A NEW FAMILY
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Opening Prayer
Thank you, Jesus, that your salvation brings me into the family of our Father, with the brothers and sisters of faith beside me.
Read PSALM 128
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
A song of ascents.
1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in obedience to him.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Yes, this will be the blessing
for the man who fears the Lord.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children—
peace be on Israel.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In your walk of faith, what promises of God do you fall back on most frequently? Which do you cling to most tightly?
In the Old Testament, the blessings of God were understood to be long life, wealth, and children, especially male offspring. A decent and honorable burial would be the way a good life was completed. Walking in obedience to God would result in blessings such as these.1 This is the lens we need to understand this psalm.
At the same time, we should remember that we read the psalm today with the knowledge of the coming of Jesus. His coming has transformed the way we are to view family, prosperity, and the blessings of obedience. Whether or not we have a spouse and children of our own, we are now found in an eternal family, the family of those who do the will of God.2 Whether we are rich or poor, we have the prosperity of knowing Christ and the inheritance of a new heaven and earth.3 This does not mean that biological children or material prosperity are no longer blessings, but they are not the ultimate signs of a blessed life.
Fear of the Lord is twice revealed as a blessing in this psalm (vv. 1, 4). Before we determine our blessings by the number of our children, the money we have access to, or the length of years we have lived, we need to ask: do we fear the Lord? Do we acknowledge his majesty and give him glory? One day, we are promised, we will be raised, and we shall see Jesus, face to face.4 This does not diminish our hopes and dreams for this life, but it reminds us that they are not our final hope. The blessing that awaits us is a multitude no one can count – worshipping the risen Lamb.5
Apply
What are those things you long and dream for? Be honest and take them to God.
Closing prayer
I praise you, Lord God; you are righteous and all-powerful; you are faithful to keep all of your promises to your children.
1 Deut 28:1–14 2 Mark 3:31–35 3 Eph 1:14 4 1 John 3:2 5 Rev 7:9, 10
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