20231207

grass on the rooftops

Psalm 129:1-8 (JDV)

Psalm 129:1 [A song of festival caravans.] Since my youth they have often attacked me — let Israel say —
Psalm 129:2 Since my youth they have frequently attacked me, but they have not prevailed against me.
Psalm 129:3 Plowmen plowed over my back; they made their furrows long.
Psalm 129:4 Yahveh is righteous; he has cut the ropes of the wicked.
Psalm 129:5 Let all who hate Zion be pushed back in disgrace.
Psalm 129:6 Let them be like grass on the rooftops, which dries up before it grows up
Psalm 129:7 and can’t even fill the hands of the reaper or the arms of the one who binds sheaves.
Psalm 129:8 And none who pass by say, “May Yahveh’s blessing be on you. We bless you in the name of Yahveh.”

grass on the rooftops

Rooftops were not a good place for a garden in the psalmist’s day. Grass there would wither quickly, and there was not enough soil for a crop. The psalmist looks upon Zion’s enemies, who were oppressing his people. He saw them as high and mighty, but unable to bless, or be blessed. That is why he likened them to grass on a rooftops.

LORD, make us into people who bless others, not people who are always condemning others.