READING: Ezra 2:1-4:5, 1 Chronicles 3:19-24
The emotions were strong that day. Some 42,000+ of the people of God had returned to Jerusalem and Judah from decades of captivity in Babylon. I can just see the families traveling together, headed to their home, returning to the land God had promised them. With each succeeding step in that direction, surely their excitement increased. Now, on this day, they had not only arrived, but they had laid the foundation of the temple they would eventually rebuild.
The people erupted with exuberant praise and joy, singing words that had marked their history and would mark their future as well: “For he is good; his faithful love to Israel endures forever” (Ezr 3:11). Some of the older people, though, grieved deeply because they remembered the magnificence and splendor of the first temple – and the foundation of the new one showed it would be no comparison. Their weeping was so loud that people far away could not distinguish between the rejoicing and the grieving.
Perhaps that’s the reality any time we return to the Lord after exile because of our sin. On one hand, we rejoice with humility because the Lord welcomes us back. On the other hand, we grieve with regret because of what we lost due to our sin. Our hope today when grief still consumes us is to press on in faith, trusting that what the Lord has yet to come will be even better.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Do you allow the regret of yesterday’s loss capture you in an unfaithful way?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, I praise You for calling us back from exile. Help me rejoice aloud today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Daniel 10:1-12:13, Ezra 4:24-5:1, Haggai 1:1-15