A Heritage from the Lord Psalm 127 Preached by Rev. Keith Davis at Bethel URC on (Songs: PH# 277, 388, 415, 266, 269)

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1 A Heritage from the Lord Psalm 127 Preached by Rev. Keith Davis at Bethel URC on (Songs: PH# 277, 388, 415, 266, 269) Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, everywhere we look, we see that people are busy building something. People are busy building their lives; they are busy building their business, their careers. They re busy building