Psalm 129

They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth

129 A SONG OF ASCENTS.

1  “Greatly 1 have they p afflicted me q from my youth”—

let Israel now say—

2  “Greatly have they p afflicted me q from my youth,

s yet they have not prevailed against me.

3  t The plowers plowed u upon my back;

they made long their furrows.”

4  The יהוהLORD is righteous;

he has cut v the cords of the wicked.

5  May all who hate Zion

be w put to shame and turned backward!

6  Let them be like x the grass on the housetops,

which y withers before it grows up,

7  with which the reaper does not fill his hand

nor the binder of sheaves his arms,

8  nor do those who pass by say,

a“The blessing of the יהוהLORD be upon you!

We b bless you in the name of the יהוהLORD!”

1 Or Often; also verse 2 p [Ex. 1:14; Judg. 3:8, 14; 4:3; 6:2; 10:8] q Isa. 47:12; Jer. 2:2; 22:21; Hos. 2:15

s [2 Cor. 4:8–10]

t Mic. 3:12

u [Isa. 50:6; 51:23]

v Ps. 2:3

w See Ps. 35:4

x 2 Kgs. 19:26; Isa. 37:27

y Ps. 37:2; Job 8:12

a Ruth 2:4

b Ps. 118:26

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 129:title–8.

Once more the pilgrimage is that of the heart.

PSALM 129

Ps 129:1–8. The people of God, often delivered from enemies, are confident of His favor, by their overthrow in the future.

1, 2. may Israel now say—or, “oh! let Israel say” (Ps 124:1). Israel’s youth was the sojourn in Egypt (Je 2:2; Ho 2:15).

2. prevailed—literally, “been able,” that is, to accomplish their purpose against me (Ps 13:4).

3, 4. The ploughing is a figure of scourging, which most severe physical infliction aptly represents all kinds.

4. the cords—that is, which fasten the plough to the ox; and cutting denotes God’s arresting the persecution;

5, 6. The ill-rooted roof grass, which withers before it grows up and procures for those gathering it no harvest blessing (Ru 2:4), sets forth the utter uselessness and the rejection of the wicked.

Chapter 129

Thankfulness for former deliverances

1–4

A believing prospect of the destruction of the enemies of Zion

5–8

Verses 1–4

The enemies of God’s people have very barbarously endeavoured to wear out the saints of the Most High. But the church has been always graciously delivered. Christ has built his church upon a rock. And the Lord has many ways of disabling wicked men from doing the mischief they design against his church. The Lord is righteous in not suffering Israel to be ruined; he has promised to preserve a people to himself.

Verses 5–8

While God’s people shall flourish as the loaded palm-tree, or the green and fruitful olive, their enemies shall wither as the grass upon the house-tops, which in eastern countries are flat, and what grows there never ripens; so it is with the designs of God’s enemies. No wise man will pray the Lord to bless these mowers or reapers. And when we remember how Jesus arose and reigns; how his people have been supported, like the burning but unconsumed bush, we shall not fear.

Psalm 129. Righteousness

The facts of the past (1–4) teach how to face the problems of present and future (5–8). This psalm could date from almost any point in Israel’s troubled history. But though the threats were manifold (1, greatly, ‘more than enough’, 123:3), the lesson of history is plain: not even savage oppression (3) has gained the upper hand because (4) the LORD is righteous, i.e. having revealed himself (Ex. 3:15; 6:6) as the redeemer of his people and the conqueror of his foes, he never deviates from that standard. Foes would impose bondage but the Lord gives freedom (4). And this is not a fictional reconstruction of history! Where is the imperial Egypt which enslaved Israel—or the Philistines, Assyrians or Babylonians? In 5–8 the verbs could as well be prophecy as prayer. If prayer, this is how to deal with life; if prophecy, this is how to face the future. Those who hate Zion will prove transient (6), unsuccessful (7), unbefriended and excluded from the community of blessing (8, cf. Ru. 2:4).

Here in Psalm 129, the psalmist reminds us of another resilient group of people. Throughout history God’s people have been knocked down but not knocked out.

This psalm reminds us of the need to stick to it, to persevere in the midst of persecution (cf. Heb 12:1–3) but not in our own power. We can only get up again because the Lord is with us. All boasting goes only to him, who is on the side of his people. We can persevere by his grace.

