Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 126:2
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter ] Cp. Job 8:21.
singing ] Or, shouts of joy, a word characteristic of the second Isaiah (Isa 44:23; Isa 48:20; Isa 49:13; Isa 51:11; Isa 54:1; Isa 55:12). The Psalms of the Return (93 100) were the expression of this joy.
then said they among the nations] Even heathen nations recognised the marvel of Israel’s deliverance. Cf. Isa 52:10; Psa 98:2, &c.
hath done great things for them ] Cp. Joe 2:21, and with the preceding line cp. Joe 2:17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then was our mouth filled with laughter – Then were we happy; completely happy. See Job 8:21.
And our tongue with singing – We expressed our joy in songs – the natural expression of joy. Young converts – those turned from sin to God – sing. Their feelings find expression in the songs of Zion. This is natural; this is proper; this will occur when sinners are converted. An assemblage of young converts is always a happy assemblage; a place where there is a revival of religion is always a happy place – full of songs and singing.
Then said they among the heathen – The nations; the people among whom they dwelt.
The Lord hath done great things for them – In causing their return to their own land; in ordering the arrangements for it; in bringing their captivity to an end; in securing such interposition from the civil rulers as to facilitate their return. This would indicate that the surrounding people had not an unfriendly feeling toward them, but that they pitied them in exile, and were disposed to acknowledge the hand of God in what was done. Their deliverance, in the circumstances, was such as evidently to have been the work of God. This will agree well with the account of the return of the exiles from Babylon, and with all that had been done for them by Cyrus. Compare Ezr 1:1-4.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 126:2
Then was our mouth filled with laughter.
The rapture of deliverance
I. The joy of the returning Jew.
1. Bewildering.
(1) The suddenness of it.
(2) The instrument of it. Cyrus–a heathen.
2. Rapturous.
(1) Babylon left behind.
(2) The exiles nearing home.
3. Reasonable.
II. The joy of a returning sinner.
1. Look at him before return.
(1) A wanderer from his home.
(2) In bondage.
2. Look at his Deliverer.
3. Look at the deliverance.
III. To the experienced Christian.
1. Is your piety joyful?
2. Ought it not to be so? (F. Tucker, B. A.)
The laughter of the ransomed
Gods glorious deliverance always seems too wonderful to be real. Even the apostle who finds his fetters dropped off and his dungeon door swung open, is like unto them that dream: he wist not that it was true, but thought he saw a vision. So in modern times, when Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, the abolitionist, heard that the long fight was at last finished and every slave on British soil was a free man, he broke out instinctively into the joyful verse: Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing. (T. H. Darlow.)
Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.—
Heathen and Christian witnesses for God
I. God had done many things for His ancient people. Their exile was a punishment for their great national sin, and their return meant a revocation of that punishment. But greater blessings are possessed by Gods Church in these days. In place of mere ceremonialism we have truth itself–naked, transparent truth. Nor should we lose sight of our individuality. The Church is a congregation of individuals, and it may be said of these not only in their corporate condition as a Church, but separately and individually, The Lord hath done great things for us.
II. These great things are observed and acknowledged by others. The heathen recognized the blessings bestowed on the chosen people, while to the released captives their return to their old and beloved city seemed too good to be true. Our spiritual blessings are not so easily recognized by others as the return of Gods people was by the heathen. But in looking at Christian countries the heathen could not but be struck with the benefits that civilization, liberty and Christianity afforded. It ought also to appear to the ungodly neighbours of Church members, that even in a temporal sense God had done great things for His Church, and that conversion had been followed with blessed consequences of a temporal kind, though they could not see the gift bestowed upon the inner life. But whether outsiders recognized these facts or not, it is your duty to be Gods witnesses, and to tell relatives and friends and fellow-townsmen what great things God had done for us.
