Truth Streams

“Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.” Ps 129:1-2

Preparing your heart for worship and to enter the presence of God requires reflection as well as anticipation. We reflect upon the hardships the Lord has brought us through. We anticipate a time of victory and triumph over the forces that oppress and seek to destroy us.

Psalm 129 is a song of ascending that does exactly that. The first four verses are reflective and the last four verses are anticipatory. While the protagonist of this psalm is Israel, it is certainly within the scope of this thought to look to the Church collectively and Christians individually. And so we look back upon our past experiences and see that the Lord has not allowed us to be overcome by our afflictions, and we look forward to the ultimate day of victory and vindication.

These are two things to keep in mind as we prepare for worship: God has never failed to hear our cry and prevent us from being overcome. The Lord will ultimately put down the forces of evil that we struggle with currently.

Affliction of Our Youth

“Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.” Ps 129:1-2

If any nation has ever suffered affliction, it is the nation of Israel. Since her youth, since the earliest days of her nationhood, beginning in Exodus chapter 1, consider the long list of oppressors: Egypt, Moab, Mesopotamia, Canaan, Ammon, Philistia, Syria, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, and Rome. You can add to this list the Ottomans, the Spaniards, the Catholics, the Germans, and the Russians. And yet for all her affliction they have not been eliminated.

Consider your own history. Anyone who has lived for the Lord for any length of time has faced affliction and tribulation. When we are light in a world of darkness, it is natural for us to experience affliction.

It was concerning the coming dark experiences of the arrest, trial, and crucifixion that Jesus spoke the following words:

“Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:32-33

The affliction of the disciples during these dark hours would be repeated over and over again. The world of darkness comes against the children of light. But just as the man Christ Jesus was not alone, neither have you been alone in your hour of affliction and tribulation. God is with you. Be of good cheer because Jesus overcame the world and so shall you!

Consider your past - affliction is the common experience of every Child of God.

“Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.” Ps 129:2

And why have they not prevailed? Because the Lord has been with you. Be of good cheer. The past should be an indication of the future!

The Enemy’s Purpose in Affliction

“The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.” Ps 129:3

This is a strong metaphor that is used only here.[1] It seems doubtful to me that it actually refers to using farming implements upon the afflicted. More likely it speaks of cruel treatment intended to forever alter the nature of the victim.

Farmers plow to break up the earth and prepare the soil to receive seed. Satan’s purpose in affliction is to break the spirit and prepare men to receive the root of bitterness. For this reason Satan makes long furrows or deep and long wounds upon the psyche, that he might poison man’s spirit. He would like to first wound and then infect the soul of man that he might reap a harvest of bitterness and thus damage many more souls with this wicked fruit.

Have you ever considered how much damage one bitter child of God might do to the work of God? We flatter ourselves to think that the enemy’s strategy stops with the destruction of our own potential for God’s work. No, he wants to poison our spirits and plant seeds of malcontent, distrust, bitterness, strife, and unbelief through us. The furrows of affliction become an entrance point for his bitter seeds to enter our life. He carefully cultivates his wicked crop by continued agitation and repeating the cycles of affliction. What does he hope to gain for this exercise in evil husbandry? A crop that will cross-pollinate into other believer’s lives. Satan wants to pollute God’s harvest by poisoning our fruit.

Our affliction will either be an opportunity for the enemy to plant his bitter seed, or an opportunity for the Lord to demonstrate deliverance. This will depend completely upon our ability to glorify God and maintain a sweet spirit in our affliction. Those who are successful will experience deliverance.

“The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.” Ps 129:4

Please notice that we are still in the retrospective section of this psalm. The sad truth is that many of the people of Israel who experienced verses one through three never came to verse four. Why is this so? Because they never learned to praise God in their tribulation. They allowed the bitter seed to germinate in their wounded heart. They never experience the joy of being set free by God because the cords that held them were in their own heart.

The only person the Lord cannot set free is one who refuses to leave his affliction. Unfortunately many Israelites never sung Psalm 129, because they remained in bondage and affliction.

The Future Reversal

“Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.” Ps 129:5

There is a day coming when all who hate Zion will be confounded and “turned back in shame” (NIV). Of course Zion represents to Christians the ultimate position of blessing with God. Those who resist the Kingdom of God will suffer defeat. There is a day coming when God’s People will not feel that they have to choose between the lesser of evils. That which is righteous and godly will truly be on the menu. All those who today scoff at godliness will be put to shame.

It is the desire of the godly to dwell in Zion, or the center of God’s perfect will. The goal of the godly is to live in God’s presence and fulfill His perfect will in their lives. Our world today is designed to hinder and to even prevent this. The desire to live in God’s presence and fulfill His will is scoffed at and even directly assaulted under our system. Consider that in the greatest and freest nation on earth we still have a system that is quickly turning against the Judeo-Christian ideal. Our society has fulfilled the warnings of the prophet:

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” Isa 5:20-23

Those who proclaim the truth of a holy God in our society are called “intolerant.” Before long they might be called “criminal.” In an attempt to justify the wicked, our society is quickly moving to take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. The other part of what goes with the description of Isaiah 5:20-23 is the curse of verse 24:

“Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Isa 5:24

What will become of this culture of corruption in this future day?

“May they be like grass on the roof, which withers before it can grow; with it the reaper cannot fill his hands, nor the one who gathers fill his arms.” Ps 129:6-7 NIV

In the Middle East many houses had flat roofs and gathered dust. Grass and weeds often covered these roofs in early spring. This grass quickly withered and became very coarse. There is a day coming when the tables will turn and the wicked will be out of place. They will have no roots to support their wicked ideas and lifestyle. They will wither before they grow up and go to seed. The wicked will be as sparse as grass on the roof at harvest time. There will not be enough to even cut down and bind into a sheaf.

Sin will be unable to reproduce itself:

“Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.” Ps 129:8

Fruitfulness is a blessing of God. But in God’s Kingdom there will be no more thorns and thistles, nor things which hurt and destroy. In God’s Kingdom, only that which He has blessed will grow. Sin and wickedness will wither on the vine without reproducing. It was customary in Israel to recognize a fruitful field and to address fruit bearing trees and vines in the fashion of verse eight. The blessing of God is upon the vine and the field when it produces a crop. Crop production is plant reproduction. The law of husbandry is that the return is much more that what is planted. This is God’s doing and Hebrew people have recognized this for centuries. It is God who causes plants to reproduce and this is the blessing of God upon the plant.

What God has blessed deserves the blessing of men. When God blesses a field with abundant crop, men should pronounce the blessing of the name of the Lord upon that field.

“The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.” Ps 129:8

We should recognize the blessing of the Lord upon something and pronounce our own blessing upon that thing in the name of the Lord! In the coming Kingdom, wickedness will not be blessed, but will be like the withered grass on the roof.

Conclusion:

When you prepare to worship remember:

• The hardships the Lord has brought us through.
• The time of victory and triumph of righteousness that is ahead.

Those who refuse to allow the enemy to plant seeds of bitterness are the ones who experience God’s deliverance. For them affliction is only temporary.

© 2008 Nevin Bass. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced for the purpose of resale without written permission.

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[1] The Pulpit Commentary

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