“The Secret of Contentment” (Psalm 131:1-3)

Christian Contentment
I always have cold hands. When I pass the peace during a Sunday service, one of the comments most often heard is “Your hands are cold!” So I bought this hand warmer, and I use it during the cold season. It does help to keep my hands warm. But the thing is I often forget to carry it with me. Without the hand warmer, as a result, my hands are still cold most of the time.

Psalm 131 is about Christian contentment. This psalm teaches us about a kind of contentment, that is rooted not in circumstances, but in God. Jeremiah Burrough, in his book Rare Jewell of Christian Contentment, compares contentment that comes from circumstances to the warming of your clothes by the fire.[1]

To be content as a result of some external thing is like warming a man’s clothes by the fire. But to be content through an inward disposition of the soul is like the warmth that a man’s clothes have from the natural heat of his body. A man who is healthy in body puts on his clothes, and perhaps at first on a cold morning they feel cold. But after he has had them on a little while they are warm. Now, how did they get warm? They were not near the fire? No, this came from the natural heat of his body. Now when a sickly man, the natural heat of whose body has deteriorated, puts on his clothes, they do not get hot for a long time. He must warm them by the fire, and even then they will soon be cold again. (28)

So Christian contentment is like the sustaining warmth that comes from the natural heat of our body. Psalm 131 is a short psalm, but a very powerful psalm. When Charles Spurgeon preached this psalm, he said it “is one of the shortest Psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn.” In those three verses, David invites us to a life of contentment in this discontent world.

Beware of Pride
The first key to Christian contentment is to renounce pride. In verse 1 David says, “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.” Here David renounces pride at three levels: his heart, his eyes (high view of himself), his action (“I do not occupy myself with…”). At every level he renounces pride.

Pride is having confidence in self. So, another word for pride would be self-reliance, self-exaltation, self-rule. John Piper said, “There are two kinds of pride — the pride of having and the pride of wanting. The pride of having is the pride of those who have superiority, or think they do … The pride of wanting is the pride of those who don’t have superiority but wish they did and continually crave others’ attention and approval.”[2] Different forms but the same root: having confidence in self. Many of us often think, “I don’t have superiority, so I don’t have pride.” We may not have the pride of having, but pride is often seen in those who have nothing to be arrogant about and crave the attention and approval of others. The pride of wanting. “My life would be better if only I had … better health, better job, better family, more vacation time, more money…” More, bigger, better. But trying to find contentment in all this is like keeping our hands warm with a hand warmer. It comes and goes. It’s temporary. So the first step to Christian contentment is to cut off all forms of pride at every level.

Learn Contentment
Here is the second point: contentment is a learned skill. In verse 2 David says, “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.” Verse 2 is David’s very intentional composure of soul. Negatively, David renounces all forms of pride at every level. Positively, he intentionally seeks to find contentment in God.

David does this like a weaned child. There is a clear difference between an unweaned child and a weaned child. Hannah is an unweaned child. She is frantically looking for her mom, craving milk for her stomach. But Esther and Grace are weaned children. They just enjoy the mom’s presence. The other day I asked Grace, “What is your favorite time?” She said, “Snuggle time with mom!” Almost every evening Esther asks me, “Will you read me a story?” Here what she is saying is, “Can I come and sit on your knee, and feel your arms around me, and hear your voice?” For Grace and Esther, for the weaned child, it is not about her stomach. It’s about her heart.

David exhorts us to learn and cultivate the weaned childlike soul. I think one of the best examples of this is the apostle Paul. In Philippians 4 Paul tells us about his contentment in the Lord:

Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Paul says, “I’ve learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” What’s the secret of Paul’s contentment? Christ Jesus is the secret of his contentment. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Paul has learned to depend on the Lord as certain things he had depended on were taken away from him. David has learned the secret of contentment through many trials and tribulations. As pandemic drags on, as American politics gets messy, as days get shorter and darker, we have been affected by all this. We grieve. And it hurts. But still, like a weaned child, with humility, curiosity, trust, we can learn to depend on God, not on circumstances. Contentment is a learned skill.

