Turn again, O Jehovah, our captivity,
Like the streams in the south.
— Psalm 126:1-4
This psalm tells us that our second turn from captivity is “like the streams in the south.” The thought here is quite deep. To the south of Israel there is nothing but desert. How can the psalmist expect to find streams in a desert? This seems impossible. The thought of the psalmist here is, “Lord, for You to turn my captivity in this way seems impossible. It is like ‘the streams in the south.’ Only You can do such a thing.”
When we are young in the Lord, it is easy for us to say, “I have been terminated with Christ! I have been crucified!” But eventually after many years, we realize that for us to be truly crucified with the Lord seems impossible. It is like the streams of the south. In the desert, how can there be streams? Crying out to the Lord to deliver us from our self-life is like crying out for a stream in the desert. When we come to the matter of our self-life being terminated, when we come to the experience of being completely freed from ourselves, then we realize, “Lord, this is impossible.” It’s impossible, yet we trust the Lord to do it. We know that the Lord can save us. It is impossible, yet it is real. It is like “the streams in the south.”
Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 62.
Monday: “We Must Pay a Price”