He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 126:6 expands and confirms the promise of the previous verse: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy” (v.5). Verse 5 states the principle; verse 6 paints it before the eyes. The psalm began with remembered deliverance, when the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion and filled His people’s mouth with laughter and their tongue with singing (vv.1-2). Yet the people still prayed, “Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south” (v.4). Thus this verse belongs to saints who remember what God has done, yet still labor, weep, pray, and wait for further mercy. It is a word for those who must sow before they reap, weep before they rejoice, and trust the LORD before they see the sheaves.
“He that goeth forth.” The man in this verse does not remain idle in his grief. He goes forth. Sorrow does not excuse him from duty. Tears do not keep him from the field. His heart is heavy, but his hand is not empty. Faith does not wait for all sorrow to vanish before obeying God. It goes forth because God has appointed sowing before harvest. The verse therefore rebukes despairing idleness. The afflicted saint may be weak, burdened, disappointed, or chastened, but he must still go forth in prayer, obedience, labor, ministry, repentance, and hope.
The words also imply separation from ease and comfort. The sower must leave the house, enter the field, face the weather, cast the seed, and trust what he cannot yet see. So it is with the service of God. The minister must go forth with the word. The father must go forth in instruction. The mother must go forth in patient care. The church must go forth in prayer and well doing. The convicted believer must go forth from sin unto obedience. The burdened saint must go forth from self-pity unto duty. The harvest will not be gathered by those who refuse to sow.
“And weepeth.” The man goes forth weeping. His obedience is joined with sorrow. The verse does not describe a shallow cheerfulness that ignores trouble. It admits the tears. The godly may weep from affliction, chastening, loss, opposition, longing, disappointment, or the burden of waiting upon the LORD. David knew such tears when he wrote, “I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears” (Psalm 6:6). He also knew that God observed them, saying, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8). The tears of God’s people are not despised by Him.
Yet the tears do not stop the sowing. This is one of the chief beauties of the verse. The man weeps, but he goes. He sorrows, but he bears seed. He feels the burden, but he does not abandon the field. This is faith working under grief. It is easy to speak of duty when the heart is light, the path is plain, and fruit appears near. But Psalm 126:6 describes obedience when the heart aches and the harvest is unseen. Such tears are not barren when they are joined to faithful sowing.
“Bearing precious seed.” The sower carries something valuable. Seed may look small, common, and unimpressive, but it holds the promise of future harvest. It is precious because without it there can be no sheaves. In times of scarcity, seed is especially costly, for the sower must part with what might have been eaten in the present in hope of increase in the future. Faith does this. It gives, prays, teaches, labors, and obeys now, trusting God for fruit in due season.
The seed may be applied broadly to all faithful labor appointed by God, but especially to His word. The word of God is the precious seed of truth that converts the soul, instructs the simple, and brings forth the fruit of righteousness in the believer’s life (Psalm 19:7-8). Our Lord compared the word to seed sown in various soils (Luke 8:11). The preacher, parent, teacher, and every faithful witness bear precious seed when they carry God’s truth. Men may despise it as weak, old, narrow, or foolish, but it is precious because it is God’s word and because God gives increase by it (1 Corinthians 3:6). No human invention, program, emotion, or wisdom can replace it.
The phrase also teaches that sorrow must not cause the saint to drop the seed. Many begin to weep and then stop bearing what God has given them to carry. They abandon Scripture, prayer, obedience, church duty, family instruction, or ministry because the field is hard. But this man keeps bearing precious seed while he weeps. His tears are real, but so is his duty. His grief is heavy, but the seed remains in his hand. This is the persevering faith commended by the verse.
“Shall doubtless.” Here is the certainty of the promise. The Spirit does not say he may come again, might come again, or will probably come again. He shall doubtless come again. The certainty does not rest in the sower’s strength, the field’s appearance, or the weather of the moment. It rests in the LORD Who turns captivity, fills mouths with laughter, appoints harvest after sowing, and remembers the tears of His people. God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7). Therefore, Paul exhorted, “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).
This promise must be received with reverent faith, not fleshly presumption. It does not mean every effort will produce the exact result men imagine, nor that every harvest will appear at once. The LORD appoints both the field and the season. Some fruit is seen quickly. Some comes after long waiting. Some is gathered by others. Some will not be known until the day of Christ. But faithful sowing in God’s appointed way is never wasted. The harvest is certain because God is faithful.
