“Time and again they greatly did oppress me
From my youth up,” let Israel declare, ~ Psalm 129:1
Singing Psalm 129 you never stop believing as you stare down oppression
In the beginning, there was no oppression and no death.
Oppression comes in person or through screens. The unfiltered words and actions of others can beat you down. They oppress by capitalizing on or dividing your attention, inhibiting your thinking, and skewing your focus.
Human jealousy oppresses. Lies oppress. Shallow thinking oppresses.
It looked good for David with Saul.
Until it didn’t.
Ever feel like you’ve gotten a bum rap even from the time when you were young? If so, how did you handle it? You can read the story of how David handled it in 1 and 2 Samuel. He could have sung Psalm 129 as a way to process the weight of pressure he bore as a young person that came at the hands of an older person who ought to have been a guide and example pointing him to the Lord who instead greatly oppressed him and sought to end his life.
Singing Psalm 129 it's clear you are not alone. God's righteous hand helps you to never stop believing that there is a way out of every temptation in which you find yourself. The very act of singing God’s word back to him makes you vulnerable before him, softhearted, humble enough to enable you to cast all your anxiety onto him and leave it there, trusting that he knows precisely what to do with it. Your trust in God strengthens you to stare down oppression with confidence in what God will do. The Lord is patient with conflicting feelings of fear and confidence. He overcomes your fear enabling you to place your full confidence in him.
“Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” ~ John 16:32-33
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth. ~ Lamentations 3:21-27
Being young is hard.
So many loose ends. So many missing pieces. So many voices coming at you from so many different directions.
Yet.
“Time and again they greatly did oppress me
From my youth up, yet they did not prevail.” ~ Psalm 129:2
Life is hard…
You don’t know what you don’t know. Worst of all, you look around and those who are older don’t seem to know any better and aren’t able to teach you what you need to know. From this point of view, life can be oppressive and the future prospects oppressing all the more.
… until you know Jesus.
It’s not that once you know Jesus life becomes a cakewalk. It’s that Jesus is with you in the furnace and at just the right time he will carry you out of it. You leave the timing to him and never stop believing. You take heart that in this life Jesus has overcome the world. As long as he is with you, you can bear any burden for as long as he ordains because he carries it for you every step of the way.
He doesn’t let sleeping dogs lie but is willing to train and transform them so that when they awaken, they are no longer vicious but gentle. When the student is ready to learn, the teacher appears whether that teacher is a servant of the Lord or the Lord himself. The word of God brings to bear the weight of oppression answering it so sufficiently as to make your burden light. He sent Jonathan to David as his friend to help him find strength in God in the midst of his troubles.
“Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.” ~ 2 Corinthians 1: 24
In youth, there is so much to learn with the pressure of thinking you are somehow already supposed to know it all. After all, this idea of having to start very small, being in the dark about how things are, and needing to grow into maturity was not there in the beginning. You must first walk in the darkness of not knowing while fearing God and heeding the warnings he gives you in his word until he brings your mind and emotions into his light. This is what it means to be born again. Jesus is the light of the world and calls his followers the light of the world. You are born from darkness into light, knowing him who is true, who teaches you truth, and who keeps you and carries you in your troubles that you overcome even while you are in trouble’s midst.
“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” ~ 1 Timothy 4:12
“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:8-12
“…for you will forget the shame of your youth…
For a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the LORD, your Redeemer…
…but my steadfast love, shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
“All your children shall be taught by the LORD,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
In righteousness, you shall be established;
you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear…” ~ Isaiah 54:4-14
Singing Psalm 129 you never stop believing when darkness deceives
You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.” ~ Isaiah 47:10
It is during times when those committed to self-exalting attitudes seem to prevail that you look to the Lord of Jesus alone for strength to take up your cross moment-by-moment day-after-day and follow him.
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ~ Luke 9:23-26
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” ~ 2 Timothy 3:12-17
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And
“If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. ~ 1 Peter 4:12-19
When you turn to Christ and no longer join in with those who don’t, they might not take kindly to that change in you. They are unpleasantly surprised that you no longer do the things you did before and that you are now striving to please the Lord. You never stop believing in the one who strengthens you to take courage, to stand firm, and to see past the moment of trial to Christ’s victory.
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
“With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” ~ 1 Peter 4:1-5
“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.” ~ Isaiah 48:22
“Who among you fears the LORD
and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness
and has no light
trust in the name of the LORD
and rely on his God.
Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
and by the torches that you have kindled!
This you have from my hand:
you shall lie down in torment.” ~ Isaiah 50:10-11
There are those who would sway you to their so-called “enlightened” thinking, their collective consciousness like Yogis or the Borg in Star Trek would promote. They would light their own fires rather than trust in and wait on the Lord to bring them out of darkness into his wonderful light. A young boy wise beyond his years called this “endarkenment” having no idea how right he was. He wrote better than he knew of darkness defined not by what it is, the absence of true light within, but by what it is not.
