Hopeful Harvest
Scripture Reading — Psalm 126
Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.
Do you know the old gospel song “Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves”? That song was played often on the old TV series Little House on the Prairie. The show was set on the Midwestern plains of the United States, and the song lyrics make you think of fields of abundant grain. Those lyrics are based on Psalm 126, a psalm about hope.
In Psalm 126, a metaphor from farming is used to describe our lives of hope in the Lord. The psalm says, “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.”
After sowing with tears, a farmer might well despair of seeing any harvest at all, let alone a joyful harvest. But in the metaphor of this psalm, the sowers return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.
In our lives, we sometimes feel as if we are sowing with tears. We weep for ourselves, or for our families, or for our world. And yet God assures us that because he sent Jesus into the world, we will reap with songs of joy.
Our hope in Jesus Christ is that God has been faithful to his promises to save his people. Our tears can turn into songs of joy because of our hope of salvation through God’s love for us in Christ. “We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.”
God of promise, we lament the things in our own lives or in the lives of others that cause tears and pain. We cling to your promise of a future filled with joy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
About the author — Rebecca Jordan Heys
Rebecca Jordan Heys serves as a pastor at Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She and her husband, Kyle, are the parents of two children.
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