Psalm 129 A Song of Ascents.

 ¹“Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,”

Let Israel now say—

²“Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth;

Yet they have not prevailed against me.

³The plowers plowed on my back;

They made their furrows long.”

⁴The Lord is righteous;

He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.

⁵Let all those who hate Zion

Be put to shame and turned back.

⁶Let them be as the grass on the housetops,

Which withers before it grows up,

⁷With which the reaper does not fill his hand,

Nor he who binds sheaves, his arms.

⁸Neither let those who pass by them say,

“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;

We bless you in the name of the Lord!”

Preamble: Though this Psalm begins with a call for Israel to recall its long history of oppression and violence from their many foes, it is being done so that Israel will recall God's faithful deliverance of His people throughout their history in spite of their enemies best efforts to destroy and annihilate them

Commentary

Vs. 1-2 “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,”

Let Israel now say—

²“Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth;

Yet they have not prevailed against me.”

This Psalm opens with a call for all of God’s people to declare in His hearing the many afflictions that their enemies have laid upon them. For from their beginnings onward theirs alone is a history of enduring hostile and ongoing opposition. Nonetheless in spite of their enemies’ best efforts they have not been defeated. This in of itself is the greatest witness to all of God’s enemies that He Himself is with them, that He has chosen them, and that it is He who is keeping anyone from destroying them.

Vs. 3 “The plowers plowed on my back;

They made their furrows long.”

The metaphor here is liking Israel’s mistreatment to that of the farmer who plows his field making long furrows in the soil, as a likeness to Israel bearing the wrath of the Gentiles for many centuries. For throughout all their history they have been the object of hostile attacks and intentions, even to this day. 

Vs. 4 “The Lord is righteous;

He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.”

Now if anyone foolishly thinks that their enemies doing so is God’s abandonment of His people, they should think again! For the Lord is righteous, He does side with the wicked, nor does He endorse their wicked schemes and ways. Instead, when He is done correcting His own, He always turns His just wrath and fury upon the wicked, here described as His cutting in pieces the cords of the wicked, so that they can no longer assail or harm His people. Remember Egypt, Moab, Edom, Assyria, Babylon, Rome, Germany etc. (though Germany did very much war reparations after World War II to their own credit and nations prosperity). These nations and so many others throughout their history learned that to make war against God's people is ultimately to make war with Him, and thus incur His judgment and wrath.

Vs. 5-7 “Let all those who hate Zion

Be put to shame and turned back.

⁶Let them be as the grass on the housetops,

Which withers before it grows up,

⁷With which the reaper does not fill his hand,

Nor he who binds sheaves, his arms.

The call now is that God Himself would turn back and put to shame all who hate Zion; which is representative of all Jews and figurative of God’s rule over all His people; yes, the prayer is that all who hate Zion would all wither away just like the grass on the housetops does; so too let their lives be fruitless and their societies be barren and desolate.

Vs. 8 Neither let those who pass by them say,

“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;

We bless you in the name of the Lord!”

And when people see them in their shame and disgrace  let them never pronounce God’s blessing upon them, rather let them all live and dwell in their desolate waste places.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.