This psalm is a lot like Psalm 124 in its theme and form, especially in its call for repetition of the opening line by someone like a cantor at the poem's start. In the earlier poem the cantor throws out the lead line (“If the LORD had not been on our side—"), then calls for its repetition by the people: “let Israel say—if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us.” At this point the people are presumably with him, repeating or singing the psalm, which describes their deliverance and survival by God. 

I imagine that anyone who has ever tried to raise a family comes to the Bible's pictures of domestic joy with a certain amount of skepticism. There is a very good reason for it. Families are made up of people, people are sinners, and sin disrupts even the best of relationships. But the psalm is not promising utopia. When it speaks of the God-fearing, fruitful family, as it does in verse 3, it is not implying that there will never be difficulties any more than it is promising material blessing without the frustrations and even failures of physical work in verse 2. 

There is an important balance between Psalm 128 and the previous one. In Psalm 127 the psalmist wanted to show that all blessings are attributable to God alone. Unless God is working in us and with us, every human endeavor is in vain. In Psalm 128 the poet reminds us that there are nevertheless important responsibilities that rest on the person who would partake of God's blessings. In short, he must fear God and obey him. 

In today's study we continue our look at truths that can be recognized in this psalm. These include the truths that 1) the growth of a family is God's work; 2) God's blessing on the city begins with his blessing on the family; and 3) the growth of families is slow and unpretentious. Today we conclude with one last point. 

I have spoken of two lessons in the psalm: 1) that work without God is useless; and 2) that work for and with God is meaningful. The statement of the negative attitude is in stanza one. The change from that wrong attitude to the right, positive attitude occurs in the last line of the stanza, which says, “He grants sleep to those he loves” (v. 2). This statement suggests that having worked for God and at God's direction, the psalmist now rightly lies down to sleep and sleeps well since he is able to leave the results of his work in God's hands.