For thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
This song moves from the house and city that only the Lord can build to the table of the man who fears Him. His first blessing is the plainest one: he eats what he worked for. Why does so ordinary a promise count as blessing? And can a believer today claim it?
The promise sounds unremarkable until you remember the history behind it. Israel's story was full of harvests that never reached the family that grew them.
What a picture it presents of the calm, quiet enjoyment of the earthly people! How often had their fathers sown for others to reap! How often had the enemy invaded the land and carried off the produce of the soil! (Judges 6:3, 11.)
The point is not wealth but keeping what you earn. The blessing belongs to the obedient man, and it reaches his household.
It is the happiness of the obedient man. He lives on his own labour — he does not hand it over to another. Wife and children are the adornments of his house; and now there is no thought of enemies in the gate.
The promise is not new. The same chapter of the law that gave it also spells out its reverse.
First, he should enjoy the fruit of his own labour. This is simply the fulfilment of the promises God made to His people, on condition that they observed and kept His commandments (see Deuteronomy 28:1-12). The same chapter shows the contrast. There God warns them that, if they turned aside from His statutes and laws, others would eat the fruit of their land and all their labours. (v. 33.)
The verse promises a blessing and then adds something further — that it will be well with you. Older translations read "happy shall you be" where the ESV has "you shall be blessed." Dennett takes these as two gifts: an inward sense of God's favour, and a settled outcome under His hand.
A soul kept in holiness before God enjoys the sense of His favour. This soon proves to be the secret of all true happiness... So the godly Israelite learns here that God's eye was upon him. Sorrows and trials might still lie ahead. Even so, good would be the certain result of God's government and ways.
Some read the verse as a formula for getting rich by being good. The blessing is real, but the prosperity it promises is of another kind.
But if the Lord's blessing alone can keep or give success, those who fear the Lord can count on it. And this is true. It does not exclude persecution, nor does it exclude discipline and the exercise of faith. But when we walk in the fear of God, we are in the path of peace even here... It does not mean a prosperity that consists in gratifying our desires, but the peaceful enjoyment of divine favour here below.
The promise has a present-day side, and it comes as a warning.
And do not forget that there is a sense in which this may be true now of the children of God. If they walk with no regard for His word, with themselves as their object, God will often come in and deal with them in their circumstances. How many have set out to get on in the world! They laboured long and hard to reach their ends, and then, just as their goal was in sight, all the fruit of their toil suddenly disappeared. God's blessing can only rest on the labours of those who fear Him and walk in His ways.
Verse 1 sets the condition, and verse 2 flows out of it. The fear of God does not merely earn a reward for labour; it alters what the labour is.
It is marvellous grace that plants the fear of the Lord in human hearts... Labour then will not be mere "works of the flesh," but work moved by the knowledge of God; and in feeding on His Word the soul is truly happy (v. 2): all is in proper order.
Commentators agree the full scene belongs to a coming age of peace on earth rather than to present conditions.
Verses 2 to 4 describe the blessings of the God-fearing man. With the Millennium in view, the blessings are of an earthly order, rather than heavenly as with the Christian. Such a man will be blessed in his labours, happy in his spirit, blessed in his circumstances, and in the relationships of life.
- Fear — the whole verse hangs on verse 1. The blessing belongs to everyone who fears the Lord and walks in His ways.
- Work — the fear of God turns labour from "works of the flesh" into work moved by the knowledge of God.
- Bread — the reward is ordinary and secure. You live on your own labour instead of watching an enemy carry it off.
- Well-being — the happiness here is an inward sense of God's favour. "It shall be well with you" adds the certain outcome of His government, even through sorrow and trial.
- Warning — this is not prosperity that feeds our desires. When believers set out to get on in the world for their own ends, God often deals with them in their circumstances.
Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine in the inner part of thy house; thy children like olive-plants round about thy table.
Psalm 128 draws a picture of ordinary life for the person who fears the Lord. Work that pays, a wife at the heart of the house, children around the table. Is this a promise every believing family can claim today? Or is it a picture of a coming age that still shows us what a home should be?
Verse 3 is not a standalone promise about marriage. It sits inside a short list of blessings that belong to one kind of person.
Verses 2 to 4 describe the blessings of the God-fearing man. The Millennium is in view, so the blessings are earthly ones, not the heavenly blessings the Christian has. Such a man will be blessed in his labours, happy in his spirit, blessed in his circumstances, and in the relationships of life.
The verse gives three pictures: a vine, young olive plants, and a table.
This verse gives us a beautiful picture of family life as God meant it to be. The outstanding feature of the vine is fruitfulness. The children being like olive plants would speak of prosperity and contentment. The table speaks of fellowship. A well-ordered home should show these features.
Why a vine and an olive, and not some other plant?
The reader will remember that verse 3 speaks of the blessing of the earthly people. Keeping this in mind, he will notice the matchless beauty of the pictures drawn from the vine and the olive. The fruit of the vine is said to cheer both the heart of God and man. The fatness of the olive shows the blessing and privileges of God's people on the earth. It is indeed an exquisite picture of a happy family.
Read on its own, the verse sounds like a promise of a comfortable life now. Writers tie it instead to the Millennium, the coming age when the Lord reigns from Mount Zion.
Their affairs will prosper, and their families will know God's blessing. But this is not the worldly prosperity we can see now. It is tied straight to the kingdom set up in power on Mount Zion.
Where does this fear of the Lord come from? And why is the picture unspoiled?
