Psalms of Ascent - Psalm 126

[0:00] we're going to be in psalm 126 so you can go ahead and turn there and i want to just remind us of where we're at we are currently in a series called ascend to god together we're in the psalms of ascent which is a collection of psalms written for israel when they would journey to jerusalem during the the pilgrimages of the feasts so every time there's a feast that came around israel from all over would travel to jerusalem to celebrate the feasts and the psalms of ascent are thought to be their soundtrack if you will the songs that they would sing and and remind themselves of as they went to jerusalem to prepare their hearts for worship so so too we are going to the psalms of ascent this summer to prepare our hearts to meet with god every sunday when we meet together but also to be reminded of his glory and that he's deserving of our praise so we're in psalm 126 this morning and this is an interesting psalm because it's short but oh is it sweet there's six verses and i'm going to break them down here in a minute but i want to just start off with this i remember when i was 12 years old my dad had four boys in the family every time one of the boys turned 12 he would take that specific boy on a special hiking camping trip and it was like the highlight of the home like man i'm so excited to go on my camping trip with dad and he i turned 12 and he took me on a hiking camping trip and we went to a place called cliff lake it's very scenic it's like i think five to six miles to camp in to hike in you camp and then you hike out there's only one way in one way out and we were on this hiking trip it's a 12 year old and i remember my dad is in front of me and i'm behind him and i'm the entire first journey six miles there i'm looking down at my feet watching my feet step step step watching the path right before me and i remember telling my dad this is taking forever why is this why do we have to hike this why can we just camp somewhere i'm complaining i'm whining i'm looking at my feet saying one step two step three step how many steps and i remember halfway in the journey my dad says what why don't you walk in front of me okay and you when you're walking look forward instead of down at your feet i'm like what is that going to do that second half the trip went like this because i'm looking forward at the path i'm looking where i'm going i'm not looking down at my feet and i remember that specifically because it gave me something called perspective i was able to see forward what is to come and it propelled where i was that's something i hope we get out of the message today out of the text today is what i'm going to call perspective transformation perspective transformation psalm 126 is about perspective transformation it takes whatever our perspective is and the moment that we find ourselves in and it reorients it so this is an interesting psalm and that it does this it's very vague about its historical context meaning who wrote it what specific person what historical context were they in what was israel going through at the time of their history when it was we know very little about any of that in some ways all we have is the words on the text or in the page some scholars think the psalm is referring to israel's former plight as captives in a foreign country others think this is just a general psalm of lament for when times are tough either way you take the context of the psalm here's what i want you to know that psalm 126 is about finding ourselves in times of trouble and in that trouble finding hope to recounter former times of joy that's what this psalm is about and so again it teaches us

[4:06] to transform our perspective when we find ourselves in trouble to a perspective where we say something good can happen because i've seen something good happen in the past all dependent on god but also this psalm is a lament and a lament is an expression of grief and sorrow toward god over one's current circumstance now again we don't know the specific circumstance but we know that israel is not in a good place and we'll see that as we read the text today laments also usually contain a plea for god to act on behalf of those who are feeling grief the book of lamentations in the bible is an example of lament israel's mourning the destruction of jerusalem by the babylonians and their subsequent exile from the promised land in second samuel david laments the death of king saul and his best friend jonathan he's expressing to god sadness for where he's at but also asking god to bring him out of it so here's the structure of the psalm for today verses one to three is israel remembers former restored fortunes israel remembers former restored fortunes and verse four is israel petitions for restored fortunes israel petitions for restored fortunes then finally verse five and six israel anticipates future restored fortunes so let's dive into the text we're going to read the whole text one more time here when the lord restored the fortunes of zion we were like those who dream that our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy and they said among the nations the lord has done great things for them the lord has done great things for us we are glad restore our fortunes oh lord like streams in the negev those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy he who goes out weeping bearing the seed for sowing shall come home with shouts of joy bringing his sheaves with him so let's focus first on verses one to three which is about israel remembering their former restored fortunes now right off the bat you see here this really interesting phrase in psalm 126 it says this when the lord restored the fortunes of zion zion being a term for israel it's also a term that's used to describe god on a holy mountain but to generally speaking zion is this idyllic people of god that dwell together in a holy city now when it says this that the restored lord restore the fortune when you restore the fortunes of zion it's a really interesting phrase in fact if some of you in here if you have an nasb 95 you're going to have a rendition that is very different than the esv or niv the nasb translation says this when the lord brought back the captive ones of zion who were like those who dream that's very different than esvs which says when the lord restored the former fortunes of zion meaning this there's a lot of debate on what this term means but there is no debate on the heart of the meaning so here's the heart of the meaning regardless of what translation you might have it's this it refers to someone who's in a situation that is not good and the lord bringing them to a situation that is good taking someone or a group of people out of captivity which maybe some translations or maybe it's out of despair or sorrow or some form of grief and the lord transforming that restoring is the word to a place of joy and happiness that is the theme the main concept of the psalm so here's what israel does they in the first three verses they're going to again remember when the lord used to do

