Series: Honest to God
A Joy Learned
June 25, 2017 | Bob Kerrey
Passage: Psalms 126:1-6
Big Idea: Joy is found in the middle
Text:
A song of ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
4 Restore our fortunes, Lord,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
Series Information
Hide. Run. Withdraw. Shut down. Clam up. Fall back on clichés. Fake it. It’s what we tend to do in our relationship with God when things aren’t going well-when we’re bothered by injustice, faced with failure, plagued with doubts, oppressed by illness, dogged by a depressing darkness in our souls.
If you were a good person, you wouldn’t feel this way, right? Must be something uniquely and irreparably wrong with you, right? Better hide that internal mess so nobody finds out, right?
Wrong! In the Psalms we find followers of God--some of them Bible heroes--variously and openly struggling with anger and doubts and questions and disillusionment. They don’t stuff it; they sing about it. And sometimes there’s cursing involved. Far from hiding this kind of thing in the fine print, it’s smack dab in the middle of the Bible, showing us how to be honest, authentic, real--and liberated by it. How refreshing! Join us as we study the Psalms.
