A Psalm for Sunday. Psalm 128.
Fruitfulness in your life and home.
This psalm lays down the conditions
for labour, personal wellbeing, and a happy home. The blessings of an ordered
life are seen in the godly man/woman and their family. For our Christian life
and faith, when it is genuine, will always cast a blessing in the home. The
secret of a successful home is the fear of God, verse one.
Verse
one:
“Blessed
is everyone who fears the Lord.”
Jesus will set us free from anxiety if
we fear God. Fear or reverence issues in obedience, for reverence is “being in
the right relationship with God.” It could be said that the man/woman who fears
God brings heaven into their home. For to fear God is to fear nothing else.
“Who walks in His
ways.”
The man/woman, who fears the Lord,
will then walk in the ways of the Lord. Here we see a person busy in God’s concerns.
The response to God is not one of relaxation, but of movement in spiritual
things.
Verse two:
“When you eat the
labour of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.”
The link between obedience and prosperity
is often seen in the Old Testament (e.g., Deuteronomy
28:1-14). The enjoyment of a successful harvest was a token of divine
blessing. Hard work is taken for granted, and enjoyment of its fruit is a gift
from God (Isaiah 62:8-9). Man must labour,
but God will bless the labour of a righteous person; for they shall be happy
and prosperous.
Verse three:
“Your wife shall
be like a fruitful vine in the heart of your house.”
A happy choice of symbol for a loved wife,
for she is like a vine. Needing support yet ever giving more than getting in bring
joy for her husband (Psalm 104:15 “And
wine that makes glad the heart of man”). In this psalm the attractiveness
of his wife is wholly matched by her faithfulness. The wife gives the rich wine
of life, which is love. For wine is the symbol of gracefulness.
“Your children
will be like olive plants all around your table
The olive symbolises strength and
continuance (Psalm 52:8 “But I am like a
green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and
ever”).
The children around the table are the hope
and promise of the future, as tender growth is nurtured. Children as olive
plants are sources of impending joy, for parenthood reveals the blessings of
the Lord.
Verse four:
“Behold, thus
shall the man/woman be blessed who fears the Lord.”
This is the repeat from verse one,
for the purpose of emphasising that blessings are property experienced only in
the context of the fear of the Lord.
Verse five:
“The Lord bless
you out of Zion.”
A person’s personal and domestic
fulfilment comes only by the Lord who dwells in Zion. For national and family
blessings are closely associated, for godly families are the basis of national well-being.
The godly person is a member of the Christ’s Church, and their happiness is
incomplete apart from the well-being of God’s larger family.
“And may you see
the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.”
Again, it needs to be noted that a
person’s well-being is bound up with the prosperity of Jerusalem, and the good
of God’s people. The welfare of the family is inseparable from the prosperity
of
Verse six:
“Yes, may you see
your children’s children (grand-children).”
This short psalm ends with the promise of
long life to those that “fear the Lord
God.”
“Peace be upon
Israel!”
The psalm closes with prayer for peace.
God’s people should show themselves true citizens of the
Conclusion:
One can almost see this happy person
returning at the end of a day’s toil to their home, where a happy loving family
awaits them.
Such homes form the foundation of any
nation. The psalmist knows that the fear of the Lord is the basis for this
happy home.
