- Wife and Children
Psalm 128:3
Thy wife shall be as a frujtful vine by the sides of thine house:
Thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
The family is the specific, practical blessing those who fear the Lord will enjoy. The close to home, close to the heart blessedness for the God-fearer is the family, his wife and children. This promise ought to be motivation and incentive enough for us to believe and live according to God’s Word. Pious and faithful spouse and children are powerful hopes and desires for most people. The idyllic scene of one’s own family peacefully enjoying each other and prospering around the dinner table is a picture that we want to see. The “fruitful vine and olive plants” cannot be taken for granted, but a pleasant and prosperous family functioning smoothly is not nearly as common as we might suppose. It is a gift of God that should be prayed for and received with thanks.
A functioning, prospering family is a conditional promise that the believer in Christ can claim and enjoy by maintaining a loving and trusting relationship with God by abiding in Christ. Faithful fathers and mothers do not neglect to pray for the healthy functioning and wellbeing of their families. Daily prayer in repentance and faith in the Gospel is the condition for the “family promise.”