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INTRODUCTION

One of Scripture’s great themes is the theme of deliverance. God first delivers us from the bondage of our sins, and then after this He delivers us from the spite and hate leveled at us by those who hate the fact that we have been delivered from the bondage of our sins. This is a psalm about that second kind of deliverance.

This is the way of the world. No sooner is the man child of Revelation born but the dragon is after him and his mother both (Rev. 12:13). The history of the world is a history of billions of deaths, but the very first one was a martyr’s death (Luke 11:51; Heb. 11:4).

We will be addressing the subject of persecution, and while I will not be making explicit references to our situation here in Moscow, you are invited to make your own applications for use in your prayers. This does apply for the simple reason that these things always apply.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees. 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. The plowers plowed upon my back: They made long their furrows. The Lord is righteous: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up: Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. Neither do they which go by say, the blessing of the Lord be upon you: We bless you in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 129:1-8).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The psalmist has been afflicted “many a time,” and this has been the case from his youth on (v. 1). This was true of him, and all of Israel was invited to join him in his lament. Many a time they have afflicted me (us), and yet have not prevailed (v. 2). The image of plowing is then used, referring probably to the stripes raised by flogging (v. 3). They made long furrows on his back. But the Lord is righteous and intervened—He cut the traces and cords of the oxen pulling the plows of contempt, the machinery of persecution (v. 4). This is followed by the psalmist’s pious wish that those who hate Zion be confounded and turned around (v. 5). Let them be like grass that grows on rooftops, which withers almost immediately (v. 6). Let them not be enough grass for a mower even to bother with, or a harvester to gather (v. 7). The last verse implies a likely custom of that day—when you walked by a field of abundant grain, you would bless it in the name of the Lord (v. 8). Let that not happen with this brown little rooftop grass.

PAPERCUT PERSECUTION

Now whenever American Christians take note of the first stages of our coming persecution, they are often mocked as being nothing more than pampered whiners. “You think you are persecuted because sitcoms make fun of your kind?” But as Christians, we should stand back from this sort of taunt and let our Lord define what persecution looks like. Scurrilous verbal abuse is most certainly included in what He describes, and it is frequently used as the preliminaries for what is coming next.

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12).

So we may allow the Lord to define what it means to be persecuted, and we are most certainly lied about. But we must also take care not to apply just one half of the passage. When we are lied about—you racists—make sure to rejoice. Make sure to overflow with exceeding gladness.

THE SOIL OF OUR PAIN

Some might think that the metaphor of a plowed back is an odd one. But although it is striking, there is profound sense in it. When the persecutors do their work, their intention is to grow a crop in the soil of our pain. That is what a man intends when he plows a field, is it not? He purposes a crop. That means they want to grow something for themselves out of the travail of the saints.

But what does God do? He allows them to do what they do, and then, when the time is just right, He cuts the traces, and their oxen run off. This is because He makes them do the work for a crop of His own. And when we look at that crop—full, abundant, rich, golden—we can say over the harvest, “bless you in the name of the Lord.” The devil wants to grow despair in the furrows of your affliction. God intends to grow joy.

IMPRECATORY PRAYERS

Notice that this prayer of imprecation is not a matter of taking up personal vengeance. This prayer of cursing is directed that all those who hate Zion (v. 5). Imprecatory psalms are no justification for road rage, nor to be directed at people who happen to inconvenience you. These psalms are not the pins for scriptural voodoo dolls. No—we stand against those who hate the Lord, and who hate all His people.

Now if it is the good pleasure of the Lord to destroy an enemy by making him into a friend, as He did with the apostle Paul, this is something that the sons and daughters of Zion can readily take as a true and genuine blessing. “But they had heard only, that he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me” (Gal. 1:23–24).

But if “victory through conversion” is not the will of our God, then we still continue to ask Him to undertake on our behalf. Spurgeon put it this way: “Study a chapter from the Book of Martyrs, and see if you do not feel inclined to read an imprecatory psalm over Bishop Bonner and Bloody Mary. It may be that some wretched nineteenth century sentimentalist will blame you: if so, read another over him.”

