Psalm 129
1Many times they have afflicted me from my youth up. Let Israel now say: 2many times they have afflicted me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me. 3The plowers plowed on my back. They made their furrows long. 4Yahweh is righteous. He has cut apart the cords of the wicked. 5Let them be disappointed and turned backward, all those who hate Zion. 6Let them be as the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, 7with which the reaper doesn’t fill his hand, nor he who binds sheaves, his bosom. 8Neither do those who go by say, “The blessing of Yahweh be on you. We bless you in Yahweh’s name.”
Introduction
Psalms 129
This psalm relates to the public concerns of God's Israel. It is not certain when it was penned, probably when they were in captivity in Babylon, or about the time of their return. I. They look back with thankfulness for the former deliverances God had wrought for them and their fathers out of the many distresses they had been in from time to time (Psa 129:1-4). II. They look forward with a believing prayer for and a prospect of the destruction of all the enemies of Zion (Psa 129:5-8). In singing this psalm we may apply it both ways to the Gospel-Israel, which, like the Old Testament Israel, has weathered many a storm and is still threatened by many enemies.
A song of degrees.
Cross-references: Ps 129:1 · Ps 129:5