Genesis 3 tells the story of the downfall of men and women made in God’s image. God had given them a glorious garden to live in—but they disobeyed Him. Nevertheless, God had a plan to restore this broken relationship and again dwell with His people. It began with the call of Abraham (12:1–3). At the heart of this call was a threefold promise of blessing: a great name, many descendants, and a land (17:1–8). The rest of the Old Testament is the record of the highs and lows of Abraham’s descendants and their ultimate failure to receive these blessings and be blessings to others.

Psalm 128 follows naturally from Psalm 127, which described the blessed man as one who had many children (v. 5). Similarly, Psalm 128 promises that the man who fears the Lord will have a wife who is “a fruitful vine” (v. 3). God’s blessings also include general prosperity and a long life (vv. 5–6; see Deuteronomy 30:9).

Generally, in the Old Testament, obedience brought physical, material and spiritual blessing. But this was not a hard and fast rule—Job is a great example of this. He feared and obeyed God, and was blessed with great wealth and many children (Job 1). But God permitted Satan to take away all of Job’s family, health, and prosperity. His friends concluded that he’d acted wickedly, but God rebuked them for their foolish judgment. In other words, God was saying that sometimes, the righteous are poor and the wicked prosper (see Psalm 73).

In the New Testament, Jesus also challenged the understanding that obedience to God brought prosperity and poverty was a sign of God’s disapproval. He told a parable about a very wealthy man who had no concern for the poor. He died and suffered thereafter, while a desperately poor man, Lazarus, died and entered his rest in paradise (Luke 16:19–31). Later, Jesus spoke of how hard it was for the rich to enter God’s kingdom (18:24–25).

How do we reconcile Psalm 128 and the teaching in Job and the New Testament? First, God may still physically bless His people with health, family, and prosperity (1 Timothy 6:17–19). But second, the New Testament consistently makes spiritual what was physical under the old covenant. The church is the true temple (1 Corinthians 3:16–17), sacrifices are our good deeds (Hebrews 13:16), and the battles we fight are spiritual (2 Corinthians 10:3–5). Even large families are given a spiritual meaning (Luke 18:29–30). The abundant blessings we enjoy are primarily spiritual.

This is the message of Psalm 128 for us. Blessing is still at the heart of God’s promises. Today, let us praise God that He has “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3–14; emphasis added).