Year 2, Day 273: Psalms 129-130

Psalm 129

Psalm 129 is a neat psalm with respect to tribulation.  Clearly this is a psalm that is designed to talk about tribulation and God’s ability to bring us through it.  So let’s take a look at some of the imagery that we find in the psalm.

First, the psalmist says that they have afflicted him in his youth.  The psalmist has known affliction.  The psalmist is not experiencing one small moment of persecution.  The psalmist is not experiencing his first trial and crumbling.  The psalmist has known affliction from youth.

This is somewhat humbling.  It is so easy to have a moment of persecution and feel like quitting, giving up, or complaining.  Then I read a psalm like this and realize that I have lived a fairly sheltered life.  I haven’t had constant persecution.  I haven’t been persecuted as long as I can remember.  God has indeed been good to me.  It is quite humbling.

The next analogy makes just about the same point.  “The plowers plowed along my back making long furrows.”  It could be that the psalmist is giving an analogy akin to our English idiom “to be walked all over.”  Or, it could be that the psalmist is telling of literal physical bondage.  It could be that the psalmist is saying that he has been worked so hard that other people have benefitted at the expense of his own body.  Either way, this portion of the psalm goes back to my prior point.  This image is humbling because I haven’t experienced that kind of suffering in life.

I can understand how the psalmist would come to the conclusions that he does at the end of the psalm.  The psalmist equates those who have persecuted him with those who refuse to live according to God’s ways.  He longs for the day when their choices will come back to haunt them.  He longs for the days when the power and control that they so obviously wield in a selfish manner is gone from their grasp.  The sad reality is that the psalmist is right.  There will be a day when the unrighteous will wither before God.

Psalm 130

Psalm 130 is another Psalm of Ascent.  I love the truth statement that is given to us in verse 3.  If the Lord were to keep track of iniquities, who could stand?  Think about that for a second.  If God really did keep track of all of my sins without offering forgiveness, what hope would I have?  Do I have any chance of even being half-good?  I doubt it.

Thankfully, there is the truth statement that we find in verse 4.  With the Lord, there is forgiveness.  The Lord does tell us that He can take our transgressions and literally cast them away.  The Lord doesn’t simply forgive; he casts them as far as the east is from the west.  {See Psalm 103:12}  God is indeed good; it is good to be a part of His people.

Is there any reason to wait for anyone other than God?  Is there anyone in whom we should hope besides God?  Can anyone promise to forgive as God forgives?  Can anyone redeem as God can?

As the psalmist says, He is our hope.  He is the one who can fulfill His promises.  He is the one that does not disappoint.  Stay with God, He’s the only one who truly won’t disappoint in the end.  His love is steadfast.

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