Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 129:1
A Song of degrees. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
1. Much have they vexed me from my youth up, let Israel now say.
The history of Israel is often compared to the life of an individual. Israel’s life began in Egypt Cp. Hos 2:3; Hos 2:15; Hos 11:1; Jer 2:2; &c. From the Egyptian bondage onward it has repeatedly been oppressed by enemies. For let Israel say, i.e. let Israel thankfully recall the lessons of its history, cp. Psa 118:2; Psa 124:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 4. Throughout its history Israel has been harassed by enemies, but in His faithfulness Jehovah has preserved His people from destruction.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Many a time – Margin, as in Hebrew, much. Probably, however, the idea is, as expressed in our translation, many a time; often. So it is in the Latin Vulgate and the Septuagint; and this accords better with the connection.
Have they afflicted me from my youth – Have I been afflicted; have others dealt unjustly by me. The youth here is the beginning. of the history of that people: since we began to be a people; since the nation was founded.
May Israel now say – May the nation now say. It is clear from this that the psalm was not written at an early period of their history.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 129:1-8
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth.
The persecuted condition of godly men on this earth
I. As suffering under the hand of wicked persecution. The persecution here referred to was–
1. Of early commencement (verse 1). It is ever so; the persecutions of godly men begin in this life in the very youthhood of their religion.
2. Frequent in its occurrence.
3. Violent in its character (verse 3). (Isa 51:23; Mic 3:12.) This language finds its application in–
(1) Christ.
(2) His Church.
II. As engaging the merciful interposition of heaven (verse 4).
1. He is engaged in sustaining them. The bush burned on, but was not consumed. The branches were torn up, but the roots struck deeper. Not all the enemies of Christ prevailed against Him. Heaven always sustains the good.
2. He is engaged in delivering them. The plough is fastened by cords to the yoke of the oxen, and they draw its tearing iron through the ground. If you would stop the plough you must cut the cords. This is the figure, God in righteousness will one day stop the plough of persecution, He will deliver His people out of all their troubles.
III. As rising triumphantly over all their enemies (Psa 129:5-8). Persecutors will be utterly routed, driven back with burning shame, with panic dread. This was the case with Pharaoh, Sennacherib, with Haman, Herod; aye, with persecutors in every age. I will break your church in pieces with a hammer, if you do not obey me, said a French monarch to a Protestant pastor. Calm and dignified was the reply: This anvil has broken many a hammer. (Homilist.)
Persecuted, but not forsaken
The life of the Lord Jesus Christ is the picture of the life of His people. As He was, says Paul, so are we also in this world. This is so remarkably true that, in the Psalms, we sometimes can hardly tell whether the writer is describing himself or the Lord Jesus. Shall the disciple be above his Master,? Shall the servant be above his Lord? If they have persecuted Him, they will also persecute us.
I. First notice, concerning Israels affliction, whence it came: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth. Who was it that afflicted Israel? The text says, they. And why is the word they used? Because to enter into particulars would rather obscure the sense than impress anything upon the memory. They. I hardly like to think of who they are who, in many cases, have afflicted Gods true servants; but it is still true that a mans foes shall be they of his own household. A woman is just brought to Christ, and her greatest trouble comes from him whom she loves best of all living mortals; her husband becomes her terror. Outside, in the world, the Christian man frequently meets with those who would rejoice to see him halt, who try to make faults where there are none, and exaggerate little mistakes into great crimes. He is a pilgrim through the midst of Vanity Fair whom the traders there cannot understand. In his case, that ancient word is again fulfilled (Jer 12:9).
II. How does this persecution come? The psalm says, Many a time; that means very often. So, then, you who are faithful to God must expect that you will frequently be assailed.
III. What is the reason for all this persecution? There are two reasons; and the first is the hatred of the serpent and his seed. There are two things that are inconceivable in length and breadth. The first is the love of God to His people, which is altogether without limit; and the next is, the hatred of the devil, which is and must be finite, for he is only a creature; but, still, it is as great as it possibly can be. Still, there is a higher reason for the persecution of the saints. The second reason is because God permits it. Why does He permit it? Well, very often for your safety. The Church of God has often been preserved by persecution; she was never purer, she was never truer, and she never lived nearer to God and more like her Saviour, than when she was persecuted. Next, it is for our trial and testing, to separate the precious from the vile. Satan, in persecuting the saints, is simply a scullion in Christs kitchen, cleansing His pots and pans; they never are so bright as when he scours them, and it is a scouring with a vengeance. Yet, in that way, ha separates, or God through him separates, between the precious and the vile.
IV. The blessings which come to the tried children of God through their troubles. I do so enjoy the reading of that part of the psalm where it says, But they have not prevailed against me. You see a troop of horsemen riding into the very midst of the battle, and you lose sight of them for a moment amidst the dust and smoke; but out of the middle of that cloud you hear the brave captains cry, They have not prevailed against me. You see that little band advancing into a yet more crowded host, all glaring upon them like wolves. Surely they will be cut to pieces now; but in the very centre of the struggling mass you see the banner still waving, and again comes the cry, They have not prevailed against me. That is, in brief, the story of the Church of Christ, and that shall be the story of every man who puts his trust in God; he shall have to say, at the close of every trouble,–aye, and even in the midst of it,–They have not prevailed against me. What is the reason why the enemy cannot prevail against the saints? The Lord is righteous. He may delay the overthrow of His peoples foes; but He will in the end take their part, and display His almighty power. For the present, He is patient; He bears long with the ungodly; but He will not always do so. The fact that the Lord is righteous is the pledge that the wicked shall not prevail over His saints. Then notice the next sentence: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Literally, He hath cut the traces of the wicked. They are ploughing, you see; and, in the East, the oxen are fastened to the plough by a long cord. What does God do in the middle of their ploughing? There are the bullocks, and there is the plough; but God has cut the harness; and how wonderfully He has sometimes cut the harness of the persecutors of His people! Look at the way He did this for our poor hunted brethren in Piedmont. They were likely every one of them to be crushed; and, apparently, there was nobody to protect them. The Duke of Savoy, whose subjects they were, had given them up to be destroyed. The next country was France, and the King of France was a Roman Catholic, and as eager for their destruction as was the Duke. But, one day, Oliver Cromwell sent for the French ambassador, and said to him, Tell your master to order the Duke of Savoy to leave off persecuting my brethren in Piedmont, or he shall hear from me about the matter. Sire, said the ambassador, they are not the subjects of the King of France; he has nothing to do with them. The Duke of Savoy is an independent prince; we cannot interfere with him. I do not care for that, replied Cromwell; I will hold your king answerable if he does not stop the Duke of Savoy from persecuting the Piedmontese. And they knew that Old Nell meant what he said; so, somehow, the King of France managed to interfere with that precious independent prince, and told him that he had better cease his persecutions, for, if he did not, Oliver Cromwell would take up the quarrel. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The afflictions and triumphs of the Church of Christ
I. The afflictions and triumphs of the Church of Christ. Scarcely was the Church organized, after our Divine Redeemers ascension into heaven, when she was assailed by three descriptions of enemies, either all at once, or consecutively, viz. the prejudices of authority and human wisdom,–the violence of persecution,–and the errors and heresies of false teachers. In all these respects the Church has been afflicted from her youth, yet her enemies have not prevailed against her.
II. The impressions which the contemplation of the afflictions and triumphs of the Church of God ought to produce upon our minds.
1. In the Church, always afflicted and persecuted, yet still subsisting,–like the bush, burning but unconsumed,–behold a confirmation of our faith, and an evident demonstration that the religion of Jesus Christ is from God.
2. Further, the conformity of our own reformed Church, as well as of all the other orthodox Protestant Churches, with the primitive Christian Church, in her afflictions and triumphs, furnishes us with an irrefragable proof of the truth of the holy religion which they and we profess.
III. What, now, are the practical instructions which we may derive from the important topics which we have been considering?
1. Since God has, in His mercy, called us out of papal darkness into the marvellous light of the Gospel, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; seeing that it is based, not upon unauthorized human traditions, but upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone;–the great and fundamental object of all the predictions of the prophets, and of the preaching and writings of the holy apostles.
2. Let us devoutly bless the Father of Mercies, who remembered the Church of Christ in her low estate, for His mercy endureth for ever; and through whose propitious aid, and providential interpositions, the Reformation was accomplished, and our civil and religious liberties have been secured and transmitted to us.
3. Let us pity and pray for those nations of the earth who are yet under the yoke of papal dominion and superstition,–would that I could say, are groaning under it.
4. Above all, since the Almighty, when lie bestows extraordinary favours upon man, expects from him a proportionate return of gratitude, let us remember the solemn obligations under which we are individually laid, as Protestant Christians, to exhibit a corresponding excellence of Christian character, as the necessary result of a true and lively faith; since we enjoy advantages and privileges which involve the possessors of them in no ordinary degree of moral responsibility. (T. H. Horne, B. D.)
Affliction may strengthen
Care must be taken not to make too much account of the effect exercised by the great convulsions of nature on the moral condition of a people. The need of this precaution is well shown by the social history of Iceland. This country has for the thousand years of its history been subjected to imminent peril from the instability of the earth as well as from the inhospitable nature of its climate. In almost every century of the worlds history famine caused by the accidents of the earth and air has menaced the life of the population. Many successive volcanic outbreaks, attended by serious earthquakes, have convulsed this island, and yet amid these mishaps the people have maintained the highest measure of social order in any state of which we have a history. The Icelanders have had the moral strength to rise superior to such afflictions. In this state, as in certain individuals, chastise-merit which would have destroyed weaker natures served to affirm the vigour of the strong people. (Shaler: Aspects of the Earth.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
PSALM CXXIX
The Jews give an account of the afflictions which they have
passed through, 1-3.
And thank God for their deliverance, 4.
The judgments that shall fall on the workers of iniquity, 5-8.
NOTES ON PSALM CXXIX
This Psalm was written after the captivity; and contains a reference to the many tribulations which the Jews passed through from their youth, i.e., the earliest part of their history, their bondage in Egypt. It has no title in any of the Versions, nor in the Hebrew text, except the general one of A Psalm of Degrees. The author is uncertain.
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 Ho 2:15: “She shall sing as in the days of her youth, when she came up out of the land of Egypt.” See Jer 2:2, and Eze 16:4, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They; mine enemies or oppressors; which is easily understood, both from the nature of the thing, and from Psa 129:3, where they are expressed under the name of ploughers.