[8:08] this restore their fortune ultimately this idea conveys god as the worker who restores bad situations into good ones but there's a significant tie here in the first part of verse one in the second part of verse one the first part of verse one restore our fortunes and the second part is those who dream isn't this poetic it's beautiful image those who dream and what's amazing about this term dream is it also means at its base root definition to become strong or healthy so i want you to reread this again as this when the lord restored the fortunes of zion we were like those who had strength and health and we're able to dream broadly that's the idea so again verse one is primarily about israel glorying in their once upon a time health and strength of heart which is why you see the definition of verse two then at that time in the past our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy i don't know about you there's no more poetic way to describe holistic happiness and goodness than when our mouths laughed together and our hearts were filled with joy tongue shouts of joy this is the definition of fortune in verse one when he says restore our fortune fortune being a term of good will good circumstance here's the good circumstance we used to laugh and we used to shout out with joyful tongues maybe that joyful tongues is could be something as specific as encouragement could be something as specific as singing together because we feel joy could be something as as general as you know what we're just we're feeling the goodness of where we're at right now and we're happy and you see it on the face we just had to get together with family many of which are here where we were able to spend multiple days together celebrating independence day but we also celebrated fellowship and just friendship happiness joy together that's the picture but i also want us to remind ourselves of this in 2b notice it says they said among the nations the lord has done great things for them didn't we just study psalm 123 for those who are here in which psalm 123 remember it said this that lord rescue us because we're held in contempt and scorn by all the nations help us out of this everyone hates us and they tell us and they scorn at us that was in psalm 123 what a drastic change so in psalm 123 we see that israel is hated by the nations and they plead that god would deliver them from that but in psalm 126 we see that the nations look in on the joy and happiness that israel what was experiencing at one point and the nations said oh that's awesome look what god's doing for them oh it's longing wish we had that sort of joy but the nations look at israel and say wow god their god is good to them i wish we had that how interesting the script has been reversed in this psalm here's what's amazing about this the four nations are testifying not just that they see the joy of israel but they also attach their joy to their god and this is really important because it reminds me of

[12:16] matthew 5 if you're not familiar with matthew 5 matthew 5 is a major part of jesus sermon on the mount but in that sermon on the mount he says he gives a staggering image and it's this he says you are like a city on a hill and then there's a dual example like a light on a lamp stand in a house so too is my church and i want to draw your attention to that lamp stand in the house because here's what the lamp stand does it it holds a light up so that everyone has light in the house but he says this that others will see the light of the church in that metaphor and they will be glorified they will glorify god by being drawn to him in other words the image there is that the church is a light that the nations and the people see and they say wow they come near to god and then jesus says they will glorify him by seeing the good works of the church i want to encourage this church that just as the nation saw israel in psalm 126 and said wow they got it good the lord is really kind to them longingly saying that so too jesus gives us a picture that when the church is the church when the church loves one another when the church serves its community serves non-believers by giving them the gospel and kindness but also lives in covenant community together as jesus commanded when we do all of the things that we're supposed to be doing as a church it should be that we have a witness and the church looks on longingly says wow the lord has blessed that group of people it's in a way it's a way that the church evangelizes to the world when times are good but let's move forward here verse three let's finish our first section the conclusion of verses one and three is right here it says this the lord has done great things for us we are glad now it's a lot of ways to interpret different words in the psalms and i'm going to argue here we are glad is certainly a translation but i would actually translate this as we were glad in the past tense a lot of options here i think that's the more appropriate translation so think of it this way one through three that israel is saying remember when the lord delivered us from something bad and restored fortune to us we were in a bad spot the lord restored us and remember how good it was when he restored us and gave us fortune we were so glad when that happened now we move to verse four i want to ask the question quickly israel in verse one to three is reflecting back on good times we all have moments in our life where we reflect back on good times or the good old days and i want to take you you take a second here and think about some of your fondest memories likely they were with other people with groups of people maybe people you loved but also when we think back on some of our fondest memories and we say those were good times i think we can sum them up just as the psalmist says with our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue was shouts of joy that usually accompanies our memory of fond times and good memories are really important milestones in our lives in the terrain of every person's scope of life good times are like great majestic statues that remind us of when we used to laugh and shout for joy but how our hearts respond to remembering good times can actually vary sometimes thinking back on the good times can be discouraging follow me here we believe when thinking back on good times that they'll never be experienced again oh that was amazing and oh well that was a season i don't know