We may divide this psalm into three parts: (1) the persecution of God’s people (vv. 1–3), (2) the preserver of God’s people (v. 4), and (3) a prayer of God’s people (vv. 5–8) (Lawson, Psalms 76–150, 295).

The Persecution of God’s People (129:1–3)

The psalmist begins with a statement followed by an invitation for others to join in liturgically. The phrase “let Israel say” is identical to Psalm 124:1–2. Corporately then, the people should respond with verse 2.

The statement in verse 1 looks back to the events in the book of Exodus, in which God’s people were brought into existence in the midst of suffering (Exod 1:12–14; 2:23–25; cf. Hos 11:1). Despite the suffering, the enemies never “prevailed” against the people; they couldn’t eliminate them.

Paul wrote about believers, “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair” (2 Cor 4:8). The sixteenth-century French Reformer Theodore Beza told King Henry of Navarre, “Sire, it is the lot of the Church of God to endure blows and not to inflict them. But may it please you to remember that the church is an anvil that has worn out many hammers” (in Wilcock, Message, 237). The people of God persevere by grace.

I find it interesting that the people sing about affliction. The Lord doesn’t want them to forget their history nor to despair and quit when faced with present affliction.

The Christian church was also born in affliction and must continue to endure it with hope and joy (Acts 5:41–42). We must also remember the persecuted church around the world, praying for her to persevere faithfully.

My (Tony’s) friend C. J. Mahaney says, “In your darkest moments, you will need your best theology.” This psalm addresses a powerful theological concept that can indeed strengthen us in dark moments; that is, it points us to the Suffering Servant, Jesus. For instance, Psalm 129 actually provides us with a key for understanding Matthew’s quotation of Hosea 11:1. Hosea writes, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” Hosea sees Egypt as the childhood of the nation. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus and his parents leave Bethlehem because of the persecution of Herod and head to Egypt (Matt 2:13–14). They stay there until Herod dies. Then Matthew says that the reason the angel told Joseph to flee Bethlehem and to go to Egypt was to fulfill what Hosea said: “Out of Egypt I called my Son” (Matt 2:15). Some critical scholars think Matthew wrongly applied this verse to Jesus, but I disagree. I concur with Ligon Duncan, who says that as Israel was born into suffering in Egypt, so God’s one true Son went into Egypt in suffering also. He would then leave Egypt, return to his people, live in suffering, and then die in suffering. Why? Because Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Suffering Servant songs of the Old Testament (Duncan, “Greatly Afflicted”). Matthew ties together this whole Old Testament theme. We see this theme in Psalm 129. Israel was born into suffering; Jesus was born into suffering. Jesus would live a perfectly obedient life (unlike Israel) and create a new people who are united in him.

Here’s the hope for dark moments: we can endure affliction with great hope because Jesus Christ has already suffered the ultimate affliction on our behalf. Isaiah says that Jesus was “struck down by God, and afflicted” (53:4); he “was oppressed and afflicted” (Isa 53:7) as he offered up his body and blood on behalf of sinners (Isa 53:4–6). Because of Jesus’s atoning death and glorious resurrection, any suffering we face on this earth is short-lived. We will prevail over the grave because Jesus has prevailed. And any suffering we face in this short life, we can find grace through Christ to endure it. Therefore, let’s labor with humble, Christ-centered confidence.

In verse 3 the psalmist likens the enemies of God to a farmer who plows the fields with long rows—with the field being the “back” of Israel. They inflicted great gashes on the backs of God’s people (cf. Exod 5:14). Moreover, the furrows were “long,” meaning that the suffering occurred over a long period of time. The powers of darkness often try to wear God’s people down until they give up.

One can hear the Servant Songs of Isaiah here again: “I gave my back to those who beat me” (Isa 50:6) and “we are healed by his wounds” (Isa 53:5). And now, though not for atonement but for gospel advancement, we must “follow in his steps” (1 Pet 2:21). Jesus identifies with us in such suffering and enables us to endure it (Phil 1:29).

The Preserver of God’s People (129:4)

The psalmist reminds the people of the Lord’s character in verse 4. Kidner says, “Many of the later ordeals of Israel, unlike the Egyptian bondage, were punishments; but God’s character as righteous … and as rescuer (4b) shines through them all” (Psalms 73–150, 444). Despite the affliction, the psalmist says that the Lord, the righteous One, has intervened. He has preserved his people. He is faithful to his promises (cf. Gen 12:1–3). He hears the cries of his people in distress (cf. Exod 2:24–25).

