UNROLL
A vast hillside field freshly plowed under flat gray light, long dark furrows running away straight and far.

Song of ascents

Psalm 129

Scarred is not the same as beaten. Israel says it out loud.

8 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–41Book IDavid's prayers: 'The LORD is my shepherd'
  2. 42–72Book II'As the deer pants'; the throne under pressure
  3. 73–89Book IIIAsaph and Korah: the kingdom falls
  4. 90–106Book IVBack to Moses: the LORD reigns
  5. 107–150Book VSongs of ascents, and the last HallelujahPsalm 129

The Cords of the Wicked

A song of ascents.

Many a time they have persecuted me from my youth—

let Israel now declare—

many a time they have persecuted me from my youth,

but they have not prevailed against me.

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The plowmen plowed over my back; they made their furrows long.

A wooden yoke and plow lying still in a half-finished furrow, the harness rope cleanly severed, its ends lying in the dirt.

The LORD is righteous;

He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.

Seen from far above, a small band of armed men walks away down a dusty road from a walled ridge city, spears lowered, long dust behind them.

May all who hate Zion

be turned back in shame.

Low across a flat mud-plastered roof in hot wind: thin yellow grass already dead in a crack, a stone roller, empty hills beyond under a hard white sky.

May they be like grass on the rooftops,

which withers before it can grow,

unable to fill the hands of the reaper,

or the arms of the binder of sheaves.

0:10

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

May none who pass by say to them,

“The blessing of the LORD be on you;

we bless you in the name of the LORD.”

Reflect

They have not prevailed

What has been plowed over you that did not, in the end, finish you? Write it down, and write beside it who cut you free.

You’ve experienced

Psalm 129

0 of 150 psalms read

A verse to carry with you

The LORD is righteous; He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.

Psalm 129:4

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