SUMMARY
High on the list of God’s blessings is a happy home filled with healthy children.
ANALYSIS
These two psalms speak of the everyday blessings of home, spouse, and children. God cares not only for the cosmos and the nation, but for families as well, anonymous to all but God.
The psalmist speaks in an ancient oriental culture that is generally male-centered, where the fertility of the wife and the gift of many children are particularly highly regarded (127:3-5; 128:3). That culture assumes marriage and children as the norm for all–and, of course, it still is for most people of the world. Children are valued as a blessingBlessing is the asking for or the giving of God's favor. Isaac was tricked into blessing Jacob instead of his firstborn Esau. At the Last Supper Jesus offered a blessing over bread and wine. To be blessed is to be favored by God. More from God, a gift especially in times of danger when it would be dangerous to be alone (127:5) and the only real way to achieve “immortality” (128:6). A large family is treasured especially in a time when all members of the family must work to sustain daily life and when disease might easily take children without warning–again, still true for much of the world. In other cultures, like our own, children are still God’s blessing, of course, but they are no longer an economic necessity; women have significant roles other than their important place within the family and, for a variety of reasons, many people do not or cannot choose to marry. We will need to “translate” this psalmA psalm is a song of praise. In the Old Testament 150 psalms comprise the psalter, although some of the psalms are laments and thanksgivings. In the New Testament early Christians gathered to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. More to address not only familial roles and male concerns, but to remind us that God’s care is for the everyday affairs of all, which is surely the case (see, for example, Psalm 113:7-9).
Perhaps in our present busy culture, the psalm’s most important reminder is that we “rise up early and go late to rest” in vain, unless we build our lives around the care and call of God (127:1-2).
