Thought for the Day 08/06/21 - sowing weeping: reaping leaping?

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Last May we worked really hard here preparing a field to re-seed a worn out old parcel of pasture. 

Hours of work and a reasonable amount of diesel went into it.

And then we sowed good seed onto the prepared soil.

And there followed the driest spring in living memory!

The seed was in the ground. The soil temperature was WELL up. The moisture needed for it to germinate was not ... and the results we had were very poor. 

Now, in fairness, the clover in the seed mix did really well as soon as the rain eventually came, but the fancy hybrid ryegrass in the mix virtually failed and the field really needs doing again, to be honest. 

But it's always a risk when you sow seed. 

We've held back so far on re-seeding that field this year, because the old types of grass that have survived there for (probably) centuries under our tough conditions have regenerated and have turned the place green again. They're not fancy ... but they don't give up on us!

It all goes to show that sowing seed is a risky business. There are a LOT of variables involved and you can't - as a mere human being - control them all. Sowing seed always feels like a risk.

It feels like a risk

But just IMAGINE the risk for people reliant on their subsistence farming for their food, who have possibly been eking out their supplies of grain from a poor harvest the previous year and who now, with rumbling stomachs and disturbing thoughts of their children's future have put some of the precious remaining store of seed into a leather pouch and are scattering it onto the dry earth they have sweat hard to turn and prepare ... throwing the seed that would sustain their life onto the ground outside, in hope .

In ancient Israel no rain fell on the land from May to September. 

The 'former rain' fell late November to early December, usually. It should be enough to get the seed to germinate. 

Then things tended to dry off again until the latter rain fell in March and April to fill the ear and make the crop fruitful.

It involved an awful lot of watching, waiting and trust!

Which brings us to our Verse for the Day:

"Those who shed tears as they plant

will shout for joy when they reap the harvest."

                                       Psalm 126:5

O. Borowski in his book on Agriculture in Iron Age Israel (p.54) says about this passage: 

“The dependence on rain for watering plants, the uncertainty of the quantity and timing of the rains, and the possibility of crop failure due to pests and diseases appear to have kept the farmer in a gloomy mood during sowing”  

Perhaps the people were experiencing a literal drought, the effects of which caused them to lament their plight as they plant their seed in hopes that the rain would come. 

However, most of the language is probably metaphorical in this psalm. 

Like a farmer sowing his seed, the covenant community was enduring hardship as they waited for a new outpouring of divine blessing. 

Yet they are confident that a time of restoration will come and relieve their anxiety, just as the harvest brings relief and joy to the farmer.

What about failed harvests?

Well, firstly, the psalm isnt talking about how good harvests are going to be the only thing people experience ... but it is talking about the usual situation where seed time gets followed by harvest.

It's also the case, of course, that the Old Covenant community of God's people had been assured by the stipulations of THEIR covenant with God that if they walked with Him then He, their faithful Patron, would in one way and another take care of His people's needs in general.

The people in this Psalm are referring - as they go up to Jreusalem joyfully to worship God - to their confidence in the safe-keeping of God which they enjoy, however their circumstances are looking, and however those circumstances are calling for faith in Him and faithfulness at that particular point in  time.

The Point

God’s people were quite possibly experiencing a “dry season” after a time of past blessing, as they went up to Jerusalem to worship God at one of the great festivals.

It can be hard to worship God when things are not quite the way we'd like them to be.

But as these people go up to worship, they pray here in v. 4 of this Psalm for a “flash flood” of their Sovereign Protector's renewed blessing.

And then in verses five and six they express their confidence that their God will support those who (possibly like them at this point in time) are metaphorically sowing their seed of worship in the assurance of their faith (not their 'sight') that God honours their faithfulness and will certainly pour out the blessing they long for.

The Takeaway

This verse is an expression of confidence in God by people who continue to go to worship Him even though things are not currently all as they would wish.

They are living in the light of the sort of assurance that God gives in Malachi 3:10

“Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. 

Test me in this matter,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out blessing for you until there is no room for it all. 

Then I will

• stop the plague from ruining your crops,
  
  
• and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” 

says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies."

There's the takeaway.

This verse in this psalm challenges us by it's strong assurance that we should continue to worship God faithfully in the tough times, because the faithful One will pour out His blessing on the faith of His people who persevere faithfully through such trials.

Let us know using the contact form below so we can pray for you if that's proving tough for you at the moment.