Psalm 128: Proper Functioning of the Labor and Reward System


Verse 2: 

You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.


Why does the poet specifically mention verse 2 when talking about the blessings received by those who fear the Lord? Logically, wouldn't it be a blessing to receive more rewards than what I have worked for? Yet, the poet speaks of blessings proportionate to one's labor. This statement is not so much a warning against greed, but rather an indication that the labor and reward system is distorted. If the law, that is, the social normative system, functions properly, there should be no extreme poverty within Israelite society, and involuntary perpetual slavery should not exist. During the time of David, Jesus, and even today, the just reward system based on effort has not been smoothly functioning. No wonder the poet defines the 1:1 system of labor and reward as the blessings and grace of the Lord!


People living in a world where labor and rewards are distorted have projected the proper functioning of this system onto the afterlife. If tears flow on this earth, then the flowers of laughter bloom in the other world. On this earth, a child cannot put their hand in a viper's den, but in the other world, it is an everyday occurrence. Suffering(Diesseite) and peace(Jenseite) paradoxically relate to each other. Some have expressed this projection a little differently, with peace approaching suffering. Whether projecting from this world to the other or drawing the other world into this one, if it is a mental phenomenon of human existence, then it is only a difference in the design's front and side views. The movement of peace independent of the projection of suffering is assumed. In religious terms, it is the existence and action of peace not limited by prayer. This would be miracles and revelations. However, the concept of peace beyond the boundaries of suffering can only be a theoretical limit of the human mind.