Restoration: both joy and tears

…the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD:

“‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts,

for the LORD is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!’

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the LORD.

Jeremiah 33:11

When God restores, there is an experience of new joy. It does not however erase the memories of the hardships of sin or suffering. But it brings a perspective BEYOND the pain that brings joy to the work that only God can do when He restores. And the words used to describe how God’s people would feel post-exile are very instructive.

Look at the list: mirth, gladness, joyful expressions from bridegrooms and brides, singing, thankful offerings… all used to describe a new joy in restoration. And then there is spontaneous worship as God restores their broken lives: “Give thanks! God is good! His steadfast love endures forever!” The emotions of joy and the actions of praises will accompany restoration, even as memories of hardship stay in mind.

So what historically happened when God eventually brought the people back into their land? The books of Ezra and Nehemiah record it specifically from the perspective of those who returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the city walls. It was bittersweet. Ezra 3:12-13 record that when the new temple foundation was laid, memories of the old temple and its loss mix with rejoicing in the new:

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

 

The shouts of joy mixed with loud weeping in one wild emotional mix as the people worshiped. It is important to know this: both the memories of the old losses and old tears of sadness mix with the joyful new thing and new tears of joy and extreme thankfulness! Both of those things give us tears. God mixes new tears and old when He restores. It’s OK to be a joyous mess when God restores!