What comes to mind when you think about the blessing of God? For many, the mind races to those things of material significance. A new car, a promotion, a fat retirement account, or perhaps increased influence among men. These are all potential evidence of God’s blessings. After all, James tells us that every good thing comes from God (James 1:17).
But what if the evidence of God’s affirmation, the outpouring of His benevolence, the portrait of His effusive grace was something more subtle?
Notice the words of the Psalmist:
1How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways.
2When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with you.
3Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine Within your house, Your children like olive plants Around your table.
4Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the Lord.
One condition and the exhibits of God’s blessing:
The Condition– Fear God and walk in His ways. These are one and the same thing. I know we like to separate them in modern culture and create some spiritual category for those who might claim to love God but walk in willful rebellion. This is a foreign idea to the Scriptures. While all people do, in fact, sin against God…the disciple of Jesus looks to Christ’s atoning work for that sin, repents of sinning, and pursues holy living. This is an ongoing and ever-progressive work for the disciple. As Martin Luther wrote and nailed to the door of Wittenberg Chapel, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent,’ he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.”
The Exhibits:
- You shall eat of the fruit of your hands (v.2). This speaks of God’s provision for all our needs and our enjoyment of them. These provisions, contextually speaking, were not only personal but familial. It speaks of the ability to provide for one’s family through his labor. Now, before you @me and start quoting Miley Cyrus lyrics about buying your own flowers, the idea in biblical times was clear. Part of God’s blessing was evident in man’s ability to care for those in his household.
- Your wife shall be a fruitful vine within your house. This image would connect with the agrarian mindset of the audience. God’s blessing will be evident through many children from your wife. Large families were considered a blessing from the Lord. Furthermore, the imagery of the vine is used elsewhere to speak of refreshment and lavish enjoyment.
- Your table will be surrounded by children like olive plants. Both olive plants and vines are rich in biblical imagery and communicate rich blessings. The children around the table are not commodities to be used or consumed but plants that take quite some time to grow to maturity. They must be tended, nurtured, and cultivated. When this is done, they produce blessings in abundance. This picture communicates to us both responsibility and reward. Children are not inconveniences. They are not interruptions to our otherwise fruitful lives. They are not a means to a particular end. They are blessings that have been entrusted to our stewardship of developing and shaping to know and love God.
I know that the image of success and the evidence of God’s blessing may look different in the mind of the novice or the unbeliever. But for God’s people, satisfying provisions, a fruitful marriage, and the opportunity to develop our children into followers of Jesus, as we walk in the fear of God, are evidence of a life well-lived and God’s gracious blessing.
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