Bless You in My Name

DEVOTION

PSALMS

BLESS YOU IN MY NAME

Ps 129

129:1 A song of ascents.

They have greatly oppressed me from my youth — let Israel say —  2 they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me. 3 Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long. 4 But the LORD is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked. 5 May all who hate Zion be turned back in shame. 6 May they be like grass on the roof, which withers before it can grow; 7 with it the reaper cannot fill his hands, nor the one who gathers fill his arms. 8 May those who pass by not say, "The blessing of the LORD be upon you; we bless you in the name of the LORD."

NIV

The tenth psalm of ascent for the tenth of fifteen steps up to the temple. This psalm would appear to be speaking about the history of Israel, such as when they were in captivity in Egypt and were treated harshly, their backs being scourged. The verbiage about the plowmen and their backs being plowed may make a reference to them being yoked as oxen to pull heavy stones for the construction of the pyramids. However, this song also speaks of the deliverance of God, their being cut free from the cords of the wicked. Again we see a comparison between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous are cut free from the wicked and the wicked are likened as grass on a roof. This grass on the roof has no soil to grow in and the roof is hot and dry so it withers. This gives us the picture of a life without the blessings of the Lord, a life of the wicked, those who do not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. This idea mirrors the teaching of Jesus about the seed and the four types of ground it falls upon. Of course in his teaching the seed is the word of God and different types of ground represent people. Yet this roof is like that which falls upon rocks where it sprang up quickly, when the sun came up it was it was scorched and withered because it had no root. This should give us the picture of our having our roots planted by the stream of living water, as the 1^st psalm makes that point and how the tree produces much fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. So these wicked who wither will not be in the harvest of the Lord. He is the reaper and he will not be able to fill his hands nor his arms with any of the wicked for their have withered away, burnt up by the heat. Sounds like hell, doesn’t it? What this shows us is how blessed we are to be in the hands of Jesus, to find rest in his everlasting arms. No one who is not in the arms of Jesus will not be able to say, “Blessing of the Lord be upon you; we bless you in the name of the Lord.” They will have been cast out of heaven and we will not be able to hear them anymore. While we are here in this life, we hear the voices of the wicked, even those who pretend to be believers and use those kind of blessing words. It is not about our words, although as important as words are, it is about the condition of the heart. It is possible to be fooled by pretenders, there façade looks all new and shiny, appearing to be this new creation, this born again being. But Jesus spoke to that issue about those who would say, Lord, Lord.

Matt 7:21-23

21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

NIV

There are pretenders, who will not be in the everlasting arms of Jesus. It is about the condition of the heart. Those who have their heart circumcised, exposing it to the Lord, will see the kingdom of God. The heart hears and obeys the Lord, who puts his words into practice, who is the good tree who bears fruit. Actions are good, or good deeds seem to be right, but here all their good deeds were for nothing. Their prophesying, their driving our demons, their doing many miracles meant nothing because the condition of their heart was evil. Good deeds are not the answer to the life of being a believer, a circumcised heart is. Will that produce some good works? Sure, but works is not the way into the everlasting arms of Jesus. We are saved by faith and faith alone and we live because he lives. Our life is in his hands. Let us allow the seed, the word of God to grow in our hearts, and flourish. It is not about men saying the blessing of the Lord be upon you. It is about God saying his blessings be upon us. It is about God saying, “I bless you in my name.”