Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

peace and rest. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.”(1 Chron. 22:9)

All of these blessings come upon the world through people who ‘fear’ and ‘follow’ the Lord with all of their heart!

1 Keil & Delitzsch 2 Keil & Delitzsch 3 Scroggie 4 Kraus

PSALM 129: MY BACK IS COVERED WITH CUTS The Scourging of Christ

This marvelous psalm recounts the sufferings and deliverances of the nation of Israel from her youth until the time of its writing. Its message is communicated in the language of a farming society as it speaks of the “Farmer, harvester and the binder.” The first section is a song celebrating Israel’s past de- liverances while the second section is a song about Israel’s future hope. An individual sings the first section, while the second becomes the song of the nation. It is a close relative to Psalm 124 as they begin with the same repeating format and the phrase: “–let Israel now say–…”(Ps. 124:1) The flogging of Christ is foretold in the sentence; “My back is covered with cuts…” showing his identification with the suffering of his people through the centuries. The individual section and the community section provide the obvious outline:

I MY BACK IS COVERED WITH CUTS - v.1-4 The Persecution of Christ II TURNED BACK IN SHAMEFUL DEFEAT - v.5-8 The Triumph of His People

INTRODUCTION:

“A Song for the ascent to Jerusalem.”

(See Introduction to the Songs of Ascent)

I

MY BACK IS COVERED WITH CUTS - v.1-4 The Persecution of Christ

“From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me–let Israel now say–from my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never been able to finish me off.” (1, 2)

This is the song of an individual that becomes the story of Israel, the people of God that have suf- fered satanic opposition throughout the ages. “From my earliest youth” refers to the young nation in bondage in the land of Egypt: “She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.” (Hos. 2:15) The style of repetition found in this first verse ‘seems to be a customary and very effective interjection in a song.’ 1 It also shows that it was used for the worship service of the entire community. In a deeper sense it is the story of the coming Christ who even from birth was the recipient of in- tense persecution. In a dream an angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt: “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to try to kill the child.” (Mt. 2:13) The individual singing in the 1st section of the Psalm is most likely the voice of Christ coming through one of the prophetic singers of Israel. When Paul was persecuting the church, Jesus spoke almost the same words of this psalm to him showing the inseparable bond he has to his people: “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!” (Acts 9:5) To perse- cute God’s people, is to persecute Christ himself.

The enemies of God have never been able to “finish off” his people or his Messiah; “…the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him (Jesus) and took him to the edge of the hill

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