Blessings and Burdens

Blessings and Burdens

“Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy! [4] Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert.”

Psalm 126:3,4 NLT

These two verses speak to two categories of people:- Verse 3 – People who have received their promise/blessing; and Verse 4 – People who are in need of a promise/blessing.

And what’s important is that we take notice of the shift that happens from verse 3 to verse 4. Verse 3 is a verse of joy and declaration – specifying the wonderful, blessed works of God. But immediately after this verse of fulfillment and celebration, comes a prayer for blessing and restoration. And this is often how our lives are too. No matter how much trouble we face in one particular area of our lives, there comes a time when God releases that specific blessing against all odds; and like in verse 3, we will finally have a song of praise for what God has done. But what we need to understand is that it is possible to have burdens right after receiving a very big breakthrough. And like in verse 4, we must lift up our voice to God in prayer again.

And perhaps the progression of these two verses – the way they follow one another, the way they are placed together, they way they are connected to one another, the way they go from blessing to need, the way they go from praise to prayer, is to teach us one thing – that in blessing, like the Psalmist, we must praise God’s Name and in need, like the Psalmist, we must turn to Him again.