Psalm 129 “Furrows Not Fallow” (c) 2007 Aaron Collier
Psalm 129 (ESV)
They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth
A Song of Ascents.
This Psalm is another of the series of fifteen titled, A Song of Ascents. As the pilgrims came to Jerusalem to remember God’s many past deliverances (such as in the feasts of Passover or Tabernacles), they prayed confident prayer in God’s continued protection and the defeat of their many enemies.
–David Guzik
“Greatly 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.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
From the early days of nationhood, Israel had been sorely afflicted. Their oppression in Egypt, for example, was an unforgettable chapter of servitude and suffering. Yet the enemy never succeeded in exterminating the Jews. God’s people were always delivered from captivity. Their survival has been one of the great miracles of history.
–William MacDonald
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward!
grass roof in Scotland
Grass that sprouted on the flat, sun-baked housetops would wither, since no plow could prepare a nurturing soil to sustain the young shoots—and so there would be no harvest. This verse expresses the hope that the same would happen to those who “plowed” the backs of Israel (see verse 3). (The Archaeological Study Bible)
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
which 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,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
A devotional from Dr. Ryan Cook: Persevering in Pain:
My wife and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary this year. As we look back on the last two decades, we are grateful for the many blessings God has allowed us to experience. Things like having children and ministry opportunities. We are also grateful for the trials and difficulties that He brought us through. Both are reasons to praise God.
When Israel looked back on its history in today’s reading, it celebrated not what it had achieved as a nation but what it had survived. From the time of its infancy as slaves in Egypt, Israel had been repeatedly threatened and invaded by foreign powers. The Midianites, Amalekites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, and on and on. The list of their oppressors is a long one. In a vivid image, the Psalmist compares the violence these nations have done to Israel to a farmer plowing a field (v. 3). Israel had suffered time and time again.
But the Lord had been with Israel even in those difficult times. The Psalmist declares, “But the LORD is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked” (v. 4). There are many examples in the Old Testament of God delivering and saving Israel. This demonstrates God’s righteous character.
The psalm concludes by turning to the present. The Psalmist sees many in Israel who had turned their back on the Lord. They “hate Zion” (v. 5). This is more than just the disdain of a rural resident for the city. Zion was where God chose to dwell among Israel. These people had abandoned God and were working against what He was doing in the world. The Psalmist prays that their efforts would not succeed (vv. 6–8). God would once again come to save.
>> The apostle Paul reminds us as believers today that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12). We can pray today that God will not allow evil to triumph.
Pray with Us
Today we pray against the evil at work in the world. Father, foil the designs of Satan, Your foe. Frustrate the efforts of evil men who lead others astray. Thank You for the ultimate futility of the Devil’s fight.
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Music:
HERE is Psalm 129 like you have never heard it before! Jason Silver puts Scripture to contemporary worship music, and I think he has a perfect marriage of text and tune here!
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DWELLING in the Word 