[16:18] if we could ever have that joy again i've had this experience many times this is oftentimes the experience of empty nesters i think back to when the how the halls were filled with laughter and children when siblings grow older and grow apart i have six siblings oftentimes i do this one we had so much fun together but now we never see each other sometimes the experience of discouraging thinking back on good times it's discouraging can be something like a high school reunion i had one recently i remember all of the shenanigans we did together and all the fun crazy times and i'm like we'll never do that again so sometimes when we think back on good times we can be discouraged but sometimes thinking back on good times can actually be really encouraging as well they can give us hope and joy that laughter can be restored again that joy can be restored again they remind us that life has been filled with joy at one time and if we discipline ourselves with the perspective that it can be again they give us hope in times of sadness they remind us that god has done great things and will do great things again verse three of this psalm again we read again the lord has done great things for us we are glad it actually leaves the possibility of either of the two responses what is israel going to do when they think about how the lord restored their fortunes in the past all we have to do is read psalm 4 to find out so let's move on to section number two which is just psalm 4 israel and remembering the past restored fortunes is now going to petition for restored fortunes let's read it verse 4 restore our fortunes oh lord like streams in the negev here's the plea it's the only plea you're going to find in this psalm the one time that israel says together as one group lord act do something and verse 4 answers the hypothetical question raises raised in verse 1 and 3 what is that hypothetical hypothetical question that you see when you read verses 1 to 3 it's this oh lord we remember when you took us from something bad and to something good and we laughed and we had joy and the nation saw that we had joy we were so glad here's the hypothetical question that's being asked when you read that could you do that again for us could you bring us out of sadness and back into joy again lord verse 4 tells us the posture of the heart of israel here doesn't it restore our fortunes oh lord this isn't a demand this isn't an angry resolve to lord you have to do this no this is an empathetic faith-filled plea lord restore it again one scholar defines psalm 126 the entirety of it as joy remembered and joy anticipated and psalm 4 conveys this or excuse me verse 4 conveys this but here's the order of perspective transformation like i referred to earlier a past bad times b past restoration of good times a is bad times the lord brought us into good time it's a to b now a2 current bad times we're in bad times now and b2 is future restoration of good times now let me lay this out here what happened in psalm psalm 1 to 3 or verse 1 to 3 is we remember good bad times a and we've been moved to good times by god's faithfulness b psalm 4 to 6 is we are currently in bad times and where do we want to go lord we want to go to the good exactly so here's what's so important about perspective transformation where does our perspective shift need to happen it's between a2 and b2 but we

