Commentary - Psalm 129:5-8

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 129 is one of the great imprecatory psalms, a song of ascent that teaches God's people how to think about long-term persecution. The first part of the psalm (vv. 1-4) recounts the history of affliction that Israel has endured from her youth, comparing it to a plowman cutting long furrows into a field. But the Lord is righteous, and He has always cut the cords of the wicked. The second half of the psalm, our text for today (vv. 5-8), pivots from recounting past deliverance to a prayer for the future confusion of God's enemies. This is not a prayer of personal vengeance, but rather a corporate plea for the vindication of God's name and His people, Zion. The psalm concludes with a vivid picture of the utter futility and barrenness of all endeavors that are set against the Lord and His anointed.

The central thrust is this: all who set themselves against God's purposes will ultimately be like a flash in the pan. Their projects will be fruitless, rootless, and will wither under the sun of God's righteousness. They will have no harvest, no legacy, and no blessing. This is a profound encouragement for the saints in any generation who feel the plow of the wicked on their own backs. The enemies of God are playing a losing game, and their end is shame and desolation.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 129 is part of the collection known as the "Songs of Ascents" (Psalms 120-134), which were likely sung by pilgrims on their way up to Jerusalem for the great feasts. This context is crucial. As the people of God journeyed toward Zion, the place of worship and God's dwelling, they sang of the opposition they faced. This psalm, then, is a corporate prayer that acknowledges the reality of opposition while simultaneously declaring faith in God's ultimate victory. It is a song for the church militant, for pilgrims on the way. It is what you sing when you know that the world, the flesh, and the devil hate the fact that you are heading to Zion. The imprecation, or curse, is therefore not motivated by personal animosity but by a zeal for the glory of God, which is inseparable from the well-being of His people, His chosen city, Zion.

Verse by Verse Commentary

Psalm 129:5

Let all who hate Zion Be put to shame and turned backward;

The psalmist now turns from testimony to petition. And notice the target of this prayer. It is not directed at some fellow who cut him off in traffic. This is not a prayer to be deployed against personal inconveniences. The object of this imprecation is "all who hate Zion." Zion represents the people of God, the assembly of the saints, the Church. The hatred described here is a theological hatred. It is a hatred directed at God's chosen people precisely because they are His people. This is the hatred of the seed of the serpent for the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15). The prayer is that they would be "put to shame," that their plans would be confounded and come to nothing. It is a prayer that they would be "turned backward," that they would be routed in their assault on God's kingdom. This is not personal vindictiveness; it is a prayer for God to vindicate His own name by protecting His own people. It is praying for what God has already promised to do.

Psalm 129:6

Let them be like grass upon the rooftops, Which dries up before it grows up;

Here we are given a magnificent image of the fleeting nature of godless enterprises. In that ancient world, the roofs were often flat, covered with a layer of earth. After a rain, grass might sprout up quickly, giving the appearance of life. But it has no depth of soil, no root system. As soon as the sun comes out, it withers and dies before it can even be pulled up or harvested. This is the destiny of those who hate Zion. Their plans may spring up quickly. Their movements may look impressive for a season. They may seem to be the next big thing. But because they are not rooted in the blessing and purpose of God, they are transient and doomed to fail. They have no future. The sun of God's righteousness will scorch them, and they will vanish as though they had never been. This is a great comfort to the saints who are tempted to be intimidated by the apparent power and success of the wicked.

Psalm 129:7

With which the reaper does not fill his hand, Nor the binder of sheaves the fold of his garment;

The image of futility continues. The rooftop grass is so pathetic and useless that it offers nothing to harvest. A reaper swinging his sickle wouldn't even bother with it; he couldn't get a handful. The one who binds the sheaves, who gathers the harvested grain into his arms or the fold of his garment, would find nothing to gather. This speaks of total and complete fruitlessness. The enemies of Zion labor and toil, they plow their furrows on the backs of the righteous (v. 3), and they intend to get a crop from it. The devil wants to grow despair in the furrows of your affliction. But this prayer asks God to ensure that their harvest is nothing. Their great projects, their cultural revolutions, their attempts to build a world without God, all of it will produce nothing of lasting value. At the end of the day, their hands will be empty. They will have nothing to show for all their rebellion.

Psalm 129:8

And those who pass by will not say, “The blessing of Yahweh be upon you; We bless you in the name of Yahweh.”

This final verse is the capstone of the curse. In ancient Israel, it was a common courtesy for people passing by a field at harvest time to call out a blessing upon the workers. You see this in the book of Ruth, where Boaz greets his reapers, "Yahweh be with you!" and they reply, "Yahweh bless you!" (Ruth 2:4). It was a recognition of God's covenant faithfulness in providing the harvest. But for the enemies of Zion, there is no such blessing. No one walks by their withered, pathetic rooftop projects and says, "The blessing of the Lord be upon that!" Their work is so obviously outside of God's favor that the common, customary blessing is withheld. The silence of the passersby is a damning verdict. Their work is unblessed, and everyone can see it. To bless their work would be to lie. To bless their work would be to bless what God has cursed. And so there is only silence. This is the end of all who hate Zion: shame, futility, and a work so barren that it cannot even receive a common courtesy. It is a solemn reminder that the only work that endures is the work done in the name of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord.

Application

So what do we do with a psalm like this? First, we must recognize that Zion is no longer a geographical location in the Middle East, but is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. To hate Zion is to hate the Church. This psalm therefore arms us for the spiritual battle we are in. We are to pray these kinds of prayers against the corporate enemies of the gospel, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places and the ideologies that animate them.

Second, we must distinguish between personal enemies and the enemies of God. The New Testament commands us to love, bless, and pray for our personal enemies (Matt. 5:44). But it also commands us to stand against those who hate the Lord and His Christ. We pray for their confusion and defeat, even as we also pray that God might do to them what He did to Saul of Tarsus, destroy an enemy by making him a friend.

Lastly, this psalm should fill us with a rugged and durable confidence. Our afflictions are real, the furrows can be deep. But the Lord is righteous, and the cords of the wicked will be cut. The grand projects of those who hate Christ will wither like grass on a hot roof. They will have no harvest. Therefore, we should not be dismayed by their temporary and noisy successes. We are on the winning side. Our job is to remain faithful, to keep singing the songs of ascent, and to trust that our God will indeed put all who hate Zion to shame.