“We were like those who dream”
[Psalms 126]
Last Friday around 4:20 am I woke up after laughing too loud in my dream. In my dream, I met the late Pastor Chang-hyuk Kim, joked with joy, had a pleasant conversation, and laughed loudly and then woke up. It's been about a year since the pastor Kim left us, so I was happy to see him even in my dream. Would you believe if it was a reality, not a dream? No one will ever believe. I know that I can no longer see him in this world. I have no hope of seeing him again in this world. Only when I leave this world and go before the Lord, I will meet the pastor Kim again in Heaven. I have this sure hope. But if God resurrected the pastor Kim and sent him before me, so that I could meet the pastor again in this world, then I would certainly be surprised and amazed by the unbelievable thing. Is it like a reality or a dream? I'm going to pinch myself. What do you really want to see a miracle happening in your life? In other words, what is the desperate hope you have dreamed of?
If we look at Psalms 126:1, the psalmist confessed, “We were like those who dream.” Is he telling us that something incredible has happened in the past that it was as if we were dreaming? The incredible miracle that happened in the past refers to the fact that God brought the Israelites who had been captive in Babylon back to Judea (Park). Considering this great work of salvation, the psalmist and the Israelites who returned from captivity to the land of Judea were hard to believe. Particularly in captivity, in the midst of sorrow and tears, in the midst of longing for God's salvation (vv. 5-6), when answers to prayers were frustrated, discouraged, and in despair due to slowness, they who used to live in captivity was liberated and became free bodies because of God's dramatic work of salvation. What an incredible miracle must have been for them? That is why the psalmist confessed that we were dreaming of God's work of salvation in the past.
Last January, I saw several black grandmothers cry while watching the inauguration of Barak Obama, America's first black president. I think they and many black citizens must have been dreaming. It is because something they can’t even imagine and believe happened. Especially in the old days, when black people were slaves and served white people as masters, who would have dreamed that black people (whether black or white) would become president? I don't think we need to go to the age of black slaves. In the 1960s, I think no one would have dared to dream that a black man would become president of United State of America. However, at the inauguration of President Obama last month, many black people believed what Reverend Martin Luther King said, that is “I have a dream” speech when when a crowd of 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on August 28, 1963. At that time, Reverend King delivered a speech in front of a crowd of 250,000 people, telling him of his dream: ‘Someday in the Red Hills of Georgia, the children of former slaves and the children of slave owners will sit at a table in fraternity. It is a dream that one day the racists in Alabama will withdraw, where my young sons and daughters will live hand in hand as white sons and daughters and brothers and sisters’ (Internet). Look at this America now. Of course, when we see Pastor King's dream come true, and now we see a black man become president of the United States, this will be an incredible dream, especially for black people. Now we can dream as Asians too. In my children's generation, where is the law that says that there should be no Asian president?
In Psalms 126, the psalmist recalled the dream-like thing, the return of the Israetlies to Judea with the great work of God's salvation from Babylonian captivity: “Then our mouth was filled with laughter And our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’ The LORD has done great things for us; We are glad” (Ps. 126:2-3). As he thought of the thing that seemed to be dreaming, he was soaked in the laughter and joy that was full of it. And at that time, that is, when God did great things (v. 3), the psalmist revived the memory of praising God together in the joy (of salvation) that God gave him. The psalmist reminded that when the psalmist praised God for the great grace of salvation that God had given his, the Gentiles among the nations also heard the voice that “The Lord has done great things for them” (the Israelites) (v. 2). In the midst of that, we can see that he is still praying for his fellow countrymen who have not returned to the land of Judea (Park): “Restore our captivity, O LORD, As the streams in the South” (v. 4). Here, the phrase “As the streams in the South” means that the psalmist prayed that all the captives of the Israelites would return to their home country as the streams overflowed after a rainy season (Park). In this prayer, the psalmist had assurance of his prayer. We can know this in verses 5-6: “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him..” Although the psalmist prayed for his fellow Israelites who were still in captivity, and shed tears amid the painful captivity, he had assurance that God who made the great work of salvation even in the past of the slavery of the captive Israelites and returned to Judea, God would save rest of the Israelites who were still living in captivity just as He had brought them back to return to Judea with joy.
When we pray with tears, the day will surely come to praise God with joy. Really dreamlike things will happen in our lives. The reason is because our God is a God who can make it happen in His will, even if it may be like a dream. He is the God who sees the tears of our prayers and answers our prayers. God is the God who hears our earnest prayer and accomplishes great work of salvation. Our God is the God who turns our mourning into joy. He is the God who brings us salvation and makes us rejoice and praise. I hope and pray that we can all dream of seeing in faith the God of salvation.
Dreaming in the Lord,
James Kim
(Before I come up to the Lord's house in the early morning and pray for my loved ones)