9. Godliness and Fruitfulness
Hymns: RHC 423 Follow, I Will Follow Thee, 432 How Good Is the God We Adore, 532 Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
Psalm 128
KJV Psalm 128:1<A Song of degrees.> Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. 2For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 3Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. 4Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD. 5The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. 6Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel. (Ps. 128:1-6 KJV)
Godliness and Fruitfulness
OUTLINE
(1) Fear God (v1a, 4)
(2) Follow Him (v1b, 2)
(3) Overall Fruitfulness Through Him (v3, 5-6)
INTRODUCTION
Spurgeon said well, “The fear of God is the corner-stone of all blessedness.” What is the fear of God? The fear of God is disposition to give utmost reverence and regard to God in one’s life. This is a man to live a life of holiness.
King Solomon filled this earthly life to the fullest. He summed up the godly life, the blessed life as this in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
And the blessing or the fruitfulness of a God fearer is received by faith not by measured by our feeble senses. Spurgeon again said well, “The blessedness may not always be seen by carnal readon, but it is always a fact, for God Himself declares that it is so, and we know that those whom He blesses are blessed indeed.”
Again, I must quote Spurgeon, “And so, to enjoy the divine blessing we must be active and walk; we must be methodical, and walk in certain ways; and we must be godly, and walk in the Lord’s days. God’s ways are blessed ways; they are cast up by the Blessed One, they were trodden by Him in whom we are blessed, they are frequented by the blessed, they are provided with means of blessing, they are paved with present blessings. And they lead to eternal blessedness: who would not desire to walk in them?”
Psalm 128 describes for us the quintessential of the godly man. Blessed according to God’s Word. This man “gever” used in verse 4, is the purest and most perfect example of a Spirit-filled Christian. This man is fully described for us in Psalm 37 and in verse 23 the King James translator called him the “good man”. Psalms 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”
(1) Fear God (v1a, 4)
1 Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; …4Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
The word “Behold” is the literally device called the Asterimos or indicating – a calling of attention to a thing by making an asterisk or star. A marking by putting a star in order to direct particular attention to the statement – Note that the word “blessed” is a different word from the word “blessed” in verse 1 which is a pronouncement of blessing. This is the word “barak” is an action word, a verb that has a root meaning in the Hebrew “to kneel”, this is the intensive stem and passive stem (Pual stem). The intensive of kneeling is blessing. The Spirit-filled man draws his strength from God through prayer. The action of kneeing is the prayer posture, the act of seeking God and His intervention in our lives. Therefore, when we pray according to His Word we are blessed of God for God answers our prayer according to His will to bless our pathway.
Remember the scene when God gave the Ten Commandment to Israel in Exodus 20:2-17 – “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”
Exodus 20:18 “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”
Why is it so important not to sin against God? Because there are consequences to sin, the ultimate punishment for sin is death. When we fear God, He preserves us in this earthly sojourn from the misery of sin.
Therefore, as born-again Christians, we have been freed from the bondage of sin, we can choose not to sin. The commandment is no longer a whip but a lamp to our path. We are motivated by love of God as we learn in the Shamar – Deuteronomy 6:5 “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
These are the Ten Commandments stated positively: We love the Being of God. We love the Worship of God. We love the Name of God. We love the Day of God. We love the Representatives of God. We love the Body of man. We love the Morality of man. We love the Property of Man. We love the Personality of Man. We love Prosperity of Man.
In a marriage where one is a Christian, the other is not. From God’s Word, we learn God is not pleased with an unequal yoke. God cannot bless a family that is willfully set up against God’s will. When these words were said, it was amidst literally thunder and lightning. Nevertheless, the marriage proceeded. The warning has been sounded. The fear of God was not in the heart of the lady. Obeying God was not more important than the relationship with this man. Can God bless such a family life?
The man described in this psalm is a God-fearer. This is told emphatically in verse 1a & 4. The God-fearing man was promised happiness.
