Psalms 129:2

Psa 129:2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.

Ver. 2. Many a time, &c.] Anadiplosis ad exaggerationem, q.d. They have done it and done it again, but could never achieve their design, viz. to supplant and eradicate me; which might not be. Oppugnarunt (non expugnarunt, however the Vulgate so rendereth here). The Church is invincible. Athens took upon her of old to be so; and Venice alate boasteth the like; but time hath confuted the one, and may soon do the other; when the Church shall stand firm, because founded on a rock. More truly may it be said of it than it was once of Troy,

Victa tamen vinces, eversaque Troia resurges:

Obruet hostiles illa ruina domes

(Ovid. de Fast.).

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. (Psa 129:2) Many (a time) have they distressed me from my youth; yet have they not prevailed against me. The statement in the first verse is repeated, for the sake of being joined with one of a more cheering character. Yet, literally also. As if he had said; it is true that they have so done, but it is also true, etc. Prevailed against me, literally been able (as) to me, i.e. able to accomplish their designs respecting me. See Gen 32:25, and compare Psa 13:4.

8. (Psa 129:2) Nor do the passers by say, The blessing of Jehovah (come) unto you, we bless you in the name of Jehovah. The negative description is still carried out, with unusual distinctness and particularity. This verse affords an interesting glimpse of ancient harvest usages, confirmed by the historical statement in Rth 2:4, from the analogy of which place it is altogether probable, although denied by some, that there is here allusion to the alternate or responsive salutations in common use among the people. We may then supply in thought before the last clause, nor receive the customary answer. As the Hebrew preposition before you does not mean on but to or unto, it seems better to supply come than be. With this verse compare Psa 118:26.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 2. Yet they have not prevailed] They endeavoured to annihilate us as a people; but God still preserves us as his own nation.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. yet they have not prevailed against me] Cp. 2Co_4:8-10.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth,.... This is repeated for the confirmation of it, to excite attention to it, and to express the vehement affection of the speaker;

yet they have not prevailed against me; the Egyptians could not prevail against literal Israel; the more they were afflicted, the more they grew and multiplied; in the times of the Judges, one after another were raised up as deliverers of them; neither the Assyrians, Chaldeans, nor Romans, nor any other, have been able to cut them off from being a nation; they continue to this day: the enemies of the church of Christ, even the gates of hell, have not been able to prevail against it, being built upon a rock, so as to extirpate and destroy it, neither by open and cruel persecutors, nor by secret and fraudulent heretics; nor could the enemies of the Messiah prevail against him, for though they brought him to the dust of death, they could not hold him in it; and they themselves, through his death, were conquered by him, as sin, Satan, the world, and death itself; nor can the enemies of the saints prevail against them, God being on their side, Christ making them more than conquerors, the Spirit in them being greater than he that is in the world.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Many a time ... - This repetition is designed to fix the thoughts on the fact, and to impress it on the mind. The mind dwells on the fact as important in its bearing on the present occasion or emergency. The idea is, that it is no new thing to be thus afflicted. It has often occurred. It is a matter of long and almost constant experience. Our enemies have often attempted to destroy us, but in vain. What we experience now we have often experienced, and when thus tried we have been as often delivered, and have nothing now therefore to fear. We are not to regard it as a strange thing that we are now afflicted; and we are not to be discouraged or disheartened as if our enemies could overcome us, for they have often tried it in vain. He who has protected us heretofore can protect us still. He who defended us before can defend us now, and the past furnishes an assurance that be will defend us if it is best that we should be protected. It does much to support us in affliction if we can recall to mind the consolations which we had in former trials, and can avail ourselves of the result of past experience in supporting us now.

Yet they have not prevailed against me - They have never been able to overcome us. We were safe then in the divine hands; we shall be safe in the same hands now.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 2. Many a time have they afflicted, me from my youth. Israel repeats her statement of her repeated afflictions. The fact was uppermost in her thoughts, and she could not help soliloquizing upon it again and again. These repetitions are after the manner of poetry: thus she makes a sonnet out of her sorrows, music out of her miseries. "Yet they have not prevailed against me." We seem to hear the beat of timbrels and the clash of cymbals here: the foe is derided; his malice has failed. That "yet" breaks in like the blast of trumpets, or the roll of kettledrums. "Cast down, but not destroyed", is the shout of a victor. Israel has wrestled, and has overcome in the struggle. Who wonders? If Israel overcame the angel of the covenant, what man or devil shall vanquish him? The fight was oft renewed and long protracted: the champion severely felt the conflict, and was at times fearful of the issue; but at length he takes breath, and cries, "Yet they have not prevailed against me." "Many a time; " yes, "many a time", the enemy has had his opportunity and his vantage, but not so much as once has he gained the victory.

Ver. 2. Many a time, etc. The Christian Church may adopt the language of the Hebrew Church: "Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me." What afflictions were endured by the Christian Church from her youth up! How feeble was that youth! How small the number of the apostles to whom our Lord gave his gospel in charge! How destitute were they of human learning, of worldly influence, of secular power! To effect their destruction, and to frustrate their objectthe glory of God and the salvation of menthe dungeon and the mine, the rack and the gibbet, were all successively employed. The ploughmen ploughed their back, and made long their furrows. Their property was confiscated; their persons were imprisoned; their civil rights were taken from them; their heads rolled on the scaffold; their bodies were consumed at the burning pile; they were thrown, amidst the ringing shouts of the multitude, to the wild beasts of the amphitheatre. Despite, however, of every opposition, our holy religion took root and grew upward. Not all the fury of ten persecutions could exterminate it from the earth. The teeth of wild beasts could not grind it to powder; the fire could not burn it; the waters could not drown it; the dungeon could not confine it. Truth is eternal, like the great God from whose bosom it springs, and therefore it cannot be destroyed. And because Christianity is the truth, and no lie, her enemies have never prevailed against her. M. M'Michael.

Ver. 2. Yet they have not prevailed against me. The words are the same as in Ge 32:28. The blessing won by Jacob, when he wrestled with the angel, remained on his descendants. During the long night of the Captivity the faithful had wrestled in faithful prayer; now the morning had appeared, and Israel was raised to a higher stage of privilege. W. Kay.

Ver. 2. Yet they have not prevailed against me. Israel prevailed with God in wrestling with him, and therefore it is that he prevails with men also. If so be that we will wrestle with God for a blessing, and prevail with him, then we need not to fear but we shall wrestle the enemies out of it also. If we be the people of God, and persist in wrestling against his enemies, we need not fear but that we shall be victorious. Alexander Henderson.

Psalms 129:3*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Not prevailed—Because God was on their side. See Psa_124:1, etc. The existence of a Church which is in antagonism with all “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,” standing alone and without worldly support or sympathy, hated and persecuted as the reprover of sin, yet unconquered, is the standing miracle of the ages.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth. The repetition emphasizes the fact of Israel"s long and bitter suffering. Yet they have not prevailed against me. Israel has not been given as a prey to the heathen"s teeth. (Psa_124:6) She is still a nation, unsubdued; she holds her own; the struggle is not ended.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.