Thanksgiving for Victory over Zion’s Enemies - A Song of Ascents

“ ‘Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth.’ Let Israel now say—‘Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed my back; They made their furrows long.’ The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.” (Psalm 129:1-4, NKJV) [Read Psalm 129]

Again we have a Song of Ascents sung on the approach to the Temple, and another paean of thanksgiving and praise for Israel’s victory over enemies. This psalm is in the same vein as Psalm 120 examined earlier. Past experience testifies to God’s deliverance from enemies in warfare. Likewise, in this psalm, praise is offered because God brought justice upon enemies of the nation. The picture of suffering is not good: the nation was ploughed up roughly as a field is plowed. This metaphor from agriculture shows the devastation to the nation their enemies brought. It is a way of describing the persecutions Israel suffered at the hands of their enemies. But prayer turned vengeance over to the Lord, and “He cut in pieces the cords of the wicked” (v. 4).

You will note in verses 5-8 that the psalmist pronounced a curse upon his enemies. He prayed that their crops be unproductive, even as grass that comes up on a flat roof and soon withers because it has no deep roots to sustain it. He also prayed that any passing by the enemy would not pronounce the Lord’s blessing on them. We have trouble with this curse. We must remember that the psalmist lived and wrote perhaps centuries before Christ came to teach us: “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” (Matthew 5:44-46). I am reminded of what President Lincoln said after the Civil War when asked what he planned to do with “all the enemies”. His sage reply: “I will work on making them friends.” In the age of grace, we are to pray for our enemies in a positive way. General MacArthur, in surveying Japan following World War II, asked that missionaries be sent there to share with that defeated enemy the love of Christ. Although it was hard to forgive Japan, Germany and Italy their atrocities during World War II, the peace conferences—and the work of Christian missionaries—did change a climate of hatred to forgiveness and working toward mutual goals of peace. Oh, that we might, like those in processional to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, sing from the heart: “The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked” (Psalm 129:4). Selah!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Sunday, November 28, 2010