It is marvellous grace that plants the fear of the Lord in human hearts. Some do not have it, others do. But the blessing of it is wonderful, for it moves the heart to walk in the ways of the Lord — a precious privilege indeed. The context shows that this will be true in the millennium: the wife like a fruitful vine, the children like olive plants all around the table. In that day sin will spoil fruitfulness far less than it does now.
Commentators differ in emphasis here. Some keep the focus on the coming kingdom. Others say the picture still shapes what believing parents may hope for today.
Many believers today will appreciate it. What greater joy have they on earth, apart from the gathering of God's people, than to see harmony in their families? Their children grow up around their table, no seat yet empty, and all give promise of the work of the Spirit of God in their souls. And let it be said plainly: Christian heads of households have every right to look for the spiritual meaning of this picture of domestic peace and blessing to come true.
Whatever we take from the psalm now, it is not a shield against hardship.
It does not exclude persecution, nor does it exclude discipline and the exercise of faith. But when we walk in the fear of God, we are in the path of peace even here. It does not mean prosperity that consists in getting what we want. It means prosperity that consists in the peaceful enjoyment of God's favour here below.
- Fear first. Everything here rests on one thing: the fear of the Lord. Grace plants that fear in the heart; effort does not produce it.
- Fear fills the house. From that root comes the home of verse 3: the wife fruitful, the children growing, the table shared. Fruitfulness, contentment and fellowship are the three marks of a well-ordered home.
- Fear borrows its images. The vine's fruit cheers the heart of God and man. The olive's fatness stands for the blessing and privileges of God's people on the earth.
- Fear waits for the kingdom. This is not the prosperity the world can display now. It belongs to the reign from Zion, when fruitfulness is no longer spoiled by sin.
- Fear walks in peace meanwhile. Today the promise is not escape from persecution or discipline, and not getting what we want. It is the quiet enjoyment of God's favour. Christian households may still look for something of this peace at home.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth Jehovah.
Psalm 128 has just painted a short picture of ordinary life: work, home and family. Verse 4 stops and points at it with one word — "Behold." But what is the word pointing to: the quiet home just described, or the blessing that follows?
Commentators differ on which way this verse faces. One reading takes "Behold" as an announcement. On this view, verse 4 opens the closing section instead of ending the first.
The last three verses, we judge, go together. That is to say, verse 4 introduces verses 5 and 6 rather than summing up the first three. Its first word confirms this reading. "Behold," says the Psalmist, "thus — that is, in this manner — shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD." Then he goes on to explain the manner.
Others read it as a seal on what came before, gathering up the good things already listed.
Verses 2 to 4 describe the blessings of the God-fearing man. The coming age of Christ's reign on earth is in view, so the blessings are earthly, rather than heavenly as they are for the Christian. Such a man will be blessed in his work, happy in his spirit, blessed in his circumstances and in his relationships. "Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD."
Either way, everything hangs on the phrase "who fears the LORD." One writer marks out that fear as much by what it is not as by what it is.
The first verse presents the spiritual condition and character of those who enjoy the favour of the Lord. They are marked by the fear of the Lord, and a practical walk in keeping with His ways. Their walk is not governed by the fear of man, nor by a legal fear of consequences. Their godly practice flows from a spiritual condition.
The psalm names two things, and the second grows out of the first.
"Fearing the Lord" describes a man who acts with a good conscience before Him… the one who with holy fear seeks grace to avoid everything that would grieve the Spirit of God. And "walking in His ways" points to the conduct that follows from fearing the Lord — a walk shaped and governed by the word of God.
But where does this fear come from? No one works it up in himself.
It is marvellous grace that plants the fear of the Lord in human hearts. Some do not have it, others do. But the blessing of this is wonderful, for it moves the heart to walk in the ways of the Lord. That is a precious privilege indeed. Labour then will not be mere "works of the flesh," but something moved by the knowledge of God.
The blessing in view is a settled, peaceful life on the earth — and the door into it is wider than one nation.
The general statement made here includes all in that day who fear the Lord. It takes in not the descendants of Israel only, but the foreigner who will have a portion in the land… How often had their fathers sown for others to reap! How often had the enemy invaded the land and carried off the produce of the soil! Their affairs shall prosper, and in their families God's blessing shall be known.
Read too fast, the verse can sound like a guarantee of comfort. One writer rules that out.
If the Lord's blessing alone can keep or give success, those who fear the Lord can count on it. And this is true. It does not rule out persecution, nor does it rule out discipline and the testing of faith. But when we walk in the fear of God, we are in the path of peace even here… It does not mean a prosperity that consists in gratifying our desires. It means the peaceful enjoyment of God's favour here below.
The psalm ties a man's home to his fear of God. So it also gives a working picture of a husband and father.
In Psalm 128 the mark of an ideal husband is that he fears the Lord (vv. 1, 4). Because he fears the Lord his home is ordered… So there is a responsibility for every head of every home to fear the Lord. That means, I believe, obedience to the Lord, reverence for the Lord and subjection to His will.
- Behold. The word either seals the picture of home and work just given, or opens the blessing that follows. Commentators read it both ways.
- Fear. This fear is not fear of people, and not fear of punishment. It is a good conscience before God that shrinks from grieving Him.
- Grace. No one produces this fear in himself. Grace plants it. It then moves the heart into God's ways, so that even daily work changes character.
- Reach. The blessing is a settled, peaceful life on earth. It belongs to everyone who fears the Lord — foreigners in the land included, not one nation only.
- Result. It is not a promise of ease: persecution and discipline remain. It is the peaceful enjoyment of God's favour, showing itself first in an ordered home.