The psalmist looks back (v.1-3) to a time of God’s intervention that produces unbridled joy and delight. It’s party time. We’re invited to savour the moment of amazement, miraculous change, and sheer wonder at God’s goodness which produces singing, laughter and no doubt dancing. It’s one of those moments that feels ‘too good to be true’.  We don’t know what has happened – could be the end of exile, freedom from captivity, release from famine or drought, defeat of enemies. 

One thing is sure, there is this deliberate remembrance of God doing great things and the release of joy that infused the community as a result. It’s a memory that, as it is called to mind, produces the energy of hope and the desire expressed in prayer for God to ‘do it again’. Once again, we do not know the circumstances but the language speaks of drought, famine, loss, death, and crisis. Into this situation the cry is for the Lord to break forth like the dawn, flood the land so that the dry places produce a harvest, the desert is transformed overnight into a place of life and beauty.

But it’s not just an expectation of God doing it all on His own. There is also the picture of a community who sow and reap and harvest – with tears flowing down their cheeks. This is a passionate and compassionate throng of God’s people. Singing the songs but also shedding the tears. Moved by the plight of barrenness. This is a people who are active in the harvest field, not just waiting for God to move in revival power.

It surely is a message for our time and for us as His people. We can, and should, look back to those times when God has clearly moved upon our nation and even in our midst. But, it simply is not good enough to wait for a season of revival. It is surely a call to act as if revival is here now. It is a call to respond to the call of Jesus: ‘I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest’. (John 4:35). ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.’ (Matthew 9:37).

It is time for us to rise up, take our place and see the land transformed. We have seed to sow. The promise is that those of us who sow will ‘return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him’. (Ps 126:6).

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Where are you called to sow? Who are you called to sow into? Where are you called to serve? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you.