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1 When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. 2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. 3 The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. 4 Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. 5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
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[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:1
"When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion, we became as those that are comforted" [Psalm 126:1]. He meant by this to say, we became joyful. When? "When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion." What is Sion? Jerusalem, the same is also the eternal Sion. How is Sion eternal, how is Sion captive? In angels eternal, in men captive. For not all the citizens of that city are captives, but those who are away from thence, they are captives. Man was a citizen of Jerusalem, but sold under sin he became a pilgrim. Of his progeny was born the human race, and the captivity of Sion filled all lands. And how is this captivity of Sion a shadow of that Jerusalem? The shadow of that Sion, which was granted to the Jews, in an image, in a figure, was in captivity in Babylonia, and after seventy years that people turned back to its own city.. ..But when all time is past, then we return to our country, as after seventy years that people returned from the Babylonish captivity, for Babylon is this world; since Babylon is interpreted "confusion."...So then this whole life of human affairs is confusion, which belongs not unto God. In this confusion, in this Babylonish land, Sion is held captive. But "the Lord has turned back the captivity of Sion." "And we became," he says, "as those that are comforted." That is, we rejoiced as receiving consolation. Consolation is not save for the unhappy, consolation is not save for them that groan, that mourn. Wherefore, "as those that are comforted," except because we are still mourning? We mourn for our present lot, we are comforted in hope: when the present is passed by, of our mourning will come everlasting joy, when there will be no need of consolation, because we shall be wounded with no distress. But wherefore says he "as" those that are comforted, and says not comforted? This word "as," is not always put for likeness: when we say "As," it sometimes refers to the actual case, sometimes to likeness: here it is with reference to the actual case....Walk therefore in Christ, and sing rejoicing, sing as one that is comforted; because He went before you who has commanded you to follow Him.

Source: Exposition on Psalm 126
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:2
"Then was our mouth filled with joy, and our tongue with exultation" [Psalm 126:2]. That mouth, brethren, which we have in our body, how is it "filled with joy"? It uses not to be "filled," save with meat, or drink, or some such thing put into the mouth. Sometimes our mouth is filled; and it is more that we say to your holiness, when we have our mouth full, we cannot speak. But we have a mouth within, that is, in the heart, whence whatsoever proceeds, if it is evil, defiles us, if it is good, cleanses us. For concerning this very mouth ye heard when the Gospel was read. For the Jews reproached the Lord, because His disciples ate with unwashen hands. They reproached who had cleanness without; and within were full of stains. They reproached, whose righteousness was only in the eyes of men. But the Lord sought our inward cleanness, which if we have, the outside must needs be clean also. "Cleanse," He says, "the inside," and "the outside shall be clean also." [Matthew 23:26] ...

Source: Exposition on Psalm 126
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:2
The Lord our God has granted me the favor of seeing you and being seen by you, and we can all give him thanks together. And if this is the reason that “our mouth is filled with joy and our tongue with exultation,” that we have seen each other in the mortal flesh, imagine what our joy will be when we have seen each other in that place, where we will have nothing at all to fear from each other. The apostle says, “Rejoice in hope.” So our present joy is in hope, not yet in the thing itself. “But hope which is seen,” he says, “is not hope; for why does anyone hope for what he can see? But if we are hoping for what we cannot see, we wait for it with patience.” But if travelers rejoice in each other’s company on the way, what joy they will obtain in their home country!

Source: SERMON 306B.1
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:3
"Yea, the Lord has done great things for us already, whereof we rejoice" [Psalm 126:3]. Consider, my brethren, if Sion does not at present say this among the heathen, throughout the whole world; consider if men are not running unto the Church. In the whole world our redemption is received; Amen is answered. The dwellers in Jerusalem, therefore, captive, destined to return, pilgrims, sighing for their country, speak thus among the heathen. What do they say? "The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we rejoice." Have they done anything for themselves? They have done ill with themselves, for they have sold themselves under sin. The Redeemer came, and did the good things for them.

