1. A tribute to past deliverance 129:1-4

129:1-2 This psalm begins as Psalm 124 did by calling on the pilgrim Israelites to speak for the nation. The writer urged the people to acknowledge that God had enabled Israel to survive the many persecutions she had experienced throughout her history.

129:3-4 Israel's enemies had as it were plowed deep furrows on Israel's back. This was a vivid figure of speech in an agricultural economy. It pictures the land as a human being. However righteous Yahweh had cut the cords to Israel's oppressors. The cords in verse 4 may represent the reins that the plowman of verse 3 used, or they may simply stand for the things that bound Israel.