Psalms 129 (ASV)

Chapter Text

129:1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up, Let Israel now say,

129:2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up: Yet they have not prevailed against me.

129:3 The plowers plowed upon my back; They made long their furrows.

129:4 Jehovah is righteous: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

129:5 Let them be put to shame and turned backward, All they that hate Zion.

129:6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, Which withereth before it groweth up;

129:7 Wherewith the reaper filleth not his hand, Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.

129:8 Neither do they that go by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; We bless you in the name of Jehovah. Psalm 130 A Song of Ascents.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "time", "afflicted", "youth", "israel", and "prevailed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "time" and "afflicted", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local ASV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "time" and "afflicted" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "time" and "afflicted" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.