Psalm 128
1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in his ways.
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 sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Thus is the man blessed
who fears the Lord.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,
6 and may you live to see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel.
INTRODUCTION
What a difference a day makes!
One day we can be downcast with very little hope,
And then the next day, suddenly our spirits rise.
Joy comes back into our hearts,
And where there was despair, now suddenly there is hope.
That seems to be where we are in our Journey with Psalm 128.
The last few Psalms that we have sung,
All seemed to be dealing with a group of people who had lost their motivation.
They needed to be reminded why they were on the journey.
They needed to be spurred on when they thought about giving up.
They needed to be taken back to their reliance on God.
Remember last week,
Don’t forget to include God in your plans.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Psalm 127:1
Remember on Harvest Sunday,
Don’t be discouraged if we are crying now, God will bring joy.
Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy
Psalm 126:5
And Psalm 125, reminds us that when we feel vulnerable and under attack,
God will keep us safe.
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
Psalm 125:1
But this morning in Psalm 128
The mood has changed.
The people are rejoicing again.
They have rediscovered their joy.
They are no longer thinking of giving up.
Now they have a spring in their step.
Their spirits have risen,
And they are singing of God’s blessing.
The whole tone of this Psalm is back to the ones where the people were rejoicing to go to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Psalm 122:1
Recognise The Blessing
What we need to do is recognise the blessing that we have in Jesus Christ.
You see there is a prevailing thought today, that it is hard to be a Christian.
Often we focus on the negatives.
We focus on how difficult it is to talk about our faith.
We dwell on the people who laugh at our belief in the bible in this modern age.
We zoom in on the things that others can do on a Sunday while we go to church.
And because of these things, it is hard to be a Christian.
But what is the alternative?
It is much harder not to be a Christian.
Once we have had the joy of Christ,
Imagine if you had to give that up?
Imagine what it would mean.
No help from Jesus when we are at a lose as to what to do.
No added strength when we are weak and unable to pick ourselves up.
No comfort when we are upset and in turmoil.
In other words - No Blessing
There is one person that I often visit,
And she says to me,
“How do some people cope without the Lord?”
Blessing is God's favour and protection.
And that is what we sing of in this Psalm.
We are favoured by God,
We are protected by God and therefore we are encouraged.
Blessing is a great word to help us in our Christian life.
Because sometimes we are sad, but we know that we are still blessed by God.
We don’t want to wish someone good luck,
But we can pray, God Bless you!
The blessing of God is a wonderful thing to receive.
To be blessed is a remarkable thing to happen to us.
Believe The Blessing
So once we recognise the blessing that can come from God,
We need to believe the Blessing, and we see that in the first 4 verses of the Psalm.
And according to these 4 verses, blessing is linked to the fear of the Lord.
Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in his ways.
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 sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Thus is the man blessed
who fears the Lord.
Psalm 128:1-4
Blessing is being happy and joyful, in a way that is reliant on God.
We are blessed when we fear God.
But what does it mean to fear God.
How does this blessing come to us?
We could of course be paralysed with fear when we come before God.
We could realise the awesome power of the Lord God almighty,
And be so scared of God that we can do nothing.
But that will not lead us to blessing.
The fear that the Pilgrims are singing of here,
Is more like the fear that Isaiah has when he receives his vision of the Lord in Isaiah 6.
Isaiah sees the Holy, Holy Holy God,
And he realises his sinfulness.
He sees his sin for what it is as the creatures fly around the throne of God,
And Isaiah cries out,
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.
Isaiah 6:5
In that moment of fear, Isaiah is blessed.
The Lord pours out his favour and protection upon Isaiah.
And the Pilgrims realise on their journey to Jerusalem,
that when God is given his rightful place,
When he is feared, the result is blessing.
And that blessing comes in every area of life.
It is not just a nice fuzzy feeling that arms your heart,
It is a tangible blessing in every area of life.
[DON’T READ]
Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labour;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.
Psalm 128:1-3
When we fear God,
We are blessed as we walk in His ways,
Our work will be blessed with fruit and property.
And our family life will be blessed.
The blessing of God extends into every area of life.
You can see immediately why this Psalm follows on from the previous one.
these are the same two areas that were being dealt with.
Work & Family.
We need to believe that this blessing comes from God.
We need to believe that this is what comes into our lives when we fear God.
Receive The Blessing
So we need to recognise that blessing is something that comes from God,
We need to believe that blessing comes through fearing God,
And in the final couple of verses of the Psalm we need to Receive The Blessing.
The last two verses are a prayer,
That we would receive the blessing that we believe in.
This is not a magic spell, that guarantees results,
This is like any other prayer.
We offer it in faith to the Lord,
And we trust Him to do what is best.
It is a Psalm that we sing for ourselves,
But it is also a Psalm that we sing for everyone else.
Pray this Psalm for someone else today,
Even as you sit in the pew,
Who needs this Psalm.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,
6 and may you live to see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel.
Psalm 128:5,6
Who needs blessing from the Lord,
Who needs blessing from their labour.
Who needs a blessing on their family life.
We need this blessing for ourselves,
But we can all think of others who need it today.
Why not take this Psalm and pick someone to pray it for every day this week.
It is only 6 verses, but pray it for yourself and for someone else.
