Daily Devotional Friday Faith | September 25, 2026
Happy Friday! It’s time for your daily devotional. Next in our Songs of Ascent series is Psalm 129. It’s a tribute to Israel’s survival as a nation, and they’re the oldest ethnic group on the planet. Even though Israel’s history is filled with adversity, the psalmist rejoices in God’s protection and deliverance from ancient times. In today’s daily devotional, trust God to be your Protector; His power never fails.
You’re Still Standing
Many nations have epic narratives that glorify their history, immortalizing great victories, powerful kings, or national heroes. In contrast, Israel’s history narrates her much suffering and affliction. Verses 1 and 2 repeat the same line: “Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth.” After the patriarchs’ time ended, Israel was enslaved in Egypt. In her youth, God delivered her and brought her into her own land, where, over time, she endured warfare, captivity, and subjugation by many nations.
Verse 2 concludes: “Yet they have not prevailed against me.” Many nations have tried to annihilate her, destroy her land, or possess her territory, but Israel remains. In your daily devotional, look back over your life and rejoice that even though you’ve endured difficulties, you’re still standing.
Enemies are Confounded
Verse 3 says, “The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.” The imagery is of a plow cutting and breaking exposed backs, laid low by oppressors. Yet verse 4 praises the righteous God who cut the cords of the wicked. When Israel was greatly oppressed, God overturned her enemies. Verse 5 says, “Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.” This prayer expresses righteous anger against those who afflict God’s people.
For to wage war against Zion is to wage war against God. Just as the Philistine army became confused and began fighting each other in 1 Samuel 14:20, the psalmist prays that Israel’s enemies be perplexed and turn back. In this daily devotional, trust God to dismantle any attack the enemy wages against you.
God’s Covenant
In verse 6, the psalmist sings, “Let them all be as the grass upon the housetops.” The psalmist continues praying that Israel’s enemies’ green season soon end, and they fade away. Verse 7 says, “Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.” This song prays against Israel’s enemies receiving a full harvest.
Israel won’t be pillaged and plundered by evil enemies. Israel belongs to a merciful God, who remembers His covenant made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In your daily devotional, you are God’s child, and Psalm 91:10 promises that “there shall no evil befall thee.”
God’s Blessings
To end his prayer, the psalmist pronounces, “Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we bless you in the name of the Lord.” There’s no greater joy in life than to be blessed in the name of the Lord; however, the psalmist denounces blessing Israel’s enemies. God’s blessings will be far from them, for “the curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked.” In your daily devotional, when you walk uprightly before God, His blessings are ever upon you.
Your Protector Never Fails
In Friday’s daily devotional, Israel’s enemies cannot receive God’s blessings while oppressing His people. Proverbs 5:1 confirms that they must listen to God’s wisdom and give ear to His understanding, for God blesses the house of the just. In today’s daily devotional, although you “walk in the midst of trouble,” God revives you; your Protector never fails.
