A song of ascents.
1 “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,”
let Israel say;
2 “they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory over me.
3 Plowmen have plowed my back
and made their furrows long.
4 But the Lord is righteous;
he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.”
5 May all who hate Zion
be turned back in shame.
6 May they be like grass on the roof,
which withers before it can grow;
7 a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,
nor one who gathers fill his arms.
8 May those who pass by not say to them,
“The blessing of the Lord be on you;
we bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Questions from Studying Psalm 129
Q: How did the music from Psalm 129 make you feel?
In writing music for Psalm 129, the line that haunted me was, “⁸ May those who pass by not say to them, “The blessing of the LORD be on you; we bless you in the Name of the LORD.”
Q: How does the following familiar verse from Psalm 139 make you feel?
¹³ For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
How about these verses from Psalm 139?
¹⁹ If only You, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! ²⁰ They speak of You with evil intent; Your adversaries misuse Your Name. ²¹ Do I not hate those who hate You, LORD, and abhor those who are in rebellion against You? ²² I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
Or these verses from other Psalms?
Psalm 10:15 – “Break the arm of the wicked man; call the evildoer to account for his wickedness that would not otherwise be found out.”
Psalm 58:6 – “Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions!”
Psalm 69:28 – “May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.”
Psalm 109:8 – “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.”
Imprecatory Psalms
Psalm 129 and the verse listed above are called Imprecatory Psalms (IM-preh-kuh-tor-ee) Psalms, which means “to invoke a curse” or “to pray against”
Eugene Peterson calls these verses “a can of black spray paint defacing a memorial in white marble.” He asks, “Who let this in our prayer book? And hadn’t we better get them out?” He says that a lot of people think so. “These psalmectomiesare well intentioned, not doubt, but wrongheaded all the same.
“They (People who remove these verses) are wrongheaded because our hate needs to be prayed, not suppressed. Hate is our emotional link with the spirituality of evil. It is the volcanic eruption of outrage when the holiness of being, ours or another’s, has been violated. It is also the ugliest and most dangerous of our emotions, the hair trigger on a loaded gun. Embarrassed by the ugliness and fearful of the murderous, we commonly neither admit or pray our hate; we deny it and suppress it. But if it is not admitted it can quickly and easily metamorphose into the evil that provokes it, and if it is not prayed, we have lost an essential insight and energy in doing battle with evil.” ~ Eugene Peterson, Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer
Q: Why does Peterson say hate should be prayed instead of suppressed?
Q: How can unprayed hate turn into the evil that provoked it?
“They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,” let Israel say; ² “they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me.³ Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long. Psalm 129:1-3
Singing the Songs of Injustice
David O. Taylor and David M. Bailey
David Bailey, director of the reconciliation ministry Arrabon and founder of Urban Doxology
“I’ve had to learn to lean into the book of Psalms that acknowledges an unjust world and gives language to express fear, grief, and even rage before the Lord. God has given us the psalms to be an “anger school” for us and I’ve discovered that when we skip class, we aren’t emotionally equipped to deal with difficult stuff we’re experiencing now.”
Q: How can the Psalms help us process emotions like fear, grief, and anger before God?
David Taylor, associate professor of theology at Fuller Theological Seminary
“As the psalms see it, the difference between a right and a wrong response to anger is a humble heart and a hardened heart. A humble heart is honest to God about one’s feelings; a hardened heart wants only to exact an eye for an eye. A humble heart entrusts one’s enemies to God; a hardened heart demonizes one’s enemies. A humble heart is angry before the face of God and in the presence of the community; a hardened heart hides from God and perpetually finds the community wanting. The psalms always invite us to choose a humble heart.”
Questions:
- How does a humble heart respond to anger differently than a hardened heart?
- Why is it important to bring our anger before God rather than suppress it?
- How can entrusting our enemies to God change our perspective on them?
- What does it mean to process anger within a community rather than in isolation?
Offering Our Hate and Anger to the LORD
Romans 12:9 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”
“You can’t love the things that God loves without taking great displeasure in the things that God does.”
~ Sinclair Ferguson
THINGS THE LORD HATES:
1. Sin and Wickedness
- Proverbs 6:16-19 lists seven things the LORD hates:
- Haughty eyes (pride)
- A lying tongue
- Hands that shed innocent blood
- A heart that devises wicked schemes
- Feet that are quick to rush into evil
- A false witness who pours out lies
- A person who stirs up conflict in the community
2. Injustice and Oppression
- Isaiah 61:8 – “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing.”
- Zechariah 8:17 – “Do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this, declares the LORD.”
3. False Worship and Idolatry
- Deuteronomy 12:31 – “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates.”
4. Hypocrisy and Empty Religion
- Amos 5:21 – “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to Me.”
- Isaiah 1:13-14 – “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to Me… I hate with all My being.”
“You can’t love the things that God loves without taking great displeasure in the things that God does.”
~ Sinclair Ferguson
Questions
Q: Does the Psalmist seek personal vengeance, or does he entrust justice to the LORD?
“When vengeance is entrusted to God, the speaker is free from its power.” ~ Walter Brueggemann
Memory Verse: (Psalm 129:2)
“They have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me.”
“I’m Still Standing.” I will Survive.”
“Whereas most nations tend to look back on what they have achieved, Israel reflects here on what she has survived” says Derek Kidner
Q: Who were some of Isreal’s real physical enemies?
Q: Who are the enemies of Christians today?
Ephesians 6:12 – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-9:
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Prayer
Lord, they’ve kicked me around ever since I was young. They’ve kicked me around ever since I was young. But they could never keep me down.
I’ve got long furrows up and down my back from being ploughed over. But I know You stick with me, Lord. You will rip the harnesses of the evil plowmen to shreds. May those who hate you be like grass that withers—may they not flourish. And, Lord, may this be soon. Spiritual Challenges from Psalm 128
Spiritual Practice
This is a brutally honest prayer. Is there anything you harbor in your heart, that you hardly even dare say to others? Offer it to the Lord this week. Give your complaint to Him. Is there any pain from long ago that You haven’t yet offered to the LORD? Use the Lament format to cry out to the LORD: Address the LORD, make your Request for help, Protest what upset you, and Express your trust in God.
