Recently, a good friend of mine, a pastor, sent me a photo of him baptising his teenage son. The young man had begun to wander away from the church, but had wonderfully turned to Christ. He was baptised and has enrolled in Bible college. I was overjoyed. Baptisms are some of the most joyful events in the life of any church. Being set free from sin and finding life and freedom in Jesus Christ is a wonderful thing to celebrate. New believers often testify to experiencing a depth of joy they’d never known before. But it would be unwise to think that they would stay on the same emotional high for the rest of their Christian life. Tough times lie ahead.

Psalm 126 gives a picture of this Christian life by poetically telling the story of Israel’s return from exile. For nearly 70 years, they had lived as captives in Babylon. Then, in 538 BC, God moved the heart of the Persian king Cyrus to let the people go home. Psalm 126 celebrates this joyful event.

The return was a dream come true (v. 1). They couldn’t stop laughing and singing, but the songs they sang were more than a spontaneous outburst of praise. The people knew that the surrounding nations were watching—they wanted the nations to see how great the God of Israel was. He was the God who came to the aid of His suffering people and set them free (vv. 2–3).

In verses 4–6, the psalmist doesn’t stop singing, but now he faces the future realistically. Israel has returned from captivity, but before them is the arduous task of rebuilding the city and the nation. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell us about some of the obstacles they faced (see Ezra 5 and Nehemiah 4). The exiles knew that there would be days when tears would replace laughter. What would sustain them would be the wonderful memory of God’s great work in bringing them home and the glorious prospect of the endless joy that would be theirs when the work was complete.

Sadly, even by the time of Jesus, Israel still wasn’t free from a foreign power. The true restoration would be spiritual, and it would be for all who turned to Christ (see 2 Corinthians 13:11; 1 Peter 5:10).

Joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit, but Paul also encourages us to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). He likens the Christian life to a battle and a boxing contest (see 2 Timothy 4:7; 1 Corinthians 9:26–27). Like the sowers of Psalm 126, we’ll often sow in tears—living out our lives as God’s saved people is hard work. But after the backbreaking work of sowing, we will reap a harvest of eternal joy. Paul wrote, “whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8).