III. These great things demanded a special recognition, both from observers and recipients of blessings. There was danger lest the blessings were recognized and the Giver forgotten. Perhaps one of the tendencies of modern times is the exclusion of God from almost everything outside the Church–from education, from legislation, from civil and political and national affairs, from commerce, and from many other things besides. There ought to be a recognition of God not only within, but outside the Church. I am thankful that there is a recognition of God in this country. The motto on the Royal arms–Dieu et mon droit–shows a recognition of God in the highest place in the State. I am thankful that the Imperial Parliament does not sit on Sundays. What is that but a recognition of the Divine law and of Him who said, Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Every time I pass the Royal Exchange in London I cannot help noticing the inscription, The earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof. What a reminder is that place to the merchants, to the Bank of England, and to the Mansion House, the seat of the greatest of municipalities just opposite, that there is a Diviner God than Mammon. One of the most startling statements I ever heard of was that made by a learned scientist, that an examination of nature did not lead him up to God. Just think of some one shying that St. Pauls Cathedral, with its architecture and traditions, did not lead to a recognition of the great architect, Sir Christopher Wren. What are your acknowledgments to God? (T. McCullagh.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter] The same effect as was produced on the poor liberated Grecians mentioned above.
Then said they among the heathen] The liberty now granted was brought about in so extraordinary a way, that the very heathens saw that the hand of the great Jehovah must have been in it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They did and well might wonder at it, that a heathen emperor should of his own mere motion show so much kindness to so hateful and despicable a people as the Jews were.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,…. Who before mourned, and hung their harps on the willows, and could not sing the Lord’s song in a strange land; but now, as their hearts were filled, with joy, this was externally and visibly seen in their countenances, and expressed with their mouths and by outward gestures; it was so great, they could not contain it, to which respect is had, Isa 35:10. It may be rendered, “then shall our mouth be filled with laughter” q; that is, when we awake, says Arama; or rather when the captivity is returned, either in a literal or in a spiritual sense, both being matter of great joy: the Midrash says, this will be in the world to come, and not in this;
and our tongue with singing; the praises of God, and the songs of Zion;
then said they among the Heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them; it was taken notice of by the Chaldeans, among whom they had been captives, and by all the nations round about: and it was wonderful to them, that Cyrus, an Heathen prince, of his own motion and will, should at once, and without any price or reward, let them go, and send them into their own country to rebuild their temple; and with them the vessels of the Lord’s house, that had been taken away by the king of Babylon; and order men to help them, with gold and silver, and goods and cattle, Ezr 1:1. Likewise the conversion of the Jews, and the restoration of them to their own ]and in the latter day, will be observed by the Gentiles with wonder, and as the work of God,
Eze 36:35.
q “replebitur”, Musculus, Gejerus; “implebitur”, Schmidt; so the Targum, Syr. Arab.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. Now shall our mouth be filled with laughter. The adverb of time, אז, az, is commonly translated then; but as the verbs are in the future tense, I have thought that it might not be improper to translate tires — grow shall our mouth be filled, and now shall they say. If, however, we admit what some Hebrew Doctors affirm, that the force of this particle is to change the future tense into the past, the adverb then will be the appropriate word. The design of the Prophet is not at all obscure. He would have the people so to rejoice on account of their return, as not to bury in forgetfulness the grace of God. He therefore describes no ordinary rejoicing, but such as so fills their minds as to constrain them to break forth into extravagance of gesture and of voice. At the same time he intimates that there was good ground for this joy, in which it became the children of God to indulge, on account of their return to their own land. As there was at that period nothing more wretched than for them to live in captivity, in which they were in a manner dispossessed of the inheritance God had promised them; so there was nothing which ought to have been more desirable to them than to be restored. Their restoration to their own country having been therefore a proof of their renewed adoption by God, it is not surprising to find the Prophet asserting that their mouth was filled with laughter, and their tongue with exultation. With a similar joy does it become us at the present day to exult when God gathers together his Church and it is an undoubted evidence that we are steel-hearted, if her miserable dispersion does not produce in our minds grief and lamentation. The Prophet proceeds farther, declaring that this miracle was seen even by the blind; for in that age of the world, as is well known, the heathen were wandering in darkness like blind men, no knowledge of God having shone upon them; and yet God’s power and operation were so conspicuous in that event, that they burst forth into the open acknowledgment that God had done great things for his people. So much the more shame-fill then was the indifference of the Jews to be accounted, if they did not freely and loudly celebrate God’s grace, which had acquired so much renown among the unbelieving. The form of speech employed is also to be marked, which forcibly expresses the idea intended to be conveyed, that the mighty power of God in this deliverance was known by the Gentiles. In the following verse the Prophet repeats in his own person, and in that of the Church, the words uttered by the heathen in the last member of the preceding verse. Let us at least, as if he had said, put forth a confession corresponding to that which God has extorted from the unbelieving Gentiles. When he adds that they were glad, there is an implied antithesis between this fresh joy and the long continued sorrow with which they were afflicted in their captivity, he expressly declares that joy was restored to them, to enable them the better to estimate the dismal condition from which they had been extricated.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Singing.As frequently of the restoration in Isaiah42:11, 44:23, 54:1, &c.
