Psalms 129
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Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
2 Many a time 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.
4 The Lord is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.
8 Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we bless you in the name of the Lord.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
Psalm 129:1-8
They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth
A Song of Ascents.
1“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.
3The plowers plowed upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
4The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward!
6Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
which withers before it grows up,
7with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
ESV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Psalm 129:1-8
Psalm 129
A song of ascents.
1“They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,”
let Israel say;
2“they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory over me.
3Plowmen have plowed my back
and made their furrows long.
4But the Lord is righteous;
he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.”
5May all who hate Zion
be turned back in shame.
6May they be like grass on the roof,
which withers before it can grow;
7a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,
nor one who gathers fill his arms.
8May those who pass by not say to them,
“The blessing of the Lord be on you;
we bless you in the name of the Lord.”
NIV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Commentary
Psalm 129 is about affliction that has gone on since youth. I was bullied as a kid. I’ve always been kind of different and creative and I was an only child — I wasn’t very adept at getting along with other kids. They never physically attacked me, just called me names or excluded me. Once someone tied my shoelaces to the merry go round in the playground. Kids can be pretty cruel. When I grew up I got a Facebook message from one of my bullies — the one who tied my shoelaces. She had become a Christian and realized how mean she had been. I forgave her.
The Bible teaches that God is the one who fights the bullies and takes care of them. We don’t have to fight them or carry hate for them around in our hearts. Sometimes we might need help with this, but God wants us to love others, even those who aren’t very nice to us. Forgiveness isn’t for the people we forgive — most of the time they don’t know what we’re thinking about them. Forgiveness frees us from the anger and pain of letting them live rent free in our heads.
Laura Muse
Hospice Chaplain, Indiana, USA (as of this writing)
