John Calvin Commentary Psalms 126

When Jehovah brought back the captivity of Zion, etc. It is unnatural and forced to suppose, with some commentators, that this is a prediction of what was to come. For my part, I have no doubt that the Psalm was composed upon the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonian captivity; and for this reason, I have translated the verb בשוב, beshub, in the past tense.

Now, whoever was the author of it, whether one of the Levites or one of the Prophets, he affirms that the manner of their deliverance was too wonderful to be attributed to fortune, in order to lead the faithful to the conclusion that the prophecy of Jeremiah, which had assigned seventy years as the term of the captivity, was truly fulfilled (Jeremiah 25:12 and Jeremiah 29:10).

By the verb dream, which expresses the astonishing character of the event, he teaches us that there is no room left for ingratitude. As often as God works by ordinary means, men, through the malignity of their natures, usually exercise their ingenuity in devising various causes of the deliverance accomplished, in order to darken the grace of God.

But the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonian captivity, having been a miracle of such splendor as was sufficient to swallow up and confound all the thoughts of men, compels us to acknowledge that it was a remarkable work of God. This is the reason why the Prophet compares this deliverance to a dream.

“So far,” he essentially says, “is any mind from comprehending this unparalleled benefit of God, that the mere thought of it transports us with amazement, as if it were a dream, and not an event that had already taken place. What impiety, then, will it be, not to acknowledge the author of it.”

Moreover, he does not mean that the faithful were so dull of understanding as not to perceive that they were delivered by the hand of God. He means only that, judging according to carnal sense and reason, they were struck with astonishment. He was apprehensive that, in reasoning among themselves about that redemption as if it were an ordinary thing, they might make less of the power of God than they ought.

The noun שיבת, shibath, translated captivity, might also be rendered bringing back, as some do, which would give greater elegance to the Psalmist’s expression, since in that case שיבת would be a noun from the same verb that is used in the beginning of the verse. However, since this makes little difference to the meaning, it is sufficient to have mentioned it to my readers in passing.

Now shall our mouth be filled with laughter. The adverb of time, אז (az), is commonly translated then; but as the verbs are in the future tense, I have thought that it might not be improper to translate it as: now shall our mouth be filled, and now shall they say. If, however, we admit what some Hebrew scholars affirm, that the force of this particle is to change the future tense into the past, the adverb then will be the appropriate word.

The Prophet's purpose is not at all obscure. He wanted the people to rejoice so much on account of their return that they would not forget the grace of God. He therefore describes no ordinary rejoicing, but one that so fills their minds as to compel them to break forth into extravagant gestures and vocal expressions.

At the same time, he suggests that there was good reason for this joy, a joy that it was fitting for the children of God to indulge in, on account of their return to their own land. Since at that time nothing was more wretched for them than to live in captivity, in which they were, in a sense, dispossessed of the inheritance God had promised them, so nothing should have been more desirable to them than to be restored.

Therefore, since their restoration to their own country was a proof of their renewed adoption by God, it is not surprising to find the Prophet asserting that their mouth was filled with laughter and their tongue with exultation. With similar joy, it is fitting for us today to exult when God gathers His Church together, and it is undeniable proof that we are hard-hearted if her miserable dispersion does not cause us grief and lamentation.

The Prophet goes on to declare that this miracle was seen even by the blind. For in that age of the world, as is well known, the heathen were wandering in darkness like blind men, since no knowledge of God had shone upon them.

Yet God’s power and working were so conspicuous in that event that they burst forth into the open acknowledgment that God had done great things for his people.

All the more shameful, then, was the indifference of the Jews to be considered, if they did not freely and loudly celebrate God’s grace, which had gained such renown among unbelievers.

The form of speech used should also be noted, as it forcibly expresses the intended idea: that the mighty power of God in this deliverance was known by the Gentiles. In the following verse, the Prophet repeats, in his own person and in that of the Church, the words uttered by the heathen in the latter part of the preceding verse.

Let us at least, as if he had said, offer a confession corresponding to that which God has extorted from the unbelieving Gentiles. When he adds that they were glad, there is an implied antithesis between this new joy and the long-continued sorrow with which they were afflicted in their captivity. He expressly declares that joy was restored to them to enable them to better appreciate the dismal condition from which they had been rescued.

O Jehovah! Bring back our captivity. The second part of the Psalm, as I have said, contains a prayer that God would gather together the remnant of the captives. The Holy Spirit inspired this form of prayer for the Jews who had already returned to their homeland, that they might not forget their poor brethren who were still in exile.

All the Jews, no doubt, had a door opened to them, and perfect liberty granted them, to come out of the land of their captivity, but the number of those who received this benefit was small when compared with the vast multitude of the people. Some were kept from returning by fear, and others by sloth and lack of courage, on seeing such perils before them which they perceived they lacked the power to overcome, choosing rather to remain torpid in their own filthiness than to undertake the hardship of the journey.

It is also probable that many of them preferred their present ease and comfort to eternal salvation. What the Prophet Isaiah had foretold was no doubt fulfilled (Isaiah 10:22): That although the people were in number as the sand of the sea, yet only a remnant of them should be saved.

