Psalms 129 (KJV)

Chapter Text

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

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

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

129:4 The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

129:5 Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.

129:6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:

129:7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.

129:8 Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.

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 KJV 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.