From my youth; from the time that I was a people, when I was in Egypt and came out of it, which is called the time of Israels youth, Jer 2:2; Eze 23:3.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1, 2. may Israel now sayor,”oh! let Israel say” (Ps124:1). Israel’s youth was the sojourn in Egypt (Jer 2:2;Hos 2:15).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth,…. That is, the enemies of Israel, afterwards called “ploughers”. This may be understood of literal Israel, the posterity of Jacob; whose youth was the beginning of their constitution as a nation and church, or the first times of it; when they were greatly distressed by their enemies, and from thenceforward; as in Egypt, where, and in places near it, they were afflicted four hundred years, according to a prophecy given to Abraham their ancestor, and where their lives were made bitter with hard bondage; and in the times of the Judges, by several neighbouring nations, which was the time of their youth, or their settlement in Canaan; and afterwards in the times of their kings, particularly in the times of Ahaz king of Judah, by the Edomites and Philistines, and by Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria; and in the times of Hoshea, king of Israel, by Salmaneser, who carried away captive, ten tribes; and in the times of Jeconiah and Zedekiah, kings of Judah, by Nebuchadnezzar, who carried captive to Babylon the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. And the psalmist, by a spirit of prophecy, might have a further respect to the distresses of Israel in the times of Antiochus and the Maccabees, when the temple was profaned, the altar demolished, and the daily sacrifice made to cease, and many good men lost their lives; to which times the apostle may be thought to have regard, Heb 11:35; and also to their last affliction by the Romans, the greatest of all; and their present captivity, and deliverance from it;
may Israel now say; this now refers to the time of redemption, as Arama observes, whether at their return from Babylon, or at their future conversion; then reviewing their former troubles ever since they were a people, may say as before. This may be applied to mystical Israel, or to the church of God in Gospel times, which, in its infancy, and from its youth upwards, has been afflicted, many a time, and by many enemies; first, by the unbelieving Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus, and persecuted his apostles and members; then by Rome Pagan, under the ten persecutions of so many emperors; and afterwards by Rome Papal, the whore of Babylon, who many a time been drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus. Yea, this may be applied to the Messiah, one of whose names is Israel, Isa 49:3; who was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs all his days, even from his youth,
Isa 53:3; he was the “Aijeleth Shahar”, the hind of the morning,
Ps 22:1, title; hunted by Herod in his infancy, Mt 2:13; and obliged to be carried into Egypt for safety when a child, from whence he was called, Ho 11:1; and ever after was more or less afflicted by his enemies, men or devils, in mind or body; and at last endured great sufferings, and death itself. It may moreover be applied to every Israelite indeed, to every true believer and member of Christ; conversion is their time of youth; they are first newborn babes, and then young men; as soon as regenerated, they are afflicted with the temptations of Satan, the reproaches and persecutions of men; which are many, though no more than necessary, and it is the will of God should be, and all for their good.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Israel is gratefully to confess that, however much and sorely it was oppressed, it still has not succumbed. , together with , has occurred already in Psa 65:10; Psa 62:3, and it becomes usual in the post-exilic language, Psa 120:6; Psa 123:4, 2Ch 30:18; Syriac rebath . The expression “from my youth” glances back to the time of the Egyptian bondage; for the time of the sojourn in Egypt was the time of Israel’s youth (Hos 2:17, Hos 11:1, Jer 2:2; Eze 23:3). The protasis Psa 129:1 is repeated in an interlinked, chain-like conjunction in order to complete the thought; for Psa 129:2 is the turning-point, where , having reference to the whole negative clause, signifies “also” in the sense of “nevertheless,” (synon. ), as in Eze 16:28; Ecc 6:7, cf. above, Psa 119:24: although they oppressed me much and sore, yet have they not overpowered me (the construction is like Num 13:30, and frequently).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Domestic Happiness. | |
A song of degrees.
1 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.
The church of God, in its several ages, is here spoken of, or, rather, here speaks, as one single person, now old and gray-headed, but calling to remembrance the former days, and reflecting upon the times of old. And, upon the review, it is found, 1. That the church has been often greatly distressed by its enemies on earth: Israel may now say, “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,” Jer. xii. 9. It is true, they brought their troubles upon themselves by their sins; it was for them 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. “For these many a time have they afflicted me from my youth.” Note, God’s people have always had many enemies, and the state of the church, from its infancy, has frequently been an afflicted state. Israel’s youth was in Egypt, or in the times of the Judges; then they were afflicted, and thenceforward more or less. The gospel-church, ever since it had a being, has been at times afflicted; and it bore this yoke most of all in its youth, witness the ten persecutions which the primitive church groaned under. The ploughers ploughed upon my back, v. 3. We read (Ps. cxxv. 3) of the rod of the wicked upon the lot of the righteous, where we rather expected the plough, to mark it out for themselves; here we read of the plough of the wicked upon the back of the righteous, where we rather expected to find the rod. But the metaphors in these places may be said to be crossed; the sense however of both is the same, and is too plain, that the enemies of God’s people have all along used them very barbarously. They tore them, as the husbandman tears the ground with his plough-share, to pull them to pieces and get all they could out of them, and so to wear out the saints of the Most High, as the ground is worn out that has been long tilled, tilled (as we say) quite out of heart. When God permitted them to plough thus he intended it for his people’s good, that, their fallow ground being thus broken up, he might sow the seeds of his grace upon them, and reap a harvest of good fruit from them: howbeit, the enemies meant not so, neither did their hearts think so (Isa. x. 7); they made long their furrows, never knew when to have done, aiming at nothing less than the destruction of the church. Many by the furrows they made on the backs of God’s people understand the stripes they gave them. The cutters cut upon my back, so they read it. The saints have often had trials of cruel scourgings (probably the captives had) and cruel mockings (for we read of the scourge or lash of the tongue, Heb. xi. 36), and so it was fulfilled in Christ, who gave his back to the smiters, Isa. l. 6. Or it may refer to the desolations they made of the cities of Israel. Zion shall, for your sake, be ploughed as a field, Mic. iii. 12. 2. That the church has been always graciously delivered by her friend in heaven. (1.) The enemies’ projects have been defeated. They have afflicted the church, in hopes to ruin it, but they have not gained their point. Many a storm it has weathered; many a shock, and many a brunt, it has borne; and yet it is in being: They have not prevailed against me. One would wonder how this ship has lived at sea, when it has been tossed with tempests, and all the waves and billows have gone over it. Christ has built his church upon a rock, and the gates of hell have not prevailed against it, nor ever shall. (2.) The enemies’ power has been broken: God has cut asunder the cords of the wicked, has cut their gears, their traces, and so spoiled their ploughing, has cut their scourges, and so spoiled their lashing, has cut the bands of union by which they were combined together, has cut the bands of captivity in which they held God’s people. God has many ways of disabling wicked men to do the mischief they design against his church and shaming their counsels. These words, The Lord is righteous, may refer either to the distresses or to the deliverances of the church. [1.] The Lord is righteous in suffering Israel to be afflicted. This the people of God were always ready to own, that, how unjust soever their enemies were, God was just in all that was brought upon them, Neh. ix. 33. [2.] The Lord is righteous in not suffering Israel to be ruined; for he has promised to preserve it a people to himself, and he will be as good as his word. He is righteous in reckoning with their persecutors, and rendering to them a recompence, 2 Thess. i. 6.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Psalms 129
Afflictions Of the Wicked
Scripture v. 1-8:
Verses 1, 2 recount that many a time had the wicked afflicted Israel, from her youth, as a nation. The psalmist added, “may or let Israel now say, (witness for the coming generation) many a time have they (mine enemies) afflicted me from my youth, (from my early days of national life in Egypt); Yet they have not prevailed against me,” or won the victory; it is not over yet, Eze 23:3; Hos 2:1-5; Hos 11:1; Jer 2:2; Jer 22:21; Psa 124:1.
Verse 3 declares “The plowers plowed upon my back,” or the tormentors, inhuman slave-oppressors, cut deep gashes, like furrows in a field, upon their backs while working them brutally. It is added “they made long their furrows,” cutting long deep gashes in their backs, like plow-furrows in a field, 1Sa 14:14. Her words were, “I gave my back to the smiters,” Isa 1:6, even as our Lord, Mat 27:26.
Verse 4 asserts, “The Lord is righteous,” in His acts, a basis of hope for faithful help and deliverance from Him, Rom 10:3-4. The psalmist added, “He hath cut asunder the cords (bondage ties) of the wicked,” who did enslave Israel, Jer 2:2; Eze 23:3; Hos 2:15; Hos 11:1.
Verses 5-7 sound an imprecatory (judgment) prayer cry for the Lord to let all those who hate Zion (the city of God) be confounded, confused, and turned back from their oppression; and let them become withered like the dried grass on the housetops, that dries up before it is grown, has no roots, or soil to grow in, which the mower or reaper does not even attempt to gather, Psa 37:2; Psa 92:7; Jer 17:5-6.
Verse 8 concludes “neither do they who go by,” the wayfarer, poor reapers, Rth 2:4. He adds, “the blessings (benediction) of the Lord is (exists) upon you,” and “we bless you (who pass by) in the name of the lord,” Psa 118:26.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. They have often afflicted me from my youth. This Psalm was probably composed at a time when the Church of God, reduced to a state of extreme distress, or dismayed by some great danger, or oppressed with tyranny, was on the verge of total destruction. This conjecture, I conceive, is supported by the adverb of time, now, which appears to me to be emphatic. It is as if the Prophet; had said, When God’s faithful ones are with difficulty drawing their breath under the burden of temptations, it is a seasonable time for them to reflect on the manner in which he has exercised his people from the beginning, and from age to age. As soon as God has given loose reins to our enemies to do as they please we are distressed with sorrow, and our thoughts are wholly engrossed with the evils which presently harass us. Hence proceeds despair; for we do not remember that the patience of the fathers was subjected to the like trial, and that nothing happens to us which they did not experience. It is then an exercise eminently fitted to comfort true believers to look back to the conflicts of the Church in the days of old, in order thereby to know that she has always labored under the cross, and has been severely afflicted by the unrighteous violence of her enemies. The most probable conjecture which occurs to me at present is, that this Psalm was written after the Jews had returned from the Babylonish captivity, and when, having suffered many grievous and cruel injuries at the hands of their neighbors, they hadn’t length almost fainted under the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes. In this dark and troublous state of matters, the Prophet encourages the faithful to fortitude, nor does he address himself to a few of them only, but to the whole body without exception; and in order to their sustaining such fierce assaults, he would have them to oppose to them a hope inspired by the encouraging consideration, that the Church, by patient endurance, has uniformly proved victorious. Almost every word is emphatic. Let Israel now say, that is, let him consider the trials of the Church in ancient times, from which it may be gathered, that the people of God have never been exempted from bearing the cross, and yet that the various afflictions by which they have been tried have always had a happy issue. In speaking of the enemies of Israel simply by the pronoun they, without being more specific, the Psalmist aggravates the greatness of the evil more than if he had expressly named the Assyrians or the Egyptians. By not specifying any particular class of foes, he tacitly intimates that the world is fraught with innumerable bands of enemies, whom Satan easily arms for the destruction of good men, his object being that new wars may arise continually on every side. History certainly bears ample testimony that the people of God had not to deal with a few enemies, but that they were assaulted by almost the whole world; and farther, that they were molested not only by external foes, but also by those of an internal kind, by such as professed to belong to the Church.
The term youth here denotes their first beginnings, (109) and refers not only to the time when God brought the people out of Egypt, but also to the time when he wearied Abraham and the patriarchs during almost their whole life, by keeping them in a condition of painful warfare. If these patriarchs were strangely driven about in the land of Canaan, the lot of their descendants was still worse during the time of their sojourning in Egypt, when they were not only oppressed as slaves, but loaded with every kind of reproach and ignominy. At their departure from that land we know what difficulties they had to encounter. If in tracing their history from that period we find seasons in which some respite was granted them, yet they were not in a state of repose for any length of time, until the reign of David. And although during his reign they appeared to be in a prosperous condition, yet soon after troubles and even defeats arose, which threatened the people of God with total destruction. In the Babylonish captivity, all hope being well-nigh extinguished, they seemed as if hidden in the grave and undergoing the process of putrefaction. After their return they obtained, with difficulty, some brief intermission to take their breath. They were certainly often put; to the sword, until the race of them was almost wholly destroyed. To prevent it, therefore, from being supposed that they had received only some slight hurt, they are justly said to have been afflicted; as if the Prophet placed them before our eyes as it were half-dead, through the treatment of their enemies, who, seeing them prostrated under their feet, scrupled not to tread upon them. If we come to ourselves, it will be proper to add the horrible persecutions, by which the Church would have been consumed a thousand times, had not God, by hidden and mysterious means, preserved her, raising her as it were from the dead. Unless we have become stupid under our calamities, the distressing circumstances of this unhappy age will compel us to meditate on the same doctrine.