Hath done.See margin, and comp. Joe. 2:21.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Said they among the heathen So astonishing was the decree of Cyrus, (Ezr 1:1-4,) that the Gentile nations spoke of it as an act above the level of humanity, and ascribed it directly to Jehovah, the Hebrews’ God, which, in the next verse, they repeat and accept with gladness, as true. The allusion to the common remark upon the event by “the heathen,” implies a friendliness and good will on their part toward the Jews at the time of their departure. This was a fact in the reign of Cyrus, with whom they were in honour; and afterward in the reign of Darius Hystaspes; and the same of the Egyptians toward Israel at the time of the exodus.
Exo 11:3; Exo 12:36
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 126:2. Then was our mouth, &c. From that moment was, &c. From that moment said they, &c. i.e. “Never before would we indulge any joy; never before would the heathen, the Babylonians, acknowledge that God had done, &c.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
But as soon as the awakened, liberated sinner is made sensible of the reality, how will praises burst forth from his joyful heart! The carnal world who look on, know not what to make of it, what to think, or what to say: but they are compelled to confess that God is in it. And the people of God are ever ready to ascribe all to sovereign grace. Psa 115:1 ; Eph 2:8-9 ; Tit 3:5-7 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 126:2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
Ver. 2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter ] We laughed amain, and shrilled or shouted aloud, when we found that it was non , as Plato speaketh, not a dream, but a done thing, which (before) we held optabile potius quam opinabile, incredible altogether.
Then said they among the heathen
The Lord hath done great things
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
singing: i.e. the songs of Isa 38:20.
said they = was it said.
heathen = nations. The reference is to 2Ch 32:22, 2Ch 32:23.
The LORD hath done great things. Figure of speech Anadiplosis (App-6), because the phrase is repeated at the beginning of the next verse.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Then was: Psa 14:7, Psa 53:6, Psa 106:47, Psa 106:48, Ezr 3:11, Job 8:21, Isa 35:10, Isa 49:9-13, Jer 31:12, Jer 31:13, Jer 33:11, Rev 11:15-17
then said: Num 23:23, Jos 2:9-11, Jos 9:9, Jos 9:10, Neh 6:16, Zec 8:22, Zec 8:23, Rom 11:15
done great things for them: Heb. magnified to do with them
Reciprocal: Gen 18:12 – laughed Gen 21:6 – God 1Sa 12:24 – how great things Psa 30:11 – turned Psa 31:19 – wrought Psa 65:8 – afraid Psa 71:19 – who hast Psa 85:1 – thou hast Psa 96:10 – Say Psa 109:27 – General Psa 145:6 – And men Ecc 3:4 – time to weep Son 6:9 – The daughters Jer 30:19 – out Jer 33:9 – a name Eze 36:35 – they shall Eze 37:13 – General Eze 37:28 – the heathen Eze 39:13 – the day Joe 2:26 – that Mic 7:16 – nations Zep 3:14 – shout Luk 1:49 – hath Luk 6:21 – ye shall laugh Luk 8:39 – and published Luk 24:41 – believed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
GODLY MIRTH
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.
