Psalm 128
Reflect
This happy psalm of blessing, where home and city prosper, is conditioned on two things: our fear of Yahweh and walking in His ways. True prosperity is not based on our own pursuit of happiness, nor does it exclude hardship. John Calvin directed believers to develop deeper concepts of happiness than the world’s, which consist of “ease, honours, and great wealth.” Today, we have more wealth and a higher standard of living than any other time in history, and yet happiness, as conceived by the world, is still elusive and fleeting.
Let’s consider the directives for blessing given in Psalm 128. First, we must resist the temptation to make God into our own image, minimizing and reducing Him to something we are comfortable with. Eugene Petersen describes it in this way: “To guard against all such blasphemous chumminess with the Almighty, the Bible talks of the fear of the Lord… to bring us to awesome attention before the overwhelming grandeur of God, to shut up our whining and chattering and stop our running and fidgeting so that we can really see Him as He is and listen to Him…” With honest reverence for God, we are then ready to walk in His ways which are ethical, moral, just, and merciful - to name a few characteristics.
Apply
Where is Holy Spirit directing your attention today? Towards greater reverence of God or walking His specific way?
Pastor Melissa
Pray
- Pray through the prayer section in our program.
- Pray for our Congregational Life Pastor, Mike Bartusek and his family.
- Pray for Dave Schneider, our Youth and Worship Pastor and Erin Gibbard, Youth Ministry Associate.
- Pray for our Hospitality Coordinator, Irene Dickau.