Psa 129:1-8 ”Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”

Psa 129:1  A Song of degrees. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: 
Psa 129:2  Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. 
Psa 129:3  The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. 
Psa 129:4  The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. 
Psa 129:5  Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. 
Psa 129:6  Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up: 
Psa 129:7  Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. 
Psa 129:8  Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD. 

This opening statement of Psalm 129 “Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth” is repeated a second time in verse two as a witness (Rev 11:8, Col 1:24) to a very significant point about how God has worked and is working in the lives of those who have been ordained from the foundation of the world to be His kind of first fruits who are the first to trust in the living God (Eph 1:11-12) and who are being ripened through a series of fiery trials that produce that trust which causes us to lie dead (Rom 6:11) “in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (2Co 1:9, 1Ti 4:10, 1Pe 4:1-2).

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things [including our trials Rom 8:28] after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ [Eph 2:10].

[God has predestined the elect “according to his purpose“ and to “his glory” to be the first who trusted in Christ]

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves [we lie dead in the street (Rev 11:8)], that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: (Eph 2:6, we die daily and are raised daily through a process… and that is why it says after 3 days and a 1/2 in Revelation 11:11 “the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them”. The three days is the process of judgment and the half reminds us that we are the other half of Christ’s ministry who fill up what is behind of His afflictions (Col 1:24). Together the whole ministry of Christ is fulfilled through Christ and His Christ 3.5 + 3.5=7=the whole.]

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach [as we lie dead in the street 2Co 2:16-17), because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. [Christ is not exclusively the saviour of the church Christ’s body, but the elect trust/believe today and suffer reproach for that belief today (Php 1:29, Joh 6:29)]

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; [we suffer so we can fulfill his preordained will for us (1Jn 2:16-18) and we know it is the last times because we have identified where the anti-Christ, the man of perdition, resides and is being destroyed by the brightness of his coming 2Th_2:8-9 and this is all happening so…..]
1Pe 4:2  That he [we] no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world [1Co 15:50], the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 
1Jn 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists [1Jn_2:18]; whereby we know that it is the last time [understood both inwardly and outwardly (2Ti 3:13-17)].

2Ti 3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 
2Ti 3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. [Notice the context of these verses when John is talking about who the anti-Christ is, who denies “the Father and the Son” (1Jn 2:18-23, Joh 17:3)]
2Ti 3:14  But continue (Joh 8:31-32) thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

[Timothy was not of Paul or Apollos but he was persuaded that Christ was working in his elders and knew that he was to continue in the things which he was assured of in his own mind, that were being taught with the mind of Christ Heb 13:17, 1Co 2:15-16].

2Ti 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works [2Ti 2:21].

Those trials and much tribulation (Act 14:22) are the needful building blocks in our sojourn in Christ which prepare us to be faithful in the larger trials we are promised we can endure through Him (Mat 20:22-23, Php 4:13). Each and every one of those turbulent moments of our life have been ordained by God and for His purpose written from the foundation of the world to build us up in our most holy faith (Jud 1:20-21) so we can lay down our life as living sacrifices who have learned the importance of being faithful in the little things over a period of time so we can as mature sons be faithful “also in much” (Eph 1:4-10, Jas 1:18, Rom 9:28, 1Pe 4:12, Luk 16:10).

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue [Joh 8:31-32] in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Mat 20:22  But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 
Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. [Christ was confirming and exhorting the disciples in this example to “continue in the faith” (Act 14:22), and there are two groups being spoken of here: those whom the Father has prepared to sit “on my right hand”, the elect, who are given the power “on my right hand” to rule; and the rest “and on my left” who do not have that honor of ruling and reigning under Christ (1Co 6:3, 1Co 15:23-25)].

Php 4:13. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Jud 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 

Jud 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved [Rom 8:9, Mat 7:22]
Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

[We keep ourselves in the love of God by being sanctified or washed by the blood of the lamb and by being blessed to know that it is the inside of the cup that God is working with in His people today as He burns up any preeminence or conceit in our hearts by the power of God’s holy spirit, that is our hope! (Jud 1:21, Mat 23:25, Rom 11:18-21, Col 1:27, 1Jn 3:2-3)]

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: [Psa 2:12]
Jas 1:20  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Rom 9:28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

Luk 16:10  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. [In other words nothing is least in Christ, but we will learn this over time if that is God’s will for us (Mat 5:18, 1Co 4:6-7)].

No one will see Christ or be able to say “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” unless the Lord is indeed working in that life and fulfilling the contextual verses (Mat 23:34-39) surrounding that statement in Matthew 23:39. God’s elect have been ordained from the foundation of the world to be able to see and say “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” and that has been made possible through the many things we have been through and endured through Christ who has demonstrated that the gates of hell cannot prevail against His body (Mat 16:18-19).

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: [Jas 5:7-10, 1Co 10:10-11].

Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 
Jas 5:9  Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door [Psa 2:12].
Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example^G5262 of suffering affliction, and of patience [Luk 21:19].

1Co 10:8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

[320,000 men in 1Corinthians 10:8 and 250 men of renown in Numbers 16:2 are both numbers that are multiples of 5 that represent grace and faith that was a type and shadow event being applied to these men who died in the earth, revealing that if God is working with us in this age we cannot become that new creation unless a seed fall into the ground and die (Joh 12:24). They were sacrificed (1Co 10:8, Num 16:2) to show us what must happen to our own old man today].

