Psalm 129 – The Plea of God’s People

Psalm 129:1-8

“Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”—let Israel now say—”Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.”

The LORD is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked. May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward!

Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor the binder of sheaves his arms, 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 Plea of Psalm 129

Journeying through the Psalms of Ascent carry us through joy and hardship, happiness and lament, promise and pain. Psalm 129 may be the darkest in the group, staring hard times right in the face.

The first half of the psalm laments the painful circumstances of God’s people. The psalmist uses first person language, but the subject is clearly God’s people as a corporate body. While the author may have specific oppression in mind, the phrase “from my youth” refers to the early days of Israel’s history in Egypt. Ever since Egypt, wicked people oppressed Israel.

The repetition in verse one helps build anticipation for what comes next – a gruesome depiction of their affliction. While the agricultural imagery may not immediately resonate the modern world, the scene is dark. Oppression, subjugation, dominance, torture, slavery, bondage, dehumanization.

A Fulcrum of Lament and Justice

Yet the main point of this psalm is not merely to vent. Verse four acts as a fulcrum between lament (vs 1-3) and pleading for justice (vs 5-8). In his righteousness, God breaks the mechanism by which the wicked oppress his people, i.e. “the cords of the wicked.” The wicked still exist, but the “plow” is futile without the cords. The wicked no longer hold Israel in bondage. God’s righteousness is not merely a reference to moral purity and perfection.

Here, the psalmist connects God’s righteousness to his covenant promise to preserve his people and judge the wicked. Therefore, because the psalm centers its themes on the righteousness of God, i.e. faithfulness to the covenant, neither the lament nor the angry plea for justice can be reduced to whining. Psalm 129 ultimately focuses on God’s power and promises.

A Prayer Against Oppressors

The second half of the psalm is a prayer against Israel’s oppressors and those who stand against God. If resting in the power and promises of God allows you to lament with a right attitude, it also provides the basis for asking God to deal with the wicked.  “Hating Zion” is the same as hating God whose presence rested in the temple there.

Remember the Psalms of Ascent are a journey toward Zion, the center of God’s presence during the time of the temple. The psalmist leads worshippers to pray that evildoers would be sent away in shame. Many houses at that time would have roofs thatched with mud. Any residual grass seed in the mud might have briefly sprouted only to shrivel quickly in the sun.

Drawing on this imagery, the psalmist asks God to make their enemies short-lived and useless like that grass. The final request asks God to make their enemies so insignificant that no one would give them even a common blessing.

Looking Through The Empty Tomb

All psalms, even gruesome lament psalms, are profitable for the church today in the proper context. God’s people continue to experience various kinds of oppression, but we can’t mindlessly adopt the same attitude of lament and anger without looking back through the empty tomb. God answered imprecatory prayers with the person and work of Jesus.

With what attitude should we pray Psalm 129?

The New Testament spends much ink articulating how Christ fills in the blanks left by the Old Testament. Jesus conquered evil so not even death itself has the last word. Even more so, the gift of the Spirit guarantees his promised return in advance. The same Spirit also enables us to follow Jesus’ example and love our enemies.

To make a direct connection to Psalm 129:4, God demonstrated his righteousness first and foremost in the death and resurrection of Jesus. If after letting those life-changing truths renew your mind you still find this psalm gives voice to your plea, then pray it with boldness, holding on to the power of God and his promises for both us and our enemies.