서론
無標題
繁體中文
英文原文
This psalm relates to the public concerns of God's Israel. It is not certain when it was penned, probably when they were in captivity in Babylon, or about the time of their return. I. They look back with thankfulness for the former deliverances God had wrought for them and their fathers out of the many distresses they had been in from time to time, Ps 129:1-4. II. They look forward with a believing prayer for and a prospect of the destruction of all the enemies of Zion, Ps 129:5-8. In singing this psalm we may apply it both ways to the Gospel-Israel, which, like the Old-Testament Israel, has weathered many a storm and is still threatened by many enemies.
1-4
Domestic Happiness
繁體中文
家庭的快樂
上行之詩。
¹ 以色列當說：從我幼年以來，敵人屢次苦害我， ² 從我幼年以來，敵人屢次苦害我，卻沒有勝了我。 ³ 如同扶犁的在我背上扶犁而耕，耕的犁溝甚長。 ⁴ 耶和華是公義的；祂砍斷了惡人的繩索。
在此論到的，是神教會在其各個時代中的情形——或更恰當地說，是教會自己在此說話，如同一個如今已年老髮白的人，卻追念古時的日子、並回想往昔的時代。而在回顧之下發現：1. 教會在地上屢受其仇敵的大大困苦：以色列當說——「我是那比任何百姓更受壓迫的百姓，是有斑點的飛鳥，被四圍一切的飛鳥所啄」（耶十二9）。誠然，他們是因自己的罪將患難招致自己身上；神為他們的緣故懲罰他們；但他們的鄰舍之所以恨惡他們、逼迫他們，卻是因他們聖約的特殊性、並他們宗教的與眾不同。「這些從我幼年以來，敵人屢次苦害我。」當留意，神的百姓素來有許多仇敵，而教會從其嬰孩時代起，其狀態就屢為受苦之狀態。以色列的幼年是在埃及、或在士師時代；那時他們受苦，此後或多或少也是如此。福音的教會自其有存在以來，就時常受苦；而在其幼年時所負的軛最重——可見初期教會所呻吟其下的十次大逼迫。如同扶犁的在我背上扶犁而耕（詩一二九3）。我們在詩一二五3讀到惡人的杖在義人的分上——那裏我們倒寧可期待找到犁，好為自己劃出地界；此處我們讀到惡人的犁在義人的背上——這裏我們倒寧可找到的是杖。但這些地方的比方可說是交錯的；然而兩者的意義相同，而且太明顯了——神百姓的仇敵向來野蠻地對待他們。他們撕裂他們，如同農夫用犁頭撕裂土地一般，要將他們撕碎、並從他們榨取一切所能得的，如此磨損至高者的聖民——如同久被耕種的地被磨損（如我們所說）完全失去了地力。當神容許他們如此耕犁時，祂的用意是為祂百姓的益處——使他們的荒地如此被開墾，祂可以在其上撒下恩典的種子、並從其上收割好果子的豐收；然而仇敵並不如此打算，他們的心也並不如此思想（賽十7）；他們耕的犁溝甚長——從不知何時為止，其志向不外乎教會的毀滅。許多人將他們在神百姓背上所開的犁溝理解為他們所加的鞭傷。原文作切割的在我背上切割。聖徒屢次受殘忍鞭笺的試驗（大概是俘虜所受的），又受殘忍的戲弄（因為我們讀到舌頭的鞭子或舌鞭，來十一36），這話也應驗在基督身上——祂將背交給擊打的人（賽五十6）。或可指他們對以色列城邑所造成的荒涼。錫安必因你們的緣故被耕種如田（彌三12）。2. 教會素來蒙她在天上的朋友恩典地解救。（1）仇敵的計謀已被挫敗。他們苦害教會，盼望毀滅它，卻未得逞。它已度過許多風暴；它已經受了許多震動、許多衝撞；然而它仍然存在：他們卻沒有勝了我。人會希奇這隻船如何在海上存活——當它被暴風拋擲、一切的波浪洪濤都漫過它時。基督把祂的教會建造在磐石上，陰間的權柄不能勝過它，永遠也不能。（2）仇敵的勢力已被折斷：神砍斷了惡人的繩索——砍斷了他們的挽繩、他們的繮繩，如此破壞了他們的耕犁；砍斷了他們的鞭子，如此破壞了他們的鞭笞；砍斷了他們賴以聯合的聯合之帶；又砍斷了他們拘禁神百姓的俘虜之索。神有許多方法使惡人不能行他們所設計要加害教會的惡，又使他們的計謀蒙羞。耶和華是公義的這話，可指教會的困苦、或指教會的解救。〔1〕耶和華是公義的，在容許以色列受苦上。神的百姓素來樂於承認這一點：無論他們的仇敵多麼不義，神在所臨到他們的一切事上都是公義的（尼九33）。〔2〕耶和華是公義的，在不容許以色列被毀滅上；因為祂已應許保守它作歸於自己的子民，祂必信守祂的話。祂在與他們的逼迫者算帳、並報應他們（帖後一6）上，是公義的。
英文原文
Domestic Happiness
A song of degrees.
