1291 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth—oh let Israel say— 2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me. 3 The ploughers ploughed upon my back; they made long their furrows. 4 Jehovah is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 Let them be ashamed and turned backward, all that hate Zion; 6 Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops, which withereth before it is plucked up, 7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom; 8 Neither do the passers-by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; we bless you in the name of Jehovah!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 129:1-16
Commentary on Psalm 129:1-4
(Read Psalm 129:1-4)
The enemies of God's people have very barbarously endeavoured to wear out the saints of the Most High. But the church has been always graciously delivered. Christ has built his church upon a rock. And the Lord has many ways of disabling wicked men from doing the mischief they design against his church. The Lord is righteous in not suffering Israel to be ruined; he has promised to preserve a people to himself.
Commentary on Psalm 129:5-8
(Read Psalm 129:5-8)
While God's people shall flourish as the loaded palm-tree, or the green and fruitful olive, their enemies shall wither as the grass upon the house-tops, which in eastern countries are flat, and what grows there never ripens; so it is with the designs of God's enemies. No wise man will pray the Lord to bless these mowers or reapers. And when we remember how Jesus arose and reigns; how his people have been supported, like the burning but unconsumed bush, we shall not fear.