“…and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” ~ Revelation 20:10
“It is the property of faith to be moved by such things that are not open to sense. When things are seen and known, there is no room for faith. Faith gives over its work when its object is seen. If we were in a dungeon, we might believe the sun was up when someone told us, but if we are out in it, it cannot be properly said we believe because we feel and know it. Faith and sense are opposed (2 Corinthians 5:7). Now, heaven and the glory of God are not matters of sight, but faith. Feeling is left for the next life.” ~ Thomas Manton
We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:9-13
Singing Psalm 129 you never stop believing against all odds
“And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.“ ~ 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
Singing Psalm 129 calls to mind young Joseph who went from being greatly humiliated to highly exalted. He would never stop believing that God was with him whether in the pit, working as a servant and being slandered there, wrongfully in prison and serving others there, or second-in-command to Pharaoh of Egypt with the task of storing food during the years of plenty and providing food to save many lives during the years of famine. Through it all, every moment, God was with Joseph. It was done to Joseph as he believed. God also gave him the opportunity to forgive and to be reconciled with his brothers to whom God gave the gift of repentance. His brothers, in their sin, did not ultimately prevail over Joseph though it sure looked that way at different stops in Joseph’s journey. God used many twists and turns in his life as means of grace to bring about a magnitude of good that no one could conceive of before it happened.
David would never stop believing and neither Goliath, Saul, nor Absalom prevailed over him because the Lord sustained him.
Death did not prevail over Naomi and Ruth. Haman did not prevail over Mordecai. God placed Esther in a royal capacity to use her influence as a means of grace.
King Nebuchadnezzar did not prevail over Azariah, Hananiah, and Mishael because the King of kings, the Lord Jesus, met with them and rendered the fire unable to burn them, using it instead as a venue for their fellowship.
The jealous administrators did not prevail over Daniel who would never stop believing, and God shut the mouths of the lions.
Paul did not prevail over Stephen but joined him. Jesus transformed him from a persecutor and murderer of his people to an apostle and servant-leader in his church.
Death did not prevail over Isaac. Abraham believed that God would have raised him from the dead because of the promise God made to Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars through Isaac who as yet had no children when God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac.
Will you never stop believing in dreams come true? Against all odds, in the face of great oppression, the ending of this story is so rich, so full, so lasting, it makes happily-ever-after fairytale endings sound short-sighted, shallow, and empty.
“I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.” ~ Isaiah 43:25
Our sin and death did not prevail over Jesus. Unlike with Isaac, Jesus did die as a sacrifice. But He rose from the grave. By his grace, you never stop believing that you who follow him will rise from death to everlasting life just as he did.
“I gave my back to those who strike,
and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
from disgrace and spitting.
“But the Lord GOD helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” ~ Isaiah 50:6-7
“They plowed my back like farmers plowing furrows
So they have made their gouges deep and long.” ~ Psalm 129:3
But yet.
“But yet the LORD is righteous in His dealings;
The ropes of lawless men He cut apart.” ~ Psalm 129:4
Though Jesus suffered greatly, once resurrected, nothing could harm him. God cut the cords that were used to scourge him so they would never flog him again. To the one who overcomes, no one can take away your everlasting life of joy in Christ.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7-10
Jesus was oppressed and afflicted, yet like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was crushed for our iniquities and not for his own because he had none.
Yet.
“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him…
and [he] was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors. ~ Isaiah 53:10-12
Because of the Lord’s righteous ways toward his people, evil will not prevail throughout their entire span of life. Jesus carries you from before your birth through to your old age through death to eternity.
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.” ~ Isaiah 46:3-4
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” ~ Revelation 21:4
In the end, there will be no oppression and no death.
“Let them be shamed and turned back in confusion,
All those who bear toward Zion bitter hate.
Let them become like grass upon the housetops
That shrivels up before it is full grown.” ~ Psalm 129:5-6
Though they might not want to talk with you about your changes, you never stop believing. You ask the Lord to bring them to their senses. The best that could happen when opposing God is to come to the point of being shamed and turned back in confusion. That every thought, word, and deed based on lies would shrivel up making room for God’s word and God’s ways to flourish. While bearing bitter hate toward Jesus and his church, Zion, there is no opportunity to bless them in the name of the Lord.
With these the reaper cannot get his hands full,
Nor can the binder fill his arms with sheaves.
None passing says, “The LORD give you His blessing.”
None calls out, “In the LORD’s name we bless you.” ~ Psalm 129:7-8
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
“Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” ~ Hebrews 12:1-3
“… for we walk by faith, not by sight…From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:7,16-21
Walking is inherently by faith and not by sight. You believe you are getting somewhere that you cannot yet see. God tells us to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with him. Although he is also with us when we ride on a bike or in a motorized vehicle, there is something humble about walking. You sense it especially when a bike or car speeds past you while you are doing it. You can’t cover ground as quickly which gives you time to think. You can only move forward one step at a time and your thoughts lead you to pray and rest on his ever-present strength. You don’t see what is far ahead so you both fear and love the one who sees where he is leading you in hope. We are just coming around to learning that walking is the best sustainable exercise for our health throughout our lives. If God has given you the ability to get around in a wheelchair or to praise him from your bed, those count for at least double as walking humbly before him in your heart. Whatever slows us down long enough so that we hold onto the Lord’s hand in humble reliance, praise, and thanks is sweet.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” ~ 1 Peter 5:6-11
Though none calls out blessings on haters while they are hating, you never stop believing that the Lord would override death and grant them the gift of repentance like he did for Paul, like he did for you. May each one as new creations choose to sit with the Lord in their anxiety and stand in the darkness while relying on God rather than to light their own fires. You hope to one day call them brothers and sisters-in-Christ who are presently stuck in self-reliance, singing out in response to Jesus’ curse-reversing grace, “In the LORD’s name we bless you.”
September 6-13, 2024
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