Translation: ESV
Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!
A life of fearing the LORD and walking in his ways is the true foundation of blessing.
▸Psalm 128 is a pilgrimage psalm following Psalm 127, with the theme of family blessing.
Psalm 128 is a pilgrimage psalm following Psalm 127, with the theme of family blessing. It depicts the blessings of a godly household. The conditions of blessing are 'fearing the LORD' and 'walking in his ways'—the unity of faith and life.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
Enjoying the fruit of one's own labor is a basic expression of God's blessing.
▸This is a declaration that eating the fruit of one's own labor is a blessing.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
A godly home is a place of abundant life expressed as a fruitful vine and young olive shoots.
▸Likening a wife to a fruitful vine and children to olive shoots expresses the beauty and abundance of family in the language of nature.
The LORD bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!
Individual family blessing and communal prosperity are connected to each other; God's blessing flows from the individual to the community.
▸The blessing of the individual household is connected to the prosperity of the community (Jerusalem).