Bellarmine on Psalm 127 : Verses 5-7 (conclusion)

Verses 5, 6 & 7

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. And mayest thou see thy children's children, peace upon Israel.

Ecce sic benedicetur homo qui timet Dominum. Benedicat tibi Dominus ex Sion, et videas bona Jerusalem omnibus diebus vitae tuae; et videas filios filiorum tuorum, pacem super Israel.

This is the fourth blessing, namely, that the man who walks in the fear of God should have joy not only in his own blessings but also in those of the commonalty. He therefore adds that such a man will be so blessed by the Lord who dwells in Sion that he will see his city Jerusalem abounding in all good things throughout the whole of his life; and he will see in that city his children’s children equally blessed and happy; and finally he will see peace established over the people of Israel, a peace which preserves and keeps safe all good things. In a higher sense, however, more in keeping with the intent of the Holy Spirit, a happiness is here described that is so far greater than the three blessings already mentioned as the distance that separates heaven from earth and God from creatures; and so the Prophet sets it before us not as a narration but by preaching. “Behold,” he says, apart from all the things which have been said, “thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord,” for to him will assuredly be said: “May the Lord bless thee out of Sion,” that is, not only will God bless thee on earth, gifting you with earthly blessings, but He will also bless you from His holy mountain, from His highest dwelling, and grant thee that “thou mayest see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life,” that is, that thou mayest see God, in which are found all the good things of Jerusalem, “all the days of thy life,” that is, for evermore in eternity : for not only is the soul immortal but the body too which will, after a short sleep in a temporary death, rise again unto life everlasting; assuredly, the good things we see here we do not see all the days of our life, but for a tiny fraction of those days, so that we can truly say with Jacob: 

“The days of our life,” in which we sojourn as exiles on earth, “are few, and full of evil,”[1] but we shall truly see the blessings of the heavenly Jerusalem all  the days of our life, without number; just as the wicked shall see the evils of Babylon all the days of their eternal death. Nor is it surprising that the Prophet did not say : mayest thou possess the good things of Jerusalem, but used instead the words “mayest thou see,” for the truly good things of Jerusalem are possessed by seeing, and perfect beatitude consists in the vision of God.   “We shall be like to him,” that is, most blessed and happy, and almost as gods, “because we shall see him as he is.”[2] Added to the joy of the blessed is that they will see their “children’s children” in that heavenly home, that is, not only those whom they themselves produced for God but also those who through their spiritual children, and through their “children's children,” were led to God, unto the end of the world; and they will rejoice about all of these as greatly as about their own. Finally, as a crown added to their happiness, they shall see “peace upon Israel,” a solid and lasting peace which will bring perfect peace for evermore for all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; they will see all their enemies totally prostrate as a footstool beneath the feet of Christ, that is, cast down into the depths of hell-fire, bound in chains for eternity: “for the earth is a footstool for God’s feet;”[3]  and the wicked shall lie locked up under the earth through ages everlasting.

[1] Vide Genesis xlvii 9.

[2] Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know, that, when he shall appear, we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is. Carissimi, nunc filii Dei sumus : et nondum apparuit quid erimus. Scimus quoniam cum apparuerit, similes ei erimus : quoniam videbimus eum sicuti est [I John iii 2]

[3] Vide Isai. LXVI 1 & Acts VII 49.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.