“I have come to believe the Psalms of Ascents (Psalm 120-134) can be a great source of help for the modern church. We, ever increasingly, live in a time where we must embark on a pilgrim lifestyle. This different brand of life needs philosophies and anthems to abide by, and I believe these psalms provide the required help. Because of this, I have written a book on these psalms and will release a chapter every three weeks from May 2019 through February 2020. Each entry will expound on each psalm in order. Since these posts are rather lengthy, I encourage you to take whatever time you need to set aside to digest them. My prayer is for these studies to enrich you significantly on your sojourn with Christ. Thank you for reading, listening, and sharing.”
Chapter 9. Wonder at God (Psalm 128)
Would you like to experience God's everywhere-blessing upon your life? Would you like to have His blessing within your soul and on your relationships? Would you like to see Him bless others through you, your city, and your church? Would you like to see future generations impacted through God's work in your life today?
Humans are in constant pursuit of joy and peace and contentment. We long for peace within the self. Additionally, we want health and peace and joy with the people we love, the people close to us. And in our deeper desires, we long to leave this earth with a legacy: generations impacted well because of our lives. We wish for a life of value, one which even future generations will benefit from.
Psalm 128 describes such a life, one filled with God's everywhere-blessing. This psalm shows us how God's everywhere-blessing, a blessing which fills every nook and cranny of life, flows from a single wellspring, the fear of the Lord.
Wonder at God
"Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!" (Psalm 128:1)
The word "fear," at first glance, might seem an unfortunate word, for it conjures up images of paranoia and terror, hardly appropriate descriptions of our relationship with God. We aren't cowering before and nervous about God, believing impending doom flows from Him toward us. No, the gospel has lifted us high and has shown us the marvelous love of God for us. Through the cross of Christ, we have become sons and daughters of the living God. We aren't to believe the worst of God, for love has helped us understand He longs for our best. We do not walk in paranoia and insecurity before God, but with confidence and certainty, for we are His and He is ours.
But "fear" is the perfect word because it grabs our attention. We know, almost instinctively, what it cannot mean, so what does it mean? If God did not intend horror, what does "fear" mean? Biblical fear of God speaks of respectful reverence for and reverential awe of God. The cross laid a foundation of love and hope, so biblical fear is a familial reverence for our Father God. We are not to experience the dread of beaten slaves, but the hope of forgiven sons, and we do so with a deep appreciation and reverence for God.
Perhaps another word will help illustrate biblical fear; consider the word "wonder." Believers are to be amazed at, to wonder at, to be in awe of God. I hope it is not too flimsy of a word, but it seems to be what Peter felt when his boat miraculously, at the word of Christ, filled with fish. He fell at Jesus' feet and said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). He wondered and was in awe of Christ. This is the fear of the Lord, to stand in awe of His righteousness, majesty, and power, and to trust Him by humbly depending upon Him.
Jesus' teaching unpacked this concept further. He began His Sermon On The Mount by saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). Poverty of spirit is the starting point and a continual acknowledgment of spiritual bankruptcy before God. All else flows from this first attitude. It is a sense you have nothing to offer the holy God, yet He loves you all the same. Moses had this fear at the burning bush. Isaiah had this fear in the throne room of God. David had this fear after receiving a covenant from God. John had this fear when seeing a revelation of Christ. They felt awe. They felt God's mystery. They felt wonder.
It is this wonder which kickstarts the blessing of God down into the everyday experience of the Christian life, for if I fear the Lord, all my other relationships will improve. The prophets of old were better for their fear of the Lord. It was those without the fear of the Lord who led generations of Israelites astray and into error. But those with the fear of the Lord led and shepherded and fed well. So it is for us today. When our hearts fear Him, respect Him, and honor Him, we are prone to obey Him, follow Him, and serve Him. This leads to the everywhere-blessing of God.
One needs only to take two minutes to realize the universal church of Christ could use a higher wonder at Christ and His gospel. To devalue the cross leads to boredom, to error, and rebellion. To value Him little leads to the dismissal of sin, to apathy, and disobedience. A lack of the fear of the Lord, a lack of the wonder at Christ, leads to everywhere-pain, because life away from His narrow gate and difficult way, though popular, leads to destruction. To live in the darkness is to live outside the light, where He is. And where He is, there is blessing. The blessing of God begins with the fear of God.
Be Blessed Within
"You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD." (Psalm 128:2–4).
The fear of the Lord leads to walking in His ways, which leads to everywhere-blessing. But what does this blessing look like? Our psalmist begins with the inner man, for the first blessing is the blessing found within. Your own hands are fruitful. There is wellness inside of you. You begin to describe yourself as blessed. This is all internal and personal, for fear of the Lord, and the obedience attached to it leads to a great peace in the individual believer.
