Psalm 129 - Oppressed

This Psalm has rather a strange start, with Israel declaring that she has been greatly oppressed since her youth. This is referring to her enslavement in Egypt, and maybe also to the fact that many nations had sought to oppress her since. Indeed, this is still true today. However, they have not gained the victory over her. 

They tried many things to destroy Israel, but the Lord rescued her. Indeed, it is a miracle that Israel exists today as a nation. For many years she had no homeland at all, yet still maintained her identity, and now has a homeland. Likewise, our society is increasingly anti-Christian, but we should not fear for the Lord is on our side. The day I am writing this (30/3/2013), Lord Carey has written an article in the Daily Mail complaining about this very matter. However, we need to remember that when society turns against God it is society that has most to fear, not the church. We know God, we know His salvation. Society cannot and will not defeat us. It is society that we need to feel sorry for, for they bring pain upon themselves. And we need to pray for the salvation of our land, pray that our land will turn to Christ.

Postscript:
As you will see this was originally written about seven weeks ago. Yesterday the Church of Scotland General Assembly decided to allow parishes to ordain practising gay clergy, and the in the UK parliament legislation on same-sex-marriage made further progress. So this post seems particularly apposite.
It is important to remember in these times the famous words in John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

At a time when society and parts of the church are going against the clearly revealed word of God we need to remember that God has both an absolutely clear view of what is right and what is wrong, and a deep sacrificial love for humanity.