Source: Exposition on Psalm 126
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:4
"Turn our captivity, O Lord, as the torrents in the south" [Psalm 126:4]. Consider, my brethren, what this means....As torrents are turned in the south, so turn our captivity. In a certain passage Scripture says, in admonishing us concerning good works, "Your sins also shall melt away, even as the ice in fair warm weather." [Sirach 3:17] Our sins therefore bound us. How? As the cold binds the water that it run not. Bound with the frost of our sins, we have frozen. But the south wind is a warm wind: when the south wind blows, the ice melts, and the torrents are filled. Now winter streams are called torrents; for filled with sudden rains they run with great force. We had therefore become frozen in captivity; our sins bound us: the south wind the Holy Spirit has blown: our sins are forgiven us, we are released from the frost of iniquity; as the ice in fair weather, our sins are melted. Let us run unto our country, as the torrents in the south....

Source: Exposition on Psalm 126
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Psalms 126:5
“Blessed are they who weep, for they shall laugh.” They, therefore, who spend the days of their life, which is already at its consummation and declining toward its setting, in weeping for their sins, these will be glad in that true morning that is approaching. “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy,” of course, in the future.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 14:4
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Psalms 126:5
Concerning food. Let the body have its victuals, that it may live and render its services unimpeded, but not so as to be given to daintiness. Let these be your rules regarding food, since many trip up over meat. There are those who eat things sacrificed to idols without taking any notice. There are others who practice abstinence and then pass judgment on those who eat. And so the soul of this person or that is soiled in different ways, all in connection with the question of meats, through their not knowing the sensible reasons for eating or not eating. For we fast by abstaining from wine and from meat, not as though these things were abominations that we must hate but as expecting a reward for doing so, namely, that in spurning sensuous things, we may enjoy a spiritual and heavenly feast, “that sowing now in tears, we may reap in joy,” in the world to come. But do not, in fasting, despise those who are eating such food, and eating it because of bodily infirmity. Do not blame those “who use a little wine for their stomach’s sake, and their frequent infirmities,” and certainly do not adjudge them to be sinners. Do not abhor flesh meats as if they were taboo, for the apostle evidently knew people like that, since he says that there are [those] “who forbid to marry, and command to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe.” If therefore you are abstaining from these things, let it not be as from things abhorred, or your reward is lost, but as good things let them be transcended, in the quest of the fairer spiritual rewards that are set before you.

Source: Catechetical Lecture 4:27
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:5
For the next words are, "They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy" [Psalm 126:5]. In this life, which is full of tears, let us sow. What shall we sow? Good works. Works of mercy are our seeds: of which seeds the Apostle says, "Let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." [Galatians 6:9] Speaking therefore of almsgiving itself, what says he? "This I say; he that sows sparingly, shall reap also sparingly." [2 Corinthians 9:6] He therefore who sows plentifully, shall reap plentifully: he who sows sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he that sows nothing, shall reap nothing. Why do ye long for ample estates, where ye may sow plentifully? There is not a wider field on which you can sow than Christ, who has willed that we should sow in Himself. Your soil is the Church; sow as much as you can. But you have not enough to do this. Have you the will? As what you had would be nothing, if you had not a good will; so do not despond, because you have not, if you have a good will. For what do you sow? Mercy. And what will you reap? Peace. Said the Angels, Peace on earth unto rich men? No, but, "Peace on earth unto men of a good will." [Luke 2:14] Zacchæus had a strong will, Zacchæus had great charity. [Luke 19:8] ...Did then that widow who cast her two farthings into the treasury, sow little? Nay, as much as Zacchæus. For she had narrower means, but an equal will. She gave her two mites [Luke 21:1-4] with as good a will as Zacchæus gave the half of his patrimony. If you consider what they gave, you will find their gifts different; if you look to the source, you will find them equal; she gave whatever she had, and he gave what he had....But if they are beggars whose profession is asking alms, in trouble they also have what to bestow upon one another. God has not so forsaken them, but that they have wherein they may be tried by their bestowing of alms. This man cannot walk; he who can walk, lends his feet to the lame; he who sees, lends his eyes to the blind; and he who is young and sound, lends his strength to the old or the infirm, carries him: the one is poor, the other is rich.