Psa 126:2
The Jews when, by Gods mercy, they were once more settled in the land of promise, gave way to the same feeling of which we are conscious when we are excited by pleasure, by prosperity, by unexpected success. Either mirth must be altogether forbidden to Christians, or it must be regulated by the rules of Christs Gospel, like every other part of our daily lives.
I. Every tendency and feeling and desire of which we are conscious was implanted in us by God for some wise and good purpose.The mere fact that our mouth can be filled with laughter seems to prove that God designed us to use the power for good ends. Those ends, no doubt, are such as these: the relaxation and refreshment of the mind after labour or sorrow, or other severe tension; the encouragement of vigorous work by the pleasure attaching to success; the promotion of that spirit of cordial fellowship and goodwill which may be ennobled and sanctified into brotherly kindness and Christian charity. In the Old Testament mirth and laughter are frequently recognised and sanctioned, not in the passage before us only, but in many other places also. And hence we do not hesitate to believe that they are in accordance with Gods will; and, therefore, our duty, as His children and servants, is to guard them from evil, just like every other gift or faculty or advantage which He has bestowed upon us.
II. But it is plain that the abuses to which they are liable are very numerous.Mirth may intrude into times and places from which it should be excluded; it may degenerate into coarseness, into unkind sarcasm and satire, into irreverence, into mere selfish indulgence and excess. But the habit of mind which is especially the degradation of that cheerfulness permitted by God, and the result of its unrestrained enjoyment is undoubtedly frivolity. He who is frivolous regards everything in a ludicrous or trifling aspect, whether it is some high effort of the intellect, some sublime truth or noble action, or the very revelations of Christs Gospel. Such is not the condition of him who remembers the duties which he owes to the kind and loving Father Who endowed us with the capacity of enjoyment, Who knows that his first duty is to serve God and sacrifice his own inclinations, and so accepts laughter and cheerfulness as merciful recreations to the real work of life.
Bishop Cotton.
Illustrations
(1) In this psalm there are two distinct chords sounded forth. At the outset the song is in the major key. It throbs and pulsates with joy. My soul must have such moments on the Mount. It must know the gladness of pardon, of freedom, of fellowship, of home. It must be acquainted with the upper regions of the spirit, and the points where earth and heaven meet.
But by and by the song passes into the minor key. There are brothers of their own who are in the house of bondage still. They are pained for them. They pray to the God of salvation to lead them, too, into liberty and peace. It is a lesson to me. When my captivity is terminated, let me not be selfish, let my heart go out to those who continue in the prison, let me labour and intercede until they are brought backback like mighty streams swollen by the winter rain.
(2) We all know something of that captivity with which the enemy of our souls strives to capture and hold us. When those green withes are bound around as, we cannot free ourselves. There is no alternative but to cry aloud to our victor Emmanuel, Emancipator, to turn again our captivity and loose our bonds. When our emotions are frozen and congealed, we need to ask to be thawed. When our faces are turned from God, and our backs towards Him, we need to cry, Turn us and we shall be turned; melt us, O Love of God! turn back our captivity as streams in summer.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Psa 126:2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter We thought ourselves in a new world, and the surprise of it put us into such an ecstasy and transport of joy, that we could scarcely contain ourselves within the bounds of decency in the expressions of it; and our mouth with singing We gave vent to our joy, by singing hymns and songs of praise to God, and thus gave notice to all about us, what wonders God had wrought for us. Then said they among the heathen Who had observed our calamity and triumphed in it, Jer 22:8-9; Psa 137:7. The Lord Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath done great things for them This truly is Jehovahs work, who hath magnified his power in the strange deliverance of this nation. Well might they wonder, that a heathen emperor should, of his own mere motion, show so much kindness to a people so hated and despised as the Jews were.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
126:2 Then was our mouth {b} filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the {c} heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
(b) He shows how the godly should rejoice when God gathers his Church or delivers it.
(c) If the infidels confess God’s wonderful work, the faithful can never show themselves sufficiently thankful.