Psalms 129

Psalms 129:1

Psalm 129: The Harvest of AntiSemitismThis Song of Ascents rehearses Israel’s past treatment at the hands of her many foes, then asks the Lord to insure an unpromising future for these cruel aggressors. 129:1, 2 From the early days of nationhood, Israel had been sorely afflicted. Their oppression in Egypt, for example, was an unforgettable chapter of servitude and suffering in the nation’s youth. Yet the enemy never succeeded in exterminating the Jews. God’s people were always delivered from captivity. Their survival has been one of the great miracles of history. 129:3 Their sufferings were deep and prolonged. The Gentile taskmasters rode over them like a farmer plowing a field. The furrows on their back were long welts caused by the lash. 129:4 But the LORD, who is righteous, intervened in the nick of time by cutting the cords or chains with which His people were held captive by their merciless assailants. 129:5-7 May it always be the case that anti-Semites are disgraced and routed. May they never experience a harvest of blessing. Rather let them be like the few odd clumps of grass that grow on the flat rooftops in the Middle East. Because they have no depth of soil, these tufts cannot take good root, and they are soon scorched by the blazing sun. Actually the grass withers before it has a chance to produce any sizable growth. A reaper would never get a handful to cut, let alone sheaves to hold in his arms. 129:8 Rooftop grass could never produce the happy harvest scene in which onlookers say to the reapers, “The blessing of the LORD be upon you” and the reapers call back, “We bless you in the name of the LORD” (see Rth_2:4). So may the enemies of Israel be denied any happy outcome to all the cruel plowing they have done down through the centuries. Rather let them reap what they have sown.