Psalms · Chapter 129

1-4. The destruction of their enemies, ver. 5-8. A song of degrees.

V. 1. From my youth-From the time that I was a people.

Verse 1. Many a time have they afflicted me] The Israelites had been generally in affliction or captivity from the earliest part of their history, here called their youth. So Hosea 2:15: “She shall sing as in the days of her youth, when she came up out of the land of Egypt.” See Jeremiah 2:2, and Ezekiel 16:4, &c.

Verse 1. Many a time have they — Namely, my enemies or oppressors; afflicted me from my youth — From the time that I was a people; when I was in Egypt, and after I came out of it, which is called the time of Israel’s youth, Jeremiah 2:2; Ezekiel 23:3. I am the people that has been oppressed more than any people, that has been as a speckled bird, pecked at by all the birds round about; attacked by all the beasts of the field assembled to devour, Jeremiah 12:9. It is true they brought their troubles upon themselves by their sins, for which it was that God punished them; but it was for the peculiarity of their covenant, and the singularities of their religion, that their neighbours hated and persecuted them. God’s real people have always had many enemies, and the state of the church, from its infancy, has frequently been an afflicted state.

Verse 1. From my youth. When they first went down into Egypt they were a new and a small people.

1. From my youth—From the days of Israel’s abode in Egypt. So Hosea 2:15; 11:1; Jeremiah 2:2.

Verse 2. Yet they have not prevailed] They endeavoured to annihilate us as a people; but God still preserves us as his own nation.

2. Not prevailed—Because God was on their side. See Psalm 124:1, etc. The existence of a Church which is in antagonism with all “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,” standing alone and without worldly support or sympathy, hated and persecuted as the reprover of sin, yet unconquered, is the standing miracle of the ages.

Verse 3. The plowers plowed upon my back] It is possible that this mode of expression may signify that the people, during their captivity, were cruelly used by scourging, &c.; or it may be a sort of proverbial mode of expression for the most cruel usage. There really appears here to be a reference to a yoke, as if they had actually been yoked to the plough, or to some kind of carriages, and been obliged to draw like beasts of burden. In this way St. Jerome understood the passage; and this has the more likelihood, as in the next verse God is represented as cutting them off from these draughts.

Verses 3, 4. The ploughers ploughed upon my back — They not only threw me down and trod me under foot, but cruelly wounded, mangled, and tormented me, and had no more pity upon me than the plough-man hath upon the earth which he cuts at his pleasure. He saith, upon my back, either because they did literally scourge the captives upon their backs with such cords as are mentioned verse 4, although we do not read that the Israelitish captives were thus used by any of their enemies, or by way of allusion to that usage, which made a sort of furrows on the backs of those whom they thus scourged. They made long their furrows — They often repeated their injuries, and prolonged my torments. Thus, for our sakes, he who knew no sin gave his back to the smiters, (Isaiah 50:6,) and permitted those ploughers to make long their furrows upon it. But, (verse 4,) The righteous Lord cut asunder the cords of the wicked — Defeated their schemes and projects, frustrated their designs, and brought ruin on them by those very means whereby they endeavoured to effect the destruction of the rising church. Vengeance overtook the wretched instruments of the Messiah’s sufferings; and the persecutors of his servants, in all ages, shall perish in like manner, as the psalmist proceeds to assure us in the verses following.

Ver. 3. The plowers plowed, or “the labourers laboured” upon my back. Several critics, following the Chaldee and the Syriac, read, “The scourgers laid lashes upon my back.” He hath cut asunder the whipcords: ver. 4.

3. Ploughed upon my back—In Psalm 66:11, 12 and Isaiah 51:23, the figure of riding over the prostrate bodies of the people is used, which is here exchanged for ploughing furrows upon their backs, in both which the lowest degree of degradation and helpless misery is expressed. Made long their furrows—Which, as opposed to short furrows, would seem to indicate an excess, or prolongation, of cruelty. Short furrows, not exceeding about two hundred feet, according to Wetzstein, was, and is now, the custom in Arab tillage. The word for “furrow” occurs elsewhere only in 1 Samuel 14:14, where the Hebrew “half a furrow, a yoke of land,” means half the landstrip “which a yoke of oxen could plough in a day.” In the psalm before us, the word is in the plural. The back is here conceived to be a field divided up into several tyn[m, or landstrips for ploughing, but the preterit of the verbs indicates that the psalmist is speaking of miseries from which the people had now escaped.

V. 4. Righteous-Faithful or merciful. The cords-Wherewith the plow was drawn. By these cords he understands all their plots and endeavours.

