Psalm 126:1-2 - When the Lord restores the fortunes of Zion - we see it as if in a dream - our mouths will be filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy.
If any of you out there thing that knowing even a little of the original languages of Greek and Hebrew will clarify the text, I'm here to dispel you of that notion. In my experience, it brings up more questions - and more avenues of exploration of God. As I was reading this psalm this morning, I focused on the word 'fortunes.' I wondered whether it meant wealth as well as good luck to the author of the psalm. But, when I looked it up, I was perplexed to discover that the word actually is translated 'sojourn.' The literal reading then is, "When YHWH restores/returns the sojourn of Zion." What the heck is a sojourn of Zion? The stay of Zion or the trip of Zion. Although the event referred to is clearly a desirable one, fortunes doesn't seem to imply
Which might be why some translations , the NIV for example, use 'the captives of Zion,' in which case this might refer to Babylon's sack of Jerusalem in the early 6th century BCE and the subsequent deportation of the most powerful and the most talented to Babylon. This event is referred to in Psalm 137 more explicitly. To me, this makes more sense, even though the translation isn't perfect.
In either case, the vision or dream is of restoration of the kingdom. It is a vision of a future filled with joy and laughter. I think we are in a similar situation in America. None of our people have been taken away, but our government institutions are being hijacked in much the same way as Babylon sacked Jerusalem. Are we also able to envision a future filled with joy and laughter in the middle of this nightmare? Christians are a future oriented people. We have faith in God's promises, which Jurgen Moltmann reminds us are always in the future. We look to the future. Our hope arises when we can see the vision, even if we cannot yet see how to get there. This is why Mary can sing praises to God in the midst of a terrifying situation. She has already begun to co-create with God a new vision for our world - peace on earth, good will toward all people.
Such faith takes work, it takes trusting God that God's promises will come to pass. How can we grow our trust so that we may catch Mary's vision of God's justice? What circumstances are making trusting God difficult or even impossible? How can we open ourselves to joy anyway?
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