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Psalm 128:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 128:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 128[a]
Happy Home of the Righteous
1 [b]A song of ascents.
Blessed[c] are all those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labors;
you will enjoy both blessings and prosperity.[d]
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine[e]
within your house;
your sons will be like shoots of an olive tree
around your table.
Footnotes
- Psalm 128:1 A prosperous home, such is the happiness reserved by God for the righteous—so thought the sages of Israel (see Prov 3:33). Although the people soon realized that God’s reward is more mysterious, the joy and intimacy of the hearth, delicately invoked in this psalm, and the gathering of all in a Jerusalem radiant with peace remain the most suggestive images of the happiness that God will bestow on the righteous. The psalmist is encouraging the individual to contribute to the building up of the kingdom of God by living a godly life. Through him, his family will be built up, and God’s blessing will be extended to all the People of God.
In praying this psalm, we can apply it above all to the spiritual goods that God reserves for Christian families. However, we know that the heavenly Father does not fail to add to his supernatural benefits such natural ones as the blessings and happiness promised by the psalmist: prosperity, professional success, fecundity, longevity, and peace. - Psalm 128:1 The psalmist delineates the blessings of a God-fearing family: the right relationship with God, obedience to his words, fruitful labor, compatible loving parents, godly children, and domestic harmony.
- Psalm 128:1 The wise man was especially concerned with walking in the ways of the Lord (see Pss 1:1; 25:9f; Prov 14:2), ways of love, fidelity, and uprightness. Blessed: see note on Ps 1:1. Fear the Lord: see note on Ps 15:2-5. His ways: i.e., his commandments (see Pss 27:11; 86:11; 143:8).
- Psalm 128:2 In godly living, the judgment of God on humans (see Gen 3:17-19) is alleviated, for labor is truly blessed by God.
- Psalm 128:3 The imagery of vine and olive shoots recalls the times of David and Solomon (see 1 Ki 4:25) and the blessing associated with the Messianic Age (see Mic 4:4; Zec 3:10). To sit under one’s vine and fig tree symbolized tranquillity, peace, and prosperity. The metaphor of the vine indicates that the wife will be not only fruitful but also everything that a wife should be for the good of the family (see Prov 31:10-31). The children (shoots of an olive tree) will be strong and later on continue the father’s work (see Ps 52:10; Jer 11:16; Hos 14:6).