¹ Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
² Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.
³ The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
⁴ The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
The church of God, in its several ages, is here spoken of, or, rather, here speaks, as one single person, now old and gray-headed, but calling to remembrance the former days, and reflecting upon the times of old. And, upon the review, it is found, 1. That the church has been often greatly distressed by its enemies on earth: Israel may now say, "I am the people that has been oppressed more than any people, that has been as a speckled bird, pecked at by all the birds round about," Jer 12:9. It is true, they brought their troubles upon themselves by their sins; it was for them that God punished them; but it was for the peculiarity of their covenant, and the singularities of their religion, that their neighbours hated and persecuted them. "For these many a time have they afflicted me from my youth." Note, God's people have always had many enemies, and the state of the church, from its infancy, has frequently been an afflicted state. Israel's youth was in Egypt, or in the times of the Judges; then they were afflicted, and thenceforward more or less. The gospel-church, ever since it had a being, has been at times afflicted; and it bore this yoke most of all in its youth, witness the ten persecutions which the primitive church groaned under. The ploughers ploughed upon my back, Ps 129:3. We read (Ps 125:3) of the rod of the wicked upon the lot of the righteous, where we rather expected the plough, to mark it out for themselves; here we read of the plough of the wicked upon the back of the righteous, where we rather expected to find the rod. But the metaphors in these places may be said to be crossed; the sense however of both is the same, and is too plain, that the enemies of God's people have all along used them very barbarously. They tore them, as the husbandman tears the ground with his plough-share, to pull them to pieces and get all they could out of them, and so to wear out the saints of the Most High, as the ground is worn out that has been long tilled, tilled (as we say) quite out of heart. When God permitted them to plough thus he intended it for his people's good, that, their fallow ground being thus broken up, he might sow the seeds of his grace upon them, and reap a harvest of good fruit from them: howbeit, the enemies meant not so, neither did their hearts think so (Isa 10:7); they made long their furrows, never knew when to have done, aiming at nothing less than the destruction of the church. Many by the furrows they made on the backs of God's people understand the stripes they gave them. The cutters cut upon my back, so they read it. The saints have often had trials of cruel scourgings (probably the captives had) and cruel mockings (for we read of the scourge or lash of the tongue, Heb 11:36), and so it was fulfilled in Christ, who gave his back to the smiters, Isa 50:6. Or it may refer to the desolations they made of the cities of Israel. Zion shall, for your sake, be ploughed as a field, Mic 3:12. 2. That the church has been always graciously delivered by her friend in heaven. (1.) The enemies' projects have been defeated. They have afflicted the church, in hopes to ruin it, but they have not gained their point. Many a storm it has weathered; many a shock, and many a brunt, it has borne; and yet it is in being: They have not prevailed against me. One would wonder how this ship has lived at sea, when it has been tossed with tempests, and all the waves and billows have gone over it. Christ has built his church upon a rock, and the gates of hell have not prevailed against it, nor ever shall. (2.) The enemies' power has been broken: God has cut asunder the cords of the wicked, has cut their gears, their traces, and so spoiled their ploughing, has cut their scourges, and so spoiled their lashing, has cut the bands of union by which they were combined together, has cut the bands of captivity in which they held God's people. God has many ways of disabling wicked men to do the mischief they design against his church and shaming their counsels. These words, The Lord is righteous, may refer either to the distresses or to the deliverances of the church. [1.] The Lord is righteous in suffering Israel to be afflicted. This the people of God were always ready to own, that, how unjust soever their enemies were, God was just in all that was brought upon them, Ne 9:33. [2.] The Lord is righteous in not suffering Israel to be ruined; for he has promised to preserve it a people to himself, and he will be as good as his word. He is righteous in reckoning with their persecutors, and rendering to them a recompence, 2Th 1:6.