(2) Follow Him (v1b, 2)
… that walketh in his ways… 2For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
This man the psalmist says is “Blessed” of the LORD, the first word in this psalm. This is the same word that the King James translator rightly translated “happy” in verse 2. He is one who walks in his ways, labouring and not idling. There is an activeness in the life of the man blessed of God. He is engaged in labouring for the Lord in the work that God has put his hands to do. He is not afraid to engage in hard work, in honest industry. His labour is guided by God’s Word. He labours within the framework of God’s commandments – He loves the Being of God. He loves the Worship of God. He loves the Name of God. He loves the Day of God. He loves the Representatives of God. He loves the Body of man. He loves the Morality of man. He loves the Property of Man. He loves the Personality of Man. He loves Prosperity of Man.
God Ordained Work for Wages – The first principle that we learned is God ordained work. This is a consequence of the fall of man recorded in Genesis 3:19. Man is to work in order to sustain his physical life. So human labour is that which is ordained of God to feed or sustain physically man till the day he dies. From his labours, man shall receive the fruit of his labour to feed and sustain his physical life. This is grace to man as it keeps him away from indulging in further sin as a consequence of idleness.
Human labour is that which is ordained of God whereby man feeds or sustains himself physically till the day he dies. Money has been used to quantify this labour. It is a unit measure of a man’s labour whereby he could use to feed himself till the day he dies. Savings is the accumulated or stored value of human labour whereas debt is the obligation to serve human labour. This is the biblical concept of honest money.
The Bible’s teaching is that man can enjoy the fruit of his labour. It is given to him by God who has enabled him to work (Deut. 8:18). And there is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This is from the hand of God. (Eccl. 2:24) And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. (Eccl. 3:13; 5:19).
In order to facilitate a store for man’s labour, money is introduced. We received wages or remuneration for labour rendered in the form of wages.
Honest Hard Work is God Honouring
– In the sweat of thy face…
This came in the wake of man’s fall. God said to Adam:
Genesis 3:17-18 …Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed isthe ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat ofit all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
God sent the thorns and thistles as a result of the curse that God pronounced upon the ground that will manifest itself in the thorns and thistles that would impede the growth of the herb of the field so that Adam has to spend time to weeding to have a good harvest.
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul wrote a similar thought applying Genesis 3:19:
2 Thessalonians 3:12“Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.”
It is the will of God, the command and exhortation of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are to work and enjoy the fruit of our labour.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
– with their own hands, at their proper callings, and so support themselves, provide for their families, and have something to give to them that are in need; by which means they will live peaceable and quiet lives, in godliness and honesty, and not disturb the peace of neighbourhoods, churches, and families.
– and eat their own bread; got by their own labour, and bought with their money, and not the bread of others, or that of idleness. [Gill]
Be Not Slothful
Proverbs 21:25The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
Proverbs 21:26 He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.
Instead of working, the sluggard daydreams. He is full of desire, full of craving for delight. Instead of working all day, he craves for more. He is never satisfied. People talk of dying from overwork, but there is a death that comes from not working enough. Instead of merely craving, they do something useful so that they may have something to share with those in need (Eph. 4:28).
Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
The sluggard is like the Dead Sea, where nothing can live. He is constantly taking in as he craves for more and more. Like the Sea of Galilee, full of life, the righteous gives without sparing.
More than that, we are to do so to the honour and glory of God:
Colossians 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
We encourage our young men and women to develop a healthy attitude toward work. Honest productive work is the backbone of strong families and blessed nations. God put His heart into His work. He doesn’t finish things just to get them over with. When He made the frog, He painted a frog’s eyes gold. God adds distinct and beautiful touches to each thing He makes. His energy and creativity are without measure. They overflow into everything He does. Drudgery and bare minimums have not part in His work. Some things He makes are very simple. Yet even their simplicity is a work of art. [Bob Schultz, Created for Work]
Money is so much part of our daily life. The Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil (1Timothy 6:10). Money itself is not evil. But the love of money is a grievous sin. The Apostle Paul warns, “…which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1Timothy 6:10) The snare of a materialistic life-style that enslaves God’s people.
Have you ever wondered how money should be defined? This is a pertinent question to help us understand this money-abusing world that we are living in today. The Bible tells us from Genesis 3:19 the purpose of human labour – “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread”.