Source: Exposition on Psalm 126
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:5
I sympathize with you, because the Lord our God also sympathized with us, suffered with us. You see, he revealed himself in you, and you in himself, when he said, “My soul is sad to the point of death.” He suffered for us, let us suffer for him; he died for us, let us die for him, in order to live forever with him. But perhaps you are hesitant to die, O mortal creature, though you are bound to die sometime or other, precisely because you are mortal. Would you like not to fear death? Die for God. But perhaps the reason you are afraid to die is that death is such a sad business. Consider the harvest; the time for sowing is cold; but if the farmer declines to be made miserable by sowing in the cold in winter, he won’t rejoice in the summer. Take a look at yourself, and see whether the reason you are reluctant to sow is that there is the sadness and misery of the cold at seed time.Look at the psalm: “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going, they were going and weeping, casting their seed;” That is what we were singing just now; let us do what we have sung. Let us sow our souls in this time, like corn in winter, so that we may reap them in eternal time, like corn in summer time. That is the way the holy martyrs, the way all the just, toiling away on earth, weeping cast their seed; this life, after all, is full of tears. And what follows? “But coming, they will come with exultation, carrying their lapfuls.” Your seed is the shedding of your blood; your lapful the reception of your crown.

Source: SERMON 313D.3
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:5
Who labored? Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Read their labors! In all their labors [there was] prophecy of Christ; and thus [they were] the sowers. Moses and the rest of the patriarchs and all the prophets, how much did they endure in that cold when they were sowing! Therefore in Judea the harvest was now ready. Rightly there the crop was, so to speak, ripe, when so many thousands of people were bringing the price of their possessions and laying it at the feet of the apostles; their shoulders freed of worldly baggage, they were following Christ, the Lord. Truly a ripe harvest. What came of it? From that harvest a few grains were cast out, and they sowed the world, and there arises another harvest that is to be reaped at the end of the world. About this harvest it is said, “They who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” To this harvest, therefore, not apostles but angels will be sent; he says, “The reapers are the angels.”

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15:32.3
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:5
So [Christ] transposed the weak members of his body [the church] into himself. And perhaps it was of them that it is said, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy,” that is to say, of the weaker ones. After all, that great herald of Christ was not sowing in tears when he said, “For I indeed am already being sacrificed, and the time of my casting off is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have completed the course, I have kept the faith. For the rest, there is being kept for me the crown of justice—a crown made of sheaves. There is being kept for me,” he says, “the crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me on that day.” As though to say, “He will render me the harvest, for whom I am spending myself in sowing.” These words, brothers, as I understand them, are the words of someone merrymaking, not of someone crying. You don’t suppose he was in tears, do you, when he said this? Wasn’t he exactly like the cheerful giver, whom God loves? So let us refer these words [Jesus’ words] to the weak, in order that not even those who have sown in tears need despair, because even if they have sown in tears, the pain and the sighing will pass away. Sadness passes at the end, and gladness comes without end.And yet for all that, dearly beloved, this finally is how it seems to me that these words refer to everyone, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going they were going and weeping, casting their seed. But coming they shall come with merrymaking, carrying their sheaves.” Listen, if with the Lord’s assistance I am able to explain it, how “going they were going and weeping” belongs to everyone. From the moment we are born, we are going. Is there anyone, after all, who stands still? Is there anyone who, from the moment he enters life, is not forced to get moving? An infant is born; it gets moving by growing. Death is the end. We have still got to come to the end—but with merrymaking.

Source: SERMON 31:3-4
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Psalms 126:5
Let no one believe that he possesses any happiness or true joy in this world. Happiness can be prepared for, but it cannot be possessed here. Two times succeed each other in their own order, “a time to weep, and a time to laugh.” Let no one deceive himself, brethren; there is no time to laugh in this world. I know, indeed, that everyone wants to rejoice, but people do not all look for joy in the place where it should be sought. True joy never did exist in this world, it does not do so now, and it never will. For thus the Lord warned his disciples in the Gospel when he said, “You will suffer in the world,” and again, “While the world rejoices, you will grieve for a time, but your grief will be turned into joy.” For this reason, with the Lord’s help let us do good in this life through labor and sorrow, so that in the future life we may be able to gather the fruits of our good deeds with joy and exultation according to that sentence: “Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.”

Source: SERMON 215:2
[AD 735] Bede on Psalms 126:5
But this discourse of the Lord is also appropriate to all believers who are striving to arrive at eternal joys through the tears and distress of the present [life]; who rightly lament and weep and are sorrowful during the present [time], since they are not yet capable of seeing him whom they love. As long as they are in their body they recognize that they are on a journey and [absent] from their fatherland and kingdom. They have no doubt that they must reach their crown by labors and contests. Their sorrow will be changed to joy when, after the struggle of this present life is over, they receive the prize of everlasting life, about which it is said in the psalm, “Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.”

