January 9

1 Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.

2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands; happy shall thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.

5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion; and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.

This beautiful Psalm is the picture of domestic bliss. "Perhaps in no country can it be better understood than in our own, for we above all nations delight to sing of 'Home, Sweet Home.'"

The fear of God is the corner-stone of all blessedness. We must reverence the ever-blessed God before we can be blessed ourselves. "Whenever you see the household of a married pair continuing to defy every storm, you may be sure that it rests upon a sure foundation, lying beyond the reach of human sense, and that foundation is the fear of the Lord."—Augustus F. Tholuck.

"Before the fall Paradise was man's home; since the fall home has been his Paradise."—Augustus W. Hare.

"Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children." This is a great pleasure. Men live their young lives over again in their grandchildren. Does not Solomon say that "children's children are the crown of old men?" So they are.

"Lord, let thy blessing so accompany my endeavors in their breedings, that all my sons may be Benaiahs, the Lord's building, and then they will all be Abners, their father's light; and that all my daughters may be Bethias, the Lord's daughters, and then they will all be Abigails, their father's joy." —George Swinnock.

Closet Promise.—Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.—Deut. xxviii. 5, 6.

"Thou seest whatsoever I need, Thou seest it, and pitest me;

Thy swift compassions hither speed Ers yet my woes are told to thee." —Lyra Germanica.