The Lord saved the Jews from all the failures that befell them during their return from captivity, the oppression of the pagans, and insufficiently fertile harvests. God helped the Jewish people cope with the erosion of energy that was intended to rebuild the destroyed temple. The Savior did not deprive them of His mercy and blessing, but instilled faith in them, inspired them and rewarded them for their efforts.
Psalm 127 talks about how a person's well-being is directly related to blessings from God. There is only one way to get it: you need to listen to the Almighty and live in fear of Him.
Text of prayer Psalm 127
Among the Orthodox, Psalm 127 is read in Old Church Slavonic at services, and in Russian at home. Prayer has great power if you say it sincerely, with a kind heart and pure thoughts.
It is important: the prayer should be read with gratitude before God.
In Church Slavonic
In Russian
History of writing
Psalm 127 is part of the “Songs of Ascension” cycle, which contains 15 laconic prayers. These songs were read by the Levites during the solemn celebration of the Tabernacle, at the moment when they climbed the steps of the Jerusalem temple, of which there were 15. Short songs did not delay the procession, which took place according to Jewish traditions.
Christians have an interpretation that the cycle is about the return of the Jews from the Babylonian lands, where they were in captivity for a long time. According to other versions, the psalms from the “Songs of Ascension” cycle were performed to the accompaniment of special instruments and pronounced in a high pitch.
The psalms of the series could also be the songs of pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for the celebrations. The last phrase of Psalm 127 can also be interpreted in different ways. The most common belief is that, due to the last line, the psalm may have been written after the Jews returned from Babylonian slavery.
Song of Degrees, 127
This psalm belongs to the same song of degrees
, like the previous eight psalms, and has some connection with the previous, 126th, psalm. Just as that psalm (v. 5) speaks of the bliss of a person who enjoys mercy and blessing from God, so here: the whole psalm speaks of how the Lord God blesses all the labors of those who fear Him, and not only labors, but also the whole house and the blessing of God descends on all the descendants of those who walk in the ways of God, and the very type of rewards and mercies of God is indicated.
Ps.127:1-2 Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways: bear the toil of your fruits: blessed are you, and good will come to you.
In zealous care for the prosperous and prosperous life of the new settlers of Jerusalem and the entire Jewish land, upon their return from Babylon, the prophet gives them instructions on how they can arrange and maintain such a life for themselves. First of all, they must fear God, or, what is the same, have the fear of God. And for this they need to maintain true faith in God and fulfill His law, or walk the paths indicated in the law of God. If everyone fulfills the law, or, what is the same, the commandments of God, then everyone will be prosperous and happy, no one will have any obstacles to being blessed, even if they are slaves or beggars, as long as they fear God and lead their lives , in agreement with the commandments of God's law. Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways
.
What are God’s ways, asks St. John Chrysostom, and answers: a virtuous life. It is called His ways because through it we can come to God. He did not say “way,” but “paths,” since these paths are many different, so entering these paths is not difficult. That's why he showed them a lot, so that the variety of the journey would make it easy for us to walk. Some are adorned with virginity, others are honorable in marriage, others are committed by widowhood, others have deprived themselves of everything, and others of half, moreover, some with a right life, while others completed their course through repentance [5, p. 399]. A person who walks in the ways of the Lord is always hardworking, he will always find work or occupation that suits his strengths and abilities, and to the extent of these strengths he works tirelessly, and the Lord God, who sees his efforts and labors, blesses them with good success. With God's help, the working person then reaps the fruits of his labors and uses them for the glory of God and for his own food. To console him, the prophet says: bear the fruits of your labors: blessed are you, and good will come to you
. And what this good consists of can be seen from the following sayings of the psalm.
Ps.127:3-5 Your wife is like a fruitful vine in the lands of your house: your sons are like the new planted olive tree around your table. Behold, a man will be blessed by fearing the Lord.
Continuing his speech to the community of God-fearing people who walk along the path of God’s commandments, the prophet says: you are blessed, and your life is prosperous: your wife will be as fruitful as a vine planted on the sides of your house, she will give birth to you many sons and daughters, like a vine that produces many branches and bears much fruit. You, as one endowed with the blessing of God, will have many sons and daughters, so well-behaved and kind to everyone that they, like newly planted olive trees, always turn green and bear abundant and beautiful fruit, being present around your table
, their very appearance will give you pleasure. “Your sons are like olive branches around your table” (translated from Hebrew). The olive tree (olive tree) was famous more for its fruits, from which wood oil is now extracted, which serves to alleviate diseases, and therefore is a symbol of heavenly goodness. The prophetic word promises many children and fruitful wives to those who fear God, likening the latter to flowering vines laden with grapes. “Since the prophet spoke to imperfect people,” notes St. John Chrysostom, “then he convinces them, like little children, with sensory objects.” In the highest spiritual meaning, according to the same St. John Chrysostom, “the wife of a godly Christian and his couple is his soul, which, as long as it is in the body, is filled with virtues, like a grapevine abounding in fruits, and his sons are disciples and imitators, and successors of his piety and virtue, who bloom and turn green, like newly planted olive trees, growing in spiritual age, surround him while he teaches them his teachings and treats them to the Divine Word” [7, p. 1028]. And according to the blzh. Theodoret: “So the man who fears the Lord will be blessed: because God is the Judge not of race, but of morality. Thus He honored Job with the crown, although he came from the line of Esau. Thus He taught the truth to Abimelech, so to the Eunuch, so to Cornelius, and so to all other nations” [7, p. 1028].