Tell the World
Christian contentment renounces pride. It is a learned skill. And here’s the third: Christian contentment is contagious. In verse 3 David says, “O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore!” He tells the world to join him in this contentment, satisfaction, joy, peace, hope that he has found in God. When David was running away from Saul and living in the wilderness, some people came to him, and David became their leader. 1 Samuel 22:2 says, “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him” (1 Sam 22:2). Basically, those 400 men were social misfits, convicts, and troublemakers. But the amazing thing is David did not become like one of them. Instead, those 400 men became like David. At the beginning the 400 men were worthless men and troublemakers, but later, they became founding contributors and leaders. How can it be possible? It is because David spent more time with God than with those 400 men. Every morning David offered his first thoughts, first words, first hour to God. And he was shaped by God’s word and God’s character day after day after day. David has learned to be content in God. And his contentment was just shining out. Through his life David tells the world around him, “Hope in the Lord! Join me in my child-like contentment in him!”

Living with Contentment
Still today, perhaps now more than ever, the message of Psalm 131 is so true, and so need to be heard: O God’s people, renounce pride and humble yourselves before God. Seek to find contentment in God alone. O God’s people, hope in the Lord – not yourself. Hope in the Lord – not health. Hope in the Lord – not family. Hope in the Lord – not politics. Hope in the Lord – not power. Hope in the Lord – not economy, not money.

As I close, I would like to share the prayer of Missy Buchanan. When she wrote this prayer (May 2008), Missy was a caregiver for her 92 years old mother, who continued to seek her contentment in God, but increasing pain and health issues.[3]

I confess there are days when pain suffocates my passion for living. 

There are dark nights when fear chokes out hope. 

Sometimes I wonder why you have left me on this earth. 

I have outlived so many family and friends. 

Why do I linger? 

What purpose could you have for me now? 

Look at my hands. Once strong and sure, they are unsteady and frail. 

My mind, once quick and incisive, now falters under the weight of names and faces. 

What real purpose do I serve knitting away the hours, 

surfing the channels, dozing through the afternoon? 

Then your Spirit stirs my heart and convicts my soul. 

You are not a wasteful God! 

The length of my earthly days is a mystery to me, but one thing I know for sure. 

You have created me with an eternal purpose. 

How can I be more like Christ today? 

Whose life can I touch with kindness? 

Lord, give me an extra measure of grace when I feel that I’m too old to be useful. 

Help me take my limitations in stride as I search for opportunities to serve you. 

My purpose has not withered away with another birthday. 

It is rooted in eternity. 

Amen. 

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[1] Quoted in John Piper, “Join Me in Soul-Satisfaction in God,” Desiring God (September 14, 2014)
[2] Ibid.
[3] Missy Buchanan, Living with Purpose in a Worn–Out Body (p. 7). Upper Room Books. Kindle Edition.

“In His Word I Hope” (Psalm 130:1-8)

The Gift of Pain
In his book The Gift of Pain Dr. Paul Brand who worked with people who suffered from pain and people who suffered from the lack of pain in England, India, and the US for decades shares what he has learned something new about pain. In the early days of working with those patients he considered pain as something to be avoided or removed. But as he continued to work with leprosy patients, he gained a new perspective on pain. He saw how hundreds of his leprosy patients suffer from pain’s absence. The noses of them shrink away, their earlobes swell, and over time they lose fingers and toes, then hands and feet. Many also go blind. One time Dr. Brand came back from a long, difficult medical trip. He pulled off his shoes to prepare for bed, but then he realized that he had no feeling in half his foot. He was terrified. The truth was his recent illness (influenza) and fatigue caused a temporary numbness for a day. Overnight the nerve had renewed itself. There was no leprosy. He breathed a prayer hundreds of times, “Thank God for pain!” That single sleepless night became for him a defining moment. Dr. Brand says, “I now regard pain as one of the most remarkable design features of the human body, and if I could choose one gift for my leprosy patients it would be the gift of pain.” Then, he continues, “My own encounters with pain as well as the specter of painlessness have produced in me an attitude of wonder and appreciation. I do not desire, and cannot even imagine, a life without pain.”[1]