Since, then, many openly refused the benefit when it was offered them, and as there was no lack of difficulties and impediments to be encountered by those who availed themselves of this liberty granted by the king's good pleasure, so that it was only a few of sounder judgment and of a more intrepid heart who dared to move a foot—and even they with reluctance—it is no wonder that the Prophet requires the Church still to make supplication to God for the bringing back of the captivity.

Along with this, the state of those who had already returned should also be noted. Their land was in the possession of strangers, who were all their inveterate and sworn enemies, so they were no less captives in their own country than among the Babylonians. It was therefore necessary, for two reasons, that the Church should earnestly beseech God to gather together those who were dispersed:

1. that he would give courage to the timid, awaken the torpid, cause the besotted to forget their pleasures, and stretch forth his hand to be a guide to all; and
2. that he would settle the body of the people who had returned in liberty and ease.

As for the simile that follows, many think the meaning is that the bringing back of their captivity, which was prayed for, would be as welcome to them as if water should flow through a desert. We know how grievous and painful it is to travel in a hot country through arid sands.

The south is understood as the wilderness, because the region south of Judea was desolate and almost uninhabitable. Yet it seems more accurate to me to say that the grace of God is here magnified and further emphasized by the Prophet’s comparing it to a miracle. “Although it is a difficult matter,” he essentially says, “for the dispersed remnant to be reunited into one body, yet God, if he pleases, can do this, just as he can cause rivers of water to flow through a parched desert.” He also alludes to the road between Judea and Babylon, as is apparent from the locations of the two countries.

Thus the words do not require any supplement, the meaning being simply this: that the bringing back of their captivity would be as if a river should run through a barren and parched country. And certainly, to open up a way for the people who, so to speak, were swallowed up in a deep gulf, was as if a course had been opened up for irrigating waters to flow through a desert.

They who sow in tears shall reap in joy. This sentence, in my opinion, should not only be understood of the past but also extended to the future. The carrying away of the Jews into Babylon was to them like a seed-time, as God, through the prophecy of Jeremiah, had encouraged them to hope for the harvest.

Still, they were dragged into such long-continued captivity not without very great heaviness and anguish of heart. It was as if, in a time of scarcity, a poor farmer, already experiencing the gnawings of hunger, was compelled to deprive himself of his ordinary food to provide for the coming year. Although this is a hard and distressing situation, he is still moved to sow by the hope of the harvest.

So, when the Jews were led into captivity, they were doubtless as sorrowful as one who, in a time of scarcity, casts precious seed into the ground. But afterwards a joyful harvest followed when they were delivered, for the Lord restored gladness to them, like that which is experienced in a most abundant increase.

However, I also understand that the Prophet exhorts the faithful to patience concerning the future. The restoration of the Church was not yet completed. Indeed, for the two reasons I specified a little earlier, that period was evidently the time of sowing. Although the king's edict openly invited the Jews to return, only a few of the many returned, gradually and fearfully, in small groups.

Moreover, those who returned were unkindly and harshly welcomed by their neighbors. They were subjected to so much trouble that their former bondage seemed just as tolerable. From this we gather that they still had to suffer, because the full time of harvest had not yet arrived. Therefore, the Prophet, not without cause, exhorts them to labor strenuously and to persevere in the midst of continual difficulties without losing heart, until they found themselves in more favorable circumstances.

Regarding the words, some translate משך (meshech) as 'a price,' and others as 'a basket or seed vessel.' There is no foundation for the latter translation. Those who translate it as 'price' quote in support of their version the passage in the book of Job 28:18: The price of wisdom is above rubies. But since the verb משך (mashach), from which this noun is derived, signifies 'to extend' or 'to draw out,' it may perhaps, both here and in that other passage, be more appropriately taken in its proper meaning.

In the text quoted from Job, it is profound wisdom, and not intellectual acuteness, which is commended. Thus, the extending of wisdom—that is to say, a continual course of wisdom—is better than pearls because it is deeply grounded. Similarly, in the present passage, the drawing out of the seed is applied to the farmers themselves, implying that they extend and prolong their life when they sow.

If, however, the word price is preferred, the sense will be that when grain is scarce, seed is committed to the ground with tears because it is precious and costly. This doctrine extends even further. Our life is, in other parts of Scripture, compared to the seed-time. And since it will often happen that we must sow in tears, we ought to raise our minds to the hope of the harvest, so that sorrow does not weaken or reduce our diligence.

Besides, let us remember that not all the Jews who were carried captive to Babylon sowed. For indeed, those among them who had hardened themselves against God and the Prophets, and had despised all threats, consequently lost all hope of returning. Those in whom such despair brooded were consumed in their miseries. But those who were sustained by God's promise cherished the hope of harvest in their hearts, even though in a time of extreme scarcity they cast their seed into the ground, as it were, taking a chance.

Therefore, so that joy may follow our present sorrow, let us learn to apply our minds to contemplating the outcome which God promises. Thus we will experience that all true believers have a common interest in this prophecy: that God will not only wipe away tears from their eyes but will also diffuse inconceivable joy throughout their hearts.