WE SHALL OVERCOME

The opening phrase ‘from my youth’ must not mislead us into imagining that this is a personal lament in which an individual reviews his past life. It is Israel’s history as a people that is here likened to the stages of human existence, so that the  reference to oppression from the earliest stages recalls the early history of this people in the bondage of slavery in Egypt.  The psalmist knows that this pattern of oppression has been continuously repeated as a small, vulnerable people were constantly threatened by alien powers possessing military might and contemptuous of Israel’s faith in the Lord.

Yet, however persistent and powerful the oppressing forces were, ‘they have not gained the victory’ (v 2). The life history of this people was one of continuous struggle, of constant external threats, or, as one commentator describes it, ‘one single passion narrative’.1 The phrase reminds us of Jesus, whose own life story embodied this same struggle, even unto death. In His case, however, we may exclaim with overflowing joy the truth that the powers of darkness ‘have not gained the victory’ (v 2)!

If the historical pattern of suffering and victory described in this psalm foreshadows the experience of the Messiah, does it  not also suggest that this will be the path of faith for all who follow Jesus? As John Bunyan expressed it: ‘He who would  valiant be / ’gainst all disaster, / let him in constancy / follow the Master. / There’s no discouragement / shall make him once relent / his first avowed intent / to be a pilgrim.’

This psalm is a Jewish prayer. Jews have known oppression and hatred throughout history. Take time to pray for Jewish people, especially those facing anti-Semitism today.