When the Prophet says twice, they have afflicted me, they have afflicted me, the repetition is not superfluous, it being intended to teach us that the people of God had not merely once or twice to enter the conflict, but that their patience had been tried by continual exercises. He had said that they had commenced this conflict from their youth, intimating that they had been inured to it from their first origin, in order to their being accustomed to bear the cross. He now adds, that their being subjected to this rigorous training was not without good reason, inasmuch as God had not ceased, by a continued course, to make use of these calamities for subduing them to himself. If the exercises of the Church, during her state of childhood, were so severe, our effeminacy will be very shameful indeed, if in the present day, when the Church, by the coming of Christ, has reached the age of manhood, we are found wanting in firmness for enduring trials. Matter of consolation is laid down in the last clause, which informs us that the enemies of Israel, after having tried all methods, never succeeded in realizing their wishes, God having always disappointed their hopes, and baffled their attempts.
(109) Hence it is said in Hos 11:1 —
“
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.”
Youth is in like manner ascribed to a people, in Isa 47:12; Jer 48:11; and Eze 16:43.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
INTRODUCTION
This Psalm was written after the Captivity, and contains a reference to the many tribulations which the Jews passed through from their youthi.e., the earliest part of their history,their bondage in Egypt. The intent of the Psalmist is to comfort the Church in affliction, and to stir her up to glorify God for His providence over her, always for her good, and bringing her enemies to confusion and sudden ruin.A. Clarke.
THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE GOOD
(Psa. 129:1-4)
I. That the good in all ages have been greatly afflicted.
1. The afflictions of the good are manifold. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth (Psa. 129:1). The Jews had been oppressed by Pharaoh in Egypt, by the tribes north of the wilderness, by the Canaanites, Philistines, and Ammonites, by the Assyrians and Babylonians; and now they were harassed by the time-serving Samaritans. So has it been in all ages. The Church has suffered from a variety of enemiesfrom the reigning powers for the time being, from the envy and hatred of unbelievers, from the falseness and apathy of professed friends.
2. The afflictions of the good are marked by unusual severity. The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows (Psa. 129:3). The sufferings of Gods people have been unparalleled. They have been torn as the husbandman tears the ground with his ploughshare. Many martyrs for the truth have been first lashed with the terrible scorpion and loaded whips; and then, as they hung on the little horse, torn with the hooked rake, which literally dug deep, long furrows in their bleeding and quivering flesh. But there is One in whom we see all Israel, and in whose sufferings the words of the text received a remarkable fulfilment. The incarnate Son of God gave His back to the smiters (Isa. 50:6).
II. That the good have always survived the cruelty of their tormentors. Yet they have not prevailed against me (Psa. 129:2). The combined powers of evil have not been able to destroy the Church. A Swedish captain has recently invented a fire-proof dress, the wearer of which is enabled to walk up and down in the fiercest furnace without being injured. So the people of God have outlived the fiery assaults of the wicked, because clothed in the unconsumable panoply of the Divine protection. The afflictions of the Church have tended to its purity and strength. When Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (A.D. 107), was taken to Rome and cast to the lions, he exclaimed, I am Gods wheat, and must be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts that I may be found His pure bread. The Church of God is unconquerable. It is, says Trapp, as the palm tree, which spreadeth and springeth up the more it is oppressed: as the bottle or bladder that may be dipped but not drowned: as the oak that sprouts out the thicker from the maims and wounds it receiveth.
III. That the afflictions of the good are Divinely limited.
1. The character of God is a pledge of timely deliverance. The Lord is righteous (Psa. 129:4). As His people become worldly and unfaithful, He permits them to be afflicted; but when they cry to Him in penitence and faith, he delivers them out of their distresses. They suffer not a moment longer than may be necessary for their more complete consecration to God and holiness.
2. The power of the wicked to harm is limited. He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked (Psa. 129:4). Evil is not omnipotent, and it is restrained and defeated by the strong hand of God. The very instrumentalities by which the wicked sought to destroy the rising Church have been used to frustrate their cruel designs, and to effect their own ruin.
LESSONS:
1. The holiest are not exempt from suffering.
2. Affliction may prove a blessed moral discipline.
3. The good are Divinely rescued from trial.
THE LAMENTABLE FATE OF THE CHURCHS ENEMIES
(Psa. 129:5-8)
I. They are signally defeated.Let them all be; or, They shall all be confounded, and turned back that hate Zion (Psa. 129:5). Though advancing in formidable and threatening array, they shall be thrown into confusion and driven into ignominious retreat. They are engaged in an unequal conflict. They are allowed to gain some unimportant conquests, and while full of boastful daring, and reckoning upon certain and final victory, they are melted like snow in the glance of the Lord (Job. 34:20-21; Psa. 70:2).
II. Their wicked life-purpose is abortive. Let them be as the grass upon the house tops, which withereth, &c. (Psa. 129:6-7). On the flat roofs of Eastern houses it is not uncommon to see grass growing, but for want of proper nourishment and soil, it cannot grow to maturity, and speedily withers away. It is sad to see ones life-purpose suddenly collapse and hopelessly perish. But so must it be with the designs of the wicked, after a lifetime of plotting and toiling; so must it be with the wicked themselves (Isa. 37:27).
III. They remain unblessed. Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we bless you in the name of the Lord (Psa. 129:8). An emblem of Israel blessed by the Lord is a wide field of thickly growing corn stirred by gentle breezes under a ripening sun. As the labourers, humming or shouting snatches of cheery song, bind the sheaves and carry load after load away, they receive friendly salutations from people passing by (Rth. 2:4). The thought is ridiculous of house-top harvesting occasioning such benedictions. Equally out of question is it for the Churchs adversaries to be blessed by God or man. (The Caravan and Temple.) It is impossible for nature to furnish an emblem that can sufficiently express the utter confusion, disaster, and misery that will certainly overtake the enemies of God. It is the highest aggravation of their sufferings that they remain for ever unblest.
LESSONS:
1. A life of sin is a series of disappointments and defeats.
2. The enemies of God cannot escape His righteous vengeance.
3. The haters of Zion ignore the hope of salvation, which it alone offers.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psalms 129
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
Israels Thanks for Past Deliverances, and
Prayer for Continued Vindication.
ANALYSIS
Stanza I., Psa. 129:1-4, Israels Experience of Vexation and Deliverance. Stanza II., Psa. 129:5-8, The Shame and Chagrin Awaiting all the Haters of Zion.
(Lm.) Song of the Steps.
1
Full much have they harassed me from my youth
pray let Israel say:
2
Full much have they harassed me from my youth
but they have not prevailed against me.
3
Upon my back have ploughed the ploughers
they have lengthened their field.[751]
[751] Furrow-stripDel. A highly poetic description of the extent of country occupied by an invader.
4
Jehovah is righteous
he hath cut asunder the cords of the lawless.
5
Let them be put to shame and retreat backward
all the haters of Zion!
6
Let them become as the grass of housetops
which before it hath unsheathed doth wither,[752]
[752] As much as to say: As grass withered before it unsheaths its ear, so let the Assyrians vanish before they unsheath a sword against Jerusalem.
7
Wherewith hath filled his hand no reaper,
and his bosom no binder:
8
Neither have said the passers-by
The blessing of Jehovah be unto you! [nor heard in reply]
We have blessed you in the name of Jehovah.[753]
[753] The last line should be printed as a return greeting from the reapersAglen.
(Nm.)
PARAPHRASE
Psalms 129
Persecuted from my earliest youth (Israel is speaking),
2 And faced with never-ending discriminationbut not destroyed! My enemies have never been able to finish me off!
3, 4 Though my back is cut to ribbons with their whips, the Lord is good. For He has snapped the chains that evil men had bound me with.
5 May all who hate the Jews be brought to ignominious defeat.
6, 7 May they be as grass in shallow soil, turning sear and yellow when half grown, ignored by the reaper, and despised by the binder.
8 And may those passing by refuse to bless them by saying, Jehovahs blessings be upon you; we bless you in Jehovahs name.
EXPOSITION
The solidarity of Israel as a nation is here strikingly and even pathetically set forth. The youth of the nation is by implication traced back to Egypt; and her experience since then of trouble from without is gathered up into one sad memory. That is one aspect of the figurethe nation represented as an individual. Then the individualised nation is identified with the land in which she dwells; and the rude dealings of the invader with the land are figured as the ploughing of long furrows upon her bare back. How pathetically this latest memory pictures the ruthless doings of Sennacherib is evident. But deliverance has come; and the sudden liberation of the land from the invader is vividly set forth as the cutting asunder of the cords by which the slave had been held bound while the cruel lash was laid on. It was emphatically JEHOVAH who cut asunder those cords. The deliverance was not obtained by battle, nor by long journeying out of a foreign land.
So let all Israels enemies be vanquished, like these Assyrians, who have been put to shame and have retreated backward (comp. 2Ki. 19:36). And now, further, Assyria is paid back in her own coin: she had spoken of the nations who were unable to resist her might as grass on the housetops (2Ki. 19:26, Isa. 37:27); and here she is herself made the object of the contemptuous comparison, with an additional stroke of wit at her expense: Let the haters of Zion be as the grass of the house tops, which before it hath unsheathed doth wither. Assyria had not unsheathed her sword against Jerusalem! And no friendly greetings were likely to congratulate her on the harvest she had reaped in Jehovahs inheritance.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
There is something very pathetic about this psalmWhat is it?
2.
Why compress all the history of Israel into one sad memory picture? i.e. What was the immediate cause for this?
3.
Compare 2Ki. 19:36; Isaiah 39:27 and show how it relates to verses five through eight.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) Many a time.Or more literally, much. (See margin.)
From my youth.Here, of course, not the youth of a person, but of the nation. The poet glances back even to the Egyptian bondage. (See Hos. 2:15, as in the days of her youth, and as in the days when she came up out of the land of Egypt; comp. Eze. 23:3; Jer. 2:2; Jer. 22:21, recalling all the long series of oppressions suffered by the race.)
May Israel now say.There is in the original no adverb of time: let Israel say.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. From my youth From the days of Israel’s abode in Egypt. So Hos 2:15; Hos 11:1; Jer 2:2
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psalms 129
Psa 129:1 (A Song of degrees.) Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
Psa 129:1
Psa 129:6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
Psa 129:6
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Victory of the Church over Her Enemies.
v. 1. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, v. 2. many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, v. 3. The plowers plowed upon my back, v. 4. The Lord is righteous, v. 5. Let them all be confounded, v. 6. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, v. 7. wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, v. 8. Neither do they which go by say,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THIS psalm consists of a retrospect (Psa 129:1-4) and an anticipation (Psa 129:5-8). The retrospect shows Israel oppressed by enemies for a long term of years, but finally vindicated and delivered (Psa 129:4). The anticipation shows her enemies afflicted in their turn, and suffering the just reward for their misdeeds.
Psa 129:1
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth. Israel’s recollection is one of frequent, almost constant, “affliction.” She has been downtrodden beneath the feet of Egyptians, Moabites, Mesopotamians, Canaanites, Ammonites, Philistines, Syrians. Assyrians, Babylonians. Her sufferings began in her extreme youth, as soon as she was a nation (Exo 1:11-22). May Israel now say; rather, let Israel now say. The psalmist directs his countrymen to look back upon their past history.
Psa 129:2
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth. The repetition emphasizes the fact of Israel’s long and bitter suffering. Yet they have not prevailed against me. Israel has not been given as a prey to the heathen’s teeth (Psa 124:6). She is still a nation, unsubdued; she holds her own; the struggle is not ended.
Psa 129:3
The plowers plowed upon my back. A strong metaphor, which does not elsewhere occur. The idea is perhaps taken from the cruel treatment of captives in those days, who, in certain cases, were “put under saws and harrows of iron” (2Sa 12:31), or, as it is elsewhere expressed, “threshed with threshing instruments of iron” (Amo 1:3). They made long their furrows; i.e. “lengthened out their tortures.”
