Walking in His Ways

DEVOTION

PSALMS

WALKING IN HIS WAYS

Ps 128

128:1 A song of ascents.

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.

NIV

The ninth psalm of ascent on the ninth of fifteen steps up to the temple. Blessed, happy, content, satisfied, complete, fulfilled is the person who reveres the Lord, who walks in truth, justice, mercy, compassion, grace and peace, to name a few character traits, or simply his way. We can walk in our way, but then we would not be blessed. Being able to enjoy the fruit of our labor is a blessing. Now that could be applied to the material things of life, or it could be applied to the eternal aspects of life. Many non-blessed people, those who do not walk in his ways, seem to enjoy the fruit of their labor. But if they are walking in their own way, then maybe they are truly not really enjoying the fruit of their labor because it seems many are dissatisfied with how much fruit they have. Learning to be content is a blessing from the Lord. The Hebrew word translated as prosperity means, it will go well with you. Because we live in the way of the Lord, that is we revere him, we trust him, all our hope is in him, we abide in the vine, Jesus, and we will bear much fruit and be content and all will go well with us. Could it be the reason it is not going well with some, or they are not content, but have greed or lust for more fruit, or simply are more concerned about themselves, more trusting in their own choices, they are not really walking in the way of the Lord? That would apply to the non-believer, but it might also apply to us believers. We need to be careful about actually living in the way of the Lord. This psalm assumes we are all married and that it is the man who is blessed because of the number of children his wife has for him. That sounds just a little sexist, that it is all about the man and the woman is just a fruitful vine in his house, there to have many children for him. That most likely was the way it was in those days, but today our culture is quite different. Nevertheless, the reason God made woman was to be a helpmate to man. He designed us with the physical differences for the purpose of having children, multiplying and filling the earth. Again our modern culture has deviated far from that path in so many ways. However, it is still true that children, no matter the number, are a blessing to parents. God has entrusted parents with the task of rearing children. We get to aid them and watch them in their first step. We have the opportunity to teach them the way of the Lord. We get to hear the joy of their laughter, their screams of joy, and hung them when they are hurt. Parenthood is indeed a blessing and then we can enjoy their children, and for some of us we also have the joy of not just grandchildren, but great grandchildren. Some enjoy seeing five generations before they step into eternity. How great is the blessing of the Lord. How wonderful it is to be blessed by the Lord. Why would someone what to not be blessed? Why would someone walk in their own way? There can be no real joy, happiness, contentment and peace outside of his way. So we determine to walk on the path he has set before us and enjoy every moment of each day, as we walk in his way.