8/12/24

Psalms 129:8 Nor do those who pass by say, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you; We bless you in the name of the Lord.”

Today's text may be tough to digest but the Lord's instructions are perfect.

The 129th Psalm speaks of those who are enemies of God. More specifically they are enemies of God's chosen. They are against the place (Jerusalem), they are against His home (the temple), and they are against His people the Israelites. When people are against anything of God, they are against God. The first 3 verses of this Psalm speak of ways they have been against God's chosen. The 4th verse tells that God separates the enemies for punishment from the followers.

Then verses 5 - 7 speak of punishment. Last we come to the final verse and our text today. It has to do with a greeting and, more specifically, a prayer for those who are against God.

It was common practice for children of God to greet people with a greeting that is also a prayer. "The blessing of the Lord be upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord." Basically if they were to pray this they were saying may the Lord bless you in your fight against Him and His chosen vessels (the city, the temple and the children of God). This makes no sense but it was common practice and in fact we often do it today. I am guilty. I often say "have a blessed day" to people I know are against God by being against His church, His children, and His worship. In so doing I am praying God will bless them in their disobedience. This verse says don't do that. Maybe instead I should pray out loud by greeting them with, "May the Lord Jesus reveal Himself to you in a mighty way today. " It is difficult because sometimes it is family that we would pray this about and the mighty way is usually trouble that brings them to their knees. However, we would much rather them fall on their knees now for the first time and cry out to Jesus than when they stand before the great white throne. Because then they will fall on their knees and cry out only to hear Him say depart from me I never knew you.

As I said to start, today's text might be tough to digest but the Lord's instructions are always perfect.

If you are an enemy of God, I greet you with may the Lord reveal Himself to you today in a mighty way.

Love Bro. Scott