two pictures of restoration

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like streams in the Negeb!

Those who sow in tears

shall reap with shouts of joy!

Psalm 126:4-5

God restores with a clear new difference that changes everything. The two poetic images that stand out in these two verses remind us that God brings dramatic change when we are broken and hurting… if we will patiently endure.

The first image evokes needed refreshment and renewal. New streams flow through a desert landscape. Cool flowing waters in the wasteland are a precious, life-giving supply. God, in restoring us, is that pleasant surprise! He waters what was once dry. He revives a thirsty soul. He quenches our deepest needs with cool, clear, sustaining waters of grace and mercy. And beside the streams of His renewal, supplied miraculously in the desert, we can thrive by His sustaining presence! O God, I thank You for such streams that have come to me in my desert. The landscape now blooms with Your gracious supply to me. Jesus gave this to me by giving His life so that my life is made new.

The second image is of a harvest of joy. But the seeds of sorrow are first sown. This image reminds us that there are seasons where we sow in our sadness and loss. It hurts. And then we must wait for what may feel like a long time. We plant seeds of grief, watered by our tears and desperate prayers. God, Who is beside us all the time as we have sown and as we wait, then brings about an abundant harvest of unfathomable joy. He transforms by His restorative work our pain into praise, our sorrow into joy, our grief into rejoicing! God, this harvest I am now starting to see brought into my life, is clearly Your work alone. I planted painfully the seeds of sorrow. I am amazed at the new joy Your mercies have brought to me. It has been worth the wait. And with shouts of joy, I worship the God Who is faithful to restore with a new harvest to me.