Psa 129:4
The Lord is righteous. Still, God is just. He allowed these sufferings to be inflicted on us because we deserved them; and he interposed on our behalf when we had been sufficiently punished, and cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Cut, i.e; the cords wherewith they had bound us. The “retrospect” here ends, and in the next verse the “anticipation” begins.
Psa 129:5
Let them all be confounded; or, “they shall all be confounded,” or “put to shame.” And turned back. Made to turn their backs upon their foes. That hate Zion. That have shown themselves enemies to Israel. The main verbs are in the future tense, but may be taken as expressive either of a wish or of a confident expectation.
Psa 129:6
Let them be as the grass upon the housetops; literally, they shall be as the grass of housetops. The flat roofs of Oriental houses are usually covered in early spring with a crop of bright-green grass. But the scorching rays of the sun soon burn this up, and it becomes dry and withered. Which withereth afore it groweth up; literally, before it is unsheathed; i.e. before the blossom has left the sheath in which it is formed.
Psa 129:7
Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand. Which is so worthless that no one takes the trouble to mow it. Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. Much less does any one bind it into sheaves and store it away.
Psa 129:8
Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you; we bless you in the name of the Lord. Harvesters were thus greeted (Rth 2:4), and still are to this day. “These expressions,” says Dr. Thomson, “are most refreshingly Arabic. Nothing is more natural than for Arabs, when passing by a fruit-tree or cornfield loaded with a rich crop, to exclaim, Barak Allah! ‘God bless you!'”.
HOMILETICS
Psa 129:1-8
Sin a failure.
Neither the violence of sin against others nor its effort on its own behalf is successful.
I. THE FAILURE OF ITS VIOLENCE. The enemies of Israel are regarded as the enemies of the Lord; their attempts to despoil and destroy Israel were sins against God. They consequently proved to be utter failures. They were mercilessly cruel; they “ploughed upon the back, and made long their furrows;” they strove to enslave with their strong cords (Psa 129:4), but “they did not prevail” (Psa 129:2); their cords were cut asunder (Psa 129:4). Israel survived the hardships of Egypt and the captivity of Babylon. Many nations and communities have passed through similar afflictions and oppressions, but they have borne them bravely; they may even have been the purer, the stronger, the more united, for all they have suffered. Many a man can speak in the same strain; his history has been one of struggle and hardship in youth, of toil in mid-life, of deliverance and gratitude in later years. He has lived to see his oppressors humbled, to find that they who offend God by ill treating his servants come to shame and sorrow. The most striking lesson of the psalm is
II. THE DEGENERACY OF SIN. The psalmist prays (or states) that those who “hate Zion” may be like the grass which has no depth of earth, which withers before it attains maturity, which falls short of the blessing which the well-planted corn enjoys (Psa 129:6-8). Here are two evils which the unholy have to face.
1. Early withering.
(1) Sin often leads down to some form of vice, some evil habit which is at variance with the laws of our nature and the will of God, We know what that means. It means the drying up of the distinctively human resources; it means loss of physical vitality; it means the fading’ of mental power, it means the degeneracy of the soul. The end is not far off; before it has fully grown up, before the zenith of life is reached, the constitution is wrecked, the darkness of death has fallen.
(2) Sin is selfishness, very often worldliness and vanity. And either of these ends in a sad spiritual withering. The heart closes up; there is no expansion, no ripening, no fruit-bearing under the gracious influences of Divine love and human pity and holy fellowship. Long before bodily death arrives, spiritual destruction has come.
2. The loss of the higher good. The man who is living under the dominion of sin and selfishness misses all that is worthiest and best. In his life is no such scenery as that so beautifully sketched in the psalm. He has to go without the blessing of God and the benediction of his kind.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Psa 129:1-8
The Divine life.
This psalm is capable of a threefold application. It tells of the Divine life
I. IN ISRAEL.
1. The existence of the chosen people was a lifelong struggle. The sounds of battle and war are never, save but for short intervals, absent from their history. From the oppression they had to endure in Egypt right down to the time when this psalm was composed, they never lacked enemies who “fought against” them, and did them all the harm they could.
2. But their enemies never altogether prevailed. (Psa 129:2.) Sooner or later deliverance came. Such a deliverance had just now come, and hence this psalm. And the complete deliverance which is still needed for Israel we may well believe, from the records of the past, will, in God’s good time, be forthcoming.
3. The sufferings which they caused them were very great. (Psa 129:3.) As the ploughshare tears up the soil, so the lacerating scourge tore their flesh. In these psalms we yet hear the wail of their lamentations and their exceeding bitter cry (see Psa 124:1-8; Psa 137:1-9; and many more; comp. Isa 1:6; Isa 51:23).
4. The Lord, true to his covenant, put an end to their sufferings. As when the cords, the traces that fasten the oxen to the plough, are cut, the plough comes to a standstill, so the dread plough of suffering, which ploughed such agonizing furrows in their souls, was brought to a standstill; for the Lord cut asunder the cords.
5. But the bitter memory begot bitter prayers. (Psa 129:6-8.) That those who so dealt with them may be ashamed, defeated, despised as worthless, like the grass that springs up and at once withers, because on the house-top there can be no depth of earth, and hence such grass is of no value at all (cf. Isa 37:27), and that they may be such as no blessing of the Lord can rest upon (Psa 129:8). Before we condemn such prayers, we should put ourselves in the place of those who offered them. They may not be Christian any more than war is always Christian, but they are very natural. They are not the utterances of personal revenge, but prayers for the overthrow of those who hated Zion, and who were the enemies of God as well as of Zion. Nevertheless, in spite of all, Israel was preserved of God.
II. IN THE CHURCH. Verse by verse the words of the psalm tell of her experience. Cradled in conflict, oppressed with suffering, “fought against” by enemies one after another, varied in kind, but all terrible, yet never really defeated”they have not prevailed against me;” so may the Church say. And long ago the Lord has cut asunder, for the most part, the cords whereby the cruel ploughshare of persecution was dragged over the bleeding flesh of the people of God. Our freedom should kindle and keep glowing our sympathy with those Christians who, in the dominions of the “unspeakable Turk,” are yet subjected to horrible atrocities. Oh that the Lord may soon cut asunder those cords, and set his people free! Nor are the prayers against the perpetrators of such atrocities with which this psalm closes improper for us, and still less for those who endure such wrongs. But God’s Church ever lives.
III. IN THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL. Again is this psalm the transcript of the history of the life of God, but now as existing in the soul of the individual Christian. The enemies now are not of flesh and blood, but spiritual, and, therefore, yet more terrible. For they who hurt the body soon have no more that they can do; but these can eternally torment usthey can destroy both soul and body in hell. Therefore we may well, as Christ bids us, fear them. Nor are the most terrible of the prayers in these imprecatory psalms out of place when we think of these foes. We are bound to hate them and pray against them, and by God’s help we will.S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
Psa 129:1
Our seven sorrows.
“Many a time have they afflicted me;” so many times that it seemed useless to try and count them up. It is enough to represent them by one number, and that the representative of completeness, seven times. Israel may be said, as a nation, to have had an all-round experience of affliction and discipline. Eliphaz the Temanite speaks rightly to Job for God when he says, “He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall be no evil touch thee” (Job 5:19).
I. A FACT OF THE NATIONAL HISTORY. So far as the record reveals that history, it appears to be a series of calamities and distresses; some brought about by characteristic national frailties, some by individuals forcing their willfulnesses, some by untoward circumstances, and some by the active schemes of enemies. It would even seem that national sorrows are so well represented in this history that we may speak of its “seven sorrows;” and we may find the mission of all forms of human trial illustrated in the moral influence of these calamities and woes of Israel. But we need not assume that its experiences were unique. Every nation is born of, and molded by, similar troubles. The peculiarity of Israel does not lie in its experiences, but in the reading of its experiences. The Bible reads them in the light of Jehovah‘s relation to them. This is the only true reading of human history, and all history needs to be read in this light. God is in the sorrows of a nation.
II. A FACT OF THE INDIVIDUAL HISTORY. It does not matter where, or under what circumstances, or in what relations, a man’s life is lived. A man is “born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” No man can escape it. It would be his curse if he could. A man can, as a moral being, become righteous; but there is no school in which he can be trained for righteousness save the school of affliction. It is no ground of boasting to any man that his life has been free from trials. If a man may boast at all, he should boast over his “seven sorrows,” because he may indulge the hope that God’s grace has been mighty in him, and he has come into much sanctifying discipline.R.T.
Psa 129:3
The figure of the torn land.
The expression, “They made long their furrows,” can only be understood through the peculiar conditions of Eastern ploughing. The word “furrow” (maanah) signifies a strip of arable land which the ploughman takes in hand at one time, at both ends of which, consequently, the ploughing team always comes to a stand, turns round, and begins a new furrow. Since the ordinary ox of Palestine is smaller and weaker than ours, and easily becomes tired under the yoke, which presses heavily on its neck and confines its neck, they are obliged to give it time to recover its strength by frequent resting. This always takes place at the termination of a furrow, when the peasant raises the unwieldy plough out of the earth, and turns it over, clearing off the moist earth with the small shovel at the lower end of the goad, and hammering the loosened edges and rings tight again, during which time the team is able to recover itself by resting. They do not, therefore, make the furrows of great length. The figure of this verse is explained by the over-exhaustion of the oxen, if the furrows through which they had to drag the plough were made overlong. The suggestion of the ‘ Speaker’s Commentary ‘ is less natural. It takes the verse as a figure of scourging. (Improving on this, Dr. Wordsworth finds anticipation of the scourging of Christ.) “The lashes inflicted upon the back of the writhing slave by a cruel master are compared to the long furrows pierced in the passive earth by the share of the plougher.” The figure must be explained in the light of the memories cherished by the psalmist, as representing the nation just returned from captivity. And the nation is symbolized by the land in which the nation dwelt.
I. ISRAEL‘S SORROWS HAD BEEN LIKE THE WORK OF A PLOUGH IN THE LAND. Attention is indeed fixed only on the tearing open and turning over of the land; but we need not miss seeing that this stern dealing was the necessary preliminary to seed sowing and fruitage. (Compare “No trial for the present seemeth to be joyous,” etc.) Better be torn land than harvestless land.
II. THE AGENTS OF ISRAEL‘S SORROWS HAD OVERDONE THEIR WORK. They had gone beyond their commission, had increased the length of the furrow. So we often think of our sorrows when we try to estimate their moral value. But that is what we can never do wisely. They never do go beyond God-arranged limits.R.T.
Psa 129:4
Righteousness may involve judgment.
The cutting asunder of cords figuratively presents the liberating of Israel from the Babylonian captivity, and also the yet earlier experience of the nation, when Jehovah cut the cords of Egypt, and set his people free. This is the consideration which relieves the psalmist’s strain in thinking how many Israel’s trials had been, and how greatly her enemies had enjoyed inflicting them. “Jehovah is righteous.” There is always security and rest in that conviction. “He will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear.” Men or circumstances may put cords about us. Whenever he sees it right to do so, our God can “cut the cords asunder.” Men may “hate Zion,” and gladly do her a mischief; but this we may always rely onGod can “confound them and turn them back,” as he did the Syrians in the days of Elisha. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Righteousness is a many-sided and many-related thing.
I. RIGHTEOUSNESS BEARS RELATION TO THE WORLD AS A WHOLE. It must be such as every one sooner or later can recognize. It must have in view the well-being of the whole; and this involves that it must not let evil go unpunished; it must bring judgment on the wicked. For the world’s sake the righteous God must be active against all unrighteousness.
