Psalm 129:3

Psalm 129:3

The ploughing of furrows

Verses 1-2 of this Psalm have already alerted us to the suffering of Israel at the hands of her enemies. From captivity in Egypt, 2,000 to 1,500 years before Christ, right up to this present-day, Israel has been a nation that has been trodden down, humiliated and punished by the rest of the world and particularly their surrounding neighbours. The arguments about whether or not they deserve this treatment have also divided opinion for centuries but, despite all the odds, they have survived and were re-born in 1948. Can we approve of all they do and say? Certainly not, for few Jews today follow God’s laws and His Word, and even fewer recognise Jesus Christ as their Messiah but, they are still the nation that God chose and through whom He gave us the Law, the Prophets, His Son, the Gospel and His Holy Spirit. 

Today’s verse is symbolic of the way individual Jews have been treated but it also speaks of the tribulations of the nation as a whole. As a teenager I worked, during school holidays and at weekends, on a local farm; it was a huge joy and privilege to learn to plough and to sit on a tractor on an autumn day with clouds of gulls filling the furrows behind me. Ploughing involves cutting into a field and repeatedly going up and down trying to keep straight lines. Long furrows are ideal for the ploughman but in this instance not for the victim. The furrows that have broken Israel’s back over the centuries, have been vicious and painful, no wonder these people have become so resilient but also stubborn. However, much of their suffering has been self-imposed as they have consistently failed to worship the Lord their God and they have pursued other gods and pagan idols. And so the ploughing goes on! 

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