[20:24] have to take all four into consideration in order to get a perspective shift between i'm currently in a bad time and i want to get to a good time lord here's what we have to do we have to remember a and b that god delivered us from a to b in the past and he is capable of doing it again this is what my basketball coaches teach me all the time i'd never wanted to shoot three pointers i was the i was the tallest kid in my grade for so many years i was always the center catch the ball turn shoot that's all you we want you to do rebound and do that i got into high school and my dad and my brother said eric it's time to learn to shoot the three pointer i was like no it's not never shot a three my entire career until freshman year and here's what my dad and my brother used to teach me eric we're gonna pass the ball you're gonna continue to shoot threes and i had no confidence clanking shots i maybe would make one but i'm gonna miss the next one and they kept saying eric have you made a three pointer yeah i made one like seven shots ago so you know you can do it yes see where this is going over time they kept saying this you can make the shot you now made five out of ten eric you now made six out of ten the confidence in shooting the three pointer came from continually reminding myself that i have done it but here's the difference in the psalm it's not dependent on me it's dependent on god who will never miss the three pointer so here's the perspective shift god who's all powerful all wise all caring all providential he is the one that has taken us from a to b can he do it again faith and verse four tells us the answer israel believes he can do it again so here's our main idea for this morning we gain perspective in hardship by recounting god's past restoring work perspective is the rope that lifts us up out of the pit and we need perspective transformation as a church if we are to weather the storms of life joy remembered leads to joy anticipated so let me explain verse four a little bit restore our fortunes oh lord you have repetition here a you did restore our fortune which led to b now we know where we're at we don't know what the plight is of israel we don't know exactly what they're struggling with it doesn't tell us but we know that they're in trouble because they're pleading that the lord would pull them out of that bad time they're in bad times and here's what they do they say the same phrase that they've seen in b we know you can restore fortunes we've seen you do it we're asking you to do it again but then you have this amazing phrase 4b like streams in the negev oh lord using poetry to convey their hearts back to god well let's talk about this because this is pretty amazing what are the streams of negev the assumption is that these streams were living vibrant waters in this time and that it's a proper simile for good times let me convey to us what one common commentator says derrick kidner few places are more arid than the negev and few transformations are more dramatic than that of a dry goalie into a torrent such can be the effect of a downpour which can also turn the surrounding desert into a place of grass and flowers seemingly overnight the negev here is an incredibly dry patch of land in the middle east and only around one time a year in the deep of winter would there be

[24:26] enough moisture in there to fall in the middle east like even today winter is the only time that water really falls for the most part and the illustration is here like it's dry all year the rains come and it torrents the whole valley and now it's soaked with water and life happens an instantaneous transformation overnight that's the illustration lord we're in a bad time you have the power and the might here's the faith you can restore us overnight that's the faith of this plea and that's why you have this image and this is what it looks like in our hearts when god restores our fortunes when he deals with us graciously when he showers us with blessing in our trial when he touches our lives with goodness our cup literally overflows like in the words of psalm 23 make my cup to overflow when i'm in that shadow valley of the shadow of death and finally verses 5 and 6 israel anticipates future restored fortunes what is the natural byproduct of being reinvigorated with faith that the lord can restore here's the byproduct shouts of joy let's read five and six those who show so in tears shall reap with shouts of joy he who goes out weeping bearing the seed for sowing shall come home with shouts of joy bringing his sheaves with him we have transitioned from four which is a plea lord restore our fortune to five and six which is now not just a plea we've moved beyond the plea five and six is anticipation okay we've asked the lord we know he's going to act we can just assume that literally this is what it's saying now we can look forward to what our life is going to be like again when he does restore the fortune this is true faith we know he will do it and this is what it will look like so here's the image it's a very interesting image the images of a farmer and the farmer is beat down depressed and defeated how do we know that well let's look at the words used those who sow in tears and then again in verse 6 he who goes out weeping bearing the seed for sowing here's the image a farmer i want you to imagine and the farmer has farmed his land for years and years and years he's had great product and great crop every year okay but there's one year where things are not going well nothing grows he's taken all of his seed and nothing has happened he's depressed he's dejected he's in a bad time and here's what the farmer does according to the psalm just like the farmer that sows his last bag of seed this is all i have left with tears i'm putting it in the ground that's all i have that's all i can do is put this in the ground what else is going to do with the bag of seed just like that farmer who does it with tears what will happen that's the illustration of where israel was we were felt like we were at the end of our rope that farmer will reap the wheat that he sowed with shouts of joy and he shall come home with shouts of joy again bringing his sheaves with him so i want you to imagine the farmer who's had no crop all year he plants his last bag and he hopes in the lord and the lord restores his fortune it's the biggest crop he's ever seen and now he cuts it this is amazing he shouts of joy he's so happy he takes all of it home he's carrying it on his shoulders there's so much to go around that's the picture and it's an image for israel to anticipate together together collectively we are at a place where we have one bag left we're at our wit's end times are hard what do we know to do we know that the lord has delivered us in the past and all we have is this last bag and we're going to sow every seed in here and trust and ask that he would restore us that's the image this is amazing church this is powerful and what happens is the lord restores the fortune of the farmer figuratively but more importantly