Psalm 130 is written by the one whose life is in pain. But Martin Luther once called Psalm 130 “a proper master and doctor of Scripture.” Psalm 130 teaches the basic, essential truth of the gospel, starting with painful (bad) news, then good news, that is 3 C’s: Condemnation – Confession – Confidence.

Condemnation
First, condemnation. The psalmist cries out to God out of “the depths” (v. 1). He is now in the depths, in trouble, in pain. In this psalm the metaphor of the “the depths” refer to a feeling of alienation from God. Why does the psalmist feel that way? We can find the answer in verse 3: “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?” Because of his iniquities, the psalmist feels like he is being cast into the depths of the sea. He feels separated from God. He feels pain. In the Old Testament the word “iniquity” (ah-von) is what we are rather than what we do. Its root meaning is “to bend, curve, turn aside, or twist.” It is the “bent” of our nature towards sin, rebellion against the law of God. In a word, it is the fallen nature, sinful nature, which we can no more change, of ourselves. The Bible says, “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rm 3:12, ESV). That’s depressing news, painful news about the human reality where we are. But that’s the starting point of our journey towards God. We feel pain, we cry out to God.

If you turn on the TV, you’re bombarded with painful news. You can see human sinful nature – self-centeredness, pride, greed, deceit, and so on. If you turn to Psalm 130, you can see that pain is real. Condemnation is real. Separation is real. But that’s not the point. The point is, rather, our place in the depths is not out of bounds from God. The point is God is greater and more real than our suffering and pain. This morning we read Psalm 139 as call to worship. The adaptation of this psalm in our context today would read, “Where can I go to get away from your spirit? If I go to the rehab clinic… the ICU… my empty room, you are there. If I say, “I am done with social media. I am done with politics” … even that moment you would guide me.” The place where we feel pain is the very same place where we encounter God.

Confession
Pain brings us to repentance. The psalmist, who is in pain, is now turning to God, confessing his personal and communal sin, asking God’s forgiveness (vv. 3-4). Then expectantly, he waits for God.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning,

More than those who watch for the morning” (vv. 5-6).

The two words wait and watch are at the center of the psalm. “Wait and watch” are signs of true repentance. Those who are contrite in spirit, poor in spirit, wait and watch. Salvation is all of God, but there is our part to participate in it. It is to wait and watch for the Lord. I was once a watchman when I was in the military. One of my duties was to stay alert and keep records of what happened during the overnight shift. Also, as a military chaplain, I visited several guard posts and comforted restless soldiers. I stayed awake, I visited, I chitchatted. And I waited for the dawn. Dawn always came. When we think about a watchman, we find that a watchman is an important person, but he doesn’t do very much. He never makes anything happen. He waits and watches. He comforts and encourages. He hopes.

The psalmist invites us to be a watchman. In our context, in this election season, as a Christian and as a church, what does it mean to be a watchman? In the November issue of Christian magazine Sojourners, Rose Marie Berger gives us some helpful guidelines to wait and watch:[2] 

1. Get involved

Many of us already got tired of all this political mess. Sometimes we need a media fast. But after some time, we should get back, get involved. We should learn, study, discern, pray, and vote, not based on what’s best for me (self-interest) but what’s best for the common good.

2. Defend accuracy and stop disinformation

Check all information. Alert others by commenting on false information that you see posted online, and do not repeat, repost, or retweet false information.

3. Resist foreign interference

4. Stand up against intimidation

5. Allow time for all the voters to be counted

The actual, accurate results may not be known until many days, or even weeks, after Nov. 3. Keep calm, and don’t be swayed by inadequate or incomplete results from media.

