Greatly Have They Afflicted Me – Psalm 129

This group of traveling pilgrims, ascending up to Jerusalem for the festival, is kind of doing the opposite of what Jesus instructed us to do.  They are praying no one will bless their enemies, whereas Jesus taught us to bless our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48).  In Jesus we have learned a conquering love for those who hate us…haven’t we?

A Song of Ascents.

“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!”  (Psalm 129 ESV)

Israel (and the church, too, as God’s people), sometimes obedient and sometimes not, has been persecuted from her youth.  But God has watched over His flock and released her from the influence of the wicked.  Those who hate God’s people will not prevail.  Like grass that is cut for no purpose but lies withering on the ground, so the wicked will not experience the blessing of God but will be turned backward.

We have seen God deliver the church from the influence of the wicked, but it is not always an instantaneous thing, nor was it for Israel?  How long had Israel cried out in Egypt before Yahweh sent Moses.  We yield to the Lord’s timing, always.