Psalms 126:2
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. 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.
The verse describes the joy of the exiles when God turned their captivity around, with sorrow giving way to laughter and singing. The turning came through the decree allowing return to Zion, which answered prayers for promised intervention. Even people among the nations recognized that the Lord had done great things for the restored people. Hope that captivity will be turned rests on confidence in this kind of restoration.
On a personal level, the captivity turned by God is dark despair and bondage to sin, changed into pardon, peace and happiness. The liberated heart cannot remain silent but speaks freely of the love of Jesus with tears of gratitude, lost in fellowship with God. Those who had seen the former despair rejoice with the delivered one and praise God for tender mercy and loving-kindness in turning the captivity.
The turning was experienced beginning with the move to Battle Creek and wrought at the conference at Battle Creek in November 1856 as deliverance from affliction into sympathy and help from tried friends who share burdens and supply wants. It brought new life given to the cause with success attending preaching, publications provided just as the cause demanded, the going down of the opposing Messenger of Truth and scattering of discordant spirits, and enablement to pay all debts. All of this was wonderful divine work to which all glory belongs. The same turning included wonderful bodily restoration with cough ceasing and pain and soreness leaving the lungs and throat, so that preaching three times on Sabbath and first day could be done with ease.
The verse is among the psalm words to be sung in worship from the heart and with understanding, and the angelic host joins those who sing in this way.