Psalm 129 gives a voice to every individual or group that has ever been afflicted or mistreated over time. Such was the case with Israel, who was led here to lament, “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth” (1a, 2a). Her first affliction occurred during her 400 years in Egypt. Even after her exodus from Egypt’s slavery, Israel’s history was full of affliction by those who hated her and what she stood for as God’s people. So it was proper for Israel to lament her past maltreatment. However, she was also instructed to say, “YET they have not prevailed against me” (2b). Yes, they may have been whipped into submission and had the stripes on their back to prove it (3), but they survived and prevailed and overcame. Why? Because “Yahweh is righteous” (4a). How? Because Yahweh “cut the cords of the wicked” (4b). Some of their affliction by the hands of their enemies was God’s punishment rightly deserved because of their idolatry and rebellion against him. They could not ever fault God for what they endured. And they survived and overcame, because God delivered them from their bondage & exile in accord with his covenant with them. There is definitely the sweet fragrance of trust here.
The second half of the psalm records their imprecation (prayer or wish for calamity) on “all who hate Zion” (5a). Zion, or Jerusalem, was the “city of God” where God’s temple was. It was the “perfection of beauty” where God shone forth (Psalm 50:2). Israel was instructed to pray according to the law of justice (“an eye for an eye”). They wanted their enemies to experience the same shame & defeat that they experienced (5), to wither up like rootless grass with no fruitfulness (6-7) and for God to withhold his blessing from them (8).
For Christians, suffering affliction has all been transformed by the One who gave his back willingly to those who struck him (Isaiah 50:6) and by whose stripes we have been healed (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). God’s people, whether Jews or Christians, have always been hated & afflicted by those who hate God. The righteous have experienced suffering & affliction & persecution & injustice and maltreatment ever since Cain killed Abel. Yet we prevailed & have overcome by the One who overcame every adversary & unjust treatment and has sat down with His Father on His throne (Revelation 3:21). The proper response to injustice & maltreatment by God’s people is not more injustice. We do not repay anyone evil for evil but thoughtfully do what is honorable in the public eye. So far as it depends on us, we live peaceably with everyone. We never avenge ourselves but rather remember that “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” We are not overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. This is how our Lord Jesus & His apostles taught us to respond in a counter-cultural way. (See Matthew 5:43-45; Romans 12:14-21). We understand that God’s will for us is that by doing good we should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. We live as people who are truly free, not to do whatever we feel like doing if we’re lustful or angry, not using our freedom or liberty as a cover-up for more evil, but we live as slaves of God. We honor everyone, love our brothers & sisters. Most of all we fear God and honor the authorities he has placed over us (1 Peter 2:13-17). May God help us lament & pray & live as we ought! And may the good news of the overcoming Jesus spread throughout our nation as wildfire.
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