CHRIST IS THE ULTIMATE PERSECUTED ONE

The Lord was flogged, and by His stripes we are healed (Is. 53:5; 1 Pet. 2:24). His suffering is ours. But we also learn in Scripture than our suffering is His. “And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4). What is done to the “least of these” is reckoned as done to Christ (Matt. 25:40-45).

Your union with Christ is a precious gift—don’t abuse it by misunderstanding it by misunderstanding the source of your troubles (1 Pet. 4:15). But your identity as a Christian gives you the source of true glory. “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:16). This is because Christ is in all of it.

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INTRODUCTION

One of the features of the modern evangelical world is that we hear conflicting voices. On the one hand we hear those calling for radical discipleship and renunciation. On the other we hear the clamor of those selling what has come to be called the “health and wealth” gospel. It should not surprise us to discover that the Scriptures actually teach us both. And the only way such contraries can be made to agree and walk together is if the Holy Spirit of God is at work.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; That walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine By the sides of thine house: Thy children like olive plants Round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem All the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, And peace upon Israel” (Psalm 128: 1-6).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

To fear the Lord is to walk in His ways, and when a man does this, God promises a blessing (v. 1). That man shall be blessed in the fact that he will be able to feed himself and his family (v. 2). It shall be well with him. His wife will be a fruitful vine growing around his house (v. 3). Changing the image, his children will be like olive shoots growing up around his table (v. 3). This is the blessing that comes to the man who fears the Lord (v. 4), and this is the second time the fear of the Lord is mentioned. The blessing of the Lord will proceed out of Zion, and such a man will see the good of Jerusalem for all the days of his life (v. 5). He will see the peace of Israel; he will see his children’s children and the blessing upon it (v. 6).

And at this point, let me change back to the orientation of the psalm, which speaks in the second person—you shall be blessed in this way. The third person is fine for instructional purposes, but we want to move past mere instruction. We want to taste the actual blessing.

THE MEANING OF OLIVES

The symbolism of the olive tree is varied, and in this psalm we see a mixture of three of the main images. It represents wealth, it represents righteousness, and it represents Israel. First wealth:

“And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full” (Deut. 6:11; 8:8).

Then blessed righteousness:

“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever” (Psalm 52:8).

“His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.” (Hosea 14:6)

And then Paul describes nation of Israel as a cultivated olive tree, over against the wild olives of the Gentiles.

“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree” (Rom. 11:17-24).

Put all these together, and we have Israel, called to covenant, which means she was called to covenantal faithfulness, and to such faithfulness God annexes His promises of prosperity.

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

The precondition for this kind of blessing is the fear of the Lord, emphasized twice in this brief psalm. This is not a craven fear, the kind having to do with fear of punishment (1 John 4:18). It is not the kind of fear that crawls. The Scriptures describe this kind of fear as a grace, as a gift.

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28–29).

But although it is not craven, neither is it casual and breezy. The fear of the Lord does tremble in His presence. “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11).

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13).

But remember that Philippians is the book that exhorts us to constant joy. Therefore, rejoice with fear and trembling. Your Savior is God Almighty.

HOW DEUTERONOMIC BLESSING WORKS

Remember that this is not a vending machine. God is personal in all His dealings with us, which is necessary, as He is the ultimate Person. Remember what you were reminded of recently—there are times when faithful believers miss the hors d’oeuvres, but not one of them misses the banquet. And remember the divide we see in Hebrews 11:32-38.

“Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee . . . Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things” (Deut. 28:45–48).

CHRIST IS THE BLESSED ONE

Our elder brothers, the Israelites, did enjoy various periods of this kind of peace and prosperity. But their tendency was to oscillate in and out of it. This was because of a sinful pattern that would occur over and over again. God would bless them. They would become complacent, and veer off into idolatry. Affliction would arise as a result, and they would cry out to God. He would deliver them, and after waiting for what they thought was a suitable period, they would become complacent and idolatrous again.

Now Christ did not come to erase all these promises. Rather He came to fulfill all the conditions, and inherit all the promises. And because He has done this great thing, and you have been made an heir of all the promises in Him,

“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor. 1:20).

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