidrosis, and happens when someone is in such intense emotional distress that the tiny capillaries in the sweat glands break, mixing sweat with blood, often leaving the person physically weak.

Following Jesus’ arrest, He was roughly brought by the Temple guards to the High Priest and Sanhedrin.  After going through the mockery of a phony “trial”, Jesus was blindfolded, spat upon, and repeatedly slapped in the face (Luke 22:63-65).  These slaps were undoubtedly given full-force, though not quite a punch, as some of the Gospels indicate it was with the palm of the hand.  What made it even more traumatizing was being blindfolded when this happened.  Then the battered, bruised, and dehydrated, Jesus was sent to Pontius Pilate.

Neither Pilate nor King Herod thought Jesus was worthy of execution, but bowing to the pressure of the High Priest and Sanhedrin, Pilate ordered Jesus to be scourged and then crucified.  This is where the torture really began.  As bad as a whipping with a belt or even a horse whip would be, a Roman flogging was much, much worse.  First the victim would be stripped of clothing, and then tied by their hands to a post overhead.  The victim was then flogged with a scourge of rope and leather which was embedded with metal balls, bones, and spikes.  A strong Roman legionnaire would proceed to flog the victim, and would not show mercy.  This scourge would quickly tear through the skin, then the muscle, and often go down to the bone.  Flogging, alone, could and did often kill a person.  The Bible does not specify how many lashes Jesus was given.  The Law of Moses said no more than 40 were to be given (Deuteronomy 25:3), but these were Romans who wouldn’t have to follow that law.

Jesus was then dragged away, and the soldiers decided to have some cruel sport at His expense (Matthew 27:27-31).  Hearing that some had called Him a king, they crafted a crown made of thorny branches which they crushed down upon His head.  Though the type of plant that was used is not specified, some believe it to be the euphorbia milii, which has very long, sharp thorns.  Wounds to the head often cause a lot of bleeding, so this would have shed even more of Jesus’ Blood.  They also gave Him a rod as a “scepter”, which they beat Him with, and wrapped a scarlet cloak around Him as a “robe”.  When they removed the cloak, it would have begun to cling to the blood clots from the scourging, and removing it would have been painful, just like removing a surgical bandage without care.

Following this treatment, Jesus was then made to carry His cross to the execution site of Calvary, also called Golgotha.  Often the victim would only carry the crossbeam, which was easily at least 100 lbs.  This was laid upon Jesus’ back and shoulders, already ripped open during the flogging.  Weak from the abuse, loss of blood and bodily fluids, along with dehydration, Jesus stumbled multiple times, until they called on Simon of Cyrene to help carry the cross (Luke 23:26).  When they arrived at Golgotha, the soldiers attempted to give Him wine mixed with pain killing drugs, but Jesus refused it (Mark 15:23).  Jesus would take the full punishment for our sins, with nothing to dilute or diminish it.

Jesus was thrown down onto the cross where His hands and feet were nailed to the wood with large stakes.  When the cross was raised, the weight of His body pulled upon the nails in his hands, actually wrists, and the pain would increase.  In order to alleviate the pain, crucified victims would try to push themselves upward, then putting weight on the nail through the feet.  That would then, likewise, put terrible pain on the feet.  Repeating this would bring cramps to the muscles of arms and legs, inhibiting the movement.  Air could be brought into the lungs, but not exhaled.  Carbon dioxide would build up in the lungs and bloodstream, and the cramps would partially subside, then allowing the victim to shift his weight and exhale.

This cycle would continue over and over, and slowly the pericardium (membrane sac that encloses the heart) would fill with serum and compress the heart.  The heart would struggle to beat and the lungs struggle to gasp air.  The soldiers would often try to end this cycle after a number of hours, because sometimes death could take many hours or even days to occur.  They would break the legs of the victims so they could not move to relieve pressure and achieve a breath.  However, when the soldiers came to Jesus, they found He was already dead.  The soldier then took his lance and drove it between ribs, through the pericardium, and into His heart, bringing forth a water-like fluid and blood (John 19:34).  Jesus did not die from the usual suffocation that crucifixion victims usually die from, but instead from heart failure due to shock and the constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.

This was a gruesome tortuous death that the Lord endured for us, in atonement for our sins.  What the religious leaders and the soldiers thought was the end, was not the end of the story.  As a preacher once said, “It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming!”

