Psalm 129

Read Psalm 129 here

A first read of this Psalm can leave one a bit confused and scratching their head. It seems to be a Psalm that doesn’t make much sense to us and so we can easily think to just skip over this one.

Yet, there is some power and beauty in this Psalm hidden in its context. This is a community song of thanksgiving and/or trust. The communal people are recounting their long history of being oppressed and how God has freed them from their evil oppressors.

What does this mean for us today? That can a difficult question, but I think for me it is another reminder that God has a heart for the oppressed. God is in the process of bringing liberation and freedom to those who are being oppressed by poverty, human trafficking, racism, classism, sexism or any other form of societal evil. A beautiful thing is that God uses us to be the instruments to bring freedom and justice in this world. May we celebrate the ways in which God is bringing freedom and may we find ways how we can join in God’s work of liberation so that all will be able to offer a Psalm of thanksgiving for God’s deliverance.