The Lord has done great things...are we glad?

Psalm 126 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.

When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
² Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
³ The Lord has done great things for us;
We are glad.

⁴ Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South.
⁵ Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.
⁶ He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

We can see in many of the events and circumstances encountered by the Israelites, the one of Zion as the psalmist refers to them, spiritual applications to the physical experiences. This psalm is a song of thanksgiving for return from captivity. Under the old covenant the Israelites were responsible to live righteously according to the law. When they failed as a nation to follow God, several times He used other nations to take them captive so they might see and know the consequence of not following God and living instead under the oppression of a harsh unrighteous ruler.

Under the new covenant initiated by and through Christ, we too have been set free from the bonds of an evil oppressive ruler. At the beginning of Jesus ministry, after the temptation in the wilderness, we can read the declaration He makes in Luke 4:14-21

¹⁴ And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Just as the Israelites had suffered captivity and bondage as a result of their disobedience to God under the old covenant, so too are we in bondage to sin and darkness if we choose to live without Christ under the new covenant. In Romans 6:14-18, Paul says:        ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. ¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

The Israelites had a choice whether to live according to God’s law which was intended for their good or because of their rebellion to experience being enslaved by an oppressive ruler. Under the new covenant each person also has a choice whether to experience the freedom of living in Christ or to live in the bondage of sin. Those who choose to live without Christ wrongly believe that being Christ’s follower is bondage to rules and regulation. They choose instead to live for themselves, rejecting Christ and the freedom He offers. Jesus says:    "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:29-30)    Those who follow after their own ways and the wisdom of the world and worldly philosophies can’t understand or comprehend the truth that obedience to Christ is the only true path to freedom.

In 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, Paul explains it this way:     ¹⁸ For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,    “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”    ²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

May we who have been set free, from spiritual captivity, through the cross of Christ be as thankful as the psalmist and the Israelites,  who were set free from their physical captivity. May like them, our mouths be filled with laughter and our tongues with joyful shouting; Then we say among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for us; We are glad.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit I choose to live in obedience to You. Thank You Jesus that You were willing to be taken captive by unrighteous men and were nailed and bound to the cross. You were bound up in the darkness of the grave and death all so that I could live in freedom. The cross seems like foolishness to some, but I am thankful that it is the power of God to me. Thank You for freedom. By the Holy Spirit, may I be faithful to declare it joyfully to the nations.      Amen.