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Let’s review the historical background for the Psalms of Ascent. The Jewish people made four pilgrimages to Jerusalem each year, which sit about 2500 fee above sea level, so this was a physical climb. But this also has a spiritual lesson for us today: We are to continue progressing in our walk with God—upward and onward!
The songs of ascent that these pilgrims sang give us life-changing lessons that we can still apply today.
I’m sure there were some pilgrims who thought, “We have to go to Jerusalem.” Just as there are some people today who may something like, “I have to tithe.” But when you have experienced the blessing that comes from obedience, your “have to” turns to “get to” really quickly!
There is a longing in Psalm 128 for God’s blessing. In fact, we see it in nearly every verse: blessed (v. 1), blessing and prosperity (v. 2), blessed (v. 4), bless and prosperity (v. 5), and peace (v. 6).
We have to remember that our obedience doesn’t earn God’s blessing, but rather our obedience keeps us in the place where we can receive God’s ever-flowing blessings. When I have experienced the blessing that followed even my “have to” attitude, I now joyfully “get to” obey because I know that keeps me in a blessed place.
But even knowing that these blessings are flowing for us, sometimes we still get weary. Sometimes it seems as if we are being faithful but we aren’t seeing the results that perhaps we saw before.
Think about these pilgrims ascending 2500 feet year after year after year. It was challenging enough during the golden days of King David and King Solomon, but can you imagine the feelings of futility during the dark days? Perhaps during the exile when the temple was in ruins, or after the exile when the temple didn’t look as it did before and there were overlords ruling Israel? And then it was unquestionably true that the older a pilgrim got, the harder the climb became for them.
But the struggle keeps us reliant on God. Like Solomon said, “The way of life winds upward for the wise, that he may turn away from hell below” (Proverbs 15:24). The longer I walk, the more I get to rely on God’s help, and the sweeter He becomes to me!
(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)
I love the line in the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness, “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow—blessings all mine with ten thousand beside.” Because of God’s blessings that I’ve already experienced, I can trust Him for more, even in the struggle of the climb.
Look at some of these promises that come out in other biblical translations.
- Blessed are those who fear God (NIV) = “How joyful are those who fear the Lord” (NLT)
- Blessing and prosperity will be yours (NIV) = “You will enjoy the fruit of your labor” (NLT) and “You will eat what you worked so hard to grow” (NET)
The middle of this psalm is in verses 3-4. Remember above when I said nearly every verse contains a word of blessing? I didn’t list verse 3, but there is language in this verse that makes it pregnant with blessing—Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.
You may ask, “How is this a blessing?”
The phrase “under their own vine and under their own fig tree” appears throughout the Old Testament. It described a blessed, prosperous, happy, and peaceful home. It was a home at peace within because there was also peace without.
This described the golden era of King Solomon—During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree (1 Kings 4:25).
After the northern kingdom of Israel fell and the southern kingdom of Judah was surrounded by the Assyrian forces of King Sennacherib, the king’s field commander tried to entice them the people with similar words—
Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: “Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death! Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’” (2 Kings 18:31-32)
Notice that he said the land would be “a land like your own.” He was trying to get them to compromise, to no longer listen to God’s voice, to no longer climb up into God’s presence. Much like satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit with the promise, “You will be like God.”
But these blessings in Psalm 128 don’t come from fearful “have to” obedience to man, but from reverencing God above all else. So the longing of verses 1-4 become the prayer of verses 5-6 (notice the word may used three times in these verse).
The focus of our longing—where we need to keep our eyes—is on God’s heavenly throne: Zion, Jerusalem, Israel (vv. 5-6; Micah 4:1-5).
In an earlier story, Caleb may have gotten tired while he waited for God to fulfill His promise to him, but he always trusted God as he walked on (see Joshua 14:9-12).
The Difficulty will not me offend;
For I perceive the Way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up Heart, let’s neither faint nor fear;
Like Caleb say, “It may have been 85 years of walking and climbing, but I’ll keep climbing. GOD, GIVE ME THIS HILL!”
If you would like to check out the other songs of ascent that we’ve already studied, please click here.
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Craig T. Owens 