A SONG OF DEGREES.
Blessing out of Zion.
IF the preceding Psalm teaches that the Lord Himself is the source of all blessing and prosperity, and that without Him nothing can be accomplished or established, we have in this the character of those on whom His favor rests: “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His ways.” (v. 1.) The nature of the blessing thus enjoyed is afterward described.
A very wide door of blessing is thus divinely opened. It is really only restricted to those who possess the characteristics given—fearing the Lord and walking in His ways—and it will therefore correspond, for example, with the “whosoevers” of John 3:15, 1615That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:15‑16). Doubtless pious Israelites are in view, and even the whole of Israel, if verse 1 be taken as representative; but room is also made, in the very terms employed, for the inclusion of the stranger that might sojourn in the midst of Israel; for “one ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance forever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.” (Num. 15:1515One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. (Numbers 15:15).) The heart of God thus always traveled out, in His ineffable grace, beyond His chosen people, to provide for the blessing of the “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” It is to this sovereignty of His grace that we ourselves are indebted for that wondrous place of nearness, and for the intimate relationship, into which we have been brought through the death and resurrection of Christ.
It should be also remarked that there is a governmental application in these words; that is, that God in His government of His people will make the reception and enjoyment of these blessings dependent upon their fearing Him and walking in His ways. For example, an Israelite might be restored to the land, but if he walked carelessly he would not be entitled to the promises here made. This principle—and it is a very important one—applies as much to the Christian as to the Jew; it is true, indeed, of the saints of all dispensations. For the enjoyment of the blessings of any period, there must be a walk in accordance with the revelation God has been pleased to make of Himself at that time. It is always true that God withholdeth no good thing from them that walk uprightly.
Two characteristics are given of the man who is blessed of the Lord—fearing the Lord, and walking in His ways. To avoid all misconception, let it be again pressed that these are not mere characteristics—they should be displayed in all God’s people; but they are given here as indications of practical state or condition. “Fearing the Lord” describes a man who acts with a good conscience before Him; and hence it is that we read, “Happy is the man that feareth alway” (Prov. 28:1414Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. (Proverbs 28:14)), the one, that is, who with holy fear seeks grace to avoid everything which would grieve the Spirit of God; and “walking in His ways” indicates the conduct consequent upon fearing the Lord, a walk which is formed and governed by the word of God. Altogether the practical state is the result of the truth held with divine power in the soul; and this is the only doorway, as already said, into the enjoyment of our true portion. As John says, this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
The blessings here described are distinctively Jewish, earthly and not heavenly blessings. Still, much instruction may be gleaned from what is promised, “For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.” (vv. 2, 3.) There was, then, to be blessing in labor, in one’s own soul, and general prosperity, together with domestic and family felicity; but this may receive a little more consideration. First, the fruit of his own labor should be enjoyed. This is but the fulfillment of the promises which God made to His people on the condition that they observed and kept His commandments (see Deut. 28:1-121And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. 3Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 7The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 9The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. 10And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. (Deuteronomy 28:1‑12)); and the contrast is seen in that same chapter, where they are warned that, if they turned aside from God’s statutes and laws, others should eat the fruit of their land and all their labors. (v. 33.) And let it not be forgotten that there is a sense in which this may be true now of the children of God. If they walk in disregard of His word, have themselves as their object, God will often come in and deal with them in their circumstances. How many there are who have determined to get on in the world; and they have labored much and long to secure their ends, when, just as their goal was in view, all the fruit of their toil suddenly disappeared! May the Holy Spirit engrave the lesson deeply upon our hearts, that God’s blessing can only rest upon the labors of those who fear Him and walk in His ways.
Secondly, all such shall be happy, and it shall be well with them. When a soul is maintained in holiness before God the sense of His favor is enjoyed; and this is soon discovered to be the secret of all true happiness. It is to this the Psalmist alludes; and he adds, moreover, that it shall be well with thee. Thus Isaiah speaks, “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him”; as indeed Peter teaches in his first epistle, that God’s government is in favor of His people. (See chap. 3:10-13.) So the pious Israelite is here taught that, even though there might yet be sorrows and trials to pass through, God’s eye was upon him, and good would be the certain issue of God’s government and ways.
Lastly, blessing should rest upon his own household and family. The reader will remember that verse 3 speaks of the blessing of the earthly people; and, calling this to mind, he will detect the incomparable beauty of the illustrations drawn from the vine and the olive; for it is the fruit of the vine which is said to cheer both the heart of God and man, and the fatness of the olive is used to set forth the blessing and privileges of God’s people on the earth. It is indeed an exquisite picture of a happy family, and there are many saints of the present day who will appreciate it; for what greater joy have they on earth, outside of the assembly, than to behold the concord of their families, having their children growing up around their table, no seat as yet vacant, and all giving the promise of the work of the Spirit of God in their souls? And let it be distinctly asserted that the Christian heads of households are entitled to look for the realization of the spiritual significance of this picture of domestic peace and blessing.
The last three verses, we judge, go together; that is to say, verse 4 is introductory to verses 5 and 6, rather than a summary of the first three. Its first word confirms this interpretation: “Behold,” says the Psalmist, “that thus [in this manner] shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord”; and then he proceeds to explain the manner. First of all it is, “The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion.” All the blessing of Israel will in a future day be out of Zion, because it will be the seat of the Lord’s earthly throne. Hence the apostle writes, “There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” (Rom. 11:2626And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: (Romans 11:26).) The Psalms are full of this same truth, as, for example, in the expression, “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.” (See Psa. 24; 47; 48; 87, also Isaiah 51, 52, etc. etc.) To be blessed out of Zion would be, therefore, the consummation of all blessing for Israel, because it will be connected with the reign of Messiah, and thus be the fulfillment of the glowing predictions of the prophets. It would speak to their hearts of the establishment of the kingdom and the blessings therewith connected, for which they had so long sighed and waited in the days of their sorrow.
The next clause of the verse is in accordance with this: “And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.” If Zion is in Scripture the seat of royal grace, of the throne (for it was there David placed the ark), Jerusalem, as the expression of the nation, yet still Jerusalem, is the earthly bride, and for her as such there is a glorious future. It is in view of this that God will set watchmen and remembrancers upon her walls who will give Him no rest until He establish, and until He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Of that time it is written, “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise”; and again, “Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations.”(Isa. 60-62) And when all this is accomplished, when Jerusalem has been restored, and reinstated in the favor of Jehovah, her blessing will continue. Israel will thus behold the good of Jerusalem “all the days of his life.”
As seen in an earlier Psalm, God’s people were exhorted to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and their prayer will be abundantly answered. But what should be remarked is, that we have here the true sign of a healthy piety, viz., communion with the heart of God. Jehovah’s affections are set upon Jerusalem, and consequently everyone that fears Him, and that walks in His ways, will also love Jerusalem. The promise, therefore, that such an one should see the good of Jerusalem all the days of his life is a blessed response of Jehovah’s heart to the desire of His people which He Himself had begotten. To understand this for ourselves we have only to substitute the Church for Jerusalem. The Church is the dearest object of the heart of Christ, for He loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; and hence, whatever activity or apparent zeal and devotedness there may be in any of us, we cannot be in communion with the heart of Christ unless the Church is also the supreme object of our affections. Let us not shrink from the searching nature of the test.
The promised blessing is still further enlarged: “Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children.” The favor of God will thus rest upon the posterity of His people, as indeed He covenanted at the giving of the law— “showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments.” This is the conclusion, as we understand the Psalms, of the true Israelite’s blessing. As will be noticed, the word “and,” after “children” is inserted. Omitting this, we read, with many others, the last clause, “Peace be upon Israel.” (Compare again Gal. 6:1616And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. (Galatians 6:16).) If this be accepted, it is very beautiful, for the Psalm commences with divine blessing and closes with divine peace. What an inlet is thus opened out for us into the heart of God! And if He desires that peace should rest upon His own (see John 14:2727Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)), we also should pray and labor to this end. Yea, “pray for the peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee”; or, as Paul writes to the saints at Corinth, “Be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”