6. Once votes are counted, respect the election results

7. Demand accuracy in media reports

By doing this, expectantly and actively we wait and watch. We hope.

Confidence
Condemnation, Confession, and now Confidence. Here the source of confidence is important. The psalmist has full confidence in God’s “steadfast love”:

“O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities” (vv. 7-8).

The Hebrew word hesed, translated as “unfailing love,” is one of the most important words in the Bible. Hesed is used in the context of the wedding vows. At the wedding, a bride and a bridegroom pledge a love “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part,” and they publicly vow by saying, in turn, “I will.” It is love centered in the will, lifelong commitment. This is hesed, the Lord’s unchangeable, eternal commitment to his people. In the Bible Hosea’s life was a message to God’s people. God asked Hosea to marry a prostitute and have children of unfaithfulness. But then, Hosea’s wife committed adultery with another lover. But again, God asked Hosea to go and love his wife again. Israel has forsaken God and has turned to their own ways again and again, but God’s hesed still followed them all the days of their lives. God said to them:

“And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD” (Hosea 2:19-20, NRSV)

God’s unfailing love leads Israel to repentance. God’s unfailing love changes Israel. God’s unfailing love changes us. His hesed gives us solid hope in spite of our brokenness.

Speaking about the Sun
In his book Here and Now Henri Nouwen talks about his friend who radiates joy. Whenever Nouwen meets his friend, he is tempted to draw his attention to the wars between nations, the starvation among children, the corruption in politics, and the deceit among people, thus trying to impress him with the ultimate brokenness of the human race. But every time Nouwen tries something like this, his friend looks at him with the gentle and compassionate eyes and says: “I saw two children sharing their bread with one another, and I heard a woman say ‘thank you’ and smile when someone covered her with a blanket. These simple poor people gave me new courage to live my life.” Nouwen concludes, “My friend’s joy is contagious. The more I am with him, the more I catch glimpses of the sun shining through the clouds… Those who keep speaking about the sun while walking under a cloudy sky are messengers of hope, the true saints of our day.”[3]

Psalm 130 teaches us such an important spiritual reality that God is more real than suffering, God is more real than despair, God is more real than brokenness. And this spiritual realism makes the psalmist such a hopeful man: “In his word I hope (v. 5) … O Israel, hope in the Lord! (v. 7)” May we too be messengers of hope, looking to the sun and speaking about the sun always. Amen.

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[1] Paul Brand, The Gift of Pain (p. 12-13). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
[2] Rose Marie Berger, “What Can I Do?” Sojourners (November 2020), 28-29.
[3] Henri J. M. Nouwen, Here and Now: Living in the Spirit (pp. 32-33). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.

“You’ll Get through This” (Psalm 129:1-8)

Why?
The other day I had a chance to talk with one of my colleagues, who was going through difficult times. Over the past year he had to have surgery three times, and he is still recovering from his recent surgery. He said that he had never been sick before. But since last year when he started

to serve his first church his health went downhill rapidly. He has two little ones to take care of. Because of the unexpected blow of life, I could tell he was alarmed and discouraged. “Why me?” “Why now?” Perhaps some of us in this room may be going through the dark hours and ask the same questions. Perhaps some of us may be holding up ok overall, but still as we look around, as a community and as a nation, we are going through turbulent times. We see political and civil unrest, racial injustice, economic crisis, and the ongoing pandemic threat. And we ask, “Why so awful?” “Why protracted?” “How long?”

In fact, these are not the new questions. Our spiritual ancestors asked the exactly same questions on their pilgrim journey. In Psalm 129 the psalmist asks the same questions. It seems that the psalmist wrote this psalm in the midst of suffering. In all this psalm 129 is our friend and teacher.

Past (vv. 1-3)
First of all, the psalmist invites us to look back on our past and find signs of hope from there. The psalmist says:

““Often have they attacked me from my youth” – let Israel now say – “Often have they    attacked me from my youth,” yet they have not prevailed against me.”

