Set Free

Set Free

Women Returning From Exile

Read: Psalm 126:1-3

As Jennifer got in the car, she looked back at the prison and felt as if she were in a wonderful dream. Her time there had not been wasted. She had taken several computer classes along with practical courses, such as budgeting and nutrition. Her parents had agreed to let her move back in with them while she attended the community college and worked at the part-time job the social worker had helped her get. She had also attended a Bible study and now looked forward to getting involved in a church. Jennifer didn’t feel that she was returning to her old life; she had found a new and better one.

When the Jewish people mentioned in Psalm 126 came back to Jerusalem, they also felt as if they were in a wonderful dream. They laughed and sang for joy because God had brought them home again. The years spent in captivity as judgment for their sin had given them a renewed appreciation for God’s love and mercy. After they repented of their idolatry and rebellion, God eventually restored them to their former homeland. The women must have felt that they had found new lives.

Even when God disciplines us for rebellion and sin, he longs for us to return to him so he can heal our wayward hearts (see Jeremiah 3:22). If we repeatedly ignore his warnings, we may have to “do time” and pay the consequences of our ungodly choices. But God doesn’t want the time to be wasted. He wants us to humble ourselves before him, examine our lives in the light of his Word, and turn away from wrongdoing. As we accept his discipline, he will draw us into closer relationship with him until we have a new understanding of the amazing things he has done for us.

Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us! What joy!

Psalm 126:3