II. RIGHTEOUSNESS BEARS RELATION TO THE INDIVIDUAL. And in a life very various moral moods and conditions are represented. God must answer to all the moods if he is righteous; and this involves trial for reproof, and judgment for correction. God smiting his people is not only God acting in love, it is God acting in righteousness. “I know that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me.”
III. RIGHTEOUSNESS BEARS RELATION TO THE AGENTS OF NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL AFFLICTION. This is symbolically taught in God’s prophecy concerning Egypt, as the oppressor of his people, “And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge.” And so Babylon, the agent of the Captivity, was to be judged. It needs to be seen that the fact of God’s using Balaam, or Egypt, for his purposes does not relieve them from the responsibility of their conduct. Hating Zion may lead to action which works out God’s purposes; but hating Zion surely brings a man or a nation into the judgment-vindication of the righteous God.R.T.
Psa 129:6
A new figure of the grass.
Jowett says, “At Anata, the Anathoth of Scripture, I observed that the roofs of some of the houses were partially covered with grassa circumstance which I noticed also in several other places. As the roofs of the common dwellings are flat, and, instead of being built of stone or wood, are coated with plaster or hardened earth, a slight crop of grass frequently springs up in that situation. Such vegetation, however, having no soil into which it can strike its roots, and being exposed to a scorching sun, rarely attains to any great height or continues long. It is a feeble, stunted product, and soon withers away. Hence the sacred writers sometimes allude to the grass of the house-top as an emblem of weakness, frailty, and certain destruction” (Isa 37:27). The meaning of Psa 129:7, Psa 129:8 is thisThere will be no reapers of such worthless grass as this; there will be nothing to elicit the utterance of those common formulas of benediction with which passers-by were wont to greet harvesters. It is better to associate these verses with the short-lived enmity of the Samaritans to the returned exiles, than with the more systematic dealing of an empire like Babylon.
I. THE ENMITY OF THE SAMARITANS WAS SHOWY. After rain, the grass on the house-top springs up in a very showy and boastful way, as if it were going to do great things. And so the Samaritans vaunted much and taunted much, and at first seemed to accomplish much; for they put cords on the restoring work of the exiles, and stopped the building of the temple, and prevented the building of the wall.
II, THE ENMITY OF THE SAMARITANS WAS SHORT–LIVED. It was met with patience. Presently the energy of an Ezra and a Nehemiah, like an east wind or a scorching sun, hopelessly cut down the blades. Persecutors of God’s people are never given a “long tether.” God’s people may always pray, “Come quickly.”
III. THE ENMITY OF THE SAMARITANS BROUGHT THEM NO GOOD. It only spoiled permanently their relations with Israel, and put them out of favor with Persia. The mower never filled his hand with any harvest of the grass that grew on that housetop. The harvest of all enmities to God’s people is never anything else than “a heap in a time of desperate sorrow.” Goodness is a harvest reaped from good.R.T.
Psa 129:8
Politeness in the harvest-field; or, right relations of employer and employed.
Dr. S. Cox writes, “It is a graphic picture of an ancient harvest scene. The field is thick with waving barley. The reapers cut their way into it with sickles, grasping the ears till their arms are full. The overseer is busy urging on the reapers. Vessels filled probably with the rough local wine are at hand, that the heated and thirsty laborers may refresh themselves at need. As the day advances, the master of the estate comes to see how the work goes on. With grave, pious courtesy he salutes his ‘young men’ with the words, ‘Jehovah be with you!’ and they reply, ‘Jehovah bless thee!’ It is true that this was oftentimes a mere formality; but, even if not altogether realized, it shows what the social relations should be.”
I. EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYED SERVE EACH OTHER. So much mistake is made, and so much confusion is caused, by the sentiment that only the employed serve the employer. Things would right themselves if it was fully apprehended that the service is mutual. We think the rewards of service ought to come to the employed; but if the employers also serve, the rewards of service ought to come also to the employer. If they come to either the one or the other in undue measures, there must be something wrong in the social system, which needs readjusting.
II. EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYED NEED TO TRUST EACH OTHER. The complications of modern labor problems arise from the mischievous work of demagogues, who set class against class. The spirit of Christianity encourages mutual trust, and tends to bring classes together, and helps each class to consider the claims and needs of other classes. The dream of a universal equality has delighted and amused humanity in all ages, and it will to the end of the age. But it will never be more than a dream. Nature makes classes, and will go on making them; and Paradise can never be gained otherwise than by the laborer and his master realizing the Christly spirit of mutual service. The master must trust the servant to render his best of service; and the laborer must trust his master to give a fair and relatively proportionate reward.R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT
Psa 129:1-8
Suffering and victory.
“Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth,” etc. The connection is shown thus
I. THE PSALMIST SAW THE REDEMPTIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD AS SUPREME. (Psa 129:4.) God’s strength and justice surely prevail against all the devices of evil men.
II. GOOD MEN PREVAIL WHEN THEY USE THEIR SUFFERING AS CORRECTIVE DISCIPLINE. Some of the greatest lessons of life are learned from our severest sufferings. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy,” etc.; “Our light affliction worketh out while we look not at the things which are seen,” etc.
III. THE OPPOSITION OF ENEMIES CALLS FORTH THEIR GREATEST ENERGIES. This a law that operates in the physical, the intellectual, and the moral life. Stem a torrent, and you increase its force. An intellectual difficulty rouses us to the greatest endeavor, and moral obstacles call forth our most triumphant strength.
IV. THE UNRIGHTEOUS ARE ULTIMATELY DEFEATED IN THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE GOOD CAUSE. (Psa 129:5, Psa 129:6.) They are driven back, and made ashamed of their efforts and designs upon the righteous cause. The psalmist is not doubtful of the final issue of the conflict between good and evil. The evil will wither like grass on the house-tops.
V. THE RIGHTEOUS WILL GATHER THE HARVEST OF THEIR LABORS AMID THE BENEDICTIONS OF GOD AND MAN. (Psa 129:8.) No good seed that has been sown will fail of a harvest more or less abundant. God and man rejoice in all good work done, whatever the extent of its consequences. “Well done, good and faithful servant;” “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the way of the wicked,” whose “delight is in the Law of the Lord.”S.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Psalms 129.
An exhortation to praise God, for saving Israel in their great afflictions. The haters of the church are cursed.
A Song of Degrees.
Title. Shiir hammangaloth.] This psalm is thought to have been written by Ezra, at the return of the Jews from their captivity: and then they that hate Zion, Psa 5:5 may well be supposed to mean the neighbouring nations, who maliciously obstructed the Jews in rebuilding their city.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psalms 129
A Song of degrees
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth,
May Israel now say:
2Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
3The ploughers ploughed upon my back:
They made long their furrows.
4The Lord is righteous:
He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5Let them all be confounded and turned back
That hate Zion.
6Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops,
Which withereth afore it groweth up:
7Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand:
Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.
8Neither do they which go by say,
The blessing of the Lord be upon you:
We bless you in the name of the Lord.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.The Psalmist recalls (Psa 129:1-4) the severe oppression which Israel, the servant of the Lord, had repeatedly suffered from his youth, and which is described by the image of physical ill-treatment, as in Isa 49:1 f.; Psa 50:4 f., from which, however, the righteous God granted deliverance. From this he educes a wish (Psa 129:5-8) that all the enemies of Zion may be consigned to utter ruin.
There is a very close resemblance to Psalms 124Israels youth is the sojourn in Egypt (Hos 2:17; Hos 11:1; Jer 2:2; Eze 23:3). Since that time a long period had passed, full of national troubles and divine deliverances. Just at this time Israel begins to breathe freely after such a visitation, but knows that Zions enemies have not disappeared wholly and forever. Hence arises the expression used towards them at the close, with reference to the greeting which in former times used to be given by passers by even to heathen mowers (comp. Rth 2:4). The period shortly after the return from exile may be regarded as a suitable occasion for the composition.
[Psa 129:1. The Hebrew word rendered: many a time in E. V., means literally: greatly. It sometimes refers to time, but has no special reference to it. The opinion that most interpreters render it in that sense (Alexander) is incorrect. Gesenius, Ewald, Hupfeld, Delitzsch, Moll, Perowne and many others, give it the more general reference.J. F. M.]
Psa 129:2. Yet. is employed here, as in Exo 16:28; Ecc 6:7, in the sense of; although or nevertheless (Ewald, 484 a.). [Hupfeld denies that this sense ever exists, and asserts that it has here as always the sense of: also. He compares Gen 30:8. He also discusses the question in his Qustiones in Jobeidos locos vexatos on Gen 2:19. The meaning of the verse is unaffected by either view.J. F. M.].
Psa 129:3. As in Isa 51:23; Isa 66:12, Israel is compared to a street, and men are represented as walking and riding over his back, so here they are compared to a strip of land, which the ploughman goes over in such a way, that every time he reaches either end he turns his team for the purpose of making a new furrow (Wetzstein in his excursus in Delitzsch, p. 795). Relentless and regardless treatment is better exhibited by this than by the usual explanation by which long furrows are understood to be meant.
Psa 129:6 ff. The grass upon the roofs which are flat and covered with loose stones or earth (Jahn Bibl. Arch I. 1. 200 f.), Isa 37:27 grows up rapidly but soon withers. It is doubtful whether means: to draw out, pluck up (most). [Here impersonally: one plucks it up, instead of the passiveJ. F. M.], or: to sprout forth in blossom (Aquila, Chald., Calvin, Ewald, Delitzsch.) [In connection with the passage cited in the introduction with regard to the greeting, Psa 129:8. Delitzsch remarks: It is the passers-by here who salute the harvesters thus: the blessing of Jehovah be upon you, and (since the following in the mouths of the same persons would be a purposeless excess of courtesy) receive the greeting in return: we bless you, etc. The contrast to this is, that the righteous, joyfully exchanging greetings, will be able to bring in all the harvest they have sown.J. F. M.].
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
As compared with the world the pious are righteous, and may expect, from the righteous Rewarder, deliverance from the power of the enemy.The ungodly have only the appearance of power and prosperity: after their brief season of bloom comes swift, certain, and awful destruction by Gods judgments.The Church of God has upon earth to suffer much and severely. But God is and remains her Deliverer from each and every distress.
Starke: As the Church has never been without tribulation, so she has never failed of strength and victory.The names of the persecutors of Gods people are not written in heaven, but their wickedness and enmity are remembered to their shame.The Church is and remains a rose among thorns, until the thorny ground of this world is destroyed by fire, and its thistles are cast into hell.The longer the furrows are drawn, and the deeper the plowshares of suffering sink, the more abundant and precious fruits grow therefrom.It is the part of faith to praise Gods righteousness in affliction, and so to overcome the offence of the cross.What is begun without God, or rather against God, ends in wailing.The sighs and tears of afflicted Zion have already become to many an enemy of truth and godliness, a flood of waters which sweeps away them and their followers.
Frisch: If Zion is Gods inheritance, whoever harms Zion touches God Himself.Richter: Let it not be an offence unto thee, that the world is hostile to the Israel of God; but ponder in faith the examples in Hebrews 11 and especially the example of Christ, of whom suffering Israel was a type.Guenther: The sword with which God shall cut asunder the bands which persecutors have thrown around His people, has been sharpened from eternity.Diedrich: The despisers of the Word and the true Church have no sure ground of continued existence. They are like the wild grass upon the roof. For all their achievements are nothing in the light of truth; they are found too light in Gods balances.Taube: For the lovers of Zion the crown is gleaming beyond the cross, and the harvest of joy is waving beyond the tearful sowing.
[Matt. Henry: The enemies of Gods Church wither of themselves, and stay not till they are rooted out by the judgments of God.Woe to those who have the prayers of the saints against them!J. F. M.].