When we look back over the long history of Israel, starting in Israel’s youth in Egypt, we find a series of challenges and problems – Egyptian bondage for 430 years, the hardships of the wilderness for another 40 years, the fierce battles for the Promised Land, then the endless wars with its neighboring countries in the Promised Land. But more importantly, in all this we also find that the enemies were not able to prevail against God’s people. God helped, protected, sustained Israel.

Then, the psalmist uses agricultural illustrations in verse 3: “The plowers plowed on my back; they made their furrows long.” What’s the point of this farming imagery? The point is this: ploughing always has a purpose. Alec Motyer expounds this verse as follows:[1]

“Ploughing is never an end in itself. If the soil had ‘feeling,’ would it not cry out against such mindless brutality? But it is brutality with an end in view, for without the brutality of breaking up the fallow ground (Jerimiah 4:3), there would be no sowing, growing, maturing, reaping and harvest home!”

Here is another example. Pumpkin bread is a favorite for many. Kids love it. Grown-ups love it. But imagine you eat each ingredient separately – 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of baking powder, 2 raw eggs, 2 cups of sugar, and so forth. It would be almost impossible or very unpleasant to swallow it. But when we mix them all together and bake them at the proper temperature and time, somehow those ingredients become yummy pumpkin bread. In the same way, the knocks and blows of life are not pleasant at that time. But God permits such trials and tribulations. God allows the enemy to attack us by surprise. But God never allows Satan to prevail against us. Somehow God uses those sufferings and tragedies, and makes something beautiful, something good out of them. The Bibles says, “We know that all things (not “each thing”) work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). The isolated events – accident, sickness, death – may be evil, but ultimately “all together” they become something good. “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). As we look back on our past, we realize that God is good, and he is for us, not against us.

Present (v. 4)
Secondly, the psalmist invites us to take a close look at the present and see that the Lord is righteous. The psalmist says, “The Lord is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.” The enemies are still trampling back and forth on our back, but the plows are not working, because God has cut the cords of the wicked. The cords, connecting plow to oxen, have been severed. They plow back and forth, but their attack is worthless. It hurts, but it’s not deadly anymore, because God has already cut them off.

Joseph’s story can be a good example. Joseph was sold by his brothers in Genesis 37. Then, he became a slave in the house of his Egyptian master in Genesis 39. But between the two stories, we hear the story of Judah in Genesis 38. An awkward, abrupt story. There is a reason for this. Although Judah was the fourth son of Jacob, he was practically a leader among his siblings. The siblings listened to him. It was Judah who took the initiative to sell Joseph. It was Judah who showed Jacob Joseph’s robe with the blood and deceived him. Then, in Genesis 38 things had come full circle. Judah, who had deceived Jacob, was now deceived by Tamar, his daughter-in-law. Judah, who had trapped Joseph, was trapped. Judah, who had helped humiliate Joseph, was humiliated. And Judah came to his senses and confessed, “She has been more righteous than I” (38:26). God judged Judah. God changed Judah. Later, when Joseph tried to detain Benjamin, Judah pleaded for Benjamin’s release and asked Joseph to make him a slave instead of Benjamin. So what’s the point of the story? God is righteous. Vengeance is God’s. God handles all Judahs. God is at work now. How would you describe your crisis? “The economy… the economy… the economy.” “The disease… the disease … the disease.” “Cranky spouse… cranky spouse… cranky spouse.” The psalmist commends us to fix our eyes on God, the Righteous Judge, “God… God… God!”

Future (vv. 5-8)

Then thirdly, the psalmist invites us to see the glorious future of God’s people and hope in God. The third segment (vv. 5-8) can be translated either a prayer (jussive) or an affirmation (present or future) in Hebrew. Both ways express a valuable truth. If it’s a prayer, it articulates our realistic hope based on God’s promises. If it’s an affirmation, it strengthens our faith in God in this way:

“They [the wicked] will be ashamed and draw back, all the ones who hate Zion. They will be like the grass of the roofs, which, before it draws out, it withers” (5-6).

