1291 Great have been my troubles from the time when I was young (let Israel now say); 2 Great have been my troubles from the time when I was young, but my troubles have not overcome me. 3 The ploughmen were ploughing on my back; long were the wounds they made. 4 The Lord is true: the cords of the evil-doers are broken in two.
5 Let all the haters of Zion be shamed and turned back. 6 Let them be like the grass on the house-tops, which is dry before it comes to full growth. 7 He who gets in the grain has no use for it; and they do not make bands of it for the grain-stems. 8 And those who go by do not say, The blessing of the Lord be on you; we give you blessing in the name of the Lord.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 129:1-16
Commentary on Psalm 129:1-4
(Read Psalm 129:1-4)
The enemies of God's people have very barbarously endeavoured to wear out the saints of the Most High. But the church has been always graciously delivered. Christ has built his church upon a rock. And the Lord has many ways of disabling wicked men from doing the mischief they design against his church. The Lord is righteous in not suffering Israel to be ruined; he has promised to preserve a people to himself.
Commentary on Psalm 129:5-8
(Read Psalm 129:5-8)
While God's people shall flourish as the loaded palm-tree, or the green and fruitful olive, their enemies shall wither as the grass upon the house-tops, which in eastern countries are flat, and what grows there never ripens; so it is with the designs of God's enemies. No wise man will pray the Lord to bless these mowers or reapers. And when we remember how Jesus arose and reigns; how his people have been supported, like the burning but unconsumed bush, we shall not fear.