The Journey: Psalm 129

The Journey
Perseverance
Psalm 129

Introduction: Do you ever have a problem finishing a project? I do. Now Diane gets great satisfaction when she is able to check something off her “to do” list. I never have gotten much satisfaction from that kind of thing. It is so easy to start something, difficult to finish it and yet no one remembers a good beginning if the finish doesn’t happen. No one remembers who is fastest at 95 meters, it is the last five meters that make a difference in who wins or not. That’s true not just with races but half finished quilts, or anything else we start but have trouble finishing. The Christian life is like that also. It is easy to start with a burst of enthusiasm and dedication but the way is difficult; the gate is narrow.

I. Oppression
The psalmist had found the way difficult, filled with oppression. And not just himself, the whole nation had faced tremendous periods of opposition. Israel’s history was marked with long periods of slavery and captivity so that the metaphor of a plowman leaving furrows on their backs was almost literally true.

Sometimes people have seen the way of Christ as something weak and fragile, a way that can only be lived when things are good, when the blessing are rolling in. Somehow I don’t think Jesus saw it that way. What appears weak can have great strength. Isaiah described Jesus in these words, “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2) It is difficult to think of something less significant than a little plant growing up through cracked, dry soil and yet that is how Jesus is described. Some years ago we visited Mt. St. Helens in Washington State. You may remember in 1980 the volcano exploded and devastated a beautiful part of the Northwest. In the aftermath of the eruption it looked like a barren lunar landscape. Scientist weren’t sure how long it would take the area to recover but thought it would be decades. Today the devastation is still evident but within months life began to recover. Jesus was like that. That Friday night after the crucifixion the world was buried in ash, death reigned. But Sunday morning life appeared where all hope was lost.

We have all heard the old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” For a lot of us when the going gets tough we start asking questions. Is this really what the Lord wants me to do? If this is the right path why is it so hard? Maybe I’m on the wrong path. If people ridicule my faith then maybe something is wrong with what I believe? It almost seems that Jesus struggled with these all too human questions in Gethsemane as he faced the cross. His back was plowed on the way to the cross. It looked like he was crushed and destroyed, ground into the earth only for the earth to break open to allow new life to appear.

Paul is another whose back was plowed. His list of trials in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 staggers me and yet more trials were in front of Paul. Our list could go on and on. Not every Christian has faced the kinds of trials Paul faced. Instead we each face trials that test our faithfulness to God.

II. But . . .
Oppression and trial are terrible times. The key to this psalm is found in one small word, “but”. “But they have not gained the victory over me.” (Psalms 129:2) Again, the psalmist writes, “But the LORD is righteous.” (Psalms 129:4). Why in the midst of adversity does the pilgrim survive? Why doesn’t the adversary gain victory when he has such great strength and power and the pilgrim is so weak and powerless? It is because God is righteous. We often slide over the statement “God is righteous” because it seems self-evident. God is always right isn’t He? But that is not what is being stated here. God’s righteousness has to do with his relationship to his people. God will not abandon his covenant, his relationship with his people, with you and me. God is committed to us no matter what happens. It is in this sense I am “righteous” in my relationship to Diane when I faithfully keep my marriage promises to her. Those promises are for “better or worse, in sickness and in health.” God is like that for us; he is righteous.

It is hard to believe God is with us when times are bad. We feel abandoned, that God has some how disappeared from our lives. It would be easy to look at Jesus’ life, at Paul’s life and say, “If God is with them then why did they face such trials?” But the righteousness of God is seen in the fact the Jesus was not abandoned to the grave but rose to life. Paul was martyred for his faith in Jesus and he believed he would share in Jesus’ resurrection just as he shared in his sufferings. (Philippians 3:10) God is righteous; therefore, we are not overcome.

III. Anger
The last part of this psalm makes some Christians uncomfortable. After all we are to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us. But the psalmist doesn’t want God to bless his persecutors. This makes us uncomfortable because we understand his feelings, we have felt this way about people who have done wrong to us and we know as Christians that these feelings are not what God wants us to act on. The thing about anger is that it is real and everyone has felt it. The psalmist had reason to feel anger towards those who had persecuted him because it was wrong. Those people were enemies of God. The psalms are very genuine in that they express the emotions we feel, whether it is anger or grief.

Jesus could express strong emotions about things. He displayed anger (Mark 3:5) and expressed some harsh judgments on the most stubborn unrepentant hearts of people who opposed him. Paul also could express strong emotions when he saw things were not right.
While I am not recommending anger as a response to persecution there is one thing about the psalmist we need to emulate, his passion. What arouses your emotions? What do you feel passionate about? What are you willing to lay your life on the line for? I’m not talking about getting angry and doing something to someone but what moves you to action? Injustice? Poverty? Lostness? Children? The elderly? Racial prejudice? Abortion? Marriage breakup? World missions? The problem is that often we aren’t very passionate about anything that matters. It is not that cars, sports, gardening and crafting are bad hobbies but our faith is about people and helping people find God. If you are not passionate about something that is close to the heart of God then do some self-examination and ask why aren’t you? We need to stoke and encourage the fires of passion in each other for the things of God.

This psalm points to one quality that is important if we are to complete the journey, perseverance. The journey is not always easy but in the end the Lord is righteous and we will win through if we don’t give up.


Livonia Church of Christ: July 2, 2006