Our Sin Debt Is Paid

Hebrews 10:1-23

A debt is owed, and payment must be made.  A wrong has been committed, and punishment must be given.  Sometimes the debt or wrong done is not too much, and can quickly be taken care of.  Other times it is a larger debt or crime committed, and to pay that off might take months or even years to accomplish.  Then there is a debt, a penalty which is so high that it is impossible to pay, but which, even so, must be paid.  We might think that we are good and responsible people, we would never get into such trouble.  However, I’m here to say that we, each one of us, already have.  We each have a sin-debt that we owe, and which we have no humanly way possible to pay, but which must be paid.  What are we to do, then?  Our Scripture today will give us an answer.

Each one of us has sinned.  I have, and you have.  Even if we have never murdered, committed adultery, or stolen anything, we have each told lies, and likely have had unkind thoughts towards others.  They are sins, and any sin will keep one out of heaven because God is all holy.  A holy God cannot have sin in His presence.  As the Bible tells us, the wages or penalty of sin is death, eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23).  The payment for sin is the shedding of blood, for without that there can be no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).  However our blood is tainted with sin.  What can we do?

In the days of the Old Testament, the Law of Moses required that people bring an animal sacrifice to the Temple for their sins.  That was done repeatedly, year after year, because that sacrifice was insufficient.  The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin (vs. 4).  This ritual was a shadow, pointing to what was to come with the ultimate sacrifice of the Messiah, Jesus.  The Law and the priests were not created to be a solution to the problem of sin, but only a shadow of what was to come.  They temporarily atoned for sin, but they didn’t prevent it.

Our sin debt is still owed, and we still have no way to pay it.  But look!  As we continue to read in our Scripture we see that the Lord Jesus came into the world to pay that debt, to offer Himself as the sacrifice (vs. 5-10).  He had no sin in Himself to atone for, His Blood was not tainted with sin.  Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all, unlike the repeated sacrifices of the Old Testament.  Through His obedience to the Father by offering Himself, all who believe in Him are sanctified and perfected.  Jesus died at Calvary to pay the price of every sin.  As believers, our sins are thrown into the deepest sea, never to be remembered (Micah 7:19).  We are blessed by God’s gift of mercy, which allows us to place our sin into the cleansing pool of Christ’s righteousness, so that we emerge sanctified by His holiness.

Through trusting in what Jesus has done on our behalf, we can find forgiveness and the power of God to resist sin (vs. 14-16).  We have been moved from death to life by Jesus’ sacrifice.  Now we are no longer viewed by God as sinful, but as His redeemed children.  We have been completely forgiven (vs. 17-18).  That does not mean that we will never sin again, but it is an assurance that those sins are covered once and for all by Jesus.

As we conclude our Scripture, we have a call for all believers to approach God’s throne with boldness, not shame (vs. 19-23).  Our status before Him is secure through the cleansing work of our spotless High Priest.  True holiness is not a matter of physical appearance, but of being “clothed” with righteousness.  This is only possible if we clothe ourselves with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which happens when we accept Him as our personal Savior.  We can come into God’s presence with confidence if we draw near through the Blood of Jesus.

In closing, we can rest, knowing that our debt has been paid, our penalty covered, through the shed Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  If you haven’t already, I pray that you would ask Jesus to be your personal Savior, and apply His Blood to yourself.  Then you will have access to the Father, and may come into His presence through Jesus.

A Prophetic Psalm

Psalm 69:1-24

As we continue in Holy Week, and we draw closer to Good Friday, we often look into various Scriptures that speak of Jesus’ sacrificial death for us.  Naturally we read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, and sections of the Prophets, especially Isaiah.  Several of the Psalms have prophecies and allusions to Jesus’ death, Psalm 22 being one most people think of.  Our psalm for this week, Psalm 69, is a less familiar psalm to many, but which also contains some prophecies of what Jesus went through when He died for our sins.  Let’s look into today’s psalm.

Psalm 69 was one of the 73 psalms that King David wrote throughout his life.  As we know, he went through many difficult periods in his life, spending many of his young adult years fleeing for his life from King Saul.  Then there were his wars against enemy nations, and then the attempted coup of his son Absalom.  Many of his psalms reflect these difficult times, including this psalm, and several verses are prophetic of the Lord Jesus.