“Come again with rejoicing.” The same man who went forth weeping returns rejoicing. His condition is changed by the mercy of God. This is the answer to verse 5: tears in sowing, joy in reaping. The LORD does not leave His people forever in the field of grief. He turns sorrow into joy. Our Lord used like language with His disciples before His death: “ye shall weep and lament,” but “your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20). Again, He said, “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:22). God can make the return far sweeter because of the tears that accompanied the going forth.
“Bringing his sheaves with him.” The sheaves are the gathered harvest, visible fruit, and reward of patient labor. The man did not return empty. He went forth with seed; he comes again with sheaves. He went forth weeping; he returns rejoicing. The picture is full of hope. What was once hidden in the ground is now gathered in his arms. What once seemed lost is returned with increase. What was watered with tears is brought home with joy.
This phrase also shows the public and tangible nature of the harvest. The sheaves are brought with him. Others may see what the LORD has done. Zion once seemed captive, but her mouth was filled with laughter (vv.1-2). The sower once seemed pitiable as he went forth weeping, but he comes again with sheaves. God is able to turn the grief of His people into testimony, praise, and visible fruit for His name.
The greatest pattern of sorrow before harvest is seen in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears (Hebrews 5:7). He spoke of His own death under the figure of grain cast into the earth: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Yet He rose from the dead, and His sufferings brought forth the harvest of His redeemed people. “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11). Thus, the sorrow-then-harvest pattern is seen most gloriously in Christ.
The same pattern continues in the church. Pastors, parents, and saints often sow under burden. Paul served the Lord with many tears (Acts 20:19), warned the church night and day with tears (Acts 20:31), and yet looked for fruit from God. He planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). The seed was precious, the labor was costly, and the tears were real; but the increase belonged to the Lord.
Psalm 126:6 therefore comforts and exhorts the weary saint. It comforts him by declaring that tears are not the end. It exhorts him by showing that sorrow must not stop obedience. Go forth. Weep if you must, but bear precious seed. Continue in prayer, truth, duty, repentance, instruction, and well doing. The LORD Who turned again the captivity of Zion still turns sorrow into joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 126:6 expands and confirms the promise of the previous verse: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy” (v.5). Verse 5 states the principle; verse 6 paints it before the eyes. The psalm began with remembered deliverance, when the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion and filled His people’s mouth with laughter and their tongue with singing (vv.1-2). Yet the people still prayed, “Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south” (v.4). Thus this verse belongs to saints who remember what God has done, yet still labor, weep, pray, and wait for further mercy. It is a word for those who must sow before they reap, weep before they rejoice, and trust the LORD before they see the sheaves.
“He that goeth forth.” The man in this verse does not remain idle in his grief. He goes forth. Sorrow does not excuse him from duty. Tears do not keep him from the field. His heart is heavy, but his hand is not empty. Faith does not wait for all sorrow to vanish before obeying God. It goes forth because God has appointed sowing before harvest. The verse therefore rebukes despairing idleness. The afflicted saint may be weak, burdened, disappointed, or chastened, but he must still go forth in prayer, obedience, labor, ministry, repentance, and hope.
The words also imply separation from ease and comfort. The sower must leave the house, enter the field, face the weather, cast the seed, and trust what he cannot yet see. So it is with the service of God. The minister must go forth with the word. The father must go forth in instruction. The mother must go forth in patient care. The church must go forth in prayer and well doing. The convicted believer must go forth from sin unto obedience. The burdened saint must go forth from self-pity unto duty. The harvest will not be gathered by those who refuse to sow.
“And weepeth.” The man goes forth weeping. His obedience is joined with sorrow. The verse does not describe a shallow cheerfulness that ignores trouble. It admits the tears. The godly may weep from affliction, chastening, loss, opposition, longing, disappointment, or the burden of waiting upon the LORD. David knew such tears when he wrote, “I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears” (Psalm 6:6). He also knew that God observed them, saying, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8). The tears of God’s people are not despised by Him.
Yet the tears do not stop the sowing. This is one of the chief beauties of the verse. The man weeps, but he goes. He sorrows, but he bears seed. He feels the burden, but he does not abandon the field. This is faith working under grief. It is easy to speak of duty when the heart is light, the path is plain, and fruit appears near. But Psalm 126:6 describes obedience when the heart aches and the harvest is unseen. Such tears are not barren when they are joined to faithful sowing.
