[Verse 1]
We've sown in tears
We've sown in grief
We've scattered seeds of broken hearted broken dreams
We've buried years
Of hurt down deep
But wait and see the winter frost will yield to spring
[Chorus]
I know we're gonna, I know we're gonna
I know we're gonna, I know we're gonna
Reap that joy
Reap that joy of the Lord
As long as you're living, as long as you're breathing
Don't you ever stop, don't you ever give in
Reap that joy
Reap that joy of the Lord
Oh reap that joy
[Verse 2]
We've planted pain
We'll harvest hope
Isn't darkness where the garden starts to grow?
Up from the dirt
Up from the earth
There'll be resurrection rising like a rose
There'll be resurrection rising like a rose
[Chorus]
I know we're gonna, I know we're gonna
I know we're gonna, I know we're gonna
Reap that joy
Reap that joy of the Lord
As long as you're living, as long as you're breathing
Don't you ever stop, don't you ever give in
Reap that joy
Reap that joy of the Lord
C'mon reap that joy
(Reap that joy of the Lord)
(Reap that joy of the Lord)
[Bridge]
I know He's always working
Down underneath the surface
Whatever we buried
Will burst into life again
I know He's always working
Down underneath the surface
Whatever we buried
Will burst into life again
I know in Heaven's timing
We're going back to Eden
Where all that we buried
Will burst into life again
[Chorus]
I know we're gonna, I know we're gonna
I know we're gonna, I know we're gonna
Reap that joy
Reap that joy of the Lord
As long as you're living, as long as you're breathing
Don't you ever stop, don't you ever give in
Reap that joy
Reap that joy of the Lord
Oh reap that joy
Reap That Joy
Song Meaning
Rend Collective open "Reap That Joy" naming loss in agricultural terms rather than abstract grief — "we've sown in tears, we've sown in grief, we've scattered seeds of broken hearted broken dreams" — and "we've buried years of hurt down deep" treats accumulated pain as something planted, not just endured.
"But wait and see the winter frost will yield to spring" answers the opening list with a promise built into the seasons themselves rather than a separate spiritual claim. The chorus's repeated confidence, "I know we're gonna, I know we're gonna, reap that joy, reap that joy of the Lord," borrows the psalmist's own harvest language almost directly.
"We've planted pain, we'll harvest hope, isn't darkness where the garden starts to grow?" reframes the soil's darkness as necessary rather than only ominous, and "there'll be resurrection rising like a rose" pairs a specific, fragile flower with the largest claim Christianity makes. "I know He's always working down underneath the surface" repeats three times with small variations, insisting on unseen labor precisely because nothing visible has changed yet, and "we're going back to Eden" closes the bridge naming the harvest's actual destination as restoration, not merely comfort.