to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal infinitive absolute
weepeth
וּבָכֹה֮u.va.Khoh
H1058
to weep · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive absolute
bearing
נֹשֵׂ֪אno.Se'
H5375
to lift · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
precious
מֶֽשֶׁךְme.shekh-
H4901
a sowing · noun, common masculine singular construct
seed
הַ֫זָּ֥רַעha.Za.ra'
H2233
seed · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
doubtless
בֹּֽ֬אbo'-
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal infinitive construct
come
יָב֥וֹאya.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
rejoicing
בְרִנָּ֑הve.ri.Nah
H7440
properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
bringing
נֹ֝שֵׂ֗אno.Se'
H5375
to lift · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
sheaves
אֲלֻמֹּתָֽיו'a.lu.mo.Tav
H485
something bound · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 9:2-3 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shi…
Galatians 6:7-8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Psalms 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spir…
Job 11:13-17 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
Jeremiah 50:4-5 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weepi…
Revelation 7:15-17 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among…
Luke 15:18-24 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 126:4–end
These verses look forward to the mercies that were yet wanted. Those that had come out of captivity were still in distress, even in their own land (Neh 1:3), and many yet remained in Babylon; and therefore they rejoiced with trembling, and bore upon their hearts the grievances that were yet to be redressed. We have here, 1. A prayer for the perfecting of their deliverance (Psa 126:4): "Turn again our captivity. Let those that have returned to their own land be eased of the burdens which they are yet groaning under. Let those that remain in Babylon have their hearts stirred up, as ours were, to take the benefit of the liberty granted." The beginnings of mercy are encouragements to us to pray…
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,.... Which he sows in tears. This is but a repetition and confirmation of what is before expressed in different words; and may be applied, as to a praying saint, so to a faithful preacher of the word. The word is the precious seed which he bears, which he takes out of the granaries of the Scriptures; and carries from place to place, and scatters and sows, Luke 8:11; compared to seed, because of its meanness in the eyes of those that know it not; because of its generative virtue and increase, which it has from God, and which, unless sown in the earth, produces no fruit: and it is called "precious seed", because either bought at a great pr…
Psalm 126:4-6
4. O Jehovah! bring back our captivity, [90] as rivers in the south. [91] 5. They who sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6. Going forth, he shall go and weep, carrying the price of the seed: coming, he shall return with rejoicing, carrying his sheaves with him.
4. O Jehovah! bring back our captivity. The second part of the Psalm, as I have said, contains a prayer that God would gather together the residue of the captives. The Holy Spirit endited this form of prayer for the Jews who were already come home to their own country, that they might not forget their poor brethren who were still in exile. All the Jews, no doubt, had a door opened to them, and perfect liberty granted them…
The Church Fathers
Therefore, I said this so that we do not expect the reward of our sowing in this time when we have sown. Here indeed we sow the harvest of good works with labor, but in the future, we will gather its fruits with joy, according to what is written: "Going, they went and wept, casting their seeds; but coming, they will come with exultation, bearing their sheaves."
It is therefore fitting, brothers, that these things be said to you. Pay attention to the poor, whether lying down or walking: pay attention to the poor, do good works. Those who are accustomed to do so, do so: and those who are not accustomed to do so, do so. Let the number of those doing good increase: for the number of the faithful also increases. What you do, how good it is you do not yet see: for the farmer too, when he sows, does not see the crop, but trusts the soil. Why do you not trust God? Our harvest will come. Think that we are now laboring, laboring to receive, as it is written: They went forth and wept, casting their seeds; but they will come with exultation, bringing their sheaves.
I beseech you with fatherly solicitude, equally admonishing and exhorting you, as was already said, to endeavor continually to read the sacred lessons yourselves or willingly to listen to others read them. By thus always thinking over in the treasury of your heart what is just and holy, you may prepare for your souls an eternal spiritual food that will bring you endless bliss. Christ does not lie when he says in the person of his apostle, "What a person sows, that he will also reap." With God's help let us endeavor to continually plant in the field of our heart by reading, praying and performing good works those deeds whereof we may reap a harvest of justice and mercy on the future day of retribution. Then will be fulfilled in us what is written: "Going, they went and wept, casting their seeds. But coming, they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves." To this happiness may the good Lord lead you, who, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns world without end.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Harvest — The season for gathering grain or fruit. On the 16th day of Abib (or April) a handful of ripe ears of corn was offered as a first-fruit before the Lord, and immediately after this the harvest…
Sower, Sowing — The operation of a sowing with the hand is one of so simple a character as to need little description. The Egyptian paintings furnish many illustrations of the mode in which it was conducted. The…
Afflictions · Of saints, end in joy and blessedness — Of saints, end in joy and blessedness
Afflictions And Adversities · .End in joy and blessedness — .End in joy and blessedness
Harvest, The · A time of great joy — A time of great joy
Reaping · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Seed · Sowing of: Often attended with danger — Sowing of: Often attended with danger
Weeping · While doing good — While doing good
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
But still the work so mightily and graciously begun is not completed. Those who up to the present time have returned, out of whose heart this Psalm is, as it were, composed, are only like a small vanguard in relation to the whole nation. Instead of שׁבותנו the Kerמ here reads שׁביתנוּ, from שׁבית, Num 21:29, after the form בכית in Gen 50:4. As we read elsewhere that Jerusalem yearns after her children, and Jahve solemnly assures her, "thou shalt put them all on as jewels and gird thyself like a bride" (Isa 49:18), so here the poet proceeds from the idea that the holy land yearns after an abundant, reanimating influx of population, as the Negeb (i.e., the Judaean south country, Gen 20:1, and…
The prophets had spoken of the restoration as a time when the wilderness would change into the Garden of Eden (Isa 51:3; Ezek 47); the reality fell far short of paradise. Here the restoration community prays for full redemption (see Hag 2:19). • as streams renew the desert: The seasonal rains filled the dry river beds (wadis), and the land turned green again. The prayer looks for a similar transformation of Israel’s fortunes, a fulfillment of the imagery of the “Second Exodus” in Isaiah (see “The Promise of a Second Exodus” Theme Note). • The harvest represents God’s full restoration.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 126:6
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
He. The general assurance is applied to each one in particular. That which is spoken in the previous verse in the plural—"they", is here repeated in the singular—"he." He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. He leaves his couch to go forth into the frosty air and tread the heavy soil; and as he goes he weeps because of past failures, or because the ground is so sterile, or the weather so unseasonable, or his corn so scarce, and his enemies so plentiful and so eager to rob him…
