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Psalm 129:2

many times they have afflicted me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me.

1A Song of Ascents. Many times they have afflicted me from my youth up. Let Israel now say:
2many times they have afflicted me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me.
3The plowers plowed on my back. They made their furrows long.
4The LORD is righteous. He has cut apart the cords of the wicked.
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← Psalm 129:1Psalm 129:3 →
Notice

The repeated words “many times” make Israel’s suffering hard to minimize, even as “yet” marks the limit of its enemies’ power.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What difference does hearing Israel speak together make to your reading of “from my youth up”?

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Where, if anywhere, can you distinguish being afflicted from being overcome in your own history?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

11 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
Jeremiah 1:19They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you”, says the LORD, “to rescue you.”Both passages describe enemies who fail to prevail; Jeremiah names the LORD’s presence and rescue as the reason.
Revelation 12:8–9They didn’t prevail. No place was found for them any more in heaven.Both passages say that hostile forces did not prevail, though Revelation locates their defeat in heaven.
Psalm 34:19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.Both psalms acknowledge many afflictions; Psalm 34 names the LORD’s deliverance, while Psalm 129 declares that the afflictors failed.
Matthew 16:18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.The shared phrase “prevail against” marks a limit: Israel’s afflictors failed, and Jesus says the gates of Hades will fail.
2 Corinthians 4:8–9We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair;Both texts describe severe pressure while drawing a limit around what that pressure has accomplished.
John 16:33I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”Both passages acknowledge trouble without granting it victory; Israel recounts survival, and Jesus declares that he has overcome the world.
Psalm 118:13You pushed me back hard, to make me fall, but the LORD helped me.Both speakers recount force used against them that failed to defeat them; Psalm 118 names the LORD’s help.
Psalm 42:1For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.The link is limited: Psalm 129 speaks of surviving affliction, while Psalm 42:1 speaks of longing for God.
Psalm 125:1A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever.Both Songs of Ascents describe endurance: Israel has survived its afflictors, and those trusting the LORD are compared to immovable Mount Zion.
Job 5:19He will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil will touch you.Eliphaz speaks of repeated troubles and deliverance; Israel’s song recounts repeated affliction that failed to overcome it.
Romans 8:35–39Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?Both passages face oppression: Israel says its afflictors failed, while Romans asks whether such dangers can separate believers from Christ’s love.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. fear for the future.

What the Bible says about anger →What the Bible says about fear →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 129:1–4, pausing at “yet”

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Encouragement

Israel’s song leaves the wounds in view. Its claim that the enemies failed rests within a history of real harm, where the righteous YHWH cut their cords.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 129:2. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 129 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).