Psalms 126 - Introduction

CXXVI.

The two stanzas, marked so plainly by the changes of tense and tone, of this exquisite little poem, though telling with the distinctness of actual description the nature of the circumstances amid which it was written, give no indication of an exact date. All we can see with certainty is that the psalm is post-exile. The recollection of the exuberant burst of joy at the first news of the return from the Captivity, enables the psalmist to anticipate a similar change from gloom to gladness now. The words of the song are too deeply enshrined in the heart of the whole world to make us very anxious to recover the precise time which gave expression to the nameless poet’s feelings. The rhythm is fine and varied.