Psalm 126:5
“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Psalm 126 celebrates restoration after captivity and looks forward in hope, using farming imagery to promise joy after sorrow.
What Does Psalm 126:5 Mean?
This verse promises that those who labor through weeping will one day gather a harvest of joy. It uses the familiar picture of farming: sowing is the hard, costly work done in hope, and reaping is the glad harvest that follows. To "sow in tears" describes pressing on faithfully even amid grief, hardship, or apparent loss, planting when there is little reason to feel hopeful.
The promise is that such sorrowful labor is not wasted. God connects the tearful sowing to a joyful reaping, so that present grief is not the end of the story. In the psalm's setting, a people who had wept in exile look forward to restoration, trusting that their sorrow would give way to gladness. The principle reaches into every believer's life: seasons of painful, faithful effort -- prayers offered in anguish, obedience that costs, service rendered while hurting -- carry a hidden seed that God will bring to harvest. The verse does not deny the tears; it dignifies them as part of the planting. And it points beyond them to a coming joy that God Himself guarantees for those who keep sowing through their sorrow.
In the Original Language
"Reap" translates the Hebrew qatsar, to harvest or gather a crop, contrasted with sowing done in tears (dimah).
Cross References
“He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”
- Psalm 126:6
“Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”
- John 16:20
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
- Galatians 6:9
Application
Keep sowing faithfully through your tears, trusting that God will bring a harvest of joy in His time.