Psalm 129

Persecutors punished. Up from my youth, may Isr'el say, Have I been nursed in tears; My griefs were constant as the day, And tedious as the years. Up from my youth I bore the rage Of all the sons of strife; Oft they assailed my riper age, But not destroyed my life. Their cruel plow had torn my flesh With furrows long and deep; Hourly they vexed my wounds afresh, Nor let my sorrows sleep. The Lord grew angry on his throne, And, with impartial eye, Measured the mischiefs they had done, Then let his arrows fly. How was their insolence surprised To hear his thunders roll! And all the foes of Zion seized With horror to the soul! Thus shall the men that hate the saints Be blasted from the sky; Their glory fades, their courage faints And all their projects die. [What though they flourish tall and fair, They have no root beneath; Their growth shall perish in despair, And lie despised in death.] [So corn that on the house-top stands No hope of harvest gives; The reaper ne'er shall fill his hands, Nor binder fold the sheaves. It springs and withers on the place; No traveller bestows A word of blessing on the grass, Nor minds it as he goes.]