1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
4 The Lord is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.
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.
Those that hate God’s people also hate God, but they have picked the wrong fight!
We are distressed to see the relentless persecution of the precious people of God through the centuries. These opponents of the true church appear formidable, their influence unstoppable. For the honor and the glory of God, however, we will not give these opponents the favor of even the slightest bit of awe or dread. Rather, we will loudly declare their eventual defeat. We are utterly convinced that all that oppose Christ will sink into the deepest mire of ignominy and shame forever.
Verses 1-3
On his way up to assemble with the saints, the psalmist here reflects on the history of the church (God’s people). Perhaps he is imminently aware of the more recent news reports of Christians slain for their faith in North Korea, Pakistan, or Eritrea. If he has read the newspapers lately, he has sensed the enemy’s utter spite for those who stand for Christ and His righteous law.
The text of this psalm is put in the first person (“I,” “Me,” “My”) because we identify with this church and its persecutions as if they are doing it to us. “The wicked have plowed deep furrows up and down my back.” They have whipped the back of the church of Christ a thousand times over thousands of years. The scars are visible everywhere. Sometimes the wounds appear in real physical form on the backs of our brothers and sisters around the world.
This sight especially disturbs us when we consider the object of their persecutions. These abusers want to get at the Lord Jesus Christ, so they take it out on His bride. They would take a baseball bat to the face of Christ’s bride. Suppose a ruffian entered a wedding service and commenced to beating on the bride as she entered the building. How do you think the bridegroom would respond to this? How would the rest of the guests view such degrading treatment of the bride? This is the sentiment felt in these verses.
Verse 4
At this point in the psalm, the psalmist begins to see things from God’s perspective. How does God view the rough treatment of His children? If we are concerned by justice, God is the very standard of justice. There is nobody in the universe or outside of it more committed to righteousness than this thrice-holy God. We must be careful not to think of God as disinterested in His people. He has already shown His power, justice, and mercy in history. Look at what He did to Pharaoh in Egypt! Look at what He did to the persecuting forces of Rome! Look at what He did to Ceausescu of Romania, more recently! There will be an end for every persecutor of the true church of Christ. God’s people are released from the bonds of Satan, their own sin, and the bonds of the world again and again throughout history.
Verses 5-8
These last verses contain the imprecatory element of the psalm. These are prayers that God will bring the purposes and actions of the wicked to nothing. Of course, He will do this. He cannot help but do this. Does anybody really believe that the liberal seminaries, powerful persecuting governments, or divisive wolves in local churches can one-up Jesus Christ as He builds His church? At first glance, these forces appear formidable. After all, they dominate most of the institutions in the Western world. They have established themselves over 200-400 years. But the psalmist knows they are short-lived and futile efforts. They are nothing but weeds growing in the thin layer of dirt found on rooftops (verse six). In the olden days, roofs of houses were often made of mud and thatch. A few weeds might sprout up here and there on these rooftops, but there was never a substantive root system. Nobody was going to harvest a crop on these roofs! (verse seven). North Korean and Chinese governments have persecuted the church in the Far East relentlessly for fifty years, but they will soon be dead and gone, and the church will be stronger than ever. Every deterrent to the church will only strengthen it over time.
How does this psalm comport with Jesus’ admonition to “bless those that curse you?” 2 John 10 warns us not to receive a deceiver into the house or to bid him “Godspeed.” Paul also warns of Alexander the coppersmith who withstood the teaching of the Apostles (in 2 Tim. 4:14,15). He even goes so far as to issue a curse on anybody who should pervert the gospel and corrupt the churches of Galatia (Gal. 1:6-9). This doesn’t sound much like “blessing those that curse you.” However, here the concern is not what these persecutors will do to me “personally.” It is the damage they will do to the church body. Paul is jealous over the church of Corinth, the betrothed of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:1-4, such that he warns them against those who preach the wrong Christ. Thus, it is right and appropriate that we pray a curse upon the Mormon church, the liberal Protestant seminary, and any and all powerful institutions that work hard to destroy Christ’s church and its influence.
How does this Psalm teach us to worship God?
Let us cultivate a holy jealousy in our hearts towards the church of Christ. Wherever there is a lackadaisical approach to the church, or a general disinterest in the struggle for truth and unity in the church, you will find apostasy. This holy jealousy must be seen in passionate prayers to God, like what we find in this psalm. There may be a tinge of bitterness, even, and holy hatred towards the forces that afflict the church. That’s appropriate as long as it does not cross over into self-preservation and self-aggrandizement.
1. Whose back has been scarred by the afflictions of the wicked?
2. What is an imprecatory prayer? Can you name several other imprecatory psalms?
3. What happens to grass that sprouts on the rooftops of houses, or in the cracks of sidewalks?
4. What did God do to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Ceausescu of Romania?
5. Against whom does the Apostle Paul levy a curse in Galatians 1?
1. How do we feel when we read about the forces that are trying to destroy the true church in America or North Korea?
2. Against whom might we pray an imprecatory prayer? Describe the right way and a wrong way to pray a prayer like this