The wicked have their day, and for a time being they may have great power, attacking and harassing God’s people. But soon they are cut down like the grass and withers like the green herb without roots. Israel suffered under Egyptian’s oppression. But God delivered his people out of Egypt. But Egypt, symbolism of evil, was persistent. The Egyptians were chasing after Israel. Israel cried out to God, and God answered through Moses, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Ex 14:13-14). Then this verse, “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore” (14:30). Israel saw the death of evil. And we will see the death of evil on the Day of Judgement (cf. Rev 20:7-10). God will make all things right!

“Because I love you”
As we look around, we see brokenness and injustice everywhere – personal tragedies, floods and earthquakes, accidents and terrorist attacks, hunger and poverty, disease and death. We may ask, “Why does God allow them if God is good?” “Can God judge us?”

The playlet entitled ‘The Long Silence’ says it all: At the end of time, billions of people from all nations were scattered on a great plain before God’s throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly. They said, “Can God judge us? How can God know about suffering? Before God could be qualified to be our judge, he must endure what we had endured.” So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he or she had suffered the most. A Jew tortured and died at Nazi concentration camp, a black person lynched for not crime but being black, a person from Hiroshima, and so on. After consulting with each other, finally they were to present their case. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth – as a man! “Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges. Let him be tortured… At the last, let him taste what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die.” As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud cheers of approval went up from each group of people. And when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No-one said another word. No-one moved. For suddenly all knew that God had already served his sentence.[2] Our God is loving and righteous.

Recently, a friend of mine, who was going through dark, tough times, shared his story with me. He was asking God to show him some kind of big signs – audible voice or Damascus experience – to make sense of this and get through this. He cried out to God, “Why me?” “Why now?” After this, there was a gentle and quiet voice, “Because I love you.” May we all hear the same gentle voice. May we all see the signs of hope in our past, our present and our future. Amen.

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[1] Alec Motyer, Journey: Psalms for Pilgrim People (IVP, 2009), 101.
[2] John Stott, The Cross of Christ (InterVarsity Press, 2006), Kindle Locations 6778-6778.

“God’s Blessings” (Psalm 128:1-6)

Edwards’s Legacy
An American educator, A.E. Winship decided to trace the descendants of Jonathan Edwards, a godly preacher and theologian, almost 150 years after his death. His findings are remarkable. Jonathan Edwards’ legacy includes: 1 U.S. Vice-President, 1 Dean of a law school, 1 dean of a medical school, 3 U.S. Senators, 3 governors, 3 mayors, 13 college presidents, 30 judges, 60 doctors, 65 professors, 75 Military officers, 80 public office holders, 100 lawyers, 100 clergymen, and 285 college graduates. Winship also traced the descendants of Max Jukes, who lived in New York at about the same period as Edwards. His findings are also remarkable in a different way. Jukes’ descendants include: 7 murderers, 60 thieves, 190 prostitutes, 150 other convicts, 310 paupers, and 440 who were physically wrecked by addiction to alcohol. Of the 1,200 descendants that were studied, 300 died prematurely.[1]

I believe everyone of us in this room would want to have the legacy that Edwards had left. Who doesn’t want a happy family, a loving marriage, obedient children, trusted friends, a healthy body, a successful career, financial abundance, a prosperous nation? We pray God will bless us, our family, our nation. When we have those gifts, we attribute them to “God’s blessings.” We say, “We are blessed by God.” But what does it really mean to be blessed? How should we understand the blessing of God?

