Psalms 129:8

Neither do they which go by say, the blessing of the Lord [be] upon you,.... As was usual with passengers, when they went by where mowers, and reapers, and binders, were at work in the field in

Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.

Which was a usual salutation given by passengers to reapers, as . So the meaning is, It never continues till the harvest comes.

Psalms 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.Ver. 8. Neither do they which go by say, &c.] As they use to do to harvestmen, Rth 2:1-23. Christianity is no enemy to courtesy; yet in some cases saith not, God speed, 3 John 1:10.

(8) This harvest scene is exactly like that painted in Rth 2:4, and the last line should be printed as a return greeting from the reapers.

Verse 8. Neither do they which go by say] There is a reference here to the salutations which were given and returned by the reapers in the time of the harvest. We find that it was customary, when the master came to them into the field, to say unto the reapers, The Lord be with you! and for them to answer, The Lord bless thee! Ruth 2:4. Let their land become desolate, so that no harvest shall ever more appear in it. No interchange of benedictions between owners and reapers. This has literally taken place: Babylon is utterly destroyed; no harvests grow near the place where it stood. ANALYSIS OF THE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINTH PSALM The intent of the prophet in composing this Psalm 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 a sudden ruin. It is divided into three parts: - I. The indefatigable malice of the enemies of the Church, Psalms 129:1; Psalms 129:3. II. That their malice is vain. God saves them, Psalms 129:2; Psalms 129:4. III. God puts into the mouth of his people what they may say to their enemies, even when their malice is at the highest. I. "Many a time have they afflicted me," &c. In which observe, - 1. That afflictions do attend those who will live righteously in Christ Jesus. 2. These afflictions are many: "Many a time," &c. 3. That they begin with the Church: "From my youth." Prophets, martyrs, &c. 4. This affliction was a heavy affliction: "The plowers plowed upon my back," &c. They dealt unmercifully with me, as a husbandman does with his ground. II. But all their malice is to no purpose. 1. "Yet they have not prevailed against me." To extinguish the Church. 2. The reason is, "The Lord is righteous." And therefore he protects all those who are under his tuition, and punishes their adversaries. 3. "The Lord is righteous," &c. Cut asunder the ropes and chains with which they made their furrows: "He hath delivered Israel," &c. III. In the following verses, to the end, the prophet, by way of prediction, declares the vengeance God would bring upon his enemies which has three degrees: - 1. "Let them all be confounded," &c. Fail in their hopes against us. 2. "Let them be as the grass," &c. That they quickly perish. Grass on the housetops is good for nothing: "Which withereth afore it groweth up," &c. Never is mowed, nor raked together. 3. "Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord," &c. No man says so much as, God speed him! as is usual to say to workmen in harvest: but even this the enemies of the Church, and of God's work, say not, for they wish it not.

8. The blessing of Jehovah be upon you is the friendly greeting of the passers-by to the reapers at their work: we bless you in the name of Jehovah may be simply an emphatic repetition of the greeting (cp. Psalms 118:26): or it may be, as the Targ. takes it, inserting and they do not answer them, the reapers’ reply. For this kindly custom cp. Rth 2:4, “Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee.” The fate of Zion’s enemies will be the opposite of her lot as foretold by the prophet, “Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I turn their fortunes, Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness” (Jeremiah 31:23).

Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord,... - As in a harvest-field, where persons passing by express their joy and gratitude that their neighbors are reaping an abundant harvest.

8. They which go by say—It was customary, in passing a harvest field, to say to the harvesters, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you,” to which the latter responded as in Rth 2:4.