As our psalm opens David reflect4r on what he went through, and how sometimes it felt like he was drowning in his troubles (vs. 1-2).  His distress was overwhelming, but he also knew where to turn.  He had cried so many tears that he felt dried out (vs. 3).  David felt that the enemies that he had were so numerous, they were more than the number of his hairs, and that they had no good reason to come against him (vs. 4).   However, rather than succumbing to the trials, or turning to someone or something that cannot help, David turned to the Lord for refuge and help.

As we look at the life of the Lord Jesus, we see that verse 4 relates to His years of ministry, especially at His arrest, mock trial, and crucifixion (John 15:25).   The Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, and other religious leaders opposed Jesus all throughout His ministry, though they had no just cause.  They did not like that He didn’t follow all the man-made religious traditions, and resented His popularity.  After His arrest there was no one who stood up for Jesus’ defense.

David continued in his psalm and told of how he endured reproaches from people for his stand and dedication to living for the Lord, and how even members of his own family turned against him (vs. 7-8).   Jesus also went through this, when He was rejected by the people of His hometown of Nazareth when He came to preach and minister to them, and also by His own physical family.  The Gospel of John relates this, that His own people did not receive Him, either the people of Nazareth specifically, or the Jewish people in general (John 1:11).  The other Gospels record instances when His own relatives did not believe Him (Mark 3:21).

We see another specific prophecy in this psalm that was fulfilled by the Lord Jesus found in verse 9.  The Gospel writers related this verse to when Jesus drove out the money changers and those who sold sacrificial animals from the grounds of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Jesus did this twice, once at the start of His ministry which we read of in John 2:13-16, and then once again during the last week of His life, shortly before Good Friday, recorded in Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; and Luke 19:45-48.  This action of Jesus showed His passion for God's holiness and worship.

Further on in this psalm we see another prophecy that was fulfilled while Jesus hung on the cross, and that is in verse 21.  While Jesus hung on the cross, He was very thirsty.  He had not had anything to drink at all since the Last Supper meal the night before.  Enduring all of the torture of the day, now hanging on the cross to die, Jesus was thirsty.  Yet what they offered was not water, but old wine that had turned to vinegar that was laced with a narcotic-like substance called gall.  The soldiers often gave the drugged drink to the crucified to dull the pain.  However when Jesus tasted it He refused it, as He would endure the full penalty for our sins (Matthew 27:34).

As our Scripture passage comes to an end, David spoke some harsh words against the enemies of God (vs. 22-24).   However, the Apostle Paul echoed verses 22 and 23 in his Epistle to the Romans, applying them to those who reject the Gospel of the Lord Jesus (Romans 11:9-10).

As we conclude this psalm, one which contains some prophecies fulfilled by the Lord Jesus, both at the time of the crucifixion and earlier, we see the depth of His suffering, and also His unwavering commitment to God’s will.  We are reminded of God’s faithfulness to us in times of our despair, and the hope that we have through the Lord Jesus of redemption to all who place their faith and trust in Him.

The Suffering Servant

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

As we begin Holy Week, that week prior to the celebration of Resurrection Sunday, a week where we remember the suffering that the Lord Jesus went through for our salvation, let us start off by looking at one of the clearest Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah which were clearly fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  This is a portion of prophecy given by God to the prophet Isaiah, and has been referred to as the Suffering Servant prophecy.

Our Scripture from Isaiah begins with the prophet introducing this Servant.  He is shown as someone who will act wisely, and be exalted and lifted up.  However, He is also shown as someone who is quite disfigured due to the suffering He is called upon to endure (52:13-15).  This Suffering Servant is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He showed wisdom all throughout His life and ministry, as He is Wisdom itself.  And He has been exalted and extolled, far above all, but first He had to suffer terribly in order to obtain our salvation.

We read that His “visage was marred” (52:14).  Have you ever seen someone who has been very badly beaten up?  Most of us haven’t in actual real life, unless one works in a hospital emergency room, however most of us have seen something like that on TV or in the movies.  Their face and looks are horribly disfigured.  When the Temple guards and officers of the chief priests and Pharisees arrested Jesus, He was terribly abused and beaten by the time He stood before Pilate.  But He endured that, knowing the joy that was set before Him at His resurrection and ascension (Hebrews 12:2).

