Psalms 129 (GNV)

Chapter Text

129:1 A song of degrees. They haue often times afflicted me from my youth (may Israel nowe say)

129:2 They haue often times afflicted me from my youth: but they could not preuaile against me.

129:3 The plowers plowed vpon my backe, and made long furrowes.

129:4 But the righteous Lord hath cut the cordes of the wicked.

129:5 They that hate Zion, shalbe all ashamed and turned backward.

129:6 They shalbe as the grasse on the house tops, which withereth afore it commeth forth.

129:7 Whereof the mower filleth not his hand, neither the glainer his lap:

129:8 Neither they, which go by, say, The blessing of the Lord be vpon you, or, We blesse you in the Name of the Lord.

Study Lenses

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

The local GNV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "song" and "degrees" 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 "song" and "degrees" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.