Verse 4. The Lord-hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.] The words have been applied to the sufferings of Christ; but I know not on what authority. No such scourging could take place in his case, as would justify the expression,—

“The ploughers made long furrows there,

Till all his body was one wound.”

It is not likely that he received more than thirty-nine stripes. The last line is an unwarranted assertion.

Verses 3, 4. The ploughers ploughed upon my back — They not only threw me down and trod me under foot, but cruelly wounded, mangled, and tormented me, and had no more pity upon me than the plough-man hath upon the earth which he cuts at his pleasure. He saith, upon my back, either because they did literally scourge the captives upon their backs with such cords as are mentioned verse 4, although we do not read that the Israelitish captives were thus used by any of their enemies, or by way of allusion to that usage, which made a sort of furrows on the backs of those whom they thus scourged. They made long their furrows — They often repeated their injuries, and prolonged my torments. Thus, for our sakes, he who knew no sin gave his back to the smiters, (Isaiah 50:6,) and permitted those ploughers to make long their furrows upon it. But, (verse 4,) The righteous Lord cut asunder the cords of the wicked — Defeated their schemes and projects, frustrated their designs, and brought ruin on them by those very means whereby they endeavoured to effect the destruction of the rising church. Vengeance overtook the wretched instruments of the Messiah’s sufferings; and the persecutors of his servants, in all ages, shall perish in like manner, as the psalmist proceeds to assure us in the verses following.

4. The Lord is righteous—In fulfilling his promises to his people, and rendering deserved retribution upon their persecutors. See Revelation 15:3; 16:7; 19:2. Cut asunder the cords—Resuming the figure of ploughing, as an image for inflicting misery, (verse 3,) the cutting the cords would mean the severing the cords which connect the yoke to the plough; or it may refer to the cords by which captives were bound. In either case, it denotes that God had rendered futile for evil all the devices and boasted power of his enemies.

Verse 5. Let them all be confounded] They shall be confounded. They who hate Zion, the Church of God, hate God himself; and all such must be dealt with as enemies, and be utterly confounded.

Verses 5-8. Let them all be confounded, &c. — Hebrew, rwja wgsyw wvby, they shall all be confounded, and turned back — Forced to retreat with shame and disappointment. And so in the next verse, instead of Let them be, read, They shall be as grass upon the house tops — Which there were flat, and therefore more capable of grass, or green corn, growing between the stones than ours are; which withereth, &c. — Which, having no deep root, never comes to maturity. And so all their designs shall be abortive. Thus the enemies of God’s church wither of themselves, and stay not till they are rooted out by the judgments of God. Neither do they which go by — According to the ancient and laudable custom of saluting and praying for the prosperity of harvest labours; say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you, &c. — Which was a usual salutation given by passengers to reapers, as we see Ruth 2:4. If, in a similar way, we acknowledge God’s providence, testify our good-will to our neighbours, and commend their industry, our kind wishes will be accepted as pious ejaculations, if they come from devout and upright hearts. But religious expressions, being sacred things, must never be made use of in light and ludicrous actions. Mowing the grass on the house-top would be a jest, and therefore those that have a reverence for the name of God will not prostitute to such an action those forms of salutation which savour of devotion; for holy things must not be jested with.

5. That hate Zion—This indicates that Zion still had living enemies, though their chief strength had been neutralized, and deliverance attained. See the introduction.

V. 6. House-tops-Which there were flat. Which-Having no deep root, never comes to maturity. And so all their designs shall be abortive.

Verse 6. As the grass upon the housetops] As in the east the roofs of the houses were flat, seeds of various kinds falling upon them would naturally vegetate, though in an imperfect way; and, because of the want of proper nourishment, would necessarily dry and wither away. If grass, the mower cannot make hay of it; if corn, the reaper cannot make a sheaf of it. Let the Babylonians be like such herbage—good for nothing, and come to nothing.

Withereth afore it groweth up] Before qlv shalak, it is unsheathed; i.e., before it ears, or comes to seed.