In pointing the people to the character of God, the psalmist teaches us a great lesson. In seasons of trials, ponder the Lord’s attributes. Ponder his work in history. Ponder his promises. He is righteous. He is a rescuer. Let hope arise as you ponder his ways. You will need good theology in dark moments.

The particular context in view here may be Israel’s release from Babylonian captivity, in which the Lord “cut the ropes of the wicked” (v. 4), but we can’t be certain. The fact is, the Lord set Israel free from a host of enemies, including Egypt, Amalek, and Assyria, just to name a few. Indeed, the Lord’s specialty is cutting ropes! He breaks the bonds of oppression, addiction, and affliction. Ultimately, he has cut the ropes of the great enemy, death, through the resurrection of Jesus! Look to the rope-cutting Lord in times of hardship and temptation.

A Prayer of God’s People (129:5–8)

As they say, “Haters gonna hate.” In verses 5–8 the psalmist reminds us that though God’s people will be hated (John 15:18–25), their haters will eventually lose.

These verses are to be read either as a prayer or as a declaration of confidence (Goldingay, Psalms, 519). Wilcock says, “Vv. 5–8 may be a prayer, but they are also in effect a prophecy” (Message, 237). The psalmist prays with confidence for none of the plans of the enemies to prevail. These enemies have no regard for the Lord’s presence among his people, his covenant and blessing, and the hope of a victorious kingdom to come (VanGemeren, “Psalms,” 798–99).

In view of the seriousness of opposing God’s people, the people call down destruction on the enemies of God with three curses. First, they plead for those who “hate Zion” (i.e., those who hate God’s people) to be shamed by defeat and turned back in retreat (v. 5). Israel will be victorious.

Second, they plead for those who afflict God’s people to be useless, “like grass on the rooftops” (v. 6). Roofs were flat during this time, and the grass might sprout for a season in the shallow dirt. But it would soon wither because of the beating sun. The grass would grow but would be useless. The reaper wouldn’t even have to cut it down or bind it into sheaves (v. 7). The psalmist, then, is praying for the enemies to be scorched and fruitless—for the enemies to harm God’s people no longer.

Finally, they plead for the enemies to remain unblessed (v. 8). When Israel passes by the territory of her enemies, they’re not to bless them in a neighborly way (v. 8; cf. Ruth 2:4). They are to be held under the curse. The blessing of Psalm 128 is contrasted with the lack of blessing in Psalm 129 (Goldingay, Psalms, 519).

We must also remember that the Lord is just, and he is right to condemn the wicked. He cannot sweep sin under the rug and remain holy. So you are wise to fear him. The writer of Hebrews says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31).

Further, praying against one’s enemies in this context is an expression of concern for God’s kingdom. We share this concern today. We share the psalmist’s desire for the kingdom of God to prevail against the kingdom of darkness. Sometimes that may mean our enemies are brought to justice, other times that they’re converted (Matt 5:44).

This psalm reminds us that everyone is either under a curse or under God’s blessing (cf. Gen 12:1–3; Deut 28; Ps 1). There’s no third option. The way one goes from curse to blessing is by looking to the afflicted Christ, who bore our curse on the cross and poured out blessings on repentant sinners who turn to him in faith (Gal 3:13–14).

Further, as we survey the whole story line of the Bible, we must remember that this prayer is, in the grand scheme of things, a prayer of love. God’s preservation of his afflicted people led to the coming of Jesus Christ, who inaugurated the kingdom of God. For God so loved the world that he preserved his people so that, through Jesus, all the ends of the earth may be saved. That’s love. God graciously invites everyone to bow the knee to Jesus and confess him as Lord, so that they will not perish like grass on the roof but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

In sum, how do believers in Jesus Christ endure affliction? We endure with prayer. We remember that affliction is part of our faith. We remember that Jesus identifies with us in suffering. We take comfort in knowing that the Lord stands with us in suffering (cf. 2 Tim 4:17–18). We live with the assurance that Christ will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5). We remember that through Christ we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:37). And we live with confidence, knowing that we will have the ultimate victory over the grave because “the greatest comeback ever” has occurred with the resurrection of the Suffering Servant, Jesus, the real “King of Improbability!”