Ps.127:6-7 The Lord will bless you from Zion, and you will see good Jerusalem all the days of your life, and the sons of your sons will see peace on Israel.
According to the common belief of all Jews, the blessing of the Lord descended on people from Zion, where they represented the invisible presence of God living in heaven (1 Kings 8:29-30 et seq.). Therefore, the prophet, foretelling various blessings from the Lord to those who fear God, says: from Zion the blessing of the Lord will come upon you, and at the same time, throughout your life you will enjoy the blessings of Jerusalem. What are these benefits? According to St. John Chrysostom and Blessed. Theodoret, the benefits promised to those who fear God are: peace, security, fertility, victories, prosperity, etc. In addition to all this, the prophet promises the God-fearing long lives and large offspring during their lifetime: and the sons of your sons will see
.
“It was considered a great blessing,” says the blessed one. Theodoret, - to reach a ripe old age and see the children of his sons" [6, p. 623]. In conclusion, the prophet ends all his good wishes to the faithful, as in the 124th Psalm, with the wish for peace, which should keep Israel and all its blessings under the shade of God's blessing, in peace and quiet, peace on Israel
. According to the blzh. Theodoret, “the prophet wishes peace for Israel. But true peace is peace with God. And carnal Israel, having lost one, also lost another” [7, p. 1030].
Interpretation
The text of the psalm talks about what awaits the righteous man who follows the commandments of God and is afraid of upsetting his Savior. The psalmist says that such a person will receive mercy, grace, healthy and numerous offspring. The Jews believed that by following the laws of God, a righteous person would be able to live to a ripe old age and see with his own eyes how Jerusalem was being reborn.
To correctly interpret the meaning of the psalm, it is necessary to analyze each verse separately:
- Verse 1-4: He who keeps the commandments of God will be rewarded with successful business and happiness in the family. Anyone who desires children will have the opportunity to receive them as a gift from God. The woman will be “a fruitful vine twining around the house.”
- Verse 5-7: The Lord blesses the righteous for a long and happy life, giving him the opportunity to see the prosperity of Jerusalem.
The psalm also contains the phrase that he who believes in the Lord will be blessed from Zion. Here, the reference to the sacred Jerusalem mountain is a kind of warning - one should not succumb to the fascination with pagan cultures. The Lord accepts only following His commandments.
Psalm 127 has many similarities to what the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi related. God instilled hope in the Jews, inspired them to continue the restoration of the temple, the restoration of its former appearance as God’s chosen people.
127:1 Song of Ascension. A sublime song, praise to God - through the blessings of God for those who love Him. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord and walks in His ways! As we see, only those who fear the Lord and live according to His commandments can be truly happy. Those who walk other paths cannot know true happiness.127:2 You will eat from the labor of your hands: blessed are you, and good to you!
To be satisfied with the fruits of one’s hands is one of the blessings for those who love God; not everyone succeeds in this: either the hands are unable to work, or a stranger is satisfied with the fruits of the hands of the worker.
127:3 Your wife is like a fruitful vine in your house; Your sons are like olive branches around your table: Having a wife and a large number of obedient children in the family is also one of the blessings of the Lord. Not every house has such a combination: it happens that there is a wife and is good to everyone, but there are no children. And it happens that there is a wife and children, but only they are not like blessed olive branches that protect from the heat and provide shade, but like prickly burdock, from which nothing more can be expected except trouble.
127:4 so will the man who fears the Lord be blessed! Every person who fears the Lord will have these blessings. And if in the present he was unable to have them, then in the future he will certainly experience these blessings from the Lord
127:5 The Lord will bless you from Zion, and you will see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life; The blessing of Jehovah's people in ancient times very much depended on the prosperity and prosperity of the government capital of Israel: if Jerusalem is prosperous, then the temple of God is prosperous, and those who worship Him live calmly and in safety. If there is disorder in Jerusalem, it means that in the temple of God the service is going on with interruptions and not as God expects. This means that the people are also in poverty: the temple ministers and the rulers of Jehovah’s capital must ensure that the people prosper under God’s rule. And if they themselves are not prosperous, then the people will be deprived of the blessings of the Lord: bad leaders cannot make the people happy.
127:6 You will see your sons' sons. Peace on Israel! If there is prosperity in Jerusalem, then all the people live calmly and safely, and the grandfathers see more than one generation of them. There will come a time in human history when God's heavenly Jerusalem will prosper throughout all eternity. Therefore, the people of God throughout all eternity will have the blessings of a happy life Rev. 21:23-27
