May Blessing and Peace be With You

Call to Worship

Guide and direct us, O Lord, always and everywhere with your holy light, that we may discern with clear vision your presence among us, and partake with worthy intention of your divine mysteries. We ask this for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Welcome

Good evening all, I hope your Wednesday’s have been good. Tonight we will be finishing our series on the Wisdom Psalms, a series I began about 3 months ago. Now, we’ve worked through all the Psalms that have had a major influence on Christian wisdom, but that is not to say that there are not plenty more Psalms that discuss wisdom in one way or another. I also know that I talk about wisdom a lot in my sermons, even in previous series, and I believe we’re at a time to move on to something else, which I hope to be cleansing to the heart. I chose to skip Psalm 119, often a member of the body of Wisdom literature, due to its length (longest chapter in the Bible), and due to the fact that tonight’s verses, Psalm 128, cover many of the same themes of Psalm 119. It is short, but substantive, as how St. Basil believed the Psalms to be—short, but substantive means of sharing doctrine. Let us now turn to the Scriptures of the Lord,

Scripture Reading

Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your Holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Old Testament

A reading from the Old Testament, the Book of Psalms, the 128th Chapter,

Psalm 128 “A Song of Ascents. How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine Within your house, Your children like olive plants Around your table. Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion, And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Indeed, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!”

The Word of the Lord.

New Testament

A reading from the New Testament, the Epistle to the Ephesians, the 6th chapter, the 3rd verse,

Ephesians 6:3 “so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.”

The Word of the Lord.

Gospel Reading

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, According to Matthew, the 8th chapter, the 23rd verse,

Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Matthew 8:23–27 “When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?””

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Prayer for Inner Renewal Through the Word

Let this be a reminder that the Lord be with you. And with your Spirit. Let us pray.

Gracious God and most merciful Father, you have granted us the rich and precious jewel of your holy Word: Assist us with your Spirit, that the same Word may be written in our hearts to our everlasting comfort, to reform us, to renew us according to your own image, to build us up and edify us into the perfect dwelling place of your Christ, sanctifying and increasing in us all heavenly virtues; grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Sermon

Last sermon we spoke about blessings, particularly the Mosaic blessing, where the passage links blessing to a mutual, face-to-face relationship between God and humanity. In the blessing Moses says, “the Lord make His face shine upon you”, where God turns His face toward us—offering grace and peace. And in the Psalms and wisdom literature, humanity responds then by turning its face toward God through reverent fear and obedience (“How blessed is the man who fears the Lord”).

And this weeks Psalm begins almost the same as Psalm 112, our last Psalm we worked through, and the same as Psalm 119. In fact, its almost a combination of the both, re-oriented. It goes “How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,” mirroring Psalm 112 but turning the focus from the just man to us all. And it continues, “who walks in His ways,” referencing Psalm 119’s opening, and by giving us a qualifier for everyone. So we have here, a blessedness, one that should be considered akin to a happiness, a happiness that comes not from our doing but God’s. That any blessing in our life any righteousness in ourselves comes not from anything special in us, but in He who is righteousness incarnate, Christ Jesus. And if we are to model Him, to model Christ, then we must fear the Lord, we must walk in His ways. This entails a transformation towards righteousness, towards doing good, towards forsaking evil. It’s a more elaborate way of that Psalmic maxim to “Do good and betray evil.”

But how hard is that for us? It’s difficult and often out of our control. Think to our Gospel reading today, of the storm in which Christ Jesus calmed. When Christ is sleeping, the men try their best to take control, that they might be able to control the seas, and not the other way around. And in that time, when they reach despair, only then do they reach out. This need not be us. We need not wait until we’re at our wits end.

Psalm 128 is in a series of Psalms called the “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Assent,” comprising Psalm 120-134. In these Psalms, they progress like a spiritual journey any of us could have. They begin with troubles, questioning, distress, and end in joy, glamour and praise. Tonight’s Psalm almost operates as that first Psalm in the full direction of the latter, of that joy and praise. And how fitting is that, especially as our last “Wisdom Psalm,” that they end not in worry or questioning, but in praise.

But again, last sermon we spoke of the Mosaic blessing and the Psalmist’s praise — that radiant, face-to-face relationship between God and humanity wherein His countenance shines upon us and we, in turn, reflect that light back in reverent fear and delight. We traced how Psalm 112 called the just man “blessed,” not because of what he possesses, but because of who possesses him—the Lord who turns His face toward His people. This week, we return to that same word blessed in Psalm 128, in which we have 2 words used for “blessed” in its original Hebrew. Now let us unpack that.

So in the Hebrew text of Psalm 128, we encounter not one, but two distinct words translated as “bless” or “blessed.” The first, ʾašrê (אֲשְׁרֵי), appears in verse 1 — “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,” and verse 2 — “You will be happy and it will be well with you.” This implies this type of blessing is one of happiness, the blessing of things we can control. In contrast, the second, bārak (בָּרַךְ), appears in verse 5 — “The Lord bless you from Zion.” Both speak of blessing, yet they move in opposite directions: one ascends from humanity to God, the other descends from God to humanity. Such that we bless in one way, and God in another. In fact, ʾašrê no where in Scripture refers to God, unlike bārak.

The word barak signifies the initiating, and effecting actions of the person who is blessing—God. However, the word asre stresses a state of blessing or flourishing as observed by someone else, a bystander who is not initiating the blessing.

This duality provides the structural and theological hinge of the Psalm. It begins with ʾašrê — human blessedness found in fearing the Lord and walking in His ways — and it concludes with bārak — divine blessing issuing forth from Zion, God’s holy dwelling. Between these two movements lies the life of covenant: man turning toward God in obedience, and God turning toward man in grace. The psalm thus unfolds like a conversation of blessing, a sacred dialogue in which heaven and earth speak the same word from different sides. And Zion is understood in the same way as Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” It is the land of believers.

From the last sermon that Psalm 112 likewise began with ʾašrê — “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord” — a word we linked to the happiness or flourishing that arises when the soul is rightly ordered toward God. But bārak, the second word, is of a different nature. ʾAšrê describes the state of one who has entered into right relation with God; bārak describes the act of God bestowing favor or life. One is existential, the other creative. One describes being, the other giving. One for man, one for God.

And ašrê stems from the root meaning “to go straight” or “to advance along the right path.” Thus the word implies direction — a man is blessed because he walks aright. This is how our series began, in Psalm 1:1 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…” This opposes the concept of sin, which literally means to “miss the mark.” In blessing, in righteousness morelike, we advance in a path of transformation alike Christ. In sin, we stray from that path into despair. Bārak, by contrast, is rooted in the gesture of kneeling; it carries the image of bending the knee in reverence or of stooping down to bestow favor. In this way, the blessing that comes from God (bārak) mirrors His condescension, His gracious stooping toward the creature. And the blessing that arises in man (ʾašrê) mirrors his uprightness, his walking straight before the face of the Lord. The two are inseparable — divine condescension and human uprightness form the rhythm of covenant life.]

So in this psalm, we attend closely to the interplay between these two “blessings.” We see how verses 1–2 express ʾašrê, the happiness of those who walk rightly with God, and how verses 5–6 return to bārak, the divine blessing that descends from Zion upon the faithful. In between, the domestic imagery — of fruitful vine, olive shoots, and household peace — serves as the living picture of that mutual exchange of grace. The home becomes the microcosm of the covenant; the table becomes the altar of thanksgiving where human obedience and divine generosity meet. So, in this Psalmic series of “assent,” we see in this specific Psalm an assent from man to God.

Thus, the task of tonight’s reflection is both linguistic and theological: to trace how the Hebrew language of blessing reveals the inner logic of salvation — that all true happiness (ʾašrê) flows from divine favor (bārak), and that divine favor, in turn, seeks to form in us the happiness of holiness. The one blesses from above, the other blesses from below, and both meet in Christ, the Mediator in whom heaven and earth are reconciled.

In short, we see that Psalm 128 is not merely about prosperity or family life, but about participation — how God’s blessing descends from Zion and how humanity responds in upright fear and faithful joy. The Psalm begins with the blessed man; it ends with the blessed city. And between them, we find the blessed home — the place where divine blessing takes on flesh, where grace is lived, and where every table becomes, in miniature, the altar of Zion.

For the Psalmist says, “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord.” Notice—everyone. This fear, this reverent awe, is not a terror of punishment but a recognition of dependence. It’s the fear that draws near, not the fear that flees. When we live in that awareness, we cease striving for mastery over the waves of life, and instead rest in the Master who commands them. The blessed life, then, is not the life without storms, but the life in which Christ is present—even if asleep in the boat. Our task is not to wake Him in panic, but to walk in His ways so closely that His peace becomes ours. That is the fruit of fearing the Lord: serenity in obedience.

I love how the 4th Century Christian St. Augustine transitions to the next verse, so may I speak in his words, in verse 1,

“he speaks to the many; but since these many are one in Christ, in the next words he speaks in the singular: ‘For you shall eat the fruit of your hands When I speak of Christians in the plural, I understand one in the One Christ. You are therefore many, and you are one; we are many, and we are one. How are we many, and yet one? Because we cling unto Him whose members we are; and since our Head is in heaven, that His members may follow....Let us therefore so hear this Psalm, as considering it to be spoken of Christ: and all of us who cling unto the Body of Christ, and have been made members of Christ, walk in the ways of the Lord; and let us fear the Lord with a chaste fear, with a fear that abides forever.

Augustine’s reading reminds us that the psalm’s “you” is not just the individual but the Body of Christ itself. When the psalm says, “You shall eat the fruit of your labor,” it speaks not only of the physical reward of honest work, but of the spiritual fruit of faith—charity, patience, peace—that grows in the soil of obedience. To “eat the fruit of your hands” is to partake of what your sanctified life produces. In Christ, the Church collectively eats this fruit: the Eucharist, the labor of His hands upon the cross. Thus every act of righteousness in the believer is both personal and communal, for what Christ works in one He multiplies in all.

The Hebrew word for “blessed” in verse one repeats in verse two and is translated as such, “you will be happy and it will be well with you.” So in one place, the translators chose blessed, in the other, happy. While some translations choose to translate both as “happy,” we can learn something from this. This word means both, in many ways, but should be distinguished from another Hebrew word for bless, that used in the Mosaic blessing I keep mentioning. While these words are similar in so many ways in regards to us, only the latter is used in reference to God. That the Lord blesses us, and we correspond by blessing us with our hands.

In this, there is a pattern—God initiates, humanity responds. The Lord blesses from above; we bless from below. Yet both gestures meet in the middle, in that shining of the divine face upon human faithfulness. What begins as divine grace ends as human gratitude. This is why our work—whether the plow in the field, the care of children, the discipline of prayer—is sacred: it participates in the rhythm of divine reciprocity. We are blessed to bless.

Alike that weird section in the 2nd chapter of Philippians, “Philippians 2:12–13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

The Psalm thus begins and ends in blessing—a benediction that starts with human obedience and concludes with divine favor. The two movements embrace one another: as we walk in God’s ways, God walks with us. The blessing from Zion represents not only prosperity but presence—the temple mount, the dwelling of God among His people. To be blessed from Zion is to have one’s life illuminated by the nearness of God’s dwelling.

And those blessings are materialized in the next verse, Psalm 128:3 “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine Within your house, Your children like olive plants Around your table.”

The imagery is rich and earthy. The vine, in ancient Israel, symbolized both joy and continuity. Wine gladdened the heart, and a fruitful vine within the home represented domestic abundance, harmony, and covenantal faithfulness. Likewise, the olive tree symbolized endurance; it grows slowly but lives long. “Your children like olive shoots around your table” evokes an image of growth encircling stability—a family rooted in the fear of the Lord, flourishing through generations. This is not mere sentimentality but covenant theology in poetic form: God’s blessing extends through households that walk in His ways.

Verse 4 reaffirms the promise: “Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.” It is a reminder that these material signs are sacraments of spiritual reality. The flourishing of the home mirrors the flourishing of the soul; the peace of Jerusalem mirrors the peace of the heart. What the psalmist sees in family and city we are to see in the Church and in ourselves.

Then comes verse 5: “The Lord bless you from Zion, and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.” The Psalmist lifts the gaze outward—from the home to the city, from private blessing to communal good. True happiness is never solitary; it always overflows. A blessed life blesses others. A home blessed by God becomes a witness to His faithfulness in the world.

Finally, verse 6 completes the circle: “Indeed, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel.” Here the Psalm reaches its climax in peace—shalom—the ultimate blessing. Not just the absence of conflict, but the fullness of life lived under God’s favor. The man who fears the Lord lives long enough to see faith passed down, love continued, and peace dwelling where striving once was. In this way, Psalm 128 becomes not merely a domestic song, but a vision of the Kingdom—a preview of that eternal household of faith where Christ Himself is both Bridegroom and Vine, and we, His branches, bear fruit that endures.

So I hope, as we finish this series on the Wisdom Psalms, we were not bogged down too much by the definitions of words. Here’s what to take and reflect on. The Wisdom Psalms so far have been about coming into understanding with God with His guidance, not ours. They all direct towards God by the end. And in tonight’s verse selection we see similarly how the direction begins with man, and ends with God.

Prayer for Participation in the Peace of God in the Tradition of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is error, truth; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may seek not so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer and Absolution

Now let us end in community by praying the Lord’s prayer, receiving absolution in the embolism, and leaving blessed,

Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

We have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and apart from your grace, there is no health in us. O Lord, have mercy upon us. Spare all those who confess their faults. Restore all those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. In the name of the Father, who creates, and of the Son, who redeems, and of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and purifies us before You, Amen.

Benediction

Let us end tonight in a benediction, from the words of St. Paul,

Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”