Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 1, Psalm 126 - King James Version (2024)

FAQs

What is the meaning of psalm 126:1? ›

Psalm 126 is a community song of trust or confidence that skillfully employs metaphor to proclaim God as the one who brings joy out of sorrow, laughter out of tears, and good out of evil. To begin with, the opening idiom, “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,” has caused problems in interpretation.

When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, We were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing: Then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. The LORD hath done great things for us; Whereof we are glad.

King James Version

When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.

Psalm 126 1

When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. 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." The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

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.

God's people weep as they sow, but they will reap in joy. As a Christian, you are to sow the seed of the Word of God by sowing good deeds, truth and His love. You plant the seed that produces the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Crying out to God is an admission of one's coming to the end of self and placing hope in God alone. The psalmist declared, “In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears” (Psalm 18:6).

A refined meaning of this phrase has been seen to say that those that are quiet or nullified will one day inherit the world. Meek in the Greek literature of the period most often meant gentle or soft.

Every tear we shed is precious to Him. Not one single tear is missed by our Heavenly Father. He knows, remembers, and understands. It's ok if your only prayer is tears because that is more than enough.

Though Babylon be not mentioned here (as it is, Ps 137.) yet their captivity there was the most remarkable captivity both in itself and as their return out of it was typical of our redemption by Christ. Probably this psalm was penned by Ezra, or some of the prophets that came up with the first.

Who is Zion referring to in the Bible? ›

In the Hebrew Bible, the Land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem are both referred to as Zion. Other religions use the word Zion to mean "utopia" or "holy place."

Some scholars believe that the name also belonged to the “stronghold of Zion” taken by David (2 Samuel 5:7), which may have been the fortress of the city. The Jewish historian Josephus, in the 1st century ce, identified Zion with the western hill of Jerusalem, where most of the city lay in his day.

Easton's Bible Dictionary - Captive

Captive [N] [S] one taken in war. Captives were often treated with great cruelty and indignity ( 1 Kings 20:32 ; Joshua 10:24 ; Judges 1:7 ; 2 Sam. 4:12 ; Judges 8:7 ; 2 Sam 12:31 ; 1 Chronicles 20:3 ).

When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us, And we are glad.

When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, We were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing: Then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. The LORD hath done great things for us; Whereof we are glad.

This story teaches us that doubt is not a bad thing. It is a human thing. We will have doubts, but what we do with the doubt counts. If it makes us desperate to search for Jesus and pray for greater trust, it is good.

It is quoted from the Book of Isaiah ; the full text reads: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight.” The quotation is used to imply that John was preparing the way for Jesus , as foretold by the prophecy of Isaiah.

This ties in with verse 18, for the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit he refers to are the righteous ones, suffering most likely because of the wrongs of the world or because of evil people and situations that befell them, and not through much fault of their own.

Weep for their sins is a term used by the poet Walt Whitman which depicts the typical human nature of commiting sins or mistakes and then trying to improve upon their misdeeds by praying to God, visiting temples and practicing meaningless rituals which are nothing but forms of pure torture to the self.