- Happy and Well
Psalm 128:2
For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands:
Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
Happiness and wellbeing is a further conditional promise for those who fear the Lord. You will be happy and it will be well with you. Happy and well are general promises that apply to all aspects of life. The English word “happy” actually is connected to “lucky.” “Hap” just means perhaps, it just so happens, what happens by chance; it is really an accident, thus, lucky. But it is not luck that happens to make one happy; it is God’s design and promise according the cause and effect of the rule of consequences. With it happiness didn’t “just happen,” it wasn’t “luck.” It was God. God makes good things happen by His blessing and as a consequence of behavior. God says, “Happy shalt thou be.” He blesses; He makes happy. Circumstances and lucky accidental happenings do not make one happy; God makes one happy regardless of surrounding circumstances.
It will also be well with you when you are walking in his ways. “Being well” also means generally, in every way imaginable. Look around, look within, and ask, “Is it well with me and my soul?” If so, thank God and give Him credit; thank God for His Law and Gospel. If not, repent of your own sin and guilt and receive the word of forgiveness in the Gospel; get back on the “be well” track.
“Eating the labor of your own hands” is an apt metaphor for freedom from slavery or tyranny, where someone else profits from the labor of your hands. Freedom is a promise that is always spiritually true, meaning freedom from the control of spiritual Enemies, sin and death and devil; though physical and political freedom may not come to all God-fearers, all believers will enjoy spiritual freedom.