I must admit that I never thought of our four kids as olive shoots as they sat around our table. In fact when we went looking for a dining table we bought the most sturdy we could find. I can still remember our conversation at the furniture store in a small town outside Albert Lea, Minnesota. At that time we only had two boys. We anticipated they would be more like a quiver full of arrows than olive shoots as described in Psalm 127. But that’s the way it is when a family has three boys and then adds a girl at the end.
A further sign of blessing is a family. Happiness is sitting with his wife and children around a table enjoying the fruits of his labor and the fruits of his wife’s womb until old age with a vision of grandchildren to enjoy and who will carry on the family name.
The psalmist ends with a blessing, “Peace be upon Israel.” He hopes that living faithfully in the Lord would bring a repetition of such a scene of well-being throughout the homes and cities of the people.
Prayer: Lord Jesus make your church a fruitful vine, with many sons and daughters who will rejoice with you at your table and celebrate your goodness now and forever.