John Calvin Commentary Psalms 128

Blessed is the man who feareth Jehovah. In the preceding Psalm it was stated that prosperity in all human affairs, and in the whole course of our life, is to be hoped for exclusively from the grace of God; and now the Prophet admonishes us that those who desire to be partakers of the blessing of God must with sincerity of heart devote themselves wholly to him, for he will never disappoint those who serve him.

The first verse contains a summary of the subject-matter of the Psalm; the remaining portion is added only by way of exposition. The maxim “that those are blessed who fear God, especially in the present life,” is so much at variance with the common opinion of men that very few will give it their assent.

Everywhere, many Epicureans are to be found fluttering about, similar to Dionysius, who, having once had a favorable wind upon the sea and a prosperous voyage after plundering a temple, boasted that the gods favored church robbers. Also, the weak are troubled and shaken by the prosperity of evil men, and they then faint under the load of their own miseries.

The despisers of God may not indeed enjoy prosperity, and the condition of good men may be tolerable, but still the greater part of men are blind in considering the providence of God, or seem not in any degree to perceive it. The adage, “That it is best not to be born at all, or to die as soon as possible,” has certainly long been received by the common consent of almost all men.

Finally, carnal reason judges either that all mankind without exception are miserable, or that fortune is more favorable to ungodly and wicked men than to the good. To the sentiment that those are blessed who fear the Lord, it has an entire aversion, as I have declared at length on Psalm 37.

It is then all the more requisite to dwell upon the consideration of this truth. Further, as this blessedness is not apparent to the eye, it is important, in order to apprehend it, first to attend to the definition which will be given of it presently, and secondly, to know that it depends chiefly upon the protection of God.

Although we collect together all the circumstances which seem to contribute to a happy life, surely nothing will be found more desirable than to be kept hidden under the guardianship of God. If this blessing is, in our estimation, to be preferred, as it deserves, to all other good things, whoever is persuaded that the care of God is exercised over the world and human affairs will at the same time unquestionably acknowledge that what is here laid down is the chief point of happiness.

But before I proceed further, it should be noted that in the second part of the verse a mark is with good reason added by which the servants of God are distinguished from those who despise him. We see how the most depraved, with no less pride than audacity and mockery, boast of fearing God.

The Prophet therefore requires the attestation of life concerning this, for these two things—the fear of God and the keeping of his law—are inseparable, and the root must necessarily produce its corresponding fruit. Further, we learn from this passage that our life does not receive divine approval unless it is framed according to the divine law. There is unquestionably no religion without the fear of God, and the Prophet represents our living according to the commandment and ordinance of God as proceeding from this fear.

For when you shall eat the labor of your hands you shall be blessed. Some divide this sentence into two parts, reading these words, For you shall eat the labor of your hands, as a distinct sentence, and then what follows, You shall be blessed, as the beginning of a new sentence.

I indeed grant that it is true, as they assert, that the grace of God, manifested in the faithful enjoying the fruits of their labor, is set in opposition to the curse to which all mankind has been subjected. But it is more natural to read the words as one sentence, bringing out this meaning: that God’s children are happy in eating the fruits of their labor. For if we make them two sentences, these words, you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you, would contain a cold and even an insipid repetition.

Here the Prophet, confirming the doctrine stated in the first verse, teaches us that we ought to form a different estimate of what happiness consists in from that formed by the world, which makes a happy life consist in ease, honors, and great wealth. He recalls God’s servants to the practice of moderation, which almost all men refuse to exercise.

How few are to be found who, if it were left to their own choice, would desire to live by their own labor; indeed, who would account it a singular benefit to do so! No sooner is the name of happiness pronounced, than instantly every man breaks forth into the most extravagant ideas of what is necessary to it, so insatiable a gulf is the covetousness of the human heart.

The Prophet therefore instructs those who fear God to be content with this one thing: with the assurance that having God for their foster-father, they shall be suitably maintained by the labor of their own hands, just as it is said in Psalm 34:10,

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

We must remember that the Prophet does not speak of the highest blessedness, which does not consist in meat and drink, nor is confined within the narrow bounds of this transitory life. But he assures God’s believing people that even in this pilgrimage or earthly place of sojourn they shall enjoy a happy life, insofar as the state of the world will permit; even as Paul declares that God promises both these to those who fear him—in other words, that God will take care of us during the whole course of our life, until He has at last brought us to eternal glory (1 Timothy 4:8).

The change of person also serves to give greater emphasis to the language. For after having spoken in the third person, the Prophet comes to address his discourse to each individual in particular, to this effect: Not only does immortal felicity await you in heaven, but during your pilgrimage in this world God will not cease to perform the office of the father of a family in maintaining you, so that your daily food will be administered to you by His hand, provided you are contented with a lowly condition.