“Bearing precious seed.” The sower carries something valuable. Seed may look small, common, and unimpressive, but it holds the promise of future harvest. It is precious because without it there can be no sheaves. In times of scarcity, seed is especially costly, for the sower must part with what might have been eaten in the present in hope of increase in the future. Faith does this. It gives, prays, teaches, labors, and obeys now, trusting God for fruit in due season.
The seed may be applied broadly to all faithful labor appointed by God, but especially to His word. The word of God is the precious seed of truth that converts the soul, instructs the simple, and brings forth the fruit of righteousness in the believer’s life (Psalm 19:7-8). Our Lord compared the word to seed sown in various soils (Luke 8:11). The preacher, parent, teacher, and every faithful witness bear precious seed when they carry God’s truth. Men may despise it as weak, old, narrow, or foolish, but it is precious because it is God’s word and because God gives increase by it (1 Corinthians 3:6). No human invention, program, emotion, or wisdom can replace it.
The phrase also teaches that sorrow must not cause the saint to drop the seed. Many begin to weep and then stop bearing what God has given them to carry. They abandon Scripture, prayer, obedience, church duty, family instruction, or ministry because the field is hard. But this man keeps bearing precious seed while he weeps. His tears are real, but so is his duty. His grief is heavy, but the seed remains in his hand. This is the persevering faith commended by the verse.
“Shall doubtless.” Here is the certainty of the promise. The Spirit does not say he may come again, might come again, or will probably come again. He shall doubtless come again. The certainty does not rest in the sower’s strength, the field’s appearance, or the weather of the moment. It rests in the LORD Who turns captivity, fills mouths with laughter, appoints harvest after sowing, and remembers the tears of His people. God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7). Therefore, Paul exhorted, “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).
This promise must be received with reverent faith, not fleshly presumption. It does not mean every effort will produce the exact result men imagine, nor that every harvest will appear at once. The LORD appoints both the field and the season. Some fruit is seen quickly. Some comes after long waiting. Some is gathered by others. Some will not be known until the day of Christ. But faithful sowing in God’s appointed way is never wasted. The harvest is certain because God is faithful.
“Come again with rejoicing.” The same man who went forth weeping returns rejoicing. His condition is changed by the mercy of God. This is the answer to verse 5: tears in sowing, joy in reaping. The LORD does not leave His people forever in the field of grief. He turns sorrow into joy. Our Lord used like language with His disciples before His death: “ye shall weep and lament,” but “your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20). Again, He said, “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:22). God can make the return far sweeter because of the tears that accompanied the going forth.
“Bringing his sheaves with him.” The sheaves are the gathered harvest, visible fruit, and reward of patient labor. The man did not return empty. He went forth with seed; he comes again with sheaves. He went forth weeping; he returns rejoicing. The picture is full of hope. What was once hidden in the ground is now gathered in his arms. What once seemed lost is returned with increase. What was watered with tears is brought home with joy.
This phrase also shows the public and tangible nature of the harvest. The sheaves are brought with him. Others may see what the LORD has done. Zion once seemed captive, but her mouth was filled with laughter (vv.1-2). The sower once seemed pitiable as he went forth weeping, but he comes again with sheaves. God is able to turn the grief of His people into testimony, praise, and visible fruit for His name.
The greatest pattern of sorrow before harvest is seen in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears (Hebrews 5:7). He spoke of His own death under the figure of grain cast into the earth: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Yet He rose from the dead, and His sufferings brought forth the harvest of His redeemed people. “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11). Thus, the sorrow-then-harvest pattern is seen most gloriously in Christ.
The same pattern continues in the church. Pastors, parents, and saints often sow under burden. Paul served the Lord with many tears (Acts 20:19), warned the church night and day with tears (Acts 20:31), and yet looked for fruit from God. He planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). The seed was precious, the labor was costly, and the tears were real; but the increase belonged to the Lord.
Psalm 126:6 therefore comforts and exhorts the weary saint. It comforts him by declaring that tears are not the end. It exhorts him by showing that sorrow must not stop obedience. Go forth. Weep if you must, but bear precious seed. Continue in prayer, truth, duty, repentance, instruction, and well doing. The LORD Who turned again the captivity of Zion still turns sorrow into joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.