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The Church under affliction, speaks with some pain of the frequency of it from persecutions: but towards the close of the Psalm she takes comfort, from the consideration that the Lord will recompense her enemies.
A Song of Degrees.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
It is beautiful to observe how the Scriptures sometimes speak of the church, and sometimes of Christ the head of the church, as one and the same. Hence the church is sometimes called by Christ’s name; Jer 33:16 . compared with Jer 23:6 . And as in name, so in interest, all Christ hath as mediator, is his church’s, 1Co 3:22-23 . Now the afflictions of the church are first spoken of in this psalm; and afterwards the personal sorrows of Jesus. Before Christ’s incarnation, the seed of Hagar persecuted the child of promise, Gal 1:24 : and from Christ’s birth his own persecutions took place, Hos 11:1 , which scripture the Evangelist Matthew refers to Christ, Mat 2:14-15 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
PSALMS
XI
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS
According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:
1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.
2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.
3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.
4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.
5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.
6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.
7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.
At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.
The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.
The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.
They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”
The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:
1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.
2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.
3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .
In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.
It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.
There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.
The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.
The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.
The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:
Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)
Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)
Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)
Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)
Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)
They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.
There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:
Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.
Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:
1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.
2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.
3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.
4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.
5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.
All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:
In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).
In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).
In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).
In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).
The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .
QUESTIONS
1. What books are commended on the Psalms?
2. What is a psalm?
3. What is the Psalter?
4. What is the range of time in composition?
5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?
6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?
7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?
8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.
9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?
10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?
11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?
12. How many psalms in our collection?
13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?
14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?
15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?
16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?
17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?
18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?
19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?
20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?
21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?
22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?
23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?
24. How many of the psalms have no titles?
25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?
26. How do later Jews supply these titles?
27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?
XII
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)
The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:
1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).
2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).
3. The nature, or character, of the poem:
(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).
(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).
4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).
5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).
6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).
7. The kind of musical instrument:
(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).
(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).
(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).
8. A special choir:
(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).
(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).
(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).
9. The keynote, or tune:
(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).
(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).
(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).
(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).
(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).
(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.
(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.
(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.
10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).
11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)
12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).
The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.
The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.
David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:
1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.
2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.
3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.
4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.
5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:
1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.
2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.
3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.
4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.
5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.
6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.
The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.
Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.
Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:
I. By books
1. Psalms 1-41 (41)
2. Psalms 42-72 (31)
3. Psalms 73-89 (17)
4. Psalms 90-106 (17)
5. Psalms 107-150 (44)
II. According to date and authorship
1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )
2. Psalms of David:
(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).
(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).
(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).
3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).
4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).
5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).
6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )
7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )
8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)
III. By groups
1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.
2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )
3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)
4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )
5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”
IV. Doctrines of the Psalms
1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.
2. The covenant, the basis of worship.
3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.
4. The pardon of sin and justification.
5. The Messiah.
6. The future life, pro and con.
7. The imprecations.
8. Other doctrines.
V. The New Testament use of the Psalms
1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.
2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.
We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:
1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )
2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )
3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )
4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )
5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )
6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )
7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )
8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )
9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )
The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.
There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.
It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.
The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.
Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:
1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.
2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.
3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.
The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.
QUESTIONS
1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.
2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?
3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?
4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?
5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.
6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?
7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?
8. What other authors are named in the titles?
9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?
10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.
11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?
12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.
13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?
14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?
15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?
16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?
17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.
18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?
19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?
20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?
XVII
THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS
A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.
Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.
The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:
1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.
2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.
3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.
In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).
This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.
It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:
1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.
2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.
We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.
1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.
The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.
The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).
But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .
Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).
This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.
2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:
(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).
(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .
(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”
(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).
What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!
3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.
(1) His divinity,
(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;
(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .
(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .
(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .
(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .
(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .
(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.
(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .
4. His offices.
(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).
(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).
(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).
(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).
(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).
5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:
(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .
(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.
(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .
(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).
And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).
These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .
(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).
(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .
(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).
(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).
(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).
(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).
(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).
The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).
The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).
The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).
His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).
In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).
His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).
Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).
With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).
We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.
QUESTIONS
1. What is a good text for this chapter?
2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?
3. What is the last division called and why?
4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?
5. To what three things is the purpose limited?
6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?
7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?
8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?
9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?
10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?
11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.
12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?
13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?
14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?
15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.
16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.
17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.
18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XVI
THE MESSIANIC PSALMS AND OTHERS
We commence this chapter by giving a classified list of the Messianic Psalms, as follows:
The Royal Psalms are:
Psa 110 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 72 ; Psa 45 ; Psa 89 ;
The Passion Psalms are:
Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 ;
The Psalms of the Ideal Man are Psa 8 ; Psa 16 ; Psa 40 ;
The Missionary Psalms are:
Psa 47 ; Psa 65 ; Psa 68 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 100 ; Psa 117 .
The predictions before David of the coming Messiah are, (1) the seed of the woman; (2) the seed of Abraham; (3) the seed of Judah; (4) the seed of David.
The prophecies of history concerning the Messiah are, (1) a prophet like unto Moses; (2) a priest after the order of Melchizedek; (3) a sacrifice which embraces all the sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament; (4) direct references to him as King, as in 2Sa 7:8 ff.
The messianic offices as taught in the psalms are four, viz: (1) The Messiah is presented as Prophet, or Teacher (Psa 40:8 ); (2) as Sacrifice, or an Offering for sin (Psa 40:6 ff.; Heb 10:5 ff.) ; (3) he is presented as Priest (Psa 110:4 ); (4) he is presented as King (Psa 45 ).
The psalms most clearly presenting the Messiah in his various phases and functions are as follows: (1) as the ideal man, or Second Adam (8); (2) as Prophet (Psa 40 ); (3) as Sacrifice (Psa 22 ) ; (4) as King (Psa 45 ) ; (5) as Priest (Psa 110 ) ; (6) in his universal reign (Psa 72 ).
It will be noted that other psalms teach these facts also, but these most clearly set forth the offices as they relate to the Messiah.
The Messiah as a sacrifice is presented in general in Psa 40:6 . His sufferings as such are given in a specific and general way in Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 . The events of his sufferings in particular are described, beginning with the betrayal of Judas, as follows:
1. Judas betrayed him (Mat 26:14 ) in fulfilment of Psa 41:9 .
2. At the Supper (Mat 26:24 ) Christ said, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him,” referring to Psa 22 .
3. They sang after the Supper in fulfilment of Psa 22:22 .
4. Piercing his hands and feet, Psa 22:16 .
5. They cast lots for his vesture in fulfilment of Psa 22:18 .
6. Just before the ninth hour the chief priests reviled him (Mat 27:43 ) in fulfilment of Psa 22:8 .
7. At the ninth hour (Mat 27:46 ) he quoted Psa 22:1 .
8. Near his death (Joh 19:28 ) he said, in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 , “I thirst.”
9. At that time they gave him vinegar (Mat 27:48 ) in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 .
10. When he was found dead they did not break his bones (Joh 19:36 ) in fulfilment of Psa 34:20 .
11. He is represented as dead, buried, and raised in Psa 16:10 .
12. His suffering as a substitute is described in Psa 69:9 .
13. The result of his crucifixion to them who crucified him is given in Psa 69:22-23 . Compare Rom 11:9-10 .
The Penitential Psalms are Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 . The occasion of Psa 6 was the grief and penitence of David over Absalom; of Psa 32 was the blessedness of forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah; Psa 38 , David’s reference to his sin with Bathsheba; Psa 51 , David’s penitence and prayer for forgiveness for this sin; Psa 102 , the penitence of the children of Israel on the eve of their return from captivity; Psalm 130, a general penitential psalm; Psa 143 , David’s penitence and prayer when pursued by Absalom.
The Pilgrim Psalms are Psalms 120-134. This section of the psalter is called the “Little Psalter.” These Psalms were collected in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, in troublous times. The author of the central psalm of this collection is Solomon, and he wrote it when he built his Temple. The Davidic Psalms in this collection are Psa 120 ; Psa 122 ; Psa 124 ; Psa 131 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 133 . The others were written during the building of the second Temple. They are called in the Septuagint “Songs of the Steps.”
There are four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents,” viz:
1. The first theory is that the “Songs of the Steps” means the songs of the fifteen steps from the court of the women to the court of Israel, there being a song for each step.
2. The second theory is that advanced by Luther, which says that they were songs of a higher choir, elevated above, or in an elevated voice.
3. The third theory is that the thought in these psalms advances by degrees.
4. The fourth theory is that they are Pilgrim Psalms, or the songs that they sang while going up to the great feasts.
Certain scriptures give the true idea of these titles, viz: Exo 23:14-17 ; Exo 34:23-24 ; 1Sa 1:3 ; 1Ki 12:27-28 : Psa 122:1-4 ; and the proof of their singing as they went is found in Psa_42:4; 100; and Isa 30:29 . They went, singing these psalms, to the Feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Psa 121 was sung when just in sight of Jerusalem and Psa 122 was sung at the gate. Psa 128 is the description of a good man’s home and a parallel to this psalm in modern literature is Burns’s “Cotter’s Saturday Night.” The pious home makes the nation great.
Psa 133 is a psalm of fellowship. It is one of the finest expressions of the blessings that issue when God’s people dwell together in unity. The reference here is to the anointing of Aaron as high priest and the fragrance of the anointing oil which was used in these anointings. The dew of Hermon represents the blessing of God upon his people when they dwell together in such unity.
Now let us look at the Alphabetical Psalms. An alphabetical psalm is one in which the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are used alphabetically to commence each division. In Psalms 111-112, each clause so begins; in Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 145 ; each verse so begins; in Psa 37 each stanza of two verses so begins; in 119 each stanza of eight verses so begins, and each of the eight lines begins with the same letter. In Psa 25 ; 34 37 the order is not so strict; in Psa 9 and Psa 10 there are some traces of this alphabetical order.
David originated these alphabetical psalms and the most complete specimen is Psa 119 , which is an expansion of the latter part of Psa 19 .
A certain group of psalms is called the Hallelujah Psalms. They are so called because the word “Hallelujah” is used at the beginning, or at the ending, and sometimes at both the beginning and the ending. The Hallelujah Psalms are Psalm 111-113; 115-117; 146-150. Psa 117 is a doxology; and Psalms 146-150 were used as anthems. Psa 148 calls on all creation to praise God. Francis of Assisi wrote a hymn based on this psalm in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister. Psa 150 calls for all varieties of instruments. Psalms 113-118 are called the Egyptian Hallel. They were used at the Passover (Psalm 113-114), before the Supper and Psalm 115-118 were sung after the Supper. According to this, Jesus and his disciples sang Psalms 115-118 at the last Passover Supper. These psalms were sung also at the Feasts of Pentecost, Tabernacles, Dedication, and New Moon.
The name of God is delayed long in Psa 114 . Addison said, “That the surprise might be complete.” Then there are some special characteristics of Psa 115 , viz: (1) It was written against idols. Cf. Isa 44:9-20 ; (2) It is antiphonal, the congregation singing Psa 115:1-8 , the choir Psa 115:9-12 , the priests Psa 115:13-15 and the congregation again Psa 115:16-18 . The theme of Psa 116 is love, based on gratitude for a great deliverance, expressed in service. It is appropriate to read at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and Psa 116:15 is especially appropriate for funeral services.
On some special historical occasions certain psalms were sung. Psa 46 was sung by the army of Gustavus Adolphus before the decisive battle of Leipzig, on September 17, 1631.Psa 68 was sung by Cromwell’s army on the occasion of the battle of Dunbar in Scotland.
