Monday, September 13, 2021

Be Blessed


Everyone wants to be blessed. We all want to have happiness, peace and prosperity. Biblically, being blessed is not quite the same as being happy. Technically, being blessed is “the joyful spiritual condition of those who are right with God and the pleasure and satisfaction that is derived from that.” (Discovering Hope In the Psalms, p17) It is not dependant on situation or circumstance. It is even better. Yes, it means that life will not always be easy, it may even be painful, but it means we can have joy in the midst of that. We may not have every comfort, but we have the Comforter.

 

Psalm 128 New American Standard Bible 1995

How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within your house,
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.

The Lord bless you from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
Indeed, may you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!

 

This blessing is available for everyone who fears God. This fear does not mean terror, but a reverential awe and respect for Him. That fear motivates a person to “walk in His ways”, i.e. live the way He says. Our actions and obedience do not save us, they prove that we are saved, and they also bring us blessing. It is a natural byproduct of a godly life.

 

The second verse has a twofold meaning: blessed, God-fearing people will have an honest living by which to provide for their families and it will be profitable. Again this does not mean that life will always be easy, or that hardship will never come. It doesn’t mean that they will have money flowing out of their ears or that they will never face financial trouble, but they will have what they need. God provides for the godly. It is often in those times of hardship that our faith is grown and we are better able to see God work.

 

Another blessing of fearing God is a fruitful family. Godly people attract godly people and so will be blessed by godly associations. People who fear the Lord treat each other as God would have them, and we are blessed to be around them. Godly people bless their spouses and children. This does not mean that if a person remains single, or a couple cannot have children that they are not godly. God’s plans are not always like ours and these psalms are not cut-in-stone promises, but things to live by. Maybe a person can’t have the family they want, but by submitting to God and living a godly life they can still bless others around them by being a friend and mentor. I have friends who are a blessing to my family even though they can’t have a family of their own because they choose to be fruitful and godly, and I hope they are blessed by us in the process.

 

This is how we are blessed: by fearing God, working hard, and blessing others. The final verses are a benediction of greatest blessing, and I pray that the Lord blesses from Zion so that you see prosperity and your children’s children, and that peace will surround you!




I apologize for being absent the last couple weeks. We start a new curriculum for homeschooling a couple weeks ago and it is a lot more involved than we are used to, so it has taken a little while to get our feet back under us. Blessings!

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