“Blessed is
everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your
hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.” –Psalm 128:1-2 (ESV Read Psalm
128).
With Thanksgiving near at hand and with
family celebrations in order, gathering to give thanks and to have family
fellowship is a dearly-held American tradition.
Psalm 128:1-2 gives us two important truths we should never forget as we
“eat the fruit of the labor of our hands”
and count our blessings—as we should do every day, not just on the day of
the year set aside specifically to give thanks.
These two important spiritual truths
are “the fear of the Lord” and “”walking in the Lord’s ways”. Central to
any faithful person’s worship of and following in the ways of God is fear and
reverence of the Almighty. Fear of God
was frequently used in Old Testament writings and carried the concept of
standing in awe in recognition of His power, majesty and holiness. But because the people of Israel had entered
into covenant relationship with Almighty God, the fear took on the dimension of
knowing that God was concerned with ordinary affairs of humankind and cared about
what happened to them. Every good
Israelite was familiar with their important statement of faith (called the
Shema): ”Hear, O Israel: The Lord our
God, the Lord is one. You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
might. And these words that I command
you today shall be on your heart. You
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you
sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and
when you rise. You shall bind them as a
sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your
house and upon your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV). They were also taught to fear and respect God
by quoting often this additional statement of faith: “”And
now, Israel, what does the Lord your God
require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love
Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and
to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord your God which I am
commanding you today, for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13, ESV)
The context of the focal verses for
today’s thoughts, Psalm 128:1-2, and indeed the whole Psalm, is set in the
context of home as family members are about to partake of a meal. As they looked at the provision of their
table, they were reminded of their own labor which was a part of providing the
harvest, but the ultimate gratitude was due to God from whom all blessings
flow. The blessings of God were evident
in this family: food, children,
prosperity, a prayer that all might “see
your children’s children”(Psalm 128:6)
and another important aspect of blessed living: “peace upon Israel!” (Psalm 128:6).
As we consider the unrest in America today, and the war clouds over
Israel even at this time, may we be extra-thankful as we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving
that we can experience an oasis of peace within our closely-knit and loving
family groups. Let us consider that, as
of old, so today, we are called to fear God and walk in His ways. My husband and I had a Thanksgiving custom as
we gathered with immediate family and close relatives (and friends) to
celebrate this wonderful holiday. Before
Grover prayed over the bountiful meal, he invited each person present (old
enough to talk!) to name a signally significant thing for which they were
thankful that had happened to them during the past year. In this way, Thanksgiving became, indeed, a
time to give thanks in fear and reverence of God “from Whom all blessings flow.”
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