God’s Greatest Blessing
Psalm 128 teaches us what God’s greatest blessing is. When we read this psalm, at first glance it looks like God’s blessings are external, material, tangible – a successful career, a great family, a prosperous nation (vv. 2-5). They are all wonderful gifts and blessings for sure, but they are not God’s greatest blessings. In Psalm 128 what the psalmist really tries to emphasize is verse 1: “Happy (Blessed) is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.” Here fearing God means having such a reverent awe for him which comes from deep respect and love. The Bible says that our core nature is corrupted by sin. The default mode of the human heart is self-centered, self-exalting, self-saturated, making much of self (cf. Jer 17:9). Though we may acknowledge God as Creator or Supreme Being, we don’t fear God, honor God, glorify God. Fearing God is not natural human nature. Fearing God comes only when we are born again. The new birth changes the default mode of our fallen heart. It changes the root, the bottom, the foundation of what makes us happy or blessed.

We know it’s possible to enjoy going to church, singing hymns, reading the Bible, praying for God’s blessings without being born again. It’s possible to do all kinds of good works and religious activities without being born again. In Matthew 7:22-23, Jesus says, “At the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking. And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important (MSG).” But when we are born again, it changes the bottom of what make us happy – from making much of me (self) to making much of God. God becomes the bottom of our joy and our life for the first time. God himself, not his gifts, becomes our source of all the blessings. Then, so naturally, we come to treasure him, savor him, honor him, fear him, and enjoy walking in his ways. So God’s greatest blessing is the new life, new foundation, new nature that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. In this very context, the psalmist says, “How blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways!”

Blessings Abound
As we move onto the following verses (vv. 2-6), we find that God’s blessing is a spreading blessing. The power of one true Christian is contagious. The God-fearing individual is the means of blessing. Such a person is like streams of living water that flow out from them. Blessedness just flows from such a person out into their marriage and family, into their church, and into their wider community.

Today we are living in such a deeply divided, wounded, broken world. In this time of trouble what is the solution to this problem? What is the role of the church in this world? According to Psalm 128 the answer is the God-fearing individual. E. M. Bounds rightly said in this way:[2]

We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.

When Israel was going through the darkest hour, God proclaimed his remedy and vision through Isaiah: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6-7). God’s method is the person. The world’s salvation comes from that cradled Son. When God’s people were severely persecuted by the Roman Empire, God found one person, prepared him, anointed him, sent him to comfort and preach the good news to his people – the apostle Paul. The Bible says, “The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Ch 16:9). God’s method is the person – the God-fearing person, the true Christian. That is how God saves his people and blesses his people.

Come on the Lion’s Terms
In this time of trouble, we should pray for our nation and our leaders. But according to Psalm 128 there is even more important and urgent prayer, that is, “Lord, change me. Change my foundation. Change my nature. Break me. Turn my heart to you. Then, make me a blessing, so that many – my family, my church, my community, my country, all nations – will be blessed through me.”

C. S. Lewis in his children’s novel The Silver Chair tells us what it means to come to Jesus and to have new life in him in the clearest of terms. Jill is just about to die of thirst. She approaches the brook but then finds the lion on the grass. Jill said, “Will you promise not to – do anything to me, if I do come?” “I make no promise,” said the Lion. “Do you eat girls?” she said. “I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it. “I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill. “Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion. “Oh dear!” said Jill, “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.” “There is no other stream,” said the Lion. It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion — no one who had seen his stern face could do that — and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted.[3]

Here what C. S. Lewis is saying is, when we come to the water, when we come to the Lion, we must come on the Lion’s terms, and we have to yield ourselves by faith in order to get the water, to have new life. Psalm 128 is God’s great invitation to abundant life. It calls us to the obedience of faith – to change our foundation, and to cultivate in our hearts a true fear of the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ on his terms. Then, our relationships, our families, our church and all nations will be blessed through us. God’s greatest blessing always rests in God himself, not his gifts. God’s greatest blessing always starts from the inside out. When we have that, we are truly blessed. Amen.

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[1] “Jonathan Edwards,” Family Ministries: Youth with a Mission, https://www.ywam-fmi.org/news/multigenerational-legacies-the-story-of-jonathan-edwards/
[2] E. M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer (p. 1). Christian Classics Remix. Kindle Edition.
[3] R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe (Preaching the Word) (pp. 216-217). Crossway. Kindle Edition.