Psalms 129: The furrows remain, but the plowers do not prevail

Psalm 129 lets Israel remember long affliction without turning survival into a claim of having escaped unhurt. The Book of Psalms repeats that enemies have afflicted Israel “from my youth,” then says they have not prevailed. The next line makes clear what that does not mean: the people’s back is pictured as ground cut by plowers into long furrows. Deliverance preserves the scars in the account. The LORD’s righteousness appears in cutting the cords of the wicked, ending their control rather than pretending the injury never happened. The second half reverses the agricultural imagery. Enemies who plowed long furrows are compared with rooftop grass that withers before it can produce a harvest. Their apparent growth will not fill a mower’s hand or receive the customary blessing. The surviving people keep their voice, while hostile strength is asked to become barren and brief.