Psalm 129 Commentary
This psalm may be presented as a conversation between observers and Israel.
Observers: Israel, tell us your story. How has it been with you and your enemies?
Israel: Well, my enemies have prosecuted me cruelly ever since I was a youth.
Observers: Tell us more about the persecution.
Israel: Yes, they have kicked me around ever since I was young, but they never could keep me down. The LORD God has freed me from their grasp.
Israel has more to say. She talks about the way her enemies cut deep wounds in her back like a plowed field.
The fact that Israel still wishes her enemies defeat and shame may point to the thought that Israel’s enemies are still in the neighborhood.
The saint may reflect on this psalm by looking at his or her own story. No day has been so bright as to lack shades of darkness here and there. Equally, no night has been so dark as to lack a ray of light here and there. But through it all, the LORD is present to free the saint from slavery.
It is the LORD’s will to subject His own to fragility. He deliberately housed the saint in a pot of clay and not a pot of iron. Ever since the saint’s youth, this saint should easily break with the enemy’s relentless attacks. He is, after all, housed in a clay pot. Refer to second Corinthians 4 verses 7 to 10.
This psalm, therefore, communicates an important miracle of salvation. How has Israel survived all these years, in the midst of an aggressive and bitter enemy? If an egg can survive the hit of a 6-pound hammer, swung by a strong man, then you want to believe there are miracles. Remember it’s a hit and not a miss, yet the fragile saint still lives to sing the praises of the Creator God the following day.
The saint’s prayer will eventually be answered in perfection. Evil and the perpetrators of evil will face the consequences of their rebellion. The last section of the psalm is looking at, if not anticipating, the final judgment that brings perfect justice and flattens all evil. We cannot wait!
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