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 2:13
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:6
How, my brethren? When the farmer goes forth with the plough, carrying seed, is not the wind sometimes keen, and does not the shower sometimes deter him? He looks to the sky, sees it lowering, shivers with cold, nevertheless goes forth, and sows. For he fears lest while he is observing the foul weather, and awaiting sunshine, the time may pass away, and he may not find anything to reap. Put not off, my brethren; sow in wintry weather, sow good works, even while you weep; for, "They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy." They sow their seed, good will, and good works. "They went on their way and wept, casting their seed" [Psalm 126:6]. Why did they weep? Because they were among the miserable, and were themselves miserable. It is better, my brethren, that no man should be miserable, than that you should do alms....Nevertheless, as long as there are objects for its exercise, let us not fail amid those troubles to sow our seed. Although we sow in tears, yet shall we reap in joy. For in that resurrection of the dead, each man shall receive his own sheaves, that is, the produce of his seed, the crown of joys and of delight. Then will there be a joyous triumph, when we shall laugh at death, wherein we groaned before: then shall they say to death, "O death, where is your strife? O death, where is your sting?" [1 Corinthians 15:55] But why do they now rejoice? Because "they bring their sheaves with them."

Source: Exposition on Psalm 126
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:6
So it is only proper, brothers and sisters, that you should be told these things. Attend to the poor, whether they are lying there or whether they are walking about; attend to the poor, do good works. If you are in the habit of doing so, do so; if you are not in the habit of doing so, do so. Let there be an increase in the number of do-gooders, because there is an increase, certainly, in the number of the faithful. When you do something, you cannot yet see the quantity of the good you do; just as when the countryman sows he cannot yet see the crop, but he trusts the earth. You then, why don’t you trust God? Our harvest is coming. Imagine that we are now toiling away in what we do, toiling away as we work, only to reap the benefit in due course, as it is written: “Going they were going and weeping, casting their seed; but coming they shall come with rejoicing, carrying their sheaves.”

Source: SERMON 102:5
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:6
This psalm [126], being sung to the Lord, seems to fit the holy martyrs; but if we are members of Christ, as we ought to be, we can take these words as referring to all of us: “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going they shall go and weep, casting their seed. But coming they shall come with merrymaking, carrying their sheaves.” Where are they going, and where are they coming from? What are they sowing in tears? What is the seed, what are the sheaves? Going into death, coming from death; going by being born, coming by rising again. Sowing is whatever good we have done; our sheaves, what we shall receive at the end. So if the seed is good, the works are good, why “in tears,” seeing that God loves a cheerful giver?27The first thing to notice, dearly beloved, is how these words above all suit the blessed martyrs. Nobody, after all, has spent as much as those who have spent their very selves, as the apostle Paul says: “And I myself will be spent for your souls.” They spent themselves by confessing Christ and by carrying out with his help the saying “You have sat at a great table; know that you must prepare similar things yourself.” What is the meaning of “know that you must prepare similar things yourself,” if not what the blessed John explains: “Just as Christ laid down his life for us, so we too ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”? There you are, that is how much they spent.

Source: SERMON 31:1-2
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 126:6
I say this so that we should not nurse hopes of receiving the fruits of our sowing during this time in which we have done the sowing. Here we sow with toil a harvest of good works, but it is in the time to come that we shall garner its fruits with joy, according to what is written: “Going they sent and wept, scattering their seed; but coming they will come with rejoicing, carrying their sheaves.”

Source: SERMON 11:3
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Psalms 126:6
I beseech you with fatherly solicitude, equally admonishing and exhorting you, as was already said, to endeavor continually to read the sacred lessons yourselves or willingly to listen to others read them. By thus always thinking over in the treasury of your heart what is just and holy, you may prepare for your souls an eternal spiritual food that will bring you endless bliss. Christ does not lie when he says in the person of his apostle, “What a person sows, that he will also reap.” With God’s help let us endeavor to continually plant in the field of our heart by reading, praying and performing good works those deeds whereof we may reap a harvest of justice and mercy on the future day of retribution. Then will be fulfilled in us what is written: “Going, they went and wept, casting their seeds. But coming, they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves.” To this happiness may the good Lord lead you, who, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns world without end.

Source: SERMON 8:5