Psalm 129

[DeanZF]

Psalm 129

Prayer for the Overthrow of Zion's Enemies

A Song of Ascents<LIST type="decimal">

1. <LI>
2. "Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up,"
   
   Let Israel now say,</LI>
   <LI>
3. "Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;
   
   Yet they have not prevailed against me.</LI>
   <LI>
4. "The plowers plowed upon my back;
   
   They lengthened their furrows."</LI>
   <LI>
5. The LORD is righteous;
   
   He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.</LI>
   
   <LI>
6. May all who hate Zion
   
   Be put to shame and turned backward;</LI>
   <LI>
7. Let them be like grass upon the housetops,
   
   Which withers before it grows up;</LI>
   <LI>
8. With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
   
   Or the binder of sheaves his bosom;</LI>
   <LI>
9. Nor do those who pass by say,
   
   "The blessing of the LORD be upon you;
   
   We bless you in the name of the LORD."</LI>

</LIST>As with an earlier Davidic psalm, this psalmist uses the same device, proclaiming truth and asking all of Israel to join in identifying with the persecution and with the fact that the persecutors have not prevailed. The "furrows on the back" is another reference back to the lashings from their Egyptian overlords. The cords or reins on the plow animals are the fetters of slavery and Father has permanently severed that particular bondage for the Hebrews. But for haters of Zion, the psalmist essentially reminds God of His promise that those who curse Abraham's offspring would be cursed.



These verses can perhaps be extended just a bit. Remember that there are two quotes from Jesus, one saying that if the people in question are not against Him, they are for Him. The other says if the people in question are not for Him, they are against Him. Add to that, the Revelation admonition about being lukewarm. Believing Jews absolutely and passionately love Zion. Jerusalem takes on an iconic existence in their minds and hearts. It's not magical, but a supernatural gift given by Father that we should fall in love with the city that He has chosen. We don't have to understand it. It's not enough, in my opinion, to simply not "hate Zion". God wants us to love what He loves just as Christians are to love the unlovely and the unsaved and the sinner, just as He loves them. Instilling that love of Israel/Jerusalem/Zion is a difficult thing. We cannot build that house, either. We can pray and share, but God really plants the seeds of love and grows them. Sometimes through divine appointments, we get to be a messenger or a waterer.