For the believer described in the psalm, their work and their life were enough. The countless masses scramble, never at ease, never with enough, but this man is contented, satisfied. He is at rest in his toil. He is at peace in his trials. For him, the internal blessing of the soul is a deep reward. If we were to ask him, he would describe himself as "well." It is well with the man who fears the Lord.
When Jesus traveled through Samaria, He had an appointment with a thirsty woman at the city well. He asked her for a drink, which shocked her. She was a woman, and He was a man. She was a Samaritan, and He was a Jew. Their culture dictated they ought not to mix, but Christ was at ease when He asked her for a drink of water. But in her shock, Jesus responded by telling her that He could satisfy her thirst. "Everyone who drinks of this water," He said, "will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give Him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give Him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-18). The water Jesus offers is not water in the physical sense, but the spiritual, and is water which satisfies more deeply than physical water ever could.
The woman did not understand Jesus' invitation. She thought it sounded like a dream, so she asked for His water. She still thought in the physical realm, so Jesus had to remove the scales from her eyes. He needed her to see her real thirst. "Go, call your husband," He said. But she had no husband, she replied. "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband,'" Jesus responded, "for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband." His aim was not to humiliate her but to help her. She had to realize her thirst was beyond the physical dimension. It had not been well with her soul for many years, if ever. Because it was not well with her, she chased and chased, man after man, relationship after relationship, never finding the solace and rest and joy she craved. Only Jesus could give this to her. Only Christ can satisfy our thirst.
The believer of all people can enjoy inner peace, which comes from God. He does, after all, come to live within His people upon their belief in Him. In Romans 8, Paul teaches of this beautiful life with the Holy Spirit. He comes to live inside His people, eliminating condemnation and becoming law within us (Romans 8:1-4). Like the law of gravity pulls us down to earth, the law of the Spirit draws us up to godliness. He is ever operating within us, working to develop and sanctify us into the image of Christ. He also indwells within us to enable us to live by the Spirit rather than by the flesh (Romans 8:5-11).
Before Christ, there was no option, for all we were was old nature. But now, because of the Spirit and the new life Christ has given us, we can put aside the flesh and walk in a new Spirit-mode. He leads us to kill the flesh (Romans 8:12-13), to cut off the old ways. He cries out within us to God, helping us understand we have been adopted by Him (Romans 8:14-17). He gives us a sincere hope for future redemption (Romans 8:18-25). He intercedes for us and takes the events of our lives, making them useful to God for our good (Romans 8:26-28). The Spirit works hard to conform us to Christ (Romans 8:29-30).
So the Spirit rattles in the starting block, ready and willing and wanting to aid us. But if we do not fear the Lord, if we enter into willful disobedience and allow ourselves to ignore His clear teachings, we enter into darkness. He cannot bless there. He cannot give the inner satisfaction of the soul there. To enjoy the gladness of the Spirit within, we must fear the Lord, but when we do, we can sing with the psalmist, "It is well with me!"
Be Blessed Next To
"Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house…" (Psalm 128:3).
No man is an island, so the blessing of God cannot stop with the individual. Every person is connected to other individuals, and those individuals form communities. The fear of the Lord flows from the pilgrim's heart, which leads to obedience, which leads to the profound blessing of God within. But it does not stop there. His wife becomes like a fruitful vine. The person right next to him is blessed because he has feared the Lord.
Jesus told His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). The worst brand of Christianity is one where a person is a blessing to everyone who is at a distance, but not to the people right next to them in life. But this is often the case because of a lack of the fear of the Lord. People far from you do not know you, but those in your home, those in the trenches with you day in and day out, those right beside you, know you. Without the fear of the Lord in your heart, those relationships will suffer. A plastic smile and a few platitudes might enable you to fake it with those outside your sphere, but the truth is known amongst those who know you. But with the fear of the Lord, all those "next-to" relationships are blessed.
Consider this: the pilgrim's wife is the pilgrim's opposite, for husband and wife, man and woman, are by definition complementary to one another. They are not the same, but different. But when there is no fear of the Lord in a person's heart, they quickly begin to despise anything or anyone different from them. The perspectives, tastes, and opinions of everyone around them must be the same as theirs. Rather than allow God to shape and mold them through the differences of others, those without the fear of the Lord slowly, but inevitably, surround themselves with only those exactly like them.
But the fear of the Lord enables us to respect those God has put in our lives. We begin to appreciate them as creatures God has made. You begin to realize there is a God in heaven who loves humanity and values them. You see the cross and realize His value for people. You start to drift from anger and wrath toward kindness and gentleness. Honor and love begin to flow. Relationships beside you, next to you, begin to find blessings due to your own fear of the Lord.
Be Blessed Behind
"…Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD." (Psalm 128:3–4).