The Servant was despised, rejected, and acquainted with grief (53:1-3).  As Jesus stood before the crowds when Pilate asked the people if they wanted either Jesus or Barabbas to be released, the crowd shouted back that they did not want Jesus.  They rejected Him (Matthew 27:15-25).  After having been beaten, flogged by soldiers, not having had anything to drink, “there was no beauty that we should desire Him.”

Isaiah continues by showing that this Servant was a subtitutionary sacrifice (53:4-6).  As we read, He bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, was wounded for our transgressions, was bruised for our iniquities, was chastised for our peace, and by His stripes (the wounds left by the flogging), we are healed.  We receive salvation if we personally accept this for ourselves.  This was all done for us.  Jesus had no transgressions or iniquities of His own.  Instead, God laid upon Him all of our iniquity.  Jesus died in place of sinners, in our place.  Because of that, we can be set free from Satan’s strongholds.

We continue to read how the Suffering Servant was silent and did not fight back throughout all the brutality He endured (53:7).  Isaiah compared Him to a lamb being led to the slaughter.  This is fitting, as one of the Names given to the Lord Jesus is “Lamb of God” (John 1:29).  Jesus didn’t try to escape from the agony and shame that faced Him when He was led to the cross.  Instead, He went willingly, silently, with no verbal retorts to those who mocked and jeered.  How many of us would be like the Savior?  Even someone who is naturally quiet, like myself, would likely yell out and try to fight or escape.

After the Servant’s unjust condemnation, He was led away to be executed with “the wicked” (53:8-9).  We see that fulfilled when Jesus was condemned to be crucified, which was the form of execution given to criminals in the Roman Empire.  At Calvary, Jesus was crucified between two thieves.  If it wasn’t for the love and kindness of St. Joseph of Arimathea, His dead body might have been buried in a common mass grave used for criminals.  However, Joseph, a wealthy man, allowed Jesus to be buried in the nice garden tomb he had planned for himself (Matthew 27:57-60).

As our Scripture ends, Isaiah describes how, despite His suffering, the Servant’s life is prolonged, and He sees His offspring, men and women who have come to salvation (53:10-12).  Jesus’ sacrifice justifies many, and He is rewarded.  Jesus thought of us when He was walking towards the cross.  He still thinks of us, now that His suffering, death, and resurrection are accomplished.  When He looks at a born-again Christian, Jesus sees His offspring, the child He has given His life for.  We are the result of the anguish of His soul, and He is satisfied.

The Wicked Vineyard Workers

Luke 20:9-19

Jesus told a lot of parables during His time on earth.  Many of those parables make us feel good when we hear them, parables such as the one we just looked into last week, the parable of The Prodigal Son, along with the parables of the Good Samaritan, and the Lost Sheep.  Some make us think, such as the parable of The Sower and the Seed.  However, a few of His parables make us uncomfortable.  Some people may not even like them at all, and would like to omit them from the Bible.  Today’s parable is one that does make some people uncomfortable.  It did back in Jesus’ day, and still does today for some.  Let’s see what Jesus was instructing the people that day.

Earlier in the week Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem upon a donkey, while the crowds cheered and waved palm branches.  The Pharisees and other religious leaders were at a fevered pitch, filled with hate towards Jesus, and they wanted to bring Him down.  Jesus has only a few days left to live, and on one of those final days He gave one of His last public teachings to the crowds.  As was frequently the case, there were plenty of Pharisees in the crowd making note of everything Jesus said.  He begins to tell the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers.

The parable tells of the owner of a vineyard who traveled to a far country after leasing the vineyard to workers.  At the appointed time, the owner sent a servant to collect the fruit.  Yet, instead of giving the servant what belonged to the owner, they beat the servant up (vs. 9-12).  This happened several times, with them beating up each servant that was sent, until the owner decided to send his son, who he thought they would respect.  However, they not only did not respect the owner’s son, they took him outside the vineyard and killed him (vs. 13-15).

At the close of the parable, Jesus asked the crowds what the owner should do to these workers.  When no one answered, Jesus told them that the owner would destroy those workers and lease the vineyard to other workers who would now work the vines. The Pharisees answered that should not happen, as they know that He told the parable referring to them (vs. 15-16).  Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22, and predicted what would happen to those who did not accept the Lord’s Messiah, the Cornerstone (vs. 17-18), the foundation upon which the Church is built.

