They Have Afflicted Me From My Youth

Have you ever experienced periods of affliction, perhaps at the hands of people who seemed out to get you? That's the context of our Psalm this week: Israel experienced affliction time and time again from people bent on hating God and Zion (God's chosen people). While Israel's persecutors could prosper for a time, The LORD was faithful to rescue His people, and Psalm 129 is a reminder of what they as a people had been carried through by His sovereign hand. The Psalm concludes with a prayer that those who aim to oppress God's people will ultimately be fruitless without His aid. But at a deeper level, this Psalm points us to a greater truth. There is one who has borne the affliction we have earned such that we could be rescued by His stripes, and His resurrection means that the efforts of our enemy will bear no eternal fruit.