Psalm 129

A Song of Ascents.

1 “Greatly [Or Often; also verse 2] have they afflicted me from my youth”— let Israel now say —

2 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me.

These two verses are good examples of stair-like parallelism, the second line repeated the first almost verbatim but adding additional content. The psalmist is speaking on behalf of Israel and the trails that they have endured throughout their long history as a people. The nation was conceived by the patriarchs who were foreigners in a foreign land, outsiders who had to make their way as minorities in a majority pagan culture. The nation grew up as slaves for hundreds of years in Egypt. As an enslaved people, injustice was the only thing they knew. Powerlessness and unimaginable pain was the inheritance they passed on to their children. They enjoyed freedom for a season, but even in the wilderness and conquest they experienced national trauma. For a brief time during the reign of Solomon they enjoyed peace and prosperity, and occasionally during the period of the monarchy they experienced a taste of what it might have been like during the days of the wise king. But then they spent seventy years of captivity in Babylon followed by a return to the land where they were still threatened by neighbors. The boast of the psalmist is simply that in all of the infliction the nation has experienced, her enemies have not prevailed. She has outlasted civilizations. To this day, Israel stands as one of the oldest enduring civilizations among just a handful of other contenders. It’s not because the Jewish people are inherently stronger than others, but as the psalmist will make clear, it is because the LORD is with them. It is only because of His grace and intervention on their behalf that they have outlasted their enemies. 

3 The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.”

4 The LORD is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.

Continuing in the voice of Israel the psalmist likens the suffering of the nation to that of a field under the weight and blade of a plow. The text is literally, “upon my back plowed the plowers, they made long their furrows.” It’s a visceral image as we picture a blade digging into one’s back. The Jewish people bore the stripes of slaves in Egypt. They endured unimaginable brutality from the Assyrians and Babylonians each time they conquered the land. The back is a place of vulnerability. It is indefensible if you are attacked from behind, and it is sensitive to pain. Perhaps this is why flogging has long been a form of punishment. In fact, one cannot help but think about the flogging that Jesus received after his mock trials, pieces of stone, metal, and glass tearing into his flesh as he remained bound to a post. The good news comes in the next verse, “YHWH is just, he has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.” The wicked are operating the plows by directing the oxen with cords. The oxen are attached to the plow with cords. But the LORD cut all those cords in pieces. It is the LORD’s justice that gives us confidence that ultimately justice will triumph over its enemies. There is a universal law of fairness that is written on the hearts of men because we are a reflection of the nature of God. Justice always wins in the end because God’s will is done in the end, even when the oppression is agonizing and the plow is deep in the flesh. The psalmist sees the end of their suffering even as he reflects on centuries of injustice. It is this hope that animates him, not hope that he can do justice or get revenge on his own. 

5 May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward!

6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up,

The psalmist doesn’t take matters into his own hands when it comes to bringing justice to the oppressors of Israel. Instead he appeals to God in what is the only imprecation found in the Songs of Ascents. He prays that the haters of Zion (God’s home and God’s people) will be put to shame and turned back. May they retreat in abject embarrassment and endure the unending shame of the nations. May others look to them and what they did and shake their heads in disappointment. I’m thinking here of the Nazis who attempted to wipe out the Jewish people. Surely this psalm was on the minds of the Jews during that time. Yet now Nazis are held in contempt. They were on top of the world for a brief time, and now anything and anyone associated with them is sullied. The psalmist’s prayer has been answered in their case. The second image highlights the brevity of the reign of injustice. It is the length of time that grass grows on a hot roof. Roofs in ancient times were made of natural materials, wood, straw, palm branches layered with mud and clay. There was enough soil on them for grass to grow when things were cool and moist, but there wasn’t enough depth in the soil or consistency of the moisture to sustain life. So as the heat of the sun does its thing, and as the dry season settles in, the grass withers. So it is with those who oppress through injustice. Their prosperity is an illusion. They seem to be in charge of everything, fearless of the law and its consequences. They seem to have all the power and so it feels as if they will always have the upper hand. But things are not as they seem. In fact, they will soon be ashamed, mocked, and curled up in the withering shell of their former selves. 

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, “The blessing of the LORD be upon you! We bless you in the name of the LORD!”

The metaphor of the withering grass on the roof continues in verse 7 but is extended to suggest a field of grain ready for harvest. However, it is nothing but a disappointment. There is not enough grain to fill the hand of the reaper. There are not enough sheaves to be worth carrying. It is an empty harvest. This is the fruit of doing injustice. At the end of your life, emptiness. All that you thought you had is lost. This story is as old as time. Whether it is Ebenezer Scrooge, Citizen Kane or Henry Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life, gaining material wealth by injustice hollows one out and there is nothing to pass on but grief. While this is in the context of a curse, it is in fact reality. This is what happens to those who seek to gain by means of injustice. The final verse is also something of a curse. It is a prayer that others would not pronounce a blessing on you. Presumably it was customary for passersby to greet others with a “God bless you!” This is still true today in most cultures that have been influenced by Judeo-Christian religion. So this curse is a prayer that others in the community would be so appalled by your behavior that they would not even wish God’s blessing upon you. This seems to return to the prayer for public shaming in verse 5. Overall the psalm expresses a confident affirmation of God’s justice. It is the justice of God that will bring an end to injustice and cut the cords of the wicked. It is God’s justice that will ensure that everyone reaps what they have sown, whether a harvest of blessing or the bitter fruit of sin.