Psalm 129

PSALM 129

A Passion ~~Narrative~~ Song

1 “Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up,”	Let Israel now say, (cf. Ps.124:1)
2 “Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;	Yet they have not prevailed [1] against me.
3 “The plowers plowed upon my back;	They lengthened their furrows.” [2]

4 Yahweh is righteous;

He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.

5 May all who hate Zion Be put to shame (cf. Ps.127:5)	and turned backward; [3] [4]
6 Let them be like grass upon the housetops,	Which withers [5] before it grows up;
7 With which the reaper does not fill his hand,	Or the binder of sheaves his bosom;

8 Nor do those who pass by say,

“The blessing of Yahweh be upon you;

We bless you in the name of Yahweh.”

OR [6]

8 Nor do those who pass by say,

“The blessing of Yahweh be upon you;

We bless you in the name of Yahweh.”[7]

[1] There are several similarities between Psalm 129 and Jacob/Israel’s prevailing with God and receiving His blessing:

Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”
Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. (Genesis 32:24-29)

[2] “Plowing at the time was done by oxen turning over a single strip of land at the end of which the oxen stopped to rest while the plowman cleaned the plow; they then reversed direction and came back. Because the oxen were relatively small and had to rest frequently, it was in the farmer’s interest to make the rows short so that the oxen could rest at each turn. The reference in v. 3b to long furrows shows that Israel’s enemies went out of their way to inflict serious injury” (Clifford, 245).

[3] If the nations do not bless the seed of Abraham then they will be cursed by the God of Abraham (Genesis 12:3).

[4] Question 54 of the Heidelberg Catechism makes reference to Psalm 129:1-5 when asking, What believest thou concerning the “holy catholic church” of Christ?

That the Son of God from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves (Matthew 16:18; John 10:28-30; Psalm 129:1-5) to himself by his Spirit and word, out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith; and that I am and forever shall remain, a living member thereof.

[5] There is a play on words between the Hebrew word shame (בּוֹשׁ) (v.5) and withers (יָבֵשׁ) (v.6).

[6] It is certain that the haters of Zion will not hear God’s benediction seeing that Zion is the source of blessing. However, it is uncertain whether verse 8c is unheard by the Zion haters or whether 8c is pronounced upon the lovers of Zion.

Depending on how we interpret v.8c, the stated absence of blessing in this Psalm is striking (cf. Psalm 128:5-6).

[7] “Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May Yahweh be with you.” And they said to him, “May Yahweh bless you.”” (Ruth 2:4)