In this parable, the owner of the vineyard was God, the workers were the people of Israel, and the servants were the many prophets God sent.  God had given the people of Israel His truth and His Word, which they were to believe themselves, and share with the world.  God repeatedly sent the prophets to try and get the people back on track, but instead they were rejected, badly treated, and some even killed.  The fact that God had repeatedly sent His messengers over and over again shows God’s patience with Israel, despite their disobedience and rejection of Him.  However, God’s authority is unshakeable, and His plan will ultimately prevail.

The son that the owner sent represents the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom He sent into the world to redeem mankind.  He is the Messiah that the workers, the Jewish leaders would reject and crucify.  Because of the workers' treatment of the owner, the servants he sent, and especially the son, the owner would destroy those workers, and lease the vineyard to new workers.  This pictured God’s judgment on unfaithful Israel, and His inclusion of the Gentiles into the plan of salvation.  Jesus told this parable as one last outreach to the people, yet within a few short days the religious leaders would reject Him and His authority, leading to their condemnation.

In addition to this parable being a picture of what happened to both the people of Israel, the Gentiles, and the Church, there are some things we can learn for our own lives today.  Like the vineyard workers, believers today are entrusted with responsibilities to bear fruit for God.  Rejecting His authority, both back then and today, will lead to judgment.  Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone, and He must be the foundation for our faith and our life.  If someone rejects Jesus, they reject salvation itself.

Forget The Past And Look Forward

Philippians 3:8-14

How many of us like to dwell on things that happened in our past?  We either like to crow about our past achievements, and how great they were, or we get down and discouraged about past mistakes and failures.  Either way, we are stuck in the past, not the present.  That could have been a problem for St. Paul, too, if he would have let himself.  However, he didn’t, as we see in our Scripture passage today from his letter to the Philippians.

The Apostle Paul had a past.  Some of his achievements people might feel he could be proud of, other things he did, perhaps not so much so.  As a youth, Paul studied with the greatest Jewish scholar of the day, Gamaliel.  He was undoubtedly a good student, and became a scholar in his own right.  Paul became a Pharisee, and zealously kept the Old Testament Law.  That was something that some might say he could be proud of.  However, after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, when the early Church was beginning to be established, Paul, in his zealotry for the Jewish faith, persecuted the new believers.  He went so far as to track them down, arrest them, and see that they would be put to death.  That was something that after he became a Christian, he could get really depressed and discouraged about.  What did Paul think about either one?  Let’s look at what he said.

As our Scripture begins, Paul told how, instead of bragging about his background, his excellent education, and his life as a devout Pharisee, he said that he counted this all as loss, something not worth keeping, something that he considered as rubbish (vs. 8).  What he did consider gain was his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  When eternity came, Paul wanted to be found in Jesus.  He knew that his salvation wouldn’t be gained through his own righteousness, any good works or adherence to the Law, but through his faith in the Lord Jesus and His righteousness (vs. 9).  What Paul will boast of is the power of Jesus’ resurrection, and what he has gained spiritually through Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross.  These, and not anything that Paul could have done himself, would lead him to gain the resurrection of the dead (vs. 10-11).

In addition to not bragging about some things that many people would have felt was justifiable, Paul also was not going to be brought low due to discouragement or depression for past deeds that he was ashamed of, namely his persecution of early Christians.  Paul knew that he wasn’t perfect or attained perfection  (vs. 12-13), however he would press on in his Christian life.

Like Paul, each of us have sins of our past that we may feel bad about, some more grievous than others.  Sometimes we feel so bad or ashamed of these sins, we have not told anyone about them.  However, in addition to God knowing about them, Satan knows, as well, and he will do everything he can to use those sins to bring us down into the depths of depression about them if he can.  If he can, the devil will try to get us so discouraged that we give up doing any type of work or ministry for the Lord.  He certainly tried to with the Apostle Paul.  The apostle, though, wasn’t going to fall into Satan’s trap.

