The Songs Of Ascent – Part 11 – Psalm 129 – Israel Is The Most Persecuted Nation In History Yet The Lord Is Righteous – Part One Of Three Series

THE SONGS OF ASCENT – PART 11 – PSALM 129 – ISRAEL IS THE MOST PERSECUTED NATION IN HISTORY YET THE LORD IS RIGHTEOUS – PART ONE OF THREE

[A]. THE INTRODUCTION

The next Psalm in the Songs of Ascent is not an easy one on which to deliver a message as it is more of a bible study Psalm. Also it is very centralised having just one theme and that is “Israel and persecution”. We will look at a range of subjects here as well address the whole Psalm.

These 15 Songs of Ascent were sung by the Jewish pilgrims as they ascended the uplands and hills in their journey to Jerusalem three times a year for the Feasts of Jehovah – {{Deuteronomy 16:16-17 “Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.”}}

Little companies left the towns and along the way they converged, all with the same purpose. As they made their arduous ascent the time was taken up in singing the great Psalms, and Psalms 120 – 134 were the chief songs they sang, hence the name Psalms/Songs of Ascent. They became more intense as they worked through the list and most of these Psalms are focused on Israel and Jewish themes.

[B]. THE MANY TIMES THE PERSECUTION OF ISRAEL BROUGHT TO THE FORE

{{Psalm 129:1 “Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up” let Israel now say}}.

The persecution of the Jew and Israel is featured throughout the bible. Sometimes it was because of the unrepentant nation and God sent enemies in against them. That happened often, and about 13 times in the book of Judges, because of the nation’s idolatry, and therefore God had to raise up judges for deliverance when the people cried to the Lord but it was short lived. Israel was never able to step back from the sin against the Lord, usually in the matters of idolatry and injustice.

There were three major overthrowings of the Jewish people, Assyrians against Israel/Samaria; Babylon against Judah; Rome against Israel. All these incidents where God allowed enemies to invade the people was because of gross idolatry and sin. The prophets screamed out against it many times. Those judgements were deserved. God warned through Moses what would happen if the people sinned – {{Deuteronomy 4:25-28 “When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God so as to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you shall surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but shall be utterly destroyed. THE LORD WILL SCATTER YOU AMONG THE PEOPLES, and you shall be left few in number among the nations where the LORD shall drive you. There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.”}}

However many times through the ages the Jew has suffered persecution from all quarters but when it came from the “church” then it was wicked in God’s sight.

Standing at the pinnacle of persecution was the holocaust with around six million Jews tortured and murdered. So much has been written on this matter that I will not pursue it except to say that the retribution of God against this evil act is still stored up, and will be one of the main reasons for God’s wrath to fall in the Tribulation which is very, very close.

All sins must be accountable and national sins such as the holocaust are on account. People have a most strange concept of God. Many think God is there to make their lives better (without the Christian gospel, circumventing the gospel) and the stuff about judgement and wrath must not be taken seriously. Speak to people about the coming wrath ({{1Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”}}) and they dismiss you as a crank or mock what you are saying. God is not mocked. His word stands sure and one day the wrath of God will burst on earth’s scene.

One other disturbing aspect of Israel’s persecution lies with the Church. Throughout the early middle ages right up to recent times one of the greatest persecutors of the Jews has been the Roman Catholic church. I don’t need to spell that out here, as there are many thousands of studies and findings you can obtain on the Internet. However the point that is most reprehensible is the persecution from Protestant churches who should have known better if they had studied Paul and his love for Israel and the Jews, and if they had bothered to understand the importance of the Old Testament prophetic scriptures yet remaining to be fulfilled.