Psalm 128:3 KJV “Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house:” Psalms 128 is a short but powerful Psalm describing the blessings that one has when we walk in the fear of the Lord.
For obvious reasons the third verse stands out to me. I know very little about horticulture, yet this verse has fascinated me since I first was married. The simile used by the writer doesn’t make sense at first to someone like myself not well versed in plants, but a little digging causes me to realize the wisdom of the writer.
The phrase about the wife of a man who walks in the fear of the Lord being as a vine by the sides of the house could also be read as “within your house” or I prefer the way my Bible interprets it as “ in the heart of your house”. Just as our heart is the essential organ in our bodies, our wives are the essential part of our households. The very nature of a vine is that it then spreads out from being in the center and fills the space it is in.
I am fortunate enough to have witnessed this phenomenon not only in my own relationship, but in many of my Christian brothers lives as well. We have been blessed to have been married to a Virtuous woman described so aptly in the book of Proverbs. They truly are the vine that sustains life in a natural sense with all they do on a day to day basis. Much of which can go unnoticed.
Another aspect of a vine is that it is in need of some support to flourish. We have all seen a vine stretch out along a tree branch or the side of a building. It thrives when it has something solid to lean on. This is the role we husbands need to take on. We have been tasked with being the head of the household and our first job should be to support our wives. This can take on different looks depending on circumstances, but most certainly we should support them in their temporal needs as well as spiritual.
I thank God for my wife and all the Godly women in my life who have shown me by their example what it means to be the Bride of Christ. Hans Lampinen
Submitted by Pastor Stan
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