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine on the sides of thy house. Here again it is promised, as in the preceding Psalm, that God will make those who honor him fruitful in a numerous offspring. The majority of mankind indeed desire to have children, and this desire may be said to be implanted in them by nature; but many, when they have obtained children, soon become weary of them.

Again, it is often more agreeable to be without children than to leave a number of them in circumstances of destitution. But although the world is carried away by irregular desires for various objects, between which it is perpetually fluctuating in its choice, God gives this, His own blessing, preference over all riches, and therefore we ought to value it highly.

If a man has a wife of amiable manners as the companion of his life, let him value this blessing no less than Solomon did, who, in Proverbs 19:14, affirms that it is God alone who gives a good wife. In like manner, if a man is a father of a numerous offspring, let him receive that good gift with a thankful heart.

If it is objected that the Prophet, by speaking this way, detains the faithful on the earth by the allurements of the flesh, and hinders them from aspiring towards heaven with free and unencumbered minds, I answer that it is not surprising to find him offering to the Jews under the Law a taste of God’s grace and paternal favor, when we consider that they were like children.

He has, however, so tempered or mixed it that by it they might rise in their contemplations to the heavenly life. Even today God, though more sparingly, testifies His favor by temporal benefits, in agreement with that passage in Paul’s First Epistle to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:8):

Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

But by this, He does not place any hindrance or obstacle in our way to keep us from elevating our minds to heaven; rather, by this means, ladders are erected to enable us to climb up there step by step. The Prophet, therefore, very properly reminds the faithful that they already receive some fruit of their integrity when God gives them their food, makes them happy in their wives and children, and condescends to take care of their life. But his design in commending the present goodness of God is to animate them to press on eagerly on the path that leads to their eternal inheritance.

If the earthly felicity described in this Psalm is not always the lot of the godly, and if it sometimes happens that their wife is harsh-tempered, or proud, or of depraved morals, or that their children are dissolute and wayward, and even bring disgrace upon their father’s house, let them know that their being deprived of God’s blessing is due to their having rejected it by their own fault. And surely, if each person duly considers his own vices, he will acknowledge that God’s earthly benefits have been justly withheld from him.

Lo! surely, thus blessed shall be the man who fears Jehovah. The Prophet here confirms the preceding teaching: that even in the outward circumstances of God’s servants during this temporary life, such evidence of divine favor and goodness is provided that it demonstrates our labor in serving Him is not in vain. Yet, since the reward of godliness does not always appear exceptionally prominent, he first uses the demonstrative particle, Lo! and then adds surely; for that is how I interpret the particle כי, ki.

However, we must always remember, as I have noted before, that the divine blessing is promised to us on earth in such a way that it does not completely occupy our thoughts and keep them groveling in the dust; for it is not fitting that our hope of the life to come should be stifled. This is why we do not always equally enjoy God’s benefits.

Jehovah shall bless you from Zion. Some would have this sentence be a prayer, and therefore they interpret the future tense in the optative mood. But it seems rather to be a continued statement of the same doctrine previously dwelt on, with the Prophet now expressing more plainly that the benefits he has recounted are to be ascribed to God as their author.

Although the gifts of God often present themselves before our eyes, yet through the obscurity that false imaginations cast upon them, our perception of them is dim and imperfect. Therefore, this repetition of the sentiment—that whenever true believers experience any prosperous events in the course of their life, it is the effect of the divine blessing—should not be considered superfluous.

The persons described are said to be blessed from Zion, to lead them to remember the covenant God had entered into with them, for He had graciously promised to be favorable to those who observe His law; and they had imbibed these principles of godliness from their infancy.

The Prophet, therefore, declares that what he presents is not a novel doctrine or something previously unheard of. The law had long ago taught them that it is made manifest, even by the temporary benefits conferred on those who serve God, that the efforts made in serving Him are not wasted; and he affirms that they will actually experience this.

What is added concerning the good of Jerusalem should be regarded as enjoining upon the godly the duty not only of seeking their own individual welfare or of being devoted to their own particular interests, but rather of having as their chief desire to see the Church of God in a flourishing condition.

It would be a very unreasonable thing for each member to desire what may be profitable for itself, while in the meantime the body was neglected. Because of our extreme proneness to err in that respect, the Prophet, with good reason, recommends concern for the public welfare. He mingles domestic blessings and the common benefits of the Church in such a way as to show us that they are things joined together, and which it is unlawful to put asunder.