Psalm 128

Because families traveled together to the annual feasts in Jerusalem, it is only right that another psalm be devoted to parents and their offspring. The previous psalm pictured children as a rich heritage and as arrows for defeating the enemy (127:3-5). This psalm uses agricultural images for both the wife and the children. In one form or another, the word bless is used four times, but it is the translation of two different Hebrew words. In verses 1-2, it is the word asher, which is often translated “happy” (Gen. 30:12-13), and in verses 4-5, it is barak, which means “blessed of the Lord.” The latter word is used by the Lord when He blesses people; the former word is used to describe the good that comes when people do that which pleases the Lord. Like 127 and Jeremiah 29:4-7, this psalm deals with protection (v. 1), working (v. 2), the family (vv. 3-4, 6), and God’s blessing on Jerusalem (v. 5). While the writer includes all who fear the Lord (v. 1), the psalm is addressed especially to the man of the house (v. 3). We see a happy man and woman as they go through several stages in life.