Psalm 128 English Standard Version Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the LORD A Song of Ascents. 128 Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! 2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. 5 The LORD bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! 6 May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel! This sounds a lot like Psalm 1 that tells us what the "blessed" man and the "wicked" man look like. As the people are ascending in elevation to visit Jerusalem and the Temple, they are to reflect on how the LORD wants them to be obedient so that He can bless them and that will make them happy and joyful. Their work will be productive, they will have lots of descendants (something very important in that time), and those children and grandchildren will also love the LORD and walk in obedience after the example that their parents and grandparents have left for them.
If the people, especially the leaders in Jerusalem, want prosperity, then they need to fear the LORD and obey Him. To do so is to seek the prosperity of Jerusalem (which represents the physical kingdom of the Jewish people here on earth) and the individuals that make up that nation and their children and grandchildren and all future generations. What we do to obey or disobey God has an impact on others around us in for generations to come. Live in such a way where God blesses your obedience and that blessing spills out on all those around you in your family and your community because He will fill you to overflowing so that you can bless others--not the "prosperity gospel" here, but simply that there is a pattern of blessing for obedience and that the purpose of receiving blessings is to use them to glorify God and bless others--especially by sharing the gospel with them. Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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