1Co 10:9  Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
1Co 10:10  Neither murmur ye [Psa_2:12], as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples^G5179: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 
Mat 23:38  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 
Mat 23:39  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

[The world will not see Christ with spiritual understanding until God’s word is sent to them to heal them, and that is why they will say “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Joh 20:21)]

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [Christ was telling Peter you are going to go in the name of the Lord because you are going to be built upon me the Rock, and when you are converted you will strengthen the brethren.]
Mat 16:19  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Psa 129:1  A Song of degrees. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: 
Psa 129:2  Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. 

As we just read, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” even though it is through a lifetime of much tribulation that we must go through in order to be established, strengthened and settled in the Lord (1Pe 5:10).

Going on to perfection is a process or “song of degrees” meaning it is a step-by-step process that requires the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) to say and acknowledge “Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth” so that in the same breath we can also be reminded “yet they have not prevailed against me” or “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”

Psa 129:3  The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. 
Psa 129:4  The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. 

The imagery in these verses reminds us of how the Lord uses the outside world to break us down and prepare our hearts so that we can be easily entreated and made ready to receive Christ as we receive the words of eternal life that He has (Joh 6:68) and that are likened unto a seed (Luk 8:15) made ready to be received because of “plowers [who] plowed upon my back” and “made long their furrows” (Isa 53:5, Col 1:24, Gen 30:37-38, Luk 23:31).

Luk 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. 

Isa 53:5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Gen 30:37  And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. 
Gen 30:38  And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. 

Luk 23:31  For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? 

However, verse 4 goes on to say “The LORD is righteous“, because although He allows wicked men to fulfill their role in our lives, and our own iniquities chasten us within for the day of evil within us (Jer 2:19, Pro 16:4), he is righteous, and at the appointed time “he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked” within and without. It is at an appointed time to demonstrate that God is in charge of the whole process of delivering us from sin, and He is working it all out for the greater good of all of humanity.

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

Psa 129:5  Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. 
Psa 129:6  Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:

We are turned back when we are confounded, and we are confounded when we are ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16, Luk 9:26), and that is the same as hating Zion, or the body of Christ (Oba 1:21) that is the church clothed in that gospel (Eph 6:15). If Christ is in us we won’t hate our own body, but rather will love and nourish it (Eph 5:29-31).

Without the shield of faith which is the gift of God that is given to the body of Christ (Mat 13:11, Rom 3:27), we would not be able to quench the fiery darts of Satan that have been perverting the gospel from the foundation of the world. Those words (“fiery darts”) of the devil are sent to try us as we mature and become approved through Christ who gives us the power to overcome the wicked one (1Jn 4:4) who tries to bring wickedness into the house of God but will not prevail (Mat 16:18).

The symbolism of “the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up” is another reminder for us that only by the grace of God will anyone of us endure to the end by being nourished on meat and being blessed to go beyond the milk of the word or “the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up“. The disciples were in the upper chamber with Christ (Mar 14:15) the night he was betrayed, and the word they received had to “withereth afore it groweth up“. All the disciples forsook him that night because they were not yet mature enough to follow through and do what God required of them (as He does all of us) to do through the power of God’s holy spirit, that being to receive His word in a good and honest heart as we obediently lose our life through Christ. It takes the communion we have with each other in Christ, which was being expressed that night of Passover in type and shadow, to mature us beyond the milk or grass that feeds our beast and prepares us for the slaughter.

Luk 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. [because we share in the communion of Christ’s suffering (Col 1:24)]
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psa 129:7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.
Psa 129:8 Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.

We cannot come in the name of the Lord if we do not have the fruit in our lives that demonstrates we are his ambassadors (Mat 3:8, Luk 6:43-45), and those who have Christ in them do not acknowledge the disobedient who have rejected the words of Christ. We don’t say “The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD” because that blessing is not on them. The actions or inactions of the unbelieving have proven to us who it is God has made (is making, the fruit seen) approved in the Lord (1Co 11:19).

We love our enemies as Christ said we ought (Luk 6:27-31), and pray for those who falsely accuse us and speak all manner of evil against us, knowing that God already knows those who are His. If they are of us, they will be grafted back into the body of Christ because He is able to do that. That grafting in is accomplished by fulfilling what is written in Leviticus chapter 14 as we carefully examine “the plague of leprosy in a house” that God put there for our maturing so we can learn how to discern good and evil. If that plague is stayed it is of the Lord, and if that plague is not stayed that also is of the Lord, to be stayed for later in the lake of fire, or great white throne judgment. We acknowledge that “I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession”, the evil that visits the city, and so we need to obey God’s commandments in Matthew 18:15-17 every jot and tittle in order to stay that plague (Joh 6:44, Rom 11:21-23, Lev 14:33-57, Amo 3:6).

Luk 6:27. But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luk 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Luk 6:29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.
Luk 6:30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
Luk 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Rom 11:23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.

Lev 14:34 When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

“Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” because that blessed person of the Lord has been blessed to be able to read, hear and keep the sayings of the prophecy of Jesus Christ which destroys that plague in our own house and keeps us dying daily so that it does not manifest and defile many.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat [one false doctrine] sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected [type of God’s rejected anointed]: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears [Rom 2:4]
Heb 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

[We no longer know Christ after the flesh but in the spirit where we hear the sound of seven trumpets and the voice of the true Shepherd (2Co 5:16, Rev 8:1-2, Joh 10:3-4)]

Heb 12:19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: [Rom 2:4]
Heb 12:20 (For they could not endure [it was not given to them to endure] that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23. To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. [Luk 11:49-51].

Luk 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, [“Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”] and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.