Instead of getting depressed or discouraged over his sins, Paul knew that the Lord Jesus had forgiven him of all of his sins, and he was going to forget the things of his past, things that were behind him (vs. 13).  Instead, Paul was going to press forward to his goal of the calling that God had given him (vs. 14).  Like Paul, once we have come to the Lord for salvation, we need to remember that He has then forgiven our sins, and we should not listen to the devil or any other person tell us otherwise, or try to make us continually feel bad about our past.  We need to believe what God says about us over what everyone else says.  Stop listening to those who say that you cannot do anything for God because of something in your past.

While it is wise to learn from our past, we shouldn’t live in that past.  We cannot redo or undo our past mistakes, but by God’s grace we can press forward and serve God faithfully today and in the future.  Someone once said “Don’t stumble on something behind you.”  We usually stumble on things in front of us.  But we can get derailed by focusing too much on the past, which prevents us from living our lives fully as God intends.

In closing, we should take the example of two national animals native to Australia, the emu and kangaroo.  In addition to being two animals that are native to that country, they also share one other characteristic.  It is nearly physically impossible for either animal to move backward without turning around.  Us humans can easily walk backwards, and most other animals can be trained to walk backwards, as well.  Let’s not dwell on our past achievements or past sins, but instead, like the kangaroo and emu, let’s look forward, keeping our eyes on the Lord Jesus.

Joy In Our Deliverance

Psalm 126

In my last posting, looking into the Book of Isaiah we looked at going through extremely difficult times, times when we can’t find a way out, and the Lord bringing us deliverance.  Today’s Scripture, from the Book of Psalms, brings a song of praise following just such a deliverance.  Let’s take a quick look at this Scripture which in some ways could be a follow-up to our previous study.

Psalm 126 is one of the fifteen psalms (Psalms 120-134) called the Songs of Ascent, short psalms that pilgrims and travelers to Jerusalem would recite as they made their way to the capital city and the Temple there.  They were called songs of ascent due to the topography of the land there, Jerusalem being built on a high hill.  Any traveler to the city, coming from any direction, would be making a steep climb in elevation.

Today’s psalm was most likely written to express the joy of the people of Israel following their return to the Promised Land following the years of the Babylonian captivity.  The people of Israel had spent approximately seventy years away from their homeland, brought as captives hundreds of miles east into Babylon.  Now the children and grandchildren, and perhaps some of the original captives, were returning to their homeland!  It was like a dream for them, something that they felt would never have happened! (vs. 1).  They are laughing and singing for joy (vs. 2).  They proclaim their praises that the Lord has done great things for them!

When something wonderful happens to us, we don’t just keep it to ourselves.  No, we tell our friends and neighbors.  We let everyone we can think of know the good news.  We tell everyone, especially if it is some blessing that the Lord bestowed upon us, a blessing that perhaps we didn’t even see coming.  The people, upon their return to their homeland, wanted to proclaim to all the surrounding nations what great and wonderful things Yahweh had done for them (vs. 2-3).  Their joy served as a witness to God’s glory and power.  It showed to all that He is a sovereign God, and that He will always keep His covenant promises to redeem His people.

As the psalm continues, the people pray to the Lord for continued restoration (vs. 4).  God had delivered them from the Babylonian captivity, but they acknowledge that it is only through His power and mercy that they will stay free.  There is physical captivity, and sometimes people are sadly, tragically caught in that.  There is also captivity to sin, to bad habits, to addictions, and any other thing.  We need the Lord to bring us out of that captivity.  We need His salvation.

The psalm concludes with the idea of going out in tears, but returning with joy (vs. 5-6).  The children of Israel had been taken captive into Babylon in tears of misery and sorrow, and spent the next seventy years there in wretchedness and anguish.  Their prayers for deliverance were mingled with their tears.  The Lord God heard their prayers, and He honored His promises.  The people returned home, reaping their blessings with joy.

How often do we bring our prayers for so many things to God with tears of sadness and distress?  We may sow those prayers in tears, but there will come a day when we will reap a harvest with joy!  We can trust in the sovereignty of God.  Just as He restored Israel, He will remain faithful to His promises today.  Because of that, we should share with others the joy of His salvation, and testify to them of God’s goodness.

We should not always dwell on the dark side of everything, and the bad things we have gone through. Instead, praise God for bringing us out of the horrible pit and miry clay, and setting us on a Rock (Psalm 40:2).  The Lord has brought us to a place of abundance (Psalm 66:12).  The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God should be, who has led us through them all, and preserved us to today.