Psalms
Chapter 128
1
Blessed Are Those Who Fear the Lord!
Blessed are you who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
2
You will eat the fruit of your toil; you will be blessed and favored.
3
Your wife, like a vine, will bear fruits in your home; your children, like olive shoots, will stand around your table.
4
Such are the blessings bestowed upon the man who fears the Lord.
5
May the Lord praise you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosperous all the days of your life.
6
May you see your children’s children, and Israel at peace!
Commentaries
128
A continuation of the previous psalm, expanding on its second part. With sound instinct, it asks God for a Jerusalem filled with God-fearing, joyful homes. Men and women share in building it—our psalm complements its predecessor’s focus on God’s ongoing work. But what is Jerusalem to us? The new Jerusalem we pray for is ‘the Church of the firstborn’ (Heb 12:23). In her, the promises of the Old Testament are fulfilled, and her prayers become more profound: it is around ‘the table of the Lord’ that the Bride of Christ gathers her ever-growing family (1 Cor 10:21; Eph 5:32). Let us pray to God for the happiness and peace of his family.