Certain passages in the Psalms show that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices. For instance, Psa 118:27 ; Psa 141:2 seem to teach very clearly that they approved the Mosaic sacrifice. But other passages show that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important and foresaw the abolition of the animal sacrifices. Such passages are Psa 50:7-15 ; Psa 4:5 ; Psa 27:6 ; Psa 40:6 ; Psa 51:16-17 . These scriptures show conclusively that the writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.
QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS
1. What are the Royal Psalms?
2. What are the Passion Psalms?
3. What are the Psalms of the Ideal Man?
4. What are the Missionary Psalms?
5. What are the predictions before David of the coming Messiah?
6. What are the prophecies of history concerning the Messiah?
7. Give a regular order of thought concerning the messianic offices as taught in the psalms.
8. Which psalms most clearly present the Messiah as (1) the ideal man, or Second Adam, (2) which as Prophet, or Teacher, (3) which as the Sacrifice, (4) which as King, (5) which as Priest, (6) which his universal reign?
9. Concerning the suffering Messiah, or the Messiah as a sacrifice, state the words or facts, verified in the New Testament as fulfilment of prophecy in the psalms. Let the order of the citations follow the order of facts in Christ’s life.
10. Name the Penitential Psalms and show their occasion.
11. What are the Pilgrim Psalms?
12. What is this section of the Psalter called?
13. When and under what conditions were these psalms collected?
14. Who is the author of the central psalm of this collection?
15. What Davidic Psalms are in this collection?
16. When were the others written?
17. What are they called in the Septuagint?
18. What four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents”?
19. What scriptures give the true idea of these titles?
20. Give proof of their singing as they went.
21. To what feasts did they go singing these Psalms?
22. What was the special use made of Psa 121 and Psa 122 ?
23. Which of these psalms is the description of a good man’s home and what parallel in modern literature?
24. Expound Psa 133 .
25. What is an alphabetical psalm, and what are the several kinds?
26. Who originated these Alphabetical Psalms?
27. What are the most complete specimen?
28. Of what is it an expansion?
29. Why is a certain group of psalms called the Hallelujah Psalms?
30. What are the Hallelujah Psalms?
31. Which of the Hallelujah Psalms was a doxology?
32. Which of these were used as anthems?
33. Which psalm calls on all creation to praise God?
34. Who wrote a hymn based on Psa 148 in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister?
35. Which of these psalms calls for all varieties of instruments?
36. What is the Egyptian Hallel?
37. What is their special use and how were they sung?
38. Then what hymns did Jesus and his disciples sing?
39. At what other feasts was this sung?
40. Why was the name of God delayed so long in Psa 114 ?
41. What are the characteristics of Psa 115 ?
42. What is the theme and special use of Psa 116 ?
43. State some special historical occasions on which certain psalms were sung. Give the psalm for each occasion.
44. Cite passages in the psalms showing that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices.
45. Cite other passages showing that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Psa 129:1 A Song of degrees. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
Ver. 1. Many a time ] Or, much, and long.
Have they
Afflictcted me
From my youth
May Israel now say
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“A song of the ascents.” It is a psalm of painful and touching interest as to Israel’s enemies, whose will was in their sufferings, however deserved. They hated Zion which Jehovah chose and loved; and their desolations were as cruel as fruitless, being in vain to destroy, as the end will show in that day.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 129:1-4
1Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up,
Let Israel now say,
2Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
3The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.
4The Lord is righteous;
He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.
Psa 129:1-2 Psa 129:1, line 1 seems, at first, to address the situation of a faithful individual but the verb of line 2 (BDB 55, KB 65, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense) shows this is a national lament. This Psalm does not state why Israel is persecuted so often. Like most of the Psalms, the admission of sin of the covenant people is not expressed, but assumed. The terrible realities of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27-28 have become a national reality.
Psa 129:2 b The fact that national Israel remained in existence is a tribute to the mercy (cf. Malachi 1) and purpose of God (see Special Topic: YHWH’s Eternal Redemptive Plan ).
Psa 129:3 This is agricultural imagery denoting suffering and pain.
Psa 129:4 a Israel remains because of their God. He is true to His character (see SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS ) and purpose (cf. Gen 3:15; Exo 19:5-6; Isa 2:2-4; Mic 4:1-3).
Psa 129:4 b This (cords, BDB 721) may refer to
1. the trapping of animals (cf. Psa 140:5)
2. the bindings of a yoke of oxen (cf. Job 39:10)
3. the bindings of a prisoner
AB (p. 231) suggests that this line of poetry be understood as a jussive (as is Psa 129:5-6), which would denote a prayer. If YHWH has already cut (BDB 893, KB 1125, Piel perfect), why the curses of Psa 129:5-6? Dahood makes it a precative perfect, which he notes is often found in parallel with jussives. If this is true, then Psa 129:4 begins a new strophe (i.e., Psa 129:4-8), therefore, a translation like Let YHWH cut the cords (i.e., oxen plows) of the wicked. Most English translations (NKJV, NRSV, TEV, NJB, JPSOA, REB) translate the verb as a past event.
Psa 129:4-8 This strophe describes a curse on all who hate Zion (i.e., meaning YHWH and His people). In this context, Zion refers to national Israel with its center being the temple in Jerusalem.
1. be put to shame – BDB 101, KB 116, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense, Psa 129:5
2. be turned back – BDB 690, KB 744, Niphal imperfect used in a jussive sense, Psa 129:6
3. let them be like grass upon the housetops – BDB 224, KB 243, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense, Psa 129:6
a. it withers before it grows, Psa 129:6 b
b. the reaper has no fruit from it, Psa 129:7
4. no one blesses them, Psa 129:8
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Title. A Song of degrees. Same as 120. See App-67.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 129:1-8
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me ( Psa 129:1-2 ).
So here is Israel, and look how many times they are being afflicted. Even still 2,700-800 years later after this psalm was written, still Israel being afflicted. Yet, hey, they have not prevailed against her. She’s still there. She’s still a nation. She still stands up to the world.
The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. But the LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up: Wherewith the mower cannot fill his hand; nor he that bindeth the sheaves of his bosom ( Psa 129:3-7 ).
Now on the roof, of course, dust will blow up on the roof and sometimes grass seed, and you’ll have little sprouts of grass, but never enough to harvest. So let them be like the grass that just grows up on the roof.
Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD ( Psa 129:8 ).
This is in the negative sense. But putting it in a positive sense, how glorious it would be to go by your neighbor and say, “I bless you in the name of the Lord. Blessings be upon thee. I bless you in the name of the Lord.” I think it’s another good phrase to pick up on. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Three Songs of degrees.
Psa 129:1-2. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.
The trials of some of Gods people begin very early. When first we put on the armor of God, the adversary is usually very bitter against us. Some of our old friends and acquaintances cannot bear to see the change in us, and they bitterly oppose us, so that Gods children may have to say, From our youth they have afflicted us. But you must not think that the beginning of sorrows will be the end of them. Oh, no! Many a time have they afflicted me. Gods children are often called to pass under the rod, and the rod is frequently held in the hands of the children of men. Your Saviour carried the cross, and he expects you to carry it, too. He does not tell you to take it up now and then, but to take it up always, and to follow him with a constant will, cheerfully bearing it for his dear names sake. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet-Is not that sweetly put?-yet they have not prevailed against me. You recollect how Josephs brothers envied him, and at last sold him into Egypt; yet from the dungeon he rose to the throne, and he could say. Yet they have not prevailed against me. If thou art of the seed royal, one of the chosen people of God, they shall not prevail against thee. Even proud Haman, with all his plotting, was not able to overcome poor Mordecai; and the Lord thy God will preserve thee from the fury of all thy adversaries, and bring good to thee out of all the evil they try to do unto thee.
Psa 129:3. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
Like one that has been cruelly scourged until each cut of the lash seemed to make a furrow through the quivering flesh: The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. How truly could our blessed Lord utter these words when he was delivered up to wicked men to be scourged!
Psa 129:4. The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
The Lord is righteous. There is our hope and comfort. He takes away from them the scourge, and cuts up the cords of which it is made; and those cords with which they would bind the righteous he cuts into pieces, so that they can do nothing against them: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
Psa 129:5. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
So it seems that the one aimed at, and made to suffer, is the Church of God, Zion. She has often been scourged and afflicted. Her experience is like that of her covenant Head, and her triumph will be like his triumph.
Psa 129:6-8. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up: wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.
So the adversaries of the Church of God may grow as fast as grass on the roof of a house, but they will perish just as fast, and there will be nothing left of them. They threaten, they bully, they rage, they rave; but it is only for a little while.
Now we will read the De profundis Psalm.
This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 129, 130, and 131.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Psa 129:1-4
Psalms 129
THE ENEMIES HAVE NOT PREVAILED AGAINST US
Ballard catches the background of this psalm in the following.
“This psalm is among the pilgrim songs, because many a Jew was depressed when he contemplated the long struggle of his people for survival in the midst of an unfriendly world; but in this psalm he turns the minds of his people toward the more cheering aspect of their history, that is, that in spite of their foes, Israel had prevailed by God’s grace and continued to live.
“The psalm is a lament of the community with overtones of confidence and trust. Looking back over Israel’s long past, the psalmist here, “Condenses hundreds of years of their history into four verses.
As regards the organization of the psalm, Leupold divided it into two paragraphs: (1) “A confident affirmation that the enemy has not prevailed (Psa 129:1-4); and (2) a conclusion drawn from past deliverances, namely, that Zion’s enemies shall perish (Psa 129:5-8).
Psa 129:1-4
THE ENEMY HAS NOT PREVAILED
“Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up,
Let Israel now say,
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
The plowers plowed upon my back;
They made long their furrows.
Jehovah is righteous:
He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.”
“From my youth up” (Psa 129:1). “Israel’s youth was theft sojourn in Egypt (Jer 2:2; Hos 2:15).
“Let Israel now say” (Psa 129:1). “Israel is speaking in this psalm, not the individual.”[6] It must therefore be considered the cry of the whole nation and not that of a mere individual.
“Many a time have they afflicted me” (Psa 129:2). “Many of the ordeals of Israel, unlike the Egyptian bondage, were punishments; but God’s character was righteous; and, therefore, through them all, he shines as The Rescuer of Israel. As the pilgrim singers dwelt upon this thought, they were encouraged and lifted up in confidence that, after so many deliverances in the past, God will surely not forsake them.
“The plowers plowed upon my back … long their furrows” (Psa 129:3). “The usual interpretation is to be preferred here, that underlying this metaphor is the notion of scourging. The long furrows are to be understood as the lash marks of the whips upon their backs. The Old Israel, in some ways, was the Old Testament Type of the True Israel, who is Christ; and Allen pointed out that these lines suggest the scourging that was laid upon the back of Jesus Our Lord, as prophesied in Isa 53:5.
“Jehovah is righteous; he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked” (Psa 129:4). This is a very subtle figure of speech. The “plowing” of that generation was done with oxen drawing the plow. The necessary equipment in such activity included the cords that bound the yoke to the necks of the oxen; and we deeply appreciate the discernment of Allen who observed that, “Jehovah prevented the wicked from continuing their oppression by, as it were, breaking the harness.
Spurgeon also understood this passage in the same way.
“If any man would have his harness cut, let him begin to plow one of the Lord’s fields with the plow of persecution. The shortest way to ruin is to meddle with a saint. The Divine warning is, `He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of His eye.’
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 129:1-2. Israel as a nation is meant, and the passage refers to the frequent oppressions that came upon it beginning in the sojourn in Egypt. Yet they have not prevailed against me. In the outcome the nation was saved by the Lord.
Psa 129:3. This is figurative, drawing the likeness from the action of a plow that agitates the earth. Long furrows indicates extensive sieges of persecutions at the hands of the national enemies.
Psa 129:4. It was wrong for the wicked people to bind God’s people with the cords of oppression, therefore the righteous Lord properly severed the cords.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
This song is that of one who ascending toward the much desired place of rest and worship, looks back and sees how in the past Jehovah has delivered from sore perils. The backward look would seem to be inspired by consciousness of present peril, for immediately the song expresses desire for the judgment of Jehovah against those who are described as hating Zion.
On the way to the city and temple those who hate the pilgrims of faith plot and scheme for their overthrow, and it is in the consciousness of this that the song celebrates past deliverances and seeks a continuance of them. While there is evidently a sense of danger in the mind of the singer, there is an utter absence of despair. It is the true attitude of those who have a rich experience of the faithfulness of God. In times of peril it is a good thing for the pilgrim to strengthen the heart by looking back and remembering past deliverances. Such an exercise will invariably create a present confidence.
His love in time past forbids me to think Hell leave me at last in trouble to sink; Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review Confirms His good pleasure to help me quite through.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
A Song of degrees
See title note; (See Scofield “Psa 120:1”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Many: or, Much.
have they: Exo 1:12-14, Exo 1:22, Exo 5:7-19, Jdg 2:15, Jdg 10:8-12, 1Sa 13:19, Lam 1:3
from: Jer 2:2, Eze 23:3, Hos 2:15, Hos 11:1
may: Psa 124:1
Reciprocal: 2Sa 19:7 – all the evil Psa 66:12 – caused Isa 54:11 – thou afflicted Jer 15:20 – but Act 7:19 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
An over-ruling Hand.
A song of the ascents.
The first psalm here carries us behind the outward disorder of things, to show us God accomplishing His will through all. He may be acting with the enemies of His people, but He is not Himself an enemy. Israel may look back through the time of her long afflictions, and see how men have inflicted these on her; yet they have never really prevailed. They have not done what they intended; and they have done what they never intended. They have been as plowers plowing on the back, -painful and humiliating work enough; but it means none the less sowing and harvest; and the plow is set aside even before this. He who uses it for good, sets it aside too, to have the good.
So the psalmist prophesies and prays for the destruction of the wicked at the hands of the righteous God. He sees their cords cut asunder, and prays that they may be turned back in shame who hate Zion; and hate thus the purposes of grace with which it is identified. As grass upon the house-tops, withering be fore men think enough of it to pluck it up; which never has a handful for the mower, nor a bosomful for the binder, -so let them be under the ban of God apart from Jehovah’s blessing. So indeed must the evil, as evil, find its doom from God.
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Psa 129:1. 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 Israels youth, Jer 2:2; Eze 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, Jer 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. Gods real people have always had many enemies, and the state of the church, from its infancy, has frequently been an afflicted state.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The only title of this psalm is, a song of degrees. The author is unknown. It contains a general reference to the troubles of Israel, and the overthrow of her enemies.
Psa 129:1. From my youth. When they first went down into Egypt they were a new and a small people.
Psa 129:3. 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: Psa 129:4.
Psa 129:8. The blessing of the Lord be upon you. The usual salutation of the reapers in the harvest field. Rth 2:4.
REFLECTIONS.
Here we are taught that as Israel was sorely afflicted by their captivity in Egypt and in Babylon, besides the frequent oppression of the Philistines, and other surrounding nations; and as many of the nations endured servitude, and submitted to the rigorous lash; so they were a figure of the afflicted church, and in particular of Christ, whose name is Israel, Isa 49:3, and who was scourged by the Roman soldiers. If any one will leisurely collate this expression with all that is said elsewhere in the prophets of our Saviours sufferings; and if he will farther recollect, that Davids hands and feet were never pierced with weapons, or torn with human lions, he cannot but own that the sacred seers, replenished with the Messiahs spirit, associated his sufferings with their own. Yea, and that they often spake of his sufferings when they were labouring under no calamity. This is the very scale of argument which convinced the many thousands of Jews that Jesus the crucified was the Messiah, or God incarnate for our redemption. Those Jews could read the scriptures in their original. Their rabbins also had largely allowed that the prophets in those passages had spoken of the Messiah; and particularly so, in the glory which follows the description of his sufferings. Those Jews were themselves strongly prejudiced in favour of a Messiah on the throne of David; and they suffered excommunication for their faith in Jesus. Hence our faith is not only founded on argument, but supported by example, which must have full weight with every rational enquirer. There is no man that can resist conviction, who will leisurely contemplate the weight of the evidence on which christianity is built.
The enemy prevailed not against the psalmist to renounce his confidence in God; on the contrary, they withered in the day of affliction like grass on the house-top, when the droughty season came on. Yes, and so must all wicked men, for their soul is not watered by the sweet fountain of life; and the canker of their corruptions will consume their hopes.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
CXXIX. Persecuted but not Cast Down.
Psa 129:1-4. Israels tyrants compared to ploughmen who have extended their ploughing far, but Yahweh in His righteousness cut the cord which fastened the ox to the plough and then, of course, the ploughing ceased.
Psa 129:5-8. The enemies of Zion are to be like grass which springs up casually on the flat roof, but before it reaches its full height (?) is withered. Nobody would think of formal benediction on a crop which was not worth the carrying.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
PSALM 129
The godly own the righteousness of the Lord, both in His ways with Israel, and His judgments of the nations.
In Psalm 128, the godly contemplate the bright prospect that lies before them: in Psalm 129, they review their sorrowful past.
(vv. 1-3) Looking back over the past Israel may say that, from the time of the nation’s childhood in Egypt, when their history as a distinct nation commenced, the nations of the world have afflicted them. Egypt, with its world power, led the way in the persecution of God’s ancient people. In the days of Israel’s power they were constantly opposed by nations, great and small, that surrounded their country. Throughout the centuries of their dispersion, in every country, and at different times, the nation has been subjected to petty persecution as well as wholesale massacres. Every atrocity that human wickedness could devise has been used to seek their extermination. The plowers have indeed plowed his back and made long their furrows. Yet Israel can say, They have not prevailed against me. Hated and opposed by powerful nations and world-wide empires, they have been preserved; while the empires that opposed them have fallen into decay and passed away. A mere handful in the midst of the great mass of mankind, they have maintained their nationality, preserved their traditions, and remained a separate people.
How true is the word of Jehovah, Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee (Jer 30:11).
(v. 4) The nations confess the Lord as the source of their preservation through the ages. The unrighteousness in Israel may have governmentally called for their afflictions; nevertheless, the righteousness of the Lord had not allowed the nations to prevail against Israel. Thus they own, The Lord is righteous. They justify the Lord in all His dealings, whether in allowing their afflictions, in preserving them in their afflictions, or finally cutting asunder the cords of the wicked and setting them free from their enemies (Jer 30:8-9).
(vv. 5-8) Based upon the truth that the Lord is righteous in all His dealings, the godly remnant look for the final discomfiture of their enemies. They view the wicked, not merely as the opposers of Israel, but the haters of Zion. Behind the hatred of Israel is the hatred of the Lord and His centre of rule for the earth. Let such be like the withered grass on the housetops, useless for man, and unblessed by the Lord (cp. Rth 2:4).
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
129:1 [A Song of degrees.] Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may {a} Israel now say:
(a) The Church now afflicted should remember how her condition has always been such from the beginning to be molested most grievously by the wicked, yet in time it has always been delivered.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Psalms 129
God had delivered Israel from her enemies. The psalmist praised Him for doing so, and then asked Him to continue doing so, in this psalm of communal confidence.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. A tribute to past deliverance 129:1-4
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
This psalm begins, as Psalms 124 did, by calling on the pilgrim Israelites to speak for the nation. The writer urged the people to acknowledge that God had enabled Israel to survive the many persecutions she had experienced throughout her history.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 129:1-8
THE point of view here is the same as in Psa 124:1-8, with which the present psalm has much similarity both in subject and in expression. It is a retrospect of Israels past, in which the poet sees a uniform exemplification of two standing facts-sore affliction and wonderful deliverance. The bush burned, nec tamen consumebatur. “Cast down but not destroyed,” is the summary of the Churchs history. No doubt the recent deliverance from captivity underlies this, as most of the pilgrim psalms. The second part (Psa 129:5-8) blends confidence and wish, founded on the experience recorded in the first part, and prophesies and desires the overthrow of Israels foes. The right use of retrospect is to make it the ground of hope. They who have passed unscathed through such afflictions may well be sure that any tomorrow shall be as the yesterdays were, and that all future assaults will fail as all past ones have failed.
The words which Israel is called upon to say twice with triumphant remembrance are the motto of the Ecclesia pressa in all ages. Ever there is antagonism; never is there overthrow. Israels “youth” was far back in the days of Egyptian bondage; and many an affliction has he since met, but he lives still, and his existence proves that “they have not prevailed against” him. Therefore the backward look is gladsome, though it sees so many trials. Survived sorrows yield joy and hope, as gashes in trees exude precious gums.
Psa 129:3 expresses Israels oppressions by a strong metaphor, in which two figures are blended-a slave under the lash, and a field furrowed by ploughing. Cruel lords had laid on the whip, till the victims back was scored with long wounds, straight and parallel, like the work of a ploughman. The Divine deliverance follows in Psa 129:4. The first words of the verse do not stand in the usual order, if rendered “Jehovah is righteous,” and are probably to be taken as above; “righteous” standing in apposition to “Jehovah,” and expressing the Divine characteristic which guaranteed and in due time accomplished Israels deliverance. God could not but be true to His covenant obligations. Therefore He cut the “cord of the wicked.” The figure is here changed to one occasioned by the former. Israel is now the draught ox harnessed to the plough; and thus both sides of his bondage are expressed-cruel treatment by the former, and hard toil by the latter, figure. The same act which, in the parallel 124th Psalm, is described as breaking the fowlers snare, is in view here; and the restoration from Babylon suits the circumstances completely.
The story of past futile attempts against Israel animates the confidence and vindicates the wish breathed in the latter half of the psalm. To hate Zion, which Jehovah so manifestly loves and guards, must be suicidal. It is something far nobler than selfish vengeance which desires and foresees the certain failure of attempts against it. The psalmist is still under the influence of his earlier metaphor of the ploughed field, but now has come to think of the harvest. The graphic image of the grass on flat housetops of clay, which springs quickly because it has no depth of earth, and withers as it springs, vividly describes the short-lived success and rapid extinction of plots against Zion and of the plotters. The word rendered above “shoots forth” is by some translated “is plucked up,” and that meaning is defensible, but grass on the housetops would scarcely be worth plucking, and the word is used elsewhere for unsheathing a sword. It may, therefore, be taken here to refer to the shooting out of the spikelets from their covering. The psalmist dilates upon his metaphor in Psa 129:7 which expresses the fruitlessness of assaults on Gods chosen. No harvest is to be reaped from such sowing. The enemies may plot and toil, and before their plans have had time to bud they are smitten into brown dust; and when the contrivers come expecting success, there is nothing to mow or gather. “They look for much, and behold little.” So it has been; so it shall be; so it should be; so may it be, wishes the psalmist; and true hearts will say amen to his aspiration.
Such reapers have no joy in harvest, and no man can invoke Jehovahs blessing on their bad work. Psa 129:8 brings up a lovely little picture of a harvest field, where passers-by shout their good wishes to the glad toilers, and are answered by these with like salutations. It is doubtful whether Psa 129:8 c is spoken by the passers-by or is the reapers responsive greeting. The latter explanation gives animation to the scene. But in any case the verse suggests by contrast the gloomy silence of Israels would be destroyers, who find, as all who set themselves against Jehovahs purposes do find, that He blasts their plans with His breath, and makes their “harvest a heap in the day of grief and desperate sorrow.”