Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 128:3

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 125-128 Lessons from Jerusalem

As the worshippers journey towards Jerusalem, they recall some of the varied experiences that the city has passed through. They see these as typical of the experiences of God’s people as a whole. Believers are like Jerusalem in that they are completely secure and fully protected (125:1-2). Although Jerusalem sometimes came under the rule of its enemies, God never allowed these enemies to control it for long, in case God’s people lost their devotion to him (3). In the same way God cares for the righteous and punishes their enemies (4-5).
On another occasion God saved Jerusalem from some who plundered the land and threatened to destroy the capital. Israel rejoiced in God’s loving deliverance (126:1-3). But their problems were not over. Hard work lay ahead of them if they were to restore the land. They relied on God to provide water in the dry Negeb region, but they realized that they would have to work hard and long before they could enjoy the fruits of the land again. The lesson for the travellers is that they must persevere if they are to enjoy God’s blessing (4-6).
Whether in governing Jerusalem or in building a family, people must acknowledge the sovereign rule of God. If they become nervous wrecks because of worry-filled days and sleepless nights, their faith in God is shown to be weak (127:1-2). The travellers receive a further encouragement to trust in God by the reminder that a large and healthy family is a blessing from God. It also gives a person stability, strength and honour in society (3-5)
If people’s lives are characterized by trust, obedience and perseverance, they will enjoy the blessings of personal security and a happy home (128:1-4). Wherever God dwells, whether in the sense of dwelling in the family or in the sense of dwelling in Jerusalem, his people there will enjoy his fullest blessing (5-6).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, In the innermost parts of thy house; Thy children, like olive plants, Round about thy table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed That feareth Jehovah.”

“A fruitful vine” This simile of a faithful wife is quite appropriate. A vine is beautiful, fruitful, desirable and valuable. Also, a vine needs the support of something to stabilize, protect and uphold it. The Lord’s love of the vine is seen in that he also made it the metaphor of Israel, and, in the last analysis, a metaphor of Jesus Christ himself, “The Fairest of Ten Thousand.” And from this, it also becomes a metaphor of the Church, “The Israel of God.”

Kidner also noted that just as a vine remains in one place, so the faithful wife “stays at home.” “This is in sharp contrast with what is said of the promiscuous wife in Proverbs 7:11, `She is loud and wayward, her feet do not stay at home.’“Derek Kidner, Vol. II, p. 443. In the New Testament, this quality is mentioned in Titus 2:5.

“Like olive plants around thy table” “As the husband looks on his sons gathered around his table, he is reminded of the numerous seedlings that shoot up under a cultivated olive tree.”The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. IV, p. 673.

Numerous offspring were the specific blessings promised to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The numbers of their posterity were to reach astronomical proportions, “as numerous as the sands of the seashore,” or “as the stars of the heavens.” This vision of innumerable posterity continued throughout the history of Israel as a matter of the very greatest desirability. There was no disaster that a Jewish woman feared any more than the intolerable stigma of being childless.

“Thus shall the man be blessed that feareth Jehovah” “This repetition of verse 1 is to emphasize that all of the coveted blessings mentioned are properly experienced only in the context of the fear of God.”The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 532.

It was this writer’s privilege, as well as that of his wife, to grow up in exactly the type of God-fearing, industrious, happy family as that which is described in these verses.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house - It is not uncommon in the East, as elsewhere, to train a vine along the sides of a house - partly to save ground; partly because it is a good exposure for fruit; partly as an ornament; and partly to protect it from thieves. Such a vine, in its beauty, and in the abundant clusters upon it, becomes a beautiful emblem of the mother of a numerous household. One of the blessings most desired and most valued in the East was a numerous posterity, and this, in the case of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was among the chief blessings which God promised to them - a posterity that should resemble in number the sands of the sea or the stars of heaven. Compare Genesis 15:5; Genesis 22:17; Genesis 32:12. These two things - the right to the avails of one’s labor Psalms 128:2, and a numerous family - are the blessings which are first specified as constituting the happiness of a pious household.

Thy children like olive plants round about thy table - Compare the notes at Psalms 52:8. Beautiful; producing abundance; sending up young plants to take the place of the old when they decay and die. The following extract and preceding cut from “The land and Book,” vol. i., pp. 76, 77, will furnish a good illustration of this passage: “To what particular circumstance does David refer in the 128th Psalm, where he says, Thy children shall be like oliveplants round about thy table? Follow me into the grove, and I will show you what may have suggested the comparison. Here we have lilt upon a beautiful illustration. This aged and decayed tree is surrounded, as you see, by several young and thrifty shoots, which spring from the root of the venerable parent. They seem to uphold, protect, and embrace it. We may even fancy that they now bear that lead of fruit which would otherwise be demanded of the feeble parent. Thus do good and affectionate children gather round the table of the righteous. Each contributes something to the common wealth and welfare of the whole - a beautiful sight, with which may God refresh the eyes of every friend of mine.”

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

3Thy 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 issue, and this desire may be said to be implanted in them by nature; but many, when they have obtained children, soon become cloyed therewith. Again it is often more grateful to want children than to leave a number of them hi circumstances of destitution. But although the world is carried away by irregular desires after various objects, between which it is perpetually fluctuating in its choice, God gives this his own blessing, the preference to all riches, and therefore we ought to hold it in high estimation. If a man has a wife of amiable manners as the companion of his life, let him set no less value upon this blessing 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 be a father of a numerous offspring, let him receive that goodly boon with a thankful heart. If it is objected that the Prophet in speaking thus, 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, as that by it; they might rise in their contemplations to the heavenly life. Even at the present day God, though in a more sparing manner, testifies his favor by temporal benefits, agreeably to that passage in Paul’s first Epistle to Timothy just now quoted, (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 cast any hindrance or impediment in our way to keep us from elevating our minds to heaven, but ladders are by this means rather erected to enable us to mount up thither 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 hasten forward with alacrity on the path which leads to their eternal inheritance. If the earthly felicity described in this Psalm may not always be the lot of the godly, but should it sometimes happen that their wife is a termagant, or proud, or of depraved morals, or that their children are dissolute and vagabonds, and even bring disgrace upon their father’s house, let them know that their being deprived of God’s blessing is owing to their having repulsed it by their own fault. And surely if each duly considers his own vices he will acknowledge that God’s earthly benefits have been justly withheld from him.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 128:1-6

Continuing to deal with the family and all, the next psalm.

Blessed is every one that feareth [or reverences] the LORD; and walks in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of your hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee ( Psalms 128:1-2 ).

Who is that? The man who reverences the Lord and walks in the ways of the Lord. You'll eat the fruit of your own labor. You'll be happy. It will be well with you.

Your wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of your house: and your children like olive plants round about the table ( Psalms 128:3 ).

So all these little olive skin kids sitting around the table, you know. I love it. Ten little faces, big smiles.

Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that reverences the LORD. The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion ( Psalms 128:4-5 ):

Now we're still coming towards Jerusalem and we're still looking forward to getting there.

and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel ( Psalms 128:5 , Psalms 128:6 ).

So you get to see your grandkids and that's neat. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 128

In this wisdom ascent psalm, the writer rejoiced in the Lord’s blessings. He reviewed previously received blessings and then prayed for greater blessings (cf. Numbers 6:24-26).

"In one form or another, the word ’bless’ is used four times, but it is the translation of two different Hebrew words. In Psalms 128:1-2, it is the word asher which is often translated ’happy’ (Genesis 30:12-13), and in Psalms 128:4-5, it is barak, which means ’blessed of the Lord.’" [Note: Ibid., p. 348.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Some specific blessings 128:2-4

The work of the person who fears and obeys God will be productive. It will yield joy and well-being to him (Psalms 128:2; cf. Psalms 127:1-2). Such a man’s wife will also be fruitful. Vines were everywhere in Israel, and grape production was one of its chief industries. The implication of this statement is that the wife would bear children. Likewise, the children of the godly would make beneficial contributions symbolized by olives, another one of the most important crops in Israel. The psalmist pictured the family gathered around the dinner table (Psalms 128:3). Psalms 128:4 with Psalms 128:1 frame the thought of Psalms 128:2-3.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Thy wife [shall be] as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house,.... The vine being a weak and tender tree, which needs propping and supporting; and often is fastened to the sides of a house, to which the allusion here is; whereunto it cleaves, and on which it runs up, and bears very agreeable fruit; it is properly used to express the weakness and tenderness of the female sex, their fruitfulness in bearing children, and their care of domestic affairs, being keepers at home; see 1 Peter 3:7. Kimchi observes, that the vine is the only tree men plant within doors; which, when it is grown up, they bring out at a hole or window of the house without, to have the sun and air; and so its root is within the house, and the branches without: and he observes, that a modest woman is within the house, and does not go without, and is only seen by her husband; but her children, like the branches of the vine, go out to work. This may be applied to Christ and his church; to him the other characters agree: he, as man, is one that feared the Lord; the grace of fear was in him; the spirit of fear rested on him; and he was in the exercise of it, and walked in all the ways of the Lord, Isaiah 11:1; he now sees and enjoys the travail or labour of his soul to satisfaction, and is made most blessed for evermore, Isaiah 53:11. The church is the bride, the Lamb's wife, the spouse of Christ; and may be compared to a vine for her weakness in herself, her fruitfulness in grace and good works, and in bringing forth souls to Christ, through the ministry of the word; all which is pleasant and grateful to him; see Psalms 80:14;

thy children like olive plants round about thy table; a numerous offspring was always accounted a very great blessing; and it must be very pleasant to a parent to see his children round about his table, placed in their proper order according to their age, partaking of what it is furnished with: Job, in his time of prosperity, had many children; and, next to the presence of the Almighty with him, he mentions this of his children being about him; see Job 1:2. This may be applied to the spiritual seed and offspring of Christ, which are like to olive trees or olive plants; to which David is compared,

Psalms 52:8; the two anointed ones in Zechariah 4:11; the two witnesses in Revelation 11:4; and all true believers in Christ may; because of their excellency, these being choice plants; because of their fruitfulness and beauty; because of their fatness, and having oil in them; and because of their perpetuity, being ever green; see Jeremiah 11:16. Now Christ has a table, which he has well furnished, at which he himself sits, and places these his children all around; and whom he welcomes to the entertainment he makes, and takes delight and pleasure in them, Song of Solomon 1:12. Kimchi observes, the olive trees do not admit of a graft from other trees; see Romans 11:24; and so this denotes the legitimacy of those children, being free from all suspicion of being spurious, being born of such a wife as before described; and being green and moist all the year long, denotes their continuance in good works.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

A song of degrees.

      1 Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.   2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.   3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.   4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.   5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.   6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.

      It is here shown that godliness has the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

      I. It is here again and again laid down as an undoubted truth that those who are truly holy are truly happy. Those whose blessed state we are here assured of are such as fear the Lord and walk in his ways, such as have a deep reverence of God upon their spirits and evidence it by a regular and constant conformity to his will. Where the fear of God is a commanding principle in the heart the tenour of the conversation will be accordingly; and in vain do we pretend to be of those that fear God if we do not make conscience both of keeping to his ways and not trifling in them or drawing back. Such are blessed (Psalms 128:1; Psalms 128:1), and shall be blessed, Psalms 128:4; Psalms 128:4. God blesses them, and his pronouncing them blessed makes them so. They are blessed now, they shall be blessed still, and for ever. This blessedness, arising from this blessing, is here secured, 1. To all the saints universally: Blessed is everyone that fears the Lord, whoever he be; in every nation he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of him, and therefore is blessed whether he be high or low, rich or poor, in the world; if religion rule him, it will protect and enrich him. 2. To such a saint in particular: Thus shall the man be blessed, not only the nation, the church in its public capacity, but the particular person in his private interests. 3. We are encouraged to apply it to ourselves (Psalms 128:2; Psalms 128:2): "Happy shalt thou be; thou mayest take the comfort of the promise, and expect the benefit of it, as if it were directed to thee by name, if thou fear God and walk in his ways. Happy shalt thou be, that is, It shall be well with thee; whatever befals thee, good shall be brought out of it; it shall be well with thee while thou livest, better when thou diest, and best of all to eternity." It is asserted (Psalms 128:4; Psalms 128:4) with a note commanding attention: Behold, thus shall the man be blessed; behold it by faith in the promise; behold it by observation in the performance of the promise; behold it with assurance that it shall be so, for God is faithful, and with admiration that it should be so, for we merit no favour, no blessing, from him.

      II. Particular promises are here made to godly people, which they may depend upon, as far as is for God's glory and their good; and that is enough.

      1. That, by the blessing of God, they shall get an honest livelihood and live comfortably upon it. It is not promised that they shall live at ease, without care or pains, but, Thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands. Here is a double promise, (1.) That they shall have something to do (for an idle life is a miserable uncomfortable life) and shall have health, and strength, and capacity of mind to do it, and shall not be forced to be beholden to others for necessary food, and to live, as the disabled poor do, upon the labours of other people. It is as much a mercy as it is a duty with quietness to work and eat our own bread,2 Thessalonians 3:12. (2.) That they shall succeed in their employments, and they and theirs shall enjoy what they get; others shall not come and eat the bread out of their mouths, nor shall it be taken from them either by oppressive rulers or invading enemies. God will not blast it and blow upon it (as he did, Haggai 1:9), and his blessing will make a little go a great way. It is very pleasant to enjoy the fruits of our own industry; as the sleep, so the food, of a labouring man is sweet.

      2. That they shall have abundance of comfort in their family-relations. As a wife and children are very much a man's care, so, if by the grace of God they are such as they should be, they are very much a man's delight, as much as any creature-comfort. (1.) The wife shall be as a vine by the sides of the house, not only as a spreading vine which serves for an ornament, but as a fruitful vine which is for profit, and with the fruit whereof both God and man are honoured, Judges 9:13. The vine is a weak and tender plant, and needs to be supported and cherished, but it is a very valuable plant, and some think (because all the products of it were prohibited to the Nazarites) it was the tree of knowledge itself. The wife's place is the husband's house; there her business lies, and that is her castle. Where is Sarah thy wife? Behold, in the tent; where should she be else? Her place is by the sides of the house, not under-foot to be trampled on, nor yet upon the house-top to domineer (if she be so, she is but as the grass upon the house-top, in the next psalm), but on the side of the house, being a rib out of the side of the man. She shall be a loving wife, as the vine, which cleaves to the house-side, an obedient wife, as the vine, which is pliable, and grows as it is directed. She shall be fruitful as the vine, not only in children, but in the fruits of wisdom, and righteousness, and good management, the branches of which run over the wall (Genesis 49:22; Psalms 80:11), like a fruitful vine, not cumbering the ground, nor bringing forth sour grapes, or grapes of Sodom, but good fruit. (2.) The children shall be as olive plants, likely in time to be olive-trees, and, though wild by nature, yet grafted into the good olive, and partaking of its root and fatness,Romans 11:17. It is pleasant to parents who have a table spread, though but with ordinary fare, to see their children round about it, to have many children, enough to surround it, and those with them, and not scattered, or the parents forced from them. Job makes it one of the first instances of his former prosperity that his children were about him,Job 29:5. Parents love to have their children at table, to keep up the pleasantness of the table-talk, to have them in health, craving food and not physic, to have them like olive-plants, straight and green, sucking in the sap of their good education, and likely in due time to be serviceable.

      3. That they shall have those things which God has promised and which they pray for: The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion, where the ark of the covenant was, and where the pious Israelites attended with their devotions. Blessings out of Zion are the best-blessings, which flow, not from common providence, but from special grace, Psalms 20:2.

      4. That they shall live long, to enjoy the comforts of the rising generations: "Thou shalt see thy children's children, as Joseph, Genesis 50:23. Thy family shall be built up and continued, and thou shalt have the pleasure of seeing it." Children's children, if they be good children, are the crown of old men (Proverbs 17:6), who are apt to be fond of their grandchildren.

      5. That they shall see the welfare of God's church, and the land of their nativity, which every man who fears God is no less concerned for than for the prosperity of his own family. "Thou shalt be blessed in Zion's blessing, and wilt think thyself so. Thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem as long as thou shalt live, though thou shouldest live long, and shalt not have thy private comforts allayed and embittered by public troubles." A good man can have little comfort in seeing his children's children, unless withal he see peace upon Israel, and have hopes of transmitting the entail of religion pure and entire to those that shall come after him, for that is the best inheritance.