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Psalm 129:1
A Song of Ascents. Many times they have afflicted me from my youth up. Let Israel now say:
Notice
“Many times” marks repeated harm, and “Let Israel now say” makes that memory something a whole people can speak aloud.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does Israel’s shared voice affect the way you hear this account of repeated harm?
Write on thisWhat would you want to name before God if your prayer began with “Many times”?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 124:1A Song of Ascents. By David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, let Israel now say,Both songs direct Israel to speak together, one recalling repeated affliction and the other naming the LORD’s presence on their side.
Jeremiah 2:2“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘The LORD says, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, your love as a bride, how you went after me …Both look back to youth: Psalm 129 recalls Israel’s affliction, while Jeremiah recalls love and following God in the wilderness.
Hosea 11:1“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.Both describe Israel’s early history through childhood language, with the psalm recalling affliction and Hosea recounting God’s love.
Psalm 120:1A Song of Ascents. In my distress, I cried to the LORD. He answered me.Both are Songs of Ascents that speak of suffering; Psalm 120 also recounts crying to the LORD and receiving an answer.
Psalm 122:1A Song of Ascents. By David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let’s go to the LORD’s house!”Both are Songs of Ascents involving shared speech, though one voices affliction and the other gladness about going to the LORD’s house.
Psalm 123:1A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to you, you who sit in the heavens.Both belong to the Songs of Ascents; Psalm 129 opens with remembered affliction, while Psalm 123 opens with eyes lifted toward God.
Exodus 1:12–14But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They started to dread the children of Israel.Both name Israel’s affliction, and Exodus describes the people multiplying and spreading despite that oppression.
Judges 10:8–12They troubled and oppressed the children of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the …Both recount oppression suffered by Israel; Judges names an eighteen-year period within the long history the psalm recalls.
Isaiah 47:12“Stand now with your enchantments and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth, as if you might profit, as if you might …Both speak of something extending from youth, though Psalm 129 names affliction and Isaiah addresses long-practiced sorcery.
Exodus 5:7–19“You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.The psalm recalls repeated affliction, while Exodus records an order making the people’s brickmaking labor harder.
Judges 2:15Wherever they went out, the LORD’s hand was against them for evil, as the LORD had spoken, and as the LORD had sworn to them; and they were very distressed.Both recount suffering; Judges identifies the LORD’s hand against the people, while the psalm recalls repeated affliction by others.
Exodus 1:22Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”The psalm recalls affliction from Israel’s youth; Pharaoh’s command to drown newborn sons records lethal violence in that early history.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. grief. church hurt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
There is room in worship for a history that still hurts. Israel is told to speak its affliction aloud; belonging to God has never meant a painless past.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).