Devo 09: Psalm 128
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!
Devotional Thought:
The psalmist says that there is great blessing for all those who fear God, because they obey God’s commandments. It is great because it extends out to all aspects of life: personal and work (v.2), the family and home (v.3-4), and future generations (v.6)! Yet I can think of at least 2 obstacles here to appreciating this psalm in our lives. One, this idea of “fear” being a good thing for us, we’re used to thinking of fear as a negative thing that we want to overcome in our lives. “Doesn’t the Bible say, “perfect love drives out all fear? (1 John 4:18)”” And second, this passage can sound like legalism, this idea that God will love us and bless us if we do enough good works. “I thought the gospel was about how we were saved by grace not by works!”
Psalm 128 doesn’t preach a different gospel that somehow we are saved by works but recognizes the fact there is indeed great blessing in following God’s commands. We are saved by God’s grace but as Eph. 2:10 says, we were also saved for good works. Because God’s commands and law are good and perfect, only good can come from following them. They ensure that we stay away from spiritual harm and lead us to love God and love others. To have a clean conscience before God and to know his smile upon You is one of the greatest blessings in life. But what about fearing God? There is a kind of fear that paralyzes us and drives us to avoid God, the kind of fear mentioned here is a different kind. It’s similar to be in awe and amazed at God. To have this kind of reverence and fear of God, drive us closer to Him, leads us to walk closer with Him, and causes us to forsake lesser or even sinful things that we know displease God. May we grow in this kind of fear that we would driven deeper in knowing God’s blessing!
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for your Word that reminds me of the blessing of being in awe of your greatness and holiness. Would it drive me further away from sin and temptation and closer to You and your plans for me. Help me to grow in this holy fear of You so all other fears about what others think of me, what tomorrow will bring, and so on would be driven away. And be replaced with the blessing of walking with You in all areas of my life. Lord, I ask that I might receive from You, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
