Psalm 128
Blessings for Those Who Fear God
A song of ascents.
1 How happy is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in His ways!
2 You will surely eat
what your hands have worked for.
You will be happy,
and it will go well for you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house,
your sons, like young olive trees
around your table.
4 In this very way
the man who fears the Lord
will be blessed.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
so that you will see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life
6 and will see your children’s children!
Peace be with Israel.
Fear: It is such a strange word and I know I am not the first one who tries to write about it. Even consulting the ‘normal’ dictionary does not give you the right answers: fear |fɪə|noun [ mass noun ] an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.
Then I googled and found this helpful explanation:
The main Hebrew and Greek words translated fear in the Bible can have several shades of meaning, but in the context of the fear of the Lord, they convey a positive reverence.
The Hebrew verb yare can mean “to fear, to respect, to reverence” and the Hebrew noun yirah “usually refers to the fear of God and is viewed as a positive quality. This fear acknowledges God’s good intentions (Ex. 20:20). … This fear is produced by God’s Word (Ps. 119:38; Prov. 2:5) and makes a person receptive to wisdom and knowledge (Prov. 1:7; 9:10)” (Warren Baker and Eugene Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, 2003, pp. 470-471)
As David is addressing here definitely the men of the nation (Your wife will be…) I think, from his own experience, he is trying to say: Guys, don’t play with life, don’t fool around, don’t live immature! By understanding, like we read yesterday in Psalm 127, that only God can make our efforts be fruitful, because all we do without Him is totally vain! Receiving a wisdom and knowledge beyond out mortal perspective can only come from living a fearful life towards the One that is Wisdom and Life Himself!
And than as the promise goes, you …will see your children’s children!
Love you guys: Noah, Boas, Evi, Yenthe, Noel, Jonah, Samuel, Signe, Manasse, Selah and …