5-8
God's Regard to His Church
繁體中文
神對祂教會的眷顧
⁵ 願恨惡錫安的，都蒙羞退後。 ⁶ 他們要像房頂上的草，未長成而枯乾； ⁷ 收割的不夠一把，捆禾的也不滿懷。 ⁸ 過路的也不說，願耶和華的福歸與你們；我們奉耶和華的名給你們祝福。
詩人既已誇勝於那些深如地獄、為毀滅教會而設的許多計謀的挫敗，在此像底波拉結束她的歌那樣結束本詩：「耶和華啊，願你一切仇敵都這樣滅亡！」（士 5:31）
一、有許多人恨惡錫安，恨惡錫安的神、祂的敬拜、並祂的敬拜者，對宗教和敬虔的人懷有反感，尋求兩者的毀滅，並盡其所能使神在世上沒有教會。
二、我們當求神使一切攻擊教會的企圖盡都挫敗，使他們在其中蒙羞並退後，如同那些不能達成其事業和期望的人：「願……都蒙羞退後」——這話等於說：他們必都蒙羞。所咒詛並預言的混亂，以一個比喻來說明：當神的百姓如結滿果實的棕樹、或青綠結果的橄欖樹那樣茂盛之時（詩 92:12-14），他們的仇敵卻要如房頂上的草那樣枯乾。他們作為人，不足畏懼，因為他們必被變為草（賽 51:12）；但作為錫安的仇敵，他們如此確定地被注定毀滅，以致可以帶著如同房頂上的草那樣的藐視來看待——那草短小、細瘦、發酸、一無所用。1. 它迅速枯亡：它*「未長成而枯乾」——還沒有長到任何成熟的地步就枯乾了，因為沒有根；而它所處的位置越高——或許這就是它的驕傲——就越暴露於太陽的灼熱之下，因而越快枯乾。它在被拔出之前就枯乾了——照有人所讀的。神教會的仇敵自行枯乾，不等到神的審判把他們根除。2. 它對任何人無用；他們也不過是地上無用的重擔，他們攻擊錫安的企圖永不能成熟或達到任何地步，無論他們對自己有甚麼指望，從其中所得的不會超過農夫從他房頂上的草所得的。他們的「收割在愁苦極其悲痛的日子就被捆住」*（賽 17:11）。
三、智慧人不會求神賜福那些割草或收割的人（詩 129:8）。請觀察，1. 向陌生人和行人致意、並祝他們有好日子，特別是為收割工人的亨通禱告，這是古老而可稱讚的風俗。波阿斯就這樣為他的收割工人禱告（得 2:4）：「願耶和華與你們同在。」我們當這樣承認神的護理、向鄰舍表達我們的善意、並稱讚他們的勤勞，而若是出於敬虔正直的心，這必蒙神悅納為一個敬虔的呼求。2. 宗教的言語既是聖潔的事物，就絕不可在輕浮和滑稽的舉動中使用。割房頂上的草會是一個笑話，所以那些敬畏神名的人，不會把帶有敬虔意味的常用問安形式濫用在這上面；因為聖物不可拿來開玩笑（傳 5:2）。3. 在教會仇敵攻擊教會的圖謀中，把我們的好願意給他們，是危險的事。我們若向他們問安，就在他們的惡行上有分（約貳 11）。當說無人會賜福他們、向他們表示尊重之時，其中暗示的更多，就是一切智慧良善的人都要向他們呼喊羞辱，並求神擊敗他們；而那些有聖徒禱告反對的人有禍了。「我就咒詛他的住處」（伯 5:3）。
英文原文
God's Regard to His Church
⁵ Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
⁶ Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
⁷ Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.
