Psalms 129:1-8 - Homiletics

Sin a failure.

Neither the violence of sin against others nor its effort on its own behalf is successful.

I. THE FAILURE OF ITS VIOLENCE . The enemies of Israel are regarded as the enemies of the Lord; their attempts to despoil and destroy Israel were sins against God. They consequently proved to be utter failures. They were mercilessly cruel; they "ploughed upon the back, and made long their furrows;" they strove to enslave with their strong cords ( Psalms 129:4 ), but "they did not prevail" ( Psalms 129:2 ); their cords were cut asunder ( Psalms 129:4 ). Israel survived the hardships of Egypt and the captivity of Babylon. Many nations and communities have passed through similar afflictions and oppressions, but they have borne them bravely; they may even have been the purer, the stronger, the more united, for all they have suffered. Many a man can speak in the same strain; his history has been one of struggle and hardship in youth, of toil in mid-life, of deliverance and gratitude in later years. He has lived to see his oppressors humbled, to find that they who offend God by ill treating his servants come to shame and sorrow. The most striking lesson of the psalm is—

II. THE DEGENERACY OF SIN . The psalmist prays (or states) that those who "hate Zion" may be like the grass which has no depth of earth, which withers before it attains maturity, which falls short of the blessing which the well-planted corn enjoys ( Psalms 129:6-8 ). Here are two evils which the unholy have to face.

1. Early withering .

2. The loss of the higher good . The man who is living under the dominion of sin and selfishness misses all that is worthiest and best. In his life is no such scenery as that so beautifully sketched in the psalm. He has to go without the blessing of God and the benediction of his kind.