Title: The Emotion and Prayer of Liberation
Contents
The thrill and prayer of liberation (Psalm 126:1-6)
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< Dear saints! This year marks the 62nd anniversary of liberation. This coming August 15th will be the second anniversary of Liberation Day. God broke the chains of the Japanese occupation that had been oppressing our nation for 36 years and set us free. How great is this grace? Psalm 126 is a song sung by the people of Israel after being taken captive to Babylon and enslaved for 70 years. This morning, I would like to share a sermon with the title of "The emotion and prayer of liberation."
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I. the thrill of liberation
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< The chosen people of Israel are also a nation with a miserable history. The Israelites conquered the land of Canaan through the Exodus from Egypt and established the kingdom of Israel through the Age of Judges. The days of King David and King Solomon prospered. However, the kingdom of Israel was unfortunately divided into North and South after Solomon. So northern Israel was destroyed by the Assyrian Helmanzer in 721 B.C.E. Judah in the south was also taken captive three times by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 606, 597, and 586 BC. So the kingdom of Judea was destroyed, and they lived in captivity in Babylon for 70 years.
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However, in 536 B.C., Cyrus, the new king of Persia, attacked Babylon and captured the impregnable city of Babylon, which was a special providence of God. After conquering Babylon, King Cyrus issued a liberation decree stating that the Israelites were free to return to their homeland. So the Israelites were liberated and returned to their homeland. How thrilled were the Israelites at this time? Psalm 126 is the song that the Israelites sang with emotion as they returned home after being liberated. “It was as if we were dreaming when the Lord sent away the captivity of Zion” (verse 1).
Liberation from Babylonian captivity! For the people of Israel, this was unimaginable. I like it so much that I don't know if it's a dream or real. I liked it so much that it made me laugh and sang a hymn. It is the joy of a nation that has been liberated. It was purely by God's grace that the people of Israel returned after being freed from captivity. As God promised through Jeremiah, when the 70 years were fulfilled, we were set free by God's special providence. It was purely the work of Jehovah God. The Israelites were well aware of this. They knew clearly that liberation was not the price of their efforts. So the people of Israel were grateful and moved.
<On April 15th of the same year that the March 1st Movement took place, at 2 pm, 30 residents were locked up in Jeam-ri Church, locked the door, and fired intensively. He begged for the child to be spared outside the window, but the Japanese military and police stabbed him to death. Where are these atrocities? Japan has even taken away our faith. I was forced to visit the shrine. On September 10, 1938, even the Presbyterian Church in Korea approved the shrine worship at the 27th General Assembly. Japan used all sorts of methods to oppress the church. It seemed that Japan was all over.
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II. prayer of liberation
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< The Israelites, who were liberated from Babylon, were thrilled and not only sang, but also prayed. “O LORD, send our captives back like the brooks of the south” (verse 4). The Israelites were freed by God’s grace and returned to the first stage, but there were still many problems to be solved. The people of Israel prayed because of the problem of returning the people of Israel who remained in Babylon and the rebuilding of the temple that was burnt down and the ruins of the city that had been liberated and returned to Jerusalem. “Be like the southern brook.” The southern brook refers to a brook in the Negev region in the southern wilderness of Judea. All of these streams are completely dry during the summer dry season. But in the winter monsoons, it is truly a miracle that this stream suddenly overflows. That is why the prayer to “be like the southern city” is the prayer of “May the captives remaining in Babylon return miraculously, so that the rebuilding of Jerusalem may also be miraculous.”
However, there are still many people on this earth who do not enjoy spiritual freedom. So we must pray for the evangelization of this land. The second inter-Korean summit will be held in Pyongyang on August 28. It is really nice to see the inter-Korean summit. But there are also many problems.
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