[28:31] israel they anticipate him restoring their fortunes but i want to focus the rest of our time together on this idea of shouting for joy we saw it earlier in verse 2 we see it again in 5 and 6 shouts of joy now shouts of joy is a description of fortune when things are finally turning around when the lord has blessed when he has shown us his favor we have shouts of joy and these shouts of joy define for us good times at least for israel in this time and for us today how would we define good times today if we were given the chance well maybe some of us would define good times as holidays family get-togethers vacations retirement i'm not working anymore financial prosperity a good relationship with your significant other whatever those were good times but how does god define good times this is where we need to camp the bible tells us that our hearts are easily deceived and they pursue what is right in their own eyes and because of sin we set the standard of goodness what we call good sometimes not in what god calls good when our definition of a good time conflicts with god's definition of a good time we are guaranteed to have a bad time if you follow me there's no question to some degree good times are determined by us someone deny that we will experience good times according to the lord and we are living according to the way he commands and we obey we thrive deuteronomy 28 talks about if you will faithfully obey the voice of your lord being careful to all his commandments you will be blessed there's a whole list of blessings but it also says if you do not obey the voice of the lord you will be cursed so to some extent we determine our good times but to the fullest degree god also determines our good times because he's sovereign and he's a benevolent god he extends favor on his people at all times and here's what i want us to do this morning i want us to adjust our perspective in times of trouble spiritually every day on this earth is good when we recognize we have a good god who calls us by name who calls us his children even in israel's continual disobedience and rebellion the lord called them his beloved people and they remained the object of his everlasting favor and delight even when they caused their own trouble even bad times give way to good times when we gain perspective and it is the privilege of god's people to remember god's past restoring work when trouble hits this is the heart of god for his people that every time they think about good times that him and his providence would come to mind the lord wanted to make sure that israel remembered who led them from bad times to good times in every stage of their history to the point where god institutes feasts and all sorts of festivals that israel would gather to do one thing let's remember and recount how god delivered us from a bad time a couple examples passover he delivered them from slavery in egypt the tabernacle feast of tabernacles and booths provision in the wilderness before entering canaan how about the memorial stones of joshua that is they cross over the jordan that was raging at the time god stops the water when the priests go in and stand all of israel crosses and here's what god tells joshua to do collect 12 stones as you go across the priests are going to carry them on their shoulders these are big stones feel for these priests they probably were ripped okay carry these massive stones in the river across the water and then you're going to stack them together 12 stones and here's what it says and these 12 stones when they took out of the jordan joshua set up at gilgal and he said to the people of israel when your children ask their fathers in times

[32:36] to come listen to this what do these stones mean then you shall let your children know israel passed over this jordan on dry ground for the lord your god dried up the waters of the jordan for you until you passed over as the lord your god did to the red sea which he dried up for us until we passed over so that the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the lord is mighty and that you may fear the lord of your god forever what is the rhythm and pattern of god's people in hard times remembrance gaining perspective and hardship by recounting god's past restoring work the reason god institutes this is because remembrance steadies the heart and provides hope for the future like little eric looking down at his feet watching every step this is horrible i look forward and see this beautiful trail headed to a lake oh i can now walk this psalm reminds us of the up and downs of life and in the downs teaches us how to hope for the ups so here's what i want to encourage us to this morning two applications one recount your fortunes let your past stories of god's faithfulness fuel and empower your present and bring hope to your future we all have endless stories of god restoring our bad times with good times and it is on us to do the work of recounting those fortunes and the bountiful ways that god has blessed us so here's a couple practical suggestions for us this week i would even encourage you as a family or as an individual or a couple to make a list this week make a list find a whiteboard get a maybe type it out and print it out whatever make a list and here's what i want you to make on the list answer these questions what are some of the good times we have experienced together what are some of the past times where we were filled with laughter and shouted for joy what are some past times where god answered our prayers and met our needs do that as a family answer those questions put them down you're going to need a massive board and then secondly when you recount your fortunes i want you to recount that list that board you made when times get tough this is the exact thing that israel is modeling for us in 126 lord we're not a good spot but we remember that you have restored us in the past and brought us into good times and we will remember that make a list and then recount that list when times are tough when we recount that list together the fortunes that we've experienced it's the work of sowing seeds in times of trouble when we go out and we sow the seeds like the defeated farmer we know that god still loves us and he will restore our fortunes again but here's the second application for us this morning recount your fortunes do that exercise but secondly shout for joy so here's what you're going to do you're going to need to make another list so buy two boards and on this list remember israel we're we look forward to shouting for joy when he does restore our fortunes you're going to need to make another list and this time as a family or a couple or an individual you're going to answer these questions how has god answered our prayers how did god transform our bad times into good times what do we possess right now that we can be thankful for and then once you've made that list there's only one response when you take the work and you say look at all the things god did when we asked him to do something it's only one response when we traverse all that god has done and it is to worship the heart is full of gladness because of the favor of the lord and our corporate gatherings at home in the

