Psalms 128:1-2 (ESV)
A SONG OF ASCENTS.
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.
The Song of Ascents are a collection of 15 songs (120-134) that the nation of Israel would sing on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem for feasts. This one is about why they are going to Jerusalem: God has blessed them. Our blessings come from our fear of the Lord. Those who walk in His ways are guaranteed that their labor will not be in vain. And we should note that they had to labor. God did not just give them food. They had to plow, plant and reap the harvest. It is God who provides the dirt, the seed and sent the rain and the sun. God wants us to know that our blessings come from Him, but He also wants us to take what He has given us and plant it. They created none of it. Not the dirt, not the seed, not the sun, not the rain. All of it is a gift from Him. But they had to put the seed in the ground and nurture it. That is what God then blesses. We then, in turn, take that bounty from the crop and bring it back to Him. God wants to bless us and give us everything we need to be blessed. By faith we take His gifts and invest in them. He expects a return.
Note Jesus’ parable about the talents:
Matthew 25:14-30 (ESV)
The Parable of the Talents
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
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