Human labour is that which is ordained of God whereby man feeds or sustains himself physically till the day he dies. Money has been used to quantify this labour. It is a unit measure of a man’s labour whereby he could use to feed himself till the day he dies. Savings is the accumulated or stored value of human labour whereas debt is the obligation to serve human labour. This is the biblical concept of honest money.
The Bible’s teaching is that man can enjoy the fruit of his labour. It is given to him by God who has enabled him to work (Deut. 8:18). And there is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This is from the hand of God. (Eccl. 2:24) And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. (Eccl. 3:13; 5:19)
Vincent Van Gogh, The Potato Eaters, 1885 – Van Gogh said he wanted to depict peasants as they really were. He deliberately chose coarse and ugly models, thinking that they would be natural and unspoiled in his finished work: “You see, I really have wanted to make it so that people get the idea that these folk, who are eating their potatoes by the light of their little lamp, have tilled the earth themselves with these hands they are putting in the dish, and so it speaks of manual labor and — that they have thus honestly earned their food. I wanted it to give the idea of a wholly different way of life from ours — civilized people. So I certainly don’t want everyone just to admire it or approve of it without knowing why.”
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Potato_Eaters – cite_note-1#cite_note-1
(3) Overall Fruitfulness Through Him (v3, 5-6)
3Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table… 5The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. 6Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.
Psalm 128 is known as a pilgrim’s psalm to be sang for travelers (pilgrims) going to Jerusalem for to celebrate the ancient feasts of the Hebrews. These ancient feasts were family affairs. It is called a song of ascent since the pilgrims literally ascend or went up to Jerusalem. The family rejoices together in God’s goodness to them as they traveled toward Jerusalem for the feasts. As they encountered other families they made new friends and renewed old friendships. Children played together. Adults conversed as they walked. In the evening camps all would gather around cooking fires and share stories and sing. How it reminds us of our annual church camp where the church family would pack and gather and travel to one location to remember the Lord in the Study of His Word. This is a description of the “enlightened Christian family prospering according to God’s divine blueprint for blessed marriage and family life. Does it not remind us of our annual “pilgrimage” to attend Church Camp, a foretaste of heaven, no household chores, just enjoy fellowship with God and the saints, all other things taken care of.
This is the image of abundance and divine blessings that is extended here to children and wife. Both wife and children are thriving spiritually. Fruit as an image of abundance – Abundant fruit is symbolic of the richness and creativity of God. The world as created by God was prolific in its fruitfulness in Genesis 1:11-12 “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”
The wife is described here as a fruitful vine. Both the vine and the olive tree were symbols of economic prosperity of Israel. The vine provided wine and the olive tree supply fruit and oil. The use of olive plants for children signifies their spiritual blessings and prosperity. Psalms 52:8 “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.” Olive trees take a long time to mature and become profitable. It needs to be patiently cultivated, but they become very precious and profitable crop for hundreds of years, longer than any other fruit producing tree or plant. A good father, a God-fearing father takes responsibility for the spiritual welfare and nurture of his family. Nor does he neglect the children’s physical welfare.”
The images of vines and olive plants are biblical symbols of abundant life, symbolizing rich blessing as opposed to other crops like wheat or corn.
Truly, our children are most blessed, they have the opportunity to attend church camp every year since they were babies. My first church camp was only at the age 29 years old.
These are the child rearing years, the family goes through years of training, loving, disciplining, and ultimately releasing the children. Little babies grow up into challenging independent-thinking adolescents. The protective sheltered environment of the home is broken into by school, new friends, alien philosophies, financial strain, illness, hard questions, constant decisions and busy schedules. The husband asking himself – I’ve earned so much & I haven’t had the time to enjoy it!! And the wife’s awareness that there is a bigger world than preparing and bringing children to school and making lunches and dinners, the temptations of the world. Then there is dating, new drivers in the family, leaving for tertiary education, talk of marriage and moving out.
The family that prays together stays together.
Psalm 128:6 “Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children.”
These are the years when one become grandparents – the family is reduced to its original condition – a husband and wife in their twilight light years. What will life be like when the dust settles and quietness returns? What will be the rewards for beginning and cultivating a family according to God’s direction – It is God’s promise of His blessings! We see our grandchildren and peace upon the land.
CONCLUSION
Fear God, Follow Him, Overall Fruitfulness by Him. Amen.