Psalms 129 - Introduction

Israel's chequered history supplies a ground of hope in a time of anxiety. Often as it has been oppressed by enemies, Jehovah has not suffered it to succumb entirely (Psalms 129:1-4). And now once more the malignant foes of Zion shall perish before they have matured their plots against her (Psalms 129:5-8).

The Psalm corresponds in length, style, and the general tenor of its contents, to Psalms 124. Israel is introduced as the speaker in both (-Let Israel say"): the figure of rhetorical repetition is employed in the first two verses of both: in both Israel is face to face with malicious enemies, but confident of Jehovah's protection. They may well have been written by the same poet in the same period, with reference to the dangers which threatened the community in the time of Nehemiah.