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Psalm 128 Bible study: Everyone who fears the LORD
In Psalm 128, Blessed (128:1) and You will be happy (128:2) are one Hebrew word, ashrei. Its olive shoots (128:3) is a word found nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, and its "May the LORD bless you out of Zion" (128:5) opens with the same three Hebrew words as the last verse of the last song of ascents (Psalm 134:3).
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“A Song of Ascents. Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Psalm 134, like Psalm 128, asks the LORD to bless "you" from Zion.”
Is that in Psalm 128, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Blessed, happy, blessed
The psalm's title is "A Song of Ascents" (128:1) (tap Ascents); Psalm 120's notes set out what the lexicons say about it. Then: "Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways" (128:1) (tap Blessed, fears). The next verse says, "You will be happy, and it will be well with you" (128:2). In Hebrew Blessed and happy are one word: ashrei in 128:1, and ashreikha, your ashrei, in 128:2. Psalm 112's notes follow that word and the verb of fears (Psalm 112:1). Then the psalm uses another word. "Behold, this is how the man who fears the LORD is blessed" (128:4), and "May the LORD bless you out of Zion" (128:5) (tap blessed): blessed and bless there are barakh, the verb of the priests' blessing, "The LORD bless you" (Numbers 6:24). The psalm opens by calling the one who fears the LORD blessed, and near its end asks the LORD to bless him.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 128
- Does Psalm 128 mean that everyone who fears the LORD will have a wife and children? What about someone who doesn't?
- "Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD" (128:1). Does fearing the LORD mean being afraid of him?
- The psalm says "you will" (128:2) and then "May the LORD bless you" (128:5). Is it promising, or praying?
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 128 is waiting in Favor
- From the table to Jerusalem
- A vine, and olive shoots
- The same blessing, at the end of the songs
- Seeing good, all the days of your life
- Beside Psalm 127
- 6 questions as you read
- 14 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 128 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
אֶשֶׁרeshersay EH-sher
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "happiness, blessedness". Strong's: "happiness; only in masculine plural construction as interjection, how happy!". The psalm has it twice. "Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD" (128:1) is ashrei kol yere, and ashrei is the word Psalm 112:1 has after "Praise the LORD!" (Psalm 112's notes follow it). And "You will be happy" (128:2) is one word, ashreikha, your ashrei. The blessed of "this is how the man who fears the LORD is blessed" (128:4) is another word, barakh (tap blessed).
For your group
Psalm 128 Bible study questions
- 1"Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways" (128:1). What does walking in his ways look like in an ordinary day of your week?
- 2"For you will eat the labor of your hands" (128:2). What work of your hands are you thankful for right now, and why?
- 3"May the LORD bless you out of Zion" (128:5). Who could you speak a blessing over this week, and what would you say?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 128 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Psalm 128 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 128 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
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Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home