Psalm 128 begins with a beatitude: "Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you" (vv 1-2).
The fear of the Lord leads to wisdom which leads to obedience to God, which leads to blessing of one's family and neighbors.
Psalm 128 is also a psalm of ascent, associated with pilgrimage to the festivals in Jerusalem. Those who attend the festivals receive blessing and then spread it to their neighbors when they return home (v 5).
A benediction at the close of the psalm says, "May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel!" (v 6) The patriarch Jacob at the end of his life experienced this kind of blessing, a period of peace and prosperity as he was united with his family in Goshen.
Jacob hadn't always experienced such peace. At an audience with Pharaoh he declared, "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life" (Gen 47:9). After deceiving his brother and father, he had gone through a period where he had experienced what it is like to be a victim of deception.
Another beatitude may apply to his experience: "Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law" (Ps 94:12). In Jacob's life God's discipline accomplished its purpose. Jacob learned to trust in God more than in his wits. He grew from a deceiver into an overcomer. And he was ultimately blessed.
Not every season in life is one of peace and prosperity. But God ultimately does bring those who walk with him into blessing. As we read in Ps 126:6, "He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing the sheaves with him."
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