Psalms 126 · Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
PSALM 126 Psa 126:1-6 . To praise for God's favor to His people is added a prayer for its continued manifestation. 1-3. When the Lord, &c.-- The joy of those returned from Babylon was ecstatic, and elicited the admiration even of the heathen, as illustrating God's great power and goodness. turned again the captivity-- that is, restored from it ( Job 39:12 ; Psa 14:7 ; Pr 12:14 ). Hengstenberg translates: "When the Lord turned Himself to the turning of Zion" (see Margin), God returns to His people when they return to Him ( De 30:2 , 3 ).
4. All did not return at once; hence the prayer for repeated favors. as the streams in the south-- or, the torrents in the desert south of Judea, dependent on rain ( Jos 15:9 ), reappearing after dry seasons (compare Job 6:15 ; Psa 68:9 ). The point of comparison is joy at the reappearing of what has been so painfully missed.
5-6. As in husbandry the sower may cast his seed in a dry and parched soil with desponding fears, so those shall reap abundant fruit who toil in tears with the prayer of faith. (Compare the history, Ezr 6:16 , 22 ).