1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in his ways.
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 sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Thus is the man blessed
who fears the Lord.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,
6 and may you live to see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel.
INTRODUCTION
What a difference a day makes!
One day we can be downcast with very little hope,
And then the next day, suddenly our spirits rise.
Joy comes back into our hearts,
And where there was despair, now suddenly there is hope.
That seems to be where we are in our Journey with Psalm 128.
The last few Psalms that we have sung,
All seemed to be dealing with a group of people who had lost their motivation.
They needed to be reminded why they were on the journey.
They needed to be spurred on when they thought about giving up.
They needed to be taken back to their reliance on God.
Remember last week,
Don’t forget to include God in your plans.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Psalm 127:1
Remember on Harvest Sunday,
Don’t be discouraged if we are crying now, God will bring joy.
Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy
Psalm 126:5
And Psalm 125, reminds us that when we feel vulnerable and under attack,
God will keep us safe.
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
Psalm 125:1
But this morning in Psalm 128
The mood has changed.
The people are rejoicing again.
They have rediscovered their joy.
They are no longer thinking of giving up.
Now they have a spring in their step.
Their spirits have risen,
And they are singing of God’s blessing.
The whole tone of this Psalm is back to the ones where the people were rejoicing to go to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Psalm 122:1
Recognise The Blessing
What we need to do is recognise the blessing that we have in Jesus Christ.
You see there is a prevailing thought today, that it is hard to be a Christian.
Often we focus on the negatives.
We focus on how difficult it is to talk about our faith.
We dwell on the people who laugh at our belief in the bible in this modern age.
We zoom in on the things that others can do on a Sunday while we go to church.
And because of these things, it is hard to be a Christian.
But what is the alternative?
It is much harder not to be a Christian.
Once we have had the joy of Christ,
Imagine if you had to give that up?
Imagine what it would mean.
No help from Jesus when we are at a lose as to what to do.
No added strength when we are weak and unable to pick ourselves up.
No comfort when we are upset and in turmoil.
In other words - No Blessing
There is one person that I often visit,
And she says to me,
“How do some people cope without the Lord?”
Blessing is God's favour and protection.
And that is what we sing of in this Psalm.
We are favoured by God,
We are protected by God and therefore we are encouraged.
Blessing is a great word to help us in our Christian life.
Because sometimes we are sad, but we know that we are still blessed by God.
We don’t want to wish someone good luck,
But we can pray, God Bless you!
The blessing of God is a wonderful thing to receive.
To be blessed is a remarkable thing to happen to us.
Believe The Blessing
So once we recognise the blessing that can come from God,
We need to believe the Blessing, and we see that in the first 4 verses of the Psalm.
And according to these 4 verses, blessing is linked to the fear of the Lord.
Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in his ways.
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 sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Thus is the man blessed
who fears the Lord.
Psalm 128:1-4
Blessing is being happy and joyful, in a way that is reliant on God.
We are blessed when we fear God.
But what does it mean to fear God.
How does this blessing come to us?
We could of course be paralysed with fear when we come before God.
We could realise the awesome power of the Lord God almighty,
And be so scared of God that we can do nothing.
But that will not lead us to blessing.
The fear that the Pilgrims are singing of here,
Is more like the fear that Isaiah has when he receives his vision of the Lord in Isaiah 6.
Isaiah sees the Holy, Holy Holy God,
And he realises his sinfulness.
He sees his sin for what it is as the creatures fly around the throne of God,
And Isaiah cries out,
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.
Isaiah 6:5
In that moment of fear, Isaiah is blessed.
The Lord pours out his favour and protection upon Isaiah.
And the Pilgrims realise on their journey to Jerusalem,
that when God is given his rightful place,
When he is feared, the result is blessing.
And that blessing comes in every area of life.
It is not just a nice fuzzy feeling that arms your heart,
It is a tangible blessing in every area of life.
[DON’T READ]
Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labour;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.
Psalm 128:1-3
When we fear God,
We are blessed as we walk in His ways,
Our work will be blessed with fruit and property.
And our family life will be blessed.
The blessing of God extends into every area of life.
You can see immediately why this Psalm follows on from the previous one.
these are the same two areas that were being dealt with.
Work & Family.
We need to believe that this blessing comes from God.
We need to believe that this is what comes into our lives when we fear God.
Receive The Blessing
So we need to recognise that blessing is something that comes from God,
We need to believe that blessing comes through fearing God,
And in the final couple of verses of the Psalm we need to Receive The Blessing.
The last two verses are a prayer,
That we would receive the blessing that we believe in.
This is not a magic spell, that guarantees results,
This is like any other prayer.
We offer it in faith to the Lord,
And we trust Him to do what is best.
It is a Psalm that we sing for ourselves,
But it is also a Psalm that we sing for everyone else.
Pray this Psalm for someone else today,
Even as you sit in the pew,
Who needs this Psalm.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,
6 and may you live to see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel.
Psalm 128:5,6
Who needs blessing from the Lord,
Who needs blessing from their labour.
Who needs a blessing on their family life.
We need this blessing for ourselves,
But we can all think of others who need it today.
Why not take this Psalm and pick someone to pray it for every day this week.
It is only 6 verses, but pray it for yourself and for someone else.
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