Read
Psalm 129:4
The LORD is righteous. He has cut apart the cords of the wicked.
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.
5Let them be disappointed and turned backward, all those who hate Zion.
6Let them be as the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up,
Notice
The cut cords mark a break in the oppressors' power, while the confession of God's righteousness follows an unflinching account of the harm they caused.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does the account of the plowed back shape your reading of “The LORD is righteous”?
Write on thisWhat harm would you bring before God as you pray for the cords of the wicked to be cut?
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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
Psalm 119:137You are righteous, LORD. Your judgments are upright.Both declare the LORD righteous, with Psalm 119 affirming his upright judgments and Psalm 129 naming his action against the wicked.
Lamentations 3:22It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail.Both connect the preservation of God's people with his character: righteousness in the psalm and unfailing mercy in Lamentations.
Exodus 9:27Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.Both contrast the LORD's righteousness with human wickedness; in Exodus, Pharaoh acknowledges that wickedness as his own.
Daniel 9:7“Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as it is today; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, …Both affirm that righteousness belongs to God, though Daniel speaks from Israel's shame over its own trespass.
Psalm 124:6–7Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.Both credit the LORD with rescue from hostile power, pictured as severed cords in Psalm 129 and predators' teeth in Psalm 124.
Nehemiah 9:33However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly.Both affirm God's justice against the reality of human wickedness; Nehemiah confesses that wickedness among God's own people.
Psalm 140:5–11The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah.Both use cords in describing hostile power: Psalm 140 depicts a hidden trap, while Psalm 129 declares the cords cut apart.
Revelation 16:5I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have judged these things.Both declare God righteous in connection with his action: cutting the wicked's cords in the psalm and judging in Revelation.
Ezra 9:15LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for no one …Both affirm the LORD's righteousness in accounts of survival, though Ezra also names the surviving people's guilt.
2 Chronicles 12:6Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, “The LORD is righteous.”Both contain the confession “The LORD is righteous,” spoken in Chronicles by a king and princes who humble themselves.
Lamentations 1:18“The LORD is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment. Please hear all you peoples, and see my sorrow. My virgins and my young men have gone into …Both declare the LORD righteous amid accounts of suffering, though Lamentations also confesses rebellion against his commandment.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. gratitude.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The account of deliverance leaves the record of suffering intact. God's righteousness is declared in the aftermath of real harm: he has cut apart the cords of the wicked.
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).