SOWING AND REAPING

Today’s Reading: Psalms 125-129

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Mount Tabor is located in Lower Galilee, about 11 miles (18 km) west of the Sea of Galilee. It is believed by many Christians to be the site of the Transfiguration of Jesus. As we look west from Mount Tabor across the farmers’ fields below you can see Nazareth on the right. The beautiful patchwork of the fields tells us that people have sown seed and will reap the harvest.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verses: Psalm 126:5-6

Those who sow in tears

Shall reap in joy.

He who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

Bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 125 states the fact that “The Lord surrounds His people!” On the basis of that fact the Psalm’s composer can pray, “Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts!”

Psalm 126 gives an answer to the “Do good, O Lord” prayer, which is received with laughter and singing! These songs were sung by the people as they ascended Mount Zion. They may have been the former slaves in Babylon who had wept many tears; now, with Jerusalem in sight, they are rejoicing. Most of us who read our key verses are Christians. Our first tears are shed in repentance for sin. This brings joy! The next wave of tears are shed in our intercessory prayers for others who need to know Jesus. The Scripture teaches us that the seed we sow is the Word of God (Mark 4:1-20).

Psalm 127 confirms to us the futility of human effort apart from God. Those who rely on God can expect to be rewarded with restful sleep which results in peace of mind. Our families are blessed and our families bless us!

Psalm 128 reveals that the basis of a truly happy and successful home is “the fear of the Lord!” This “fear” is that awesome respect we owe God, our Creator, and that “fear” is manifested by the attention we pay to His Holy Word!

Psalm 129 is also a song! We can remember the words to songs well when we remember the tune. The songwriter remembers the history of Israel from the time it was a young nation up to the present. Those memories produce confidence in God’s overall plan!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I pray for a harvest of joy that will come as a result of my tears of repentance and tears of strong intercessory prayer for the salvation of precious people all over the world. Save my loved ones, Lord, and may I love others with the love of the One who dwells in me. In His Name, the Name of Jesus, I pray! Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

There’s a saying I remember from childhood: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” There are great poets who wrote in the English language about God and His reality. Those words were written by Lord Tennyson in the 19th century. He imagines the death of King Arthur and writes the above famous line. He goes on to write,

“Wherefore, let thy voice rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats that nourish a blind life within the brain, if, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer both for themselves and for those who call them friends? For so the whole round earth is bound by gold chains about the feet of God.”

Over and over again through the years I’ve come to God in prayer, claiming God’s promise found in our key verses. I’ve found joy and rejoicing in God’s blessing. Also I’m old enough to have worked for several summers as a teenager behind a “binder”… a machine that produces sheaves of wheat which must be placed in an upright stack so that the water will run off them when it rains while awaiting the community threshing machine. Then the grain could be put into the barn awaiting hungry cattle and horses, or the flour mill. This was an exciting time as all the farmers in the area would work together for the success of the harvest! It reminds me of the precious souls harvested because many of us have done our part in God’s harvest through our support of “The Crossroads Family of Ministries!” (click here for more on the sowing and harvesting work of Crossroads).

Yours for successful sowing and reaping!

David