The pilgrim's soul is blessed by his fear of the Lord. So is his wife. And his children are also blessed. They become fruitful, abounding like olive shoots around his table. He has served his family well, so his children flourish, for he has been interested in their development. His walk with God has been exemplary. It has led to the profound blessing of those next to him, but also behind him, for godly men and women leave the next generation in a better place.
Those who fear the Lord are humble, and humility is a necessary ingredient for reaching the next generation. When you see the magnitude and glory of God, you also come face to face with your own limitations. Isaiah saw God's throne room and immediately felt himself a man with unclean lips. Moses saw the burning bush and took the sandals off his feet. Daniel and John saw the glorified Christ and fell down like dead men. The fear of the Lord leads to the humbling of the soul, and humble souls can reach into the next generation.
Pride, the feeling that you have arrived, is unattractive and unhelpful to the coming generations. With pride, we condescend toward others. Effectiveness amongst the next generations of believers does not come through condescension. We must humbly serve others, including those younger than us.
Those who fear the Lord are loving, and love is a necessary ingredient for reaching the next generation. With love, a person can serve the next generation with the patience of Christ, for He loves His own and is patient with them. He endures our mistakes and shortcomings and we patiently endure the mistakes and shortcomings of those around us. Understanding and grace flow from a loving heart and both are necessary for reaching those younger than you. Christ shows His love by being interested in us, asking us to cast our every care upon Him. The believer who has a fear of the Lord loves in this way, showing interest in those behind them.
Those who fear the Lord are full of faith, and faith is a necessary ingredient for reaching the next generation. Without faith, we will never take any risks on those with less experience, less maturity. But how can the body of Christ advance without a bit of risk? Jesus demonstrated great faith in selecting the twelve and pouring into them. It was not without risk, and He was, quite obviously, more qualified than they were. But He imparted to them, knowing they could never be His equal. The modern believer is in a different situation because those we mentor can easily surpass us. The fear of the Lord leads to this brand of faith.
Be Blessed Around
"The LORD bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!" (Psalm 128:5).
The next stage of blessing in the pilgrim's life is the community around him. He has been blessed inwardly. His wife has been blessed next to him. And his children have been blessed behind him. But, here, the fear of the Lord leads to the blessing of his community. The Bible refers to Israel as both a vineyard and an olive tree (Isaiah 5, Romans 11), and this pilgrim's fear of the Lord led to the eventual blessing of God's people in Jerusalem. The vineyard and the olive tree would flourish, at least in part, because of the individual pilgrim's fear of the Lord.
The home and Jerusalem went together, just as your walk and your church go together. They are to complement one another. The pilgrim was to find inspiration to walk with God when in Jerusalem, but his walk with God also blessed Jerusalem. It was not a one-way street, but a mutually beneficial relationship. He received from the community of the saints, but he also gave to the community of the saints, because people who fear God bless the communities they find themselves in.
The life this God-fearing believer extends to the congregation around him does not come because they "have it all together" or have been perfected. It is not through sinlessness that we bless those around us but through sanctification connected to the fear of the Lord. We do not bless our churches because we have arrived and need nothing, but precisely because we know we need much from God. Our reverence for Him makes us desperate for Him, which leads us to contribute well to the body of Christ.
As we respect and reverence God above, our communities are blessed. Rather than introduce pain, heartache, or misery into our communities through our reckless living, we infuse them with health and love because we live in the shadow of God. The mountain of Calvary, the cross of Christ, casts the shadow in which we live. Living there, in the wonder of Christ, enables us to live in a way that gives rather than takes from the community.
Be Blessed Beyond
"May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel!" (Psalm 128:6).
Finally, the God-fearing pilgrim leaves a blessing for his children's children. Beyond his natural life, the pilgrim leaves a positive imprint. One man's fear of the Lord can reshape generations of a family or church, and this pilgrim was living out that potential. His walk with God, his devotion to the Lord, his reverence for Him, led to generational fruit. His blessing went beyond his own heart, his own relationships, or his own community, and beyond him into his grandchildren. His children's children, his fruit's fruit, would stand blessed due to his fear of the Lord.
Men and women with this generational impact are everywhere. Sadly, it is easier to find someone who has left generations of pain behind them than someone who has left generations of blessing. But the fear of the Lord provides us with the opportunity to leave an impact that lasts.
Patriarch or matriarchs for God do things that lead to fruitfulness long after they die. Their fear of God leads to a respect for His mission, so they do not ignore it. Rather than fritter away the last leg of their lives on themselves, they invest in others.
The fear of the Lord keeps us from wasting our lives. With His blood dripping off of us, we realize the steep price He paid to seek and save that which is lost. His love is endless, limitless, so we want to bring it to the world around us. He did not redeem us so that we could be the last straw, the final destination, the full stop of His blessing. No, we are still here on earth, living to be a blessing to those far beyond us.