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.
The psalmist, having triumphed in the defeat of the many designs that had been laid as deep as hell to ruin the church, here concludes his psalm as Deborah did her song, So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord! Jdg 5:31.
I. There are many that hate Zion, that hate Zion's God, his worship, and his worshippers, that have an antipathy to religion and religious people, that seek the ruin of both, and do what they can that God may not have a church in the world.
II. We ought to pray that all their attempts against the church may be frustrated, that in them they may be confounded and turned back with shame, as those that have not been able to bring to pass their enterprise and expectation: Let them all be confounded is as much as, They shall be all confounded. The confusion imprecated and predicted is illustrated by a similitude; while God's people shall flourish as the loaded palm-tree, or the green and fruitful olive, their enemies shall wither as the grass upon the house-top. As men they are not to be feared, for they shall be made as grass, Isa 51:12. But as they are enemies to Zion they are so certainly marked for ruin that they may be looked upon with as much contempt as the grass on the house-tops, which is little, and short, and sour, and good for nothing. 1. It perishes quickly: It withers before it grows up to any maturity, having no root; and the higher its place is, which perhaps is its pride, the more it is exposed to the scorching heat of the sun, and consequently the sooner does it wither. It withers before it is plucked up, so some read it. The enemies of God's church wither of themselves, and stay not till they are rooted out by the judgments of God. 2. It is of no use to any body; nor are they any thing but the unprofitable burdens of the earth, nor will their attempts against Zion ever ripen or come to any head, nor, whatever they promise themselves, will they get any more by them than the husbandman does by the grass on his house-top. Their harvest will be a heap in the day of grief, Isa 17:11.
III. No wise man will pray God to bless the mowers or reapers, Ps 129:8. Observe, 1. It has been an ancient and laudable custom not only to salute and wish a good day to strangers and travellers, but particularly to pray for the prosperity of harvest-labourers. Thus Boas prayed for his reapers. Ru 2:4, The Lord be with you. We must thus acknowledge God's providence, testify our good-will to our neighbours, and commend their industry, and it will be accepted of God as a pious ejaculation if it come from a devout and upright heart. 2. Religious expressions, being sacred things, must never be made use of in light and ludicrous actions. Mowing the grass on the house-top would be a jest, and therefore those that have a reverence for the name of God will not prostitute to it the usual forms of salutation, which savoured of devotion; for holy things must not be jested with. 3. It is a dangerous thing to let the church's enemies have our good wishes in their designs against the church. If we wish them God speed, we are partakers of their evil deeds, 2Jo 1:11. When it is said, None will bless them, and show them respect, more is implied, namely, that all wise and good people will cry out shame on them, and beg of God to defeat them; and woe to those that have the prayers of the saints against them. I cursed his habitation, Job 5:3.
本篇論到神以色列的公眾事務。不能確定它何時寫成，可能是在他們被擄於巴比倫之時，或在他們歸回前後。一、他們帶着感恩回顧神從前為他們和他們列祖所成就的拯救——他們歷代以來屢屢陷於其中的諸般患難裏，神都救了他們出來（詩一二九1-4）。二、他們憑信心前瞻，為錫安一切仇敵的滅亡禱告並仰望（詩一二九5-8）。我們唱這詩時，可從兩方面將它應用於福音的以色列——她正如舊約的以色列一樣，經過了許多風暴，至今仍受許多仇敵威脅。