[36:36] car in our midweek groups at our workplaces we worship with a full heart and just as the nation saw and said wow look at that joy look at the joy that their their god gave them so too guess what people will do when we worship because we know our god is good wow what is this you're joyful what do you have so that's what i want us to do as a church recount our fortunes and shout for joy but lastly in applying these even to our own hearts you could consider this in the third application if you want but it basically just takes the ones i gave you and reshapes them for a minute i want us to recount our greatest fortune there are a lot of specific things that the lord restores in our lives and gives us fortune in here's some from our family god delivered our oldest brin from sickness as a baby we look back to his restoring work to bring her back to health and give us hopeful perspective god literally restored and redeemed a marriage of some close family friends of ours we look back and say lord you were faithful and you restored this marriage and it gives us hopeful perspective we just had to put down our dog which is a very hard thing and i saw that as only a negative until the lord provided some seriously deep conversations with my oldest in which we were able to teach her the gospel along with other family and now i look back and say lord even putting down the dog you were so faithful in that those are the times in our lives i want to encourage you to consider and say how can the lord still be faithful and allow us to hope but also those are fortunate things but we have a greatest fortune don't we church who is it it's jesus recount your greatest fortune and shout for your greatest joy second corinthians 8 9 says this for you know the grace of lord jesus christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich who's our greatest fortune church it's jesus the riches of knowing god forever can you think of a time in your life where your soul was at its lowest desperate for restoration desperate to discover fortune desperate to be loved by a holy god perhaps you are here today and you feel this way right now maybe you've come to realization that all the world's fortunes are falsely advertised maybe the description of being like one who dreams in a good time is totally unrelatable for you maybe you have never considered yourself in this way maybe your mouth has experienced joy and laughter but your soul has never experienced true joy if that's you today or if you have experienced redemption in christ i want us to listen closely the one thing that stands in the sinner's favor throughout all times is the love of jesus christ through his manifestation of love his timely incarnation his perfect life his sacrificial death his victorious resurrection his kingly reign he redeems sinners like you and me we are very fortunate indeed church heaven's riches came down to us he himself was poor maligned and treated like a criminal jesus experienced the most lethal form of bad times imaginal that make all of our respective bad times look like nothing he bore the wrath of god that we might be free maligned by all through his continual work we are in fellowship with god the father sinners that become saints and if you're here today and you say i don't know what that's like i encourage you

[40:40] you too can become a saint your worst time can become your best time with jesus forever think on the lord jesus christ turn from sin and trust only in him for salvation be forgiven and no true fortune a fortune that is of the heart and soul that goes beyond the material and i'm convinced that any redeemed saint in here who recounts the beauty and splendor of jesus will respond like israel says we look forward to responding with shouting for joy and heart spirit mind and body interacting with the beauty of jesus church is like using tree sap as lotion it sticks all over you and you can't get it off you know i'm talking about we got a lot of sap in our backyard our girls are just coming going like oh i'm gonna scrub this with don for 10 minutes but when you interact with the beauty of jesus and you remember how he has restored your fortune from desperate sinner who's ready to receive the wrath of god to love child completely forgiven when you interact with that beauty and that love it's like sap sticks all over you when you high five others it gets on them love for jesus is the stickiest supernatural substance on earth so church i want to encourage you we have reason to shout for joy every moment of our life because together we like israel can say we remember when the lord restored the fortunes of zion when we used to laugh we had joy even though momentarily in this life we might still experience bad times eternally in the heart we are those who can always say there is joy here because of christ set your eyes on jesus the greatest fortune mankind has ever received you