Psalm 129

A Song of Ascents.

1 “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,”
Let Israel now say—

² “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.

³ The plowers plowed on my back;
They made their furrows long.”

⁴ The Lord is righteous;
He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.

The psalm begins [vs.1-3] by affirming the unfortunate fact of history (both biblical and post-biblical, up to the present day) that many times various groups and individuals have persecuted Israel—i.e., the people of Israel, here personified as God’s “national” son—beginning in his “youth” (referring to Israel’s affliction in Egypt; see Exodus 1:11-14; Hosea 2:15). Nonetheless, Israel’s adversaries have not prevailed against him (i.e., to wipe him out as a people)—nor will they ever do so, for Israel’s continued existence is guaranteed by God’s eternal and unconditional promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Genesis 12:1-3; Jeremiah 31:35-37; Romans 11:29). — Wechsler, page 308.

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Every instance in which Israel’s existence is threatened or constrained by persecution ultimately entails God’s responsive intervention to preserve and redeem them. This principle of God’s intervention … is concisely affirmed by the statement that “The LORD is righteous—v.4)  and therefore (i.e., because He is righteous) He has (and will continue to) cut in two the cords of the wicked. — Wechsler, page 309.

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The concluding language of this psalm (vs.5-8) which emphasizes the withholding of the LORD’s blessing from Israel’s persecutors hearkens specifically to the language of the Abrahamic Covenant according to which God promises to “bless” those who “bless” Israel and to “curse” those who “curse” Israel. In the end … the implication of the psalmist here is that one’s spiritual status is to a large degree manifest in their attitude and actions toward Israel, for the object of the Father’s love should also, inevitably, be that of His children (cf. Romans 11:28; 1 John 4:20). — Wechsler, page 310.

Wechsler’s premise in the previous paragraph is true for all since Christ is part of Israel and brings us, in the age of grace, spiritual blessings. It’s even more true for those living before and after the age of grace.

Messiah the composer of the Psalm, will sing it in sympathy with Israel in the future time of her oppression by Anti-Christ.

The affliction in the past was caused by the Egyptians, the Midianites, the Syrians, etc. They plowed Israel’s back and make long their furrows. The power that energized them was Satan. He also moved the High Priests and the Romans to scourge Messiah, the true Israel. …

But the affliction that yet awaits the Nation will far exceed that already suffered, and the faith of the Remnant will then be sustained by the teaching of this song. Just as the enemy failed in the past, so will he fail in the future. His failure in the past is stated (vs.1-3); his failure in the future is predicted (vs.5-8). Williams, page 403.