Martin Luther on Psalms 128:4

Verse. 4. Lo, thus shal the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

Hetherto we haue hearde those excellent commendations of matrimony which the holy Ghost setteth foorth, to confirme and comfort such as are appoynted to this kinde of life, that they might patiently suffer the incommodities, the troubles and tentations of matrimony, and not followe the iudgement of the worlde, which like vnto the mule and the asse followeth the fence of the fleshe and is ouercome with these troubles and tentations. The good giftes of God it vnderstandeth not, but some tymes it detesteth and abhorreth them. For ye shall finde many to whom it semeth a great misery to haue many childrē, as though matrimony were ordayned for beastly pleasures onely, and not to this end rather, that we might doe acceptable seruice both to God and man, in nourishing and bringing vp of children. These men are ignorāt of that which is most comfortable in matrimony. For what is to be compared vnto the loue of parentes towards their children? especially since here thou seest that children are the greatest portion of Gods blessing. But here againe we haue nede of faith. For the world taketh it not for a blessing when a man getteth his liuing by labour & trauel, suffereth the troubles and vexations of his wife, his children, his seruaunts and such like, whereof in matrimony there are many. These thinges, I say, the world estemeth not as blessinges, but abhorreth them as maledictions, But the holy Ghost, to confirme the mindes of the godly cōmendeth and setteth forth all that he hath hitherto said, by this sweete and comfortable name, and calleth them blessinges, to the ende he may stirre vs vp to know God and his giftes rightly, lest that in the middes of his benefits and blessings we should fall to a lothing thereof, as the world is wont to doe, which regardeth not those things which it hath & presently enioyeth, but desireth the things which it hath not. Wherefore this vehement kinde of speech is diligently to be noted, in that he calleth this life blessed and happy, which to the iudgement of reason is miserable and full of calamitie, when he saith: Loe thus shall the man be blessed, &c. What canst thou desire more? In that thou hast a wife and children, and liuest with the labour of thy handes, it is in deede the blessing of God. Wherfore thou hast not onely great cause not to be offended but also to giue God thankes for his great blessings.

But how few are there to be found which doe beleue this? And if any doe beleue it, yet through infirmitie they are led away from this faith, and forgetting the blessing, they become vnpatient, as if they were in the middest of Gods malediction. It is therefore to be wished that this saying of the holy Ghost, as a singular consolation, might be alwayes before the eyes and in the eares of the godly. For how shall we finde a more manifest argument that the life of such as are married pleaseth God thē this, that their whole life is nothing else but a blessing? In deede it so commeth to passe often times that they are vexed wt the sinne of impatiency through the offences of their familye, their children, and some times their neighbours. But what then? All things cannot be so pure and so perfect in this our infirmitie, but that oftentimes we shall feele either some excesse or some lack both within the house and without. But this sinne of impatiencie the dayly prayer of the godly doth quench & ouercome. And thus must the godly comfort them selues that they are placed among Gods blessings, and liue a life blessed of God. This faith the greater and stronger it is, the more ioy it bringeth. For albeit some troubles doe happen, & we some times also are ouertaken with sinnes, yet is the worde of God omnipotent. Wherefore in all tentations the victory is theirs which stick faithfully thereunto.

These wordes therefore muste be receiued as the oracles of God, and this kinde of life we must adorne with due praise and honour, since that God doth so richly poure out his blessing vpon it. This must we not onely knowe, that we may set it forth and commend it to others, but all of vs which liue in this kind of calling, must commend and apply the same also vnto our selues, that whether pouertie, diseases, vexations & troubles of our familie or any other like tentations doe oppresse vs, we may endure the same with patience, resting vpon this most plentifull consolation, that the holy Ghoste calleth this state a blessed kinde of life: And this they finde, this they know, and this they doe which feare God and serue him truely as he sayth: So shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. For the true seruice of God is to feare God, to trust in God, and to haue thy whole affiance fixed in him. Upon these godly motions of the mind afterwards followeth obedience in our vocation and other thinges which are commaunded of God. For all these thinges the feare of God doth comprehend. They that feare not God, vnderstand nothing hereof, neither doeth the holy ghost here speake any thing of them.