God’s Word for You

Psalm 129:3-4 Sliced through the ropes

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, March 27, 2026

3 Plowmen have plowed my back.
They have made their furrows long.

The two verses we’re looking at here present two different images. First in verse 3 the speaker complains that his oppressors have treated him like a field, “plowing my back.” The furrows that they made doing all of this were “long.” This brings the mind immediately to the subject of whips and flogging. The lash makes deep furrows in the back, and no matter how they are treated, the marks of whipping become scars that remain for a lifetime.

In the account of Jesus’ suffering under Pontius Pilate, John 19:1 stands all alone as the transition between the last of Jesus’ trials and his cruel treatment at the hands of the Romans leading to his crucifixion and death in that Gospel. The verse says briefly: “Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.” There were rules in the Law of Moses about such a flogging. It is worthy of our attention to see that (1) the rules were in place to punish a wrongdoer but in such a way that he did not die from his punishment, and (2) that the Romans did not follow them in Jesus’ case, and therefore his suffering was all the more terrible, on account of our sins.

Moses commanded: “If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and have him flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime deserves” (Deuteronomy 25:2). So a judge could not order the punishment without witnessing that punishment personally. In some cases, witnessing such a punishment might cause a particular judge to become a little more compassionate about the punishments he ordered. Of course, there always appears in every generation a certain kind of man who revels in the suffering that others endure, possibly because he himself was excessively beaten or abused as a child. But Moses goes on with his instructions: “But he must not give him more than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother will be degraded in your eyes” (Deuteronomy 25:3). In addition to being close to bringing death to the man, the concern was that any more excessive punishment would bring him more shame than his crime deserved.

But as we have already said, the Romans were not constrained by the Law of Moses. The Romans used a short column or post (rostrum) to which the convict was tied or chained. Then they whipped him. Matthew and Mark use the word ϕραγελλώσας (Latin flagello written with Greek letters), while John says he was ἐμαστίγωσεν, although both terms mean to be scourged, or beaten with whips. Jesus used the Greek term mastigóo (μαστιγόω) in his own prophecies about his torture (Mark 10:34; Luke 18:33). This torture involved the entire Roman guard (not just ten or twenty men, but everyone available) whipping and beating the Messiah in addition to other tortures. The Gospel writers tell us that at one point they found an old purple robe and draped it over Jesus’ bloody back (causing further pain) and wove a crown of agonizing thorns and pressed this down onto his skull. They put a reed into his hand to mock him and give their “hails” to him as king. This was the only time Jesus wore purple or a crown or held a scepter, and was hailed as a king. The roars of obscenities and Roman laughter were the main point of the mockery, humiliating their victim. Isaiah had also foreseen all this: “I submitted by back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from disgrace and from spit” (Isaiah 50:6).

This is what our God endured in our place. Should we imagine that this would never actually have happened to any of us? Have we forgotten how terrible the torment of hell will be for those who reject Christ? He willingly accepted what we deserve.

4 But the LORD is righteous.
He has sliced through the ropes of the wicked.

When the Lord is called “righteous” in the Psalms, it’s often a kind of a cheer for the way God acts faithfully for his people. “They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn—for he has done this” (Psalm 22:31). “Deliver me in your righteousness” (Psalm 31:1). But we can’t discount the joy that God’s people have on account of his righteous justice: “The heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge” (Psalm 50:6). “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed” (Psalm 103:6).

The “ropes” or thick cords of the enemy are cut by God. In the intensive piel stem, we might expect a human subject to have “hacked” or “cut and cut and cut” (piel showing multiple occurances) through thick ropes, but since God is the subject, the simple intensive “sliced” seems like a more appropriate translation. The ropes fall apart as if they are mere cobwebs on a spring morning.

Also, notice that the verse says nothing about the speaker and those strong ropes. It isn’t stated that they were on his wrists or around his arms yet. He was not necessarily bound; the Lord cuts many bonds that are dangerous to us even before they are brought out against us. These are many of the unseen battles that he and his holy angels fight on our behalf behind the scenes.

The Lord “sliced through the ropes of the wicked” by sending his Son Jesus Christ to be bound in our place, flogged in our place, tortured in our place, and to be crucified and killed in our place. This certainly sliced through the devil’s intentions and plans; we have been saved. We have been promised a place with God forever in eternal life, to the frustration and horror of the devil, who will have to endure eternal torture and punishment and flogging without any of God’s people for company. The power of sin and death are also ended by the mercy of God and the active and passive obedience of Christ our Lord. “In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). And as Paul also said, “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ” (vs. 28).

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

Browse Devotion Archive