THE SONGS OF ASCENT – PART 10 – PSALM 128 – THE BLESSING OF THE LORD WITH FLOW ON RESULTS. FEAR THE LORD!
PSALM 128:0 A SONG OF ASCENTS. BLESSING IN EVERY VERSE
[A]. INTRODUCTION
This is such a mixed Psalm dealing mostly with blessing but the whole of it must depend on verse 1. The Psalmist states the fixed security and truth of the opening verse as if nailing it to the wall, then listing under it a series of blessings that would follow on from that opening verse.
One of the problems is that in the reality of life we do not always see such a list of blessings flowing for the righteous ones of verse 1. It is almost as if this is an idealistic Psalm. The Psalm very much relates to a rural setting before taking a quick look at Jerusalem in verse 5. We will attempt to make sense out of this because the promises of God stand sure, and nothing will ever detract from the special union God has with His own children of faith, even though all may not enter into the seamless blessings set out in the psalm.
[B]. THE FEAR OF THE LORD LEADS TO WALKING IN HIS WAYS
{{Psalm 128:1 “How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways.”}}
Just looking at the verse we see three words that are quite common in the Psalms, namely “blessed, fear/fears, walks”. One thing about the book of Psalms, it its consistency. The Psalms are the song book we know, but more than that I have found that in every situation of life there is at least one Psalm that relates to my emotion, be that distress, fear, trouble, deliverance, joy or needing to cast myself on the Lord. God has given us a remarkable collection of inspired words to meet every condition.
The blessing spoken of seems dependent upon two actions. The first is fear (of the Lord) and the second is “walks in His way”. Those two actions are related and don’t really exist in isolation.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
There is a very important concept in the bible that must transfer into daily living in God’s presence. In fact without this truth it is useless to proceed any further. Human beings will either stand on their own reasoning before God, or they will willingly and humbly accept God’s only standard.
We have a fundamental verse here to look at (two verses in different wording) – {{Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”}} The second one is this – {{Proverbs 9:10 “THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”}} Meditate and appropriate this to yourself. And understand it - The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. That is our starting point with God. You can not approach God in arrogance or human wisdom which is really foolishness with God. It must be in reverential fear.
But what is that, you might well ask. It means a proper, godly respect and humility. We recognise God as the all-powerful Creator and Sustainer of the universe, a God of love and compassion, but who is also a God of justice and retribution.
We have a modern curse in the world today totally capturing the minds of young people. It is called gaming – computer games often full of demonic themes and occult practices. The imagery is terrible with grossly distorted faces and figures, slanted eyes, and gods of vengeance and spells to overcome, and all that, full of demonic figures. Is it little wonder the world has no concept of a loving God and One of AWE and REVERENCE, high and lifted up. Satan wants us to fear vengeful gods.
To walk in the fear of God is not being scared out of your wits or trembling. It is faith and love and respect and such wonderful peace. Once we recognise who God is and give Him His rightful, holy place, then we start to understand the fear of the Lord. {{Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever”}} ? It is also reinforcing our previous verses.
The wording that opens verse 1 in all translations except three of them, begins with “Blessed” while the NASB and Holman and the International Standard Version put a “How” in front, possibly to strengthen “Blessed,” as the word “Blessed” is an interjection. It is as if God is emphasising the word as in “HOW REALLY BLESSED!” The Lord does not want us to miss out on this blessing so we must heed the remainder of the verse.
If you recall, the very opening word in the whole book of Psalms is “Blessed” beginning Psalm 1 where that Psalm lays out the two paths for all of the human race. The two categories are the righteous and wicked. Again Psalm 1:1 has Blessed associated with actions. A man is blessed if he does not walk in wicked ways, or sinners’ paths, or found seated with the scornful. It is all cut and dry. You do or you don’t; there is no compromise at all.
The word “blessed” is used extensively in the Psalms where it it can refer to a man of God. I have selected just three verses that have application to man, and therefore are related to Psalm 128:1 and Psalm 1:1.
(a). {{Psalm 32:1-2 “How BLESSED is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How BLESSED is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!”}}
The Lord really wants to bless man. The old imagery of Greek and Roman gods spitefully using men is not the God of the bible. He is the loving Creator who is our precious Redeemer. Guilt is such a terrible burden people carry around because of past actions and involvements and it eats away at the soul and affects all the emotions. Does God want us to carry around a burden of guilt (and its twin brother, “sin”)? Certainly not and that is where this gracious verse comes in.
The man is blessed whose sin is forgiven, covered and forever dismissed. The cross of Christ has dealt with sin forever and sins are obliterated forever and never will be remembered against us forever. The guilt has gone, for Jesus takes away the burden and guilt when we are saved. The devil still comes along and accuses you of past sins and tries to restore that guilt burden to you, but by faith, claim the full forgiveness of God and live in your redemption.
In verse 2 another thought is expressed for the man is blessed to whom the Lord will not ascribe or reckon iniquity. Our account of condemnation has been wiped clean and God is not going to revisit it and restore what He has forgiven. There are many references in psalms to this idea of a man being blessed when God removes His sin and sins STAY removed!
(b). {{Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the NATION whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.”}}
O, the truth of this! If only our nations of the world adopted this truth. How many nations today have claimed God as their Lord? Nations are sinful and have departed from God at a rapid rate these past 20 years. The United States has a motto that today should be thrown away. “In God we trust” is a lie today, a forgotten truth of the past. The USA is in a rapid sinful decline as is Australia and Europe, and all over. They have banished God in delusion and will reap the consequences, for they are not blessed anymore, but are placing themselves under a curse.
I was pleasantly surprised when in Pango Pango (American Samoa) to see the island buses with verses on them and it was a blessing. The motto in Samoa is “In Samoa God is first”. That is the closest nation I know that acknowledges the Lord.
In a very special way Psalm 33:12 is talking about Israel. Israel is that nation God has chosen for His own inheritance. God chose Abraham and his descendants as His inheritance and this verse is very specific to Israel, but it can also apply to all nations of the world, but all nations reject the Lord.
(c). {{Psalm 34:8 “O TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”}}
What a fantastic verse this one is. It can be used for salvation and for a deeper Christian life. Taste and see! The one who comes genuinely and tastes the goodness of God will never be disappointed and will never leave the Lord. The verse is an invitation to come, just the way Isaiah near the end of his prophecy invited the people to come – {{Isaiah 55:1-2 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money come, buy and eat. COME, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance.”}}
God asks people to taste; and for people to come; and those who do are blessed – it is a promise of the Lord to do so.
However the opposite is true and this is where nations stand today, and so many people as well - {{Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the LORD, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD.”}}
[C]. THE FRUIT OF YOUR OWN HANDS IN THE LORD’S FREEDOM
{{Psalm 128:2 “When you shall eat of THE FRUIT OF YOUR HANDS, you will be happy and it will be well with you.”}}
Eating of the fruit “of your hands” is a fruitful activity from the fruitful yield of produce. When crops and fruit trees (and livestock too) all produce abundantly then you can call that blessed. This whole Psalm is about blessing and fruitfulness and is closely related to Israel the nation. Christians do take the verses here and make application to themselves and to Christian work for God, but we have to remember that the whole emphasis is for Israel. It is not wrong to apply some of the promises and conditions to those who believe and follow God, but we must never lose sight of the meaning of the Psalm for Israel, and many commentators and churches have failed to do that. They write Israel off and you can not do that because they are God’s inheritance and He has enormous blessings for Israel in the future when the nation is restored.
Being happy and well is a mark of blessing. When a nation departs from God and turns to wickedness as our western nations are now doing, increasing numbers of people are not happy but feel miserable and times are becoming difficult. Incidentally, this is in line with biblical prophecies of the last days of the Church age.
One must not miss the importance of one word in this verse – “your”. It won’t be from another’s hand or under the domination of a foreign power or control. Your prosperity is in your own hands. That was extremely important for Israel and will be so in the future as this verse explains – {{Micah 4:3-4 “He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war. Each of them will sit under HIS VINE and under HIS FIG TREE, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.”}}
The Micah verses are referring to the Millennial Kingdom that will come into being after the Tribulation when the Lord returns at the Second Coming. The whole earth will be under God’s peace and will be fruitful, for the Lord will reign in Jerusalem. People will own their own things and socialism will be gone forever! Psalm 128:2 will be exactly what will happen.
[D]. BLESSINGS EXTEND TO WIVES AND CHILDREN
{{Psalm 128:3 “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children like olive plants around your table.”}}
Now the focus turns to family life. We looked at the productivity of the land and the blessing upon the man who fears the Lord and walks in His way. Now we look at a righteous man’s family. It says firstly that his wife will be fruitful and that was in obedience to the command given to Adam and Eve. If you recall the previous Psalm the ending was this – {{Psalm 127:5 “How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them,”}} and that was speaking of the children he had. Children were a blessing from the Lord.
The man who fears the Lord will have a wonderful family and that is what God intended but the application was to Israel. I see it very much applying to the pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem for the feasts, those who were singing these Psalms.
I feel something has to be qualified here. There are godly marriages where the marriage is barren and where the couple does walk in the fear of the Lord and in His way, but they have to endure tough times and might be dismissed from work or they run into hard times and really struggle. Does this mean they are not blessed by the Lord? Is there something wrong with these dear Christians themselves? The answer is an emphatic NO.
Look at the early Christians whose lives were turned upside down; they lost all and many were martyred for their faith. That still happens in the world and it is increasing. Christians face persecution, rejection and all manner of evil against them. Does that mean they are not blessed? No it does not. Israel is the people of the LAND and their blessings ARE IN THE LAND. Christians are citizens of heaven and their blessings are IN THE HEAVENLIES. God has not promised us these earthly blessings in the land that were promised to the Jews such as we have in this verse.
Back to Psalm 128:3. Olive trees spread out and so shall the children the godly Jew had at that time. The picture is that of the young olive trees springing up round the parent stem, fresh and full of promise. Dr Horne says this – [[“The vine, a lowly plant, raised with tender care, becoming, by its luxuriance, its beauty, its fragrance, and its clusters, the ornament and glory of the house to which it is joined, and by which it is supported, forms the finest imaginable emblem of a fair, virtuous, and fruitful wife. The olive-trees planted by the inhabitants of the eastern countries around their tables, or banqueting-places in their gardens, to cheer the eye by their verdure, and to refresh the body by their cooling shade, do no less aptly and significantly set forth the pleasure which parents feel at the side of a numerous and flourishing offspring.”]]
[E]. THE VERSE CONFIRMS BLESSING FOR THOSE WHO FEAR THE LORD
{{Psalm 128:4 “Behold, for thus shall the man be BLESSED who FEARS the LORD.”}}
This is a summary verse for what has transpired in the Psalm, and just to be sure the psalmist reminds us it is for those “who fear the Lord”. In the previous verses we have considered blessings that will come the way of that godly man who fears the Lord.
We are blessed as well; not necessarily in material things but in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and sins forgiven and peace and grace and the hope of being with the Lord forever. They are great heavenly blessings. Just a couple of verses that place us in blessing –
{{Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has BLESSED us with every SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the HEAVENLY PLACES in Christ,”}} AND {{1Peter 3:14 “Even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are BLESSED, and do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,”}} AND {Revelation 22:14 “BLESSED are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”}}
[F]. BLESSINGS INCLUDE THE PROSPERITY OF JERUSALEM
{{Psalm 128:5 “The LORD bless you from Zion and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.”}}
Let us not forget that these Psalms of Ascent were centred on Jerusalem as the pilgrims went there three times a year for the Feasts. They sang as they ascended the rising countryside into the hills. In other words there is a very strong Jewish flavour in the wording.
There are two concepts in this verse. The first is that the Lord who is strongly associated with Zion, will bless “you”, that is, these pilgrims on their journey. The second concept is the prosperity of Jerusalem. How devastating it would have been for all the pilgrims to have witnessed the destruction and slaughter of Jerusalem in 597 B.C about 400 years later. That is what sin does. It destroys, and it destroys the soul in hell. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for His salvation and do not neglect it, not even for one minute. {{2Corinthians 6:2 for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”}}
The prosperity of Jerusalem would only continue while the fear of the Lord had its rightful place and people sought the Lord. We know the nation turned to idolatry and brought about their own destruction.
[G]. MAY YOU SEE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN AND BE COVERED IN PEACE
{{Psalm 128:6 “Indeed, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!”}}
Seeing your grandchildren is a mark of old age and it is assumed these pilgrims walked with the Lord all their lives and God gave them a long life, even if it was around 70 years in those days. {{Job 12:12 “Wisdom is with aged men; with long life is understanding. {{Psalm 91:16 With a long life I will satisfy him and let him behold My salvation.”}}
There must have been sadness for those taken away into captivity who did not see family through disruption but the cause of that was ungodliness.
Fear the Lord always! Honour God as the Lord of heaven and earth! Amen. That was the standard by which these pilgrims lived.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