Verses 5-8. Let them all be confounded, &c. — Hebrew, rwja wgsyw wvby, they shall all be confounded, and turned back — Forced to retreat with shame and disappointment. And so in the next verse, instead of Let them be, read, They shall be as grass upon the house tops — Which there were flat, and therefore more capable of grass, or green corn, growing between the stones than ours are; which withereth, &c. — Which, having no deep root, never comes to maturity. And so all their designs shall be abortive. Thus the enemies of God’s church wither of themselves, and stay not till they are rooted out by the judgments of God. Neither do they which go by — According to the ancient and laudable custom of saluting and praying for the prosperity of harvest labours; say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you, &c. — Which was a usual salutation given by passengers to reapers, as we see Ruth 2:4. If, in a similar way, we acknowledge God’s providence, testify our good-will to our neighbours, and commend their industry, our kind wishes will be accepted as pious ejaculations, if they come from devout and upright hearts. But religious expressions, being sacred things, must never be made use of in light and ludicrous actions. Mowing the grass on the house-top would be a jest, and therefore those that have a reverence for the name of God will not prostitute to such an action those forms of salutation which savour of devotion; for holy things must not be jested with.

6. Grass upon the housetops—Which never comes to maturity for want of root and moisture, and hence is proverbially worthless. “To obtain a good view of the Tyropean my guide took me to the housetop on the brow of Zion, and the grass which had grown over the roof during the rainy season was now entirely withered and perfectly dry.”—Thomson. Roofs of houses in Palestine are nearly flat, sloping slightly toward the centre, and covered with small stones and earth. “Grass, and even wild flowers, are apt to grow upon them in winter, and as their roots cannot sink deep into the hard soil, a few days of warm sunshine suffice to dry them up.”—Van Lennep.

Verses 5-8. Let them all be confounded, &c. — Hebrew, rwja wgsyw wvby, they shall all be confounded, and turned back — Forced to retreat with shame and disappointment. And so in the next verse, instead of Let them be, read, They shall be as grass upon the house tops — Which there were flat, and therefore more capable of grass, or green corn, growing between the stones than ours are; which withereth, &c. — Which, having no deep root, never comes to maturity. And so all their designs shall be abortive. Thus the enemies of God’s church wither of themselves, and stay not till they are rooted out by the judgments of God. Neither do they which go by — According to the ancient and laudable custom of saluting and praying for the prosperity of harvest labours; say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you, &c. — Which was a usual salutation given by passengers to reapers, as we see Ruth 2:4. If, in a similar way, we acknowledge God’s providence, testify our good-will to our neighbours, and commend their industry, our kind wishes will be accepted as pious ejaculations, if they come from devout and upright hearts. But religious expressions, being sacred things, must never be made use of in light and ludicrous actions. Mowing the grass on the house-top would be a jest, and therefore those that have a reverence for the name of God will not prostitute to such an action those forms of salutation which savour of devotion; for holy things must not be jested with.

V. 8. The blessing-Which was an usual salutation given by passengers to reapers: so the meaning is, it never continues ‘till the harvest comes.

Verse 8. Neither do they which go by say] There is a reference here to the salutations which were given and returned by the reapers in the time of the harvest. We find that it was customary, when the master came to them into the field, to say unto the reapers, The Lord be with you! and for them to answer, The Lord bless thee! Ruth 2:4. Let their land become desolate, so that no harvest shall ever more appear in it. No interchange of benedictions between owners and reapers. This has literally taken place: Babylon is utterly destroyed; no harvests grow near the place where it stood.

Verses 5-8. Let them all be confounded, &c. — Hebrew, rwja wgsyw wvby, they shall all be confounded, and turned back — Forced to retreat with shame and disappointment. And so in the next verse, instead of Let them be, read, They shall be as grass upon the house tops — Which there were flat, and therefore more capable of grass, or green corn, growing between the stones than ours are; which withereth, &c. — Which, having no deep root, never comes to maturity. And so all their designs shall be abortive. Thus the enemies of God’s church wither of themselves, and stay not till they are rooted out by the judgments of God. Neither do they which go by — According to the ancient and laudable custom of saluting and praying for the prosperity of harvest labours; say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you, &c. — Which was a usual salutation given by passengers to reapers, as we see Ruth 2:4. If, in a similar way, we acknowledge God’s providence, testify our good-will to our neighbours, and commend their industry, our kind wishes will be accepted as pious ejaculations, if they come from devout and upright hearts. But religious expressions, being sacred things, must never be made use of in light and ludicrous actions. Mowing the grass on the house-top would be a jest, and therefore those that have a reverence for the name of God will not prostitute to such an action those forms of salutation which savour of devotion; for holy things must not be jested with.

Ver. 8. The blessing of the Lord be upon you. The usual salutation of the reapers in the harvest field. Ruth 2:4.

8. They which go by say—It was customary, in passing a harvest field, to say to the harvesters, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you,” to which the latter responded as in Ruth 2:4. But as this could not be said to persons who were gathering withered grass upon the housetops, as the women often did, and still do, to kindle the fire, so neither would men bless, in the name of the Lord, the haters of Zion who were doomed to perish.