Psalms of the Ascents: The Blessings of the Lord

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Psalm 127:1

Unless the Lord builds a house,
its builders labor over it in vain;
unless the Lord watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.

(CSB)

We say bless you when someone sneezes and ask God to bless people when we say goodbye.  While we offer these words with good intentions, we often say them without realizing the immense value of the blessings of the Lord.  The psalmist of Psalm 127 understood the power of God’s blessings. 

The psalm begins with the psalmist speaking of the Lord building a house and watching over a city.  The psalmist is not speaking of God physically coming down with hammer and nails to build a house.  Instead, the psalmist is speaking of us being blessed as we partner with God in our labors, knowing the God watches over our work giving it purpose (Psalm 127:1).  We have the privilege of being Gods hands and feet with God blessing and watching over the work, making it successful.  Besides building, God’s blessings,

1)      Enrich our lives (Proverbs 10:22) – God’s blessings provide enrichment to our lives and as Proverbs 10:22 tells us the Lord adds no painful effort to it.  However, this does not mean we can just sit back and God’s blessings will just flow in.  Instead, it is a picture of God’s grace and a reference to the coming Messiah taking the death penalty and pain for sin on the cross, so we can have salvation.  There can be no greater enrichment to one’s life then knowing their sins are forgiven and they have eternal life with the Lord (John 3:16).

2)      Provide an abundant life (John 10:10) – John 10:10 presents the decision everyone faces in their life.  Do they continue a life without Christ subjecting themselves to destruction for eternity living in hell, or do they choose abundant life with Christ?  In John 10:11, Jesus prophetically tells the disciples his mission as shepherd is to lay down His life for the sheep.  In doing so, we can enjoy abundant living.  However, this does not mean we will have incredible financial wealth and possessions but instead speaks of the enriched life of one living for Christ with the promise of eternal life with the Lord as a reward. 

3)      Discovered in the Word of God (Ecclesiastes 7:12) – One of the greatest blessing in our lives is the written Word of God for in it we have the infinite wisdom of God.  God’s Word is a treasure and like any treasure, only available to those actively seeking to find it.  This stresses the importance of practicing the spiritual discipline of study of scripture with the purpose of discovery of the wisdom of God.

4)      The greatest treasure (Matthew 6:19-21) – While financial blessings are beneficial in one’s live, providing for their needs, the greatest treasure available is not one obtained with money.  This priceless treasure is inviting Jesus into our lives and having our sins forgiven.  The greatest news is that Jesus wants to provide this treasure for us and is only waiting for us to open the door and invite Him in (Revelation 3:20). 

5)      Take us through adversity (Colossians 1:15-20; Ephesians 2:14-16; Philippians 2:6-11) – After inviting Jesus into our lives, we must make Him Lord and allow Him to captivate our lives.  The Apostle wrote four letters while in prison.  Colossians 1:15-20; Ephesians 2:14-16; and Philippians 2:6-11 give a glimpse of Paul’s captivation with Jesus as his Lord.  It is this captivation that brought him through the trials of imprisonment.  While most reading this may not suffer in prison, we will experience imprisonment to our circumstances in life and can get through them as we allow the Lord to captivate our attention.

The blessings of the Lord are available to anyone that wants them but the key to unlocking these blessings is making Jesus the Lord and savior in our lives.  If you have never asked Jesus to save you from your sins and become savior in your life, I encourage you to do so by praying with me now,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

You have now opened the door to God’s blessings in your life.  I encourage you to take the next step to learn more about these blessings by finding a church teaching the Bible.  I also encourage you to develop the spiritual discipline of regular daily study of the Bible and prayer.  Also, allow Jesus to become the captivating object of your life, replacing the empty and destructive captivations once imprisoning your life. 

May God bless everyone reading this post.