Exhortation Station

Psalm 126:5,6 —
“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. ⁶ He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

This is an intriguing passage and, I think, a fitting one to consider as we approach Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. (For more thoughts on Yom Kippur, I invite you to check out a previous post, Deep Cleaning.)

Recall that Yom Kippur is a day to humble ourselves:

Leviticus 23:26-28 —
YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to YHWH. ²⁸ You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before YHWH your God.”

We humble ourselves because of the sober nature of atonement. It is not to be taken lightly. The price that was paid to atone for our sins is one that ought to bring us to our knees.

In contrast to Yom Kippur, Sukkot (i.e. Feast of Tabernacles) is an occasion full of feasting and exuberance (see Deuteronomy 16:13-15). Though we might be tempted to skip straight to the feasting of Sukkot, Yahweh, in His wisdom, placed a day of deep contrition and introspection just a few days before. I think this is awesome, as it drives us to get our garments spotless so our joy throughout Sukkot can be all the more poignant.

On the topic of sorrow, 2 Corinthians 7:10,11a says,
“For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹ For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong!”

Sorrow over wrongdoing is life-giving, as it leads to repentance and resulting purification.

Jeremiah 50:4,5 says, speaking of the restoration of Israel,
“In those days and at that time,” declares YHWH, “the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be YHWH their God they will seek. ⁵ They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to YHWH in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.”

Though the occasion would seem to be a joyous one of restoration, Israel and Judah are said to be “weeping as they go.” Why? Perhaps it is because of repentance. Perhaps it is because they recognize they have strayed from Yahweh, and their hearts are broken over it. This is a good kind of weeping.

Matthew 5:4 — “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Sow in tears on Yom Kippur. Reap with joyful shouting throughout Sukkot! Sow seeds of contrition, reap a harvest of reconciliation.

Shalom!

(Bible passages NASB 1995; Hebrew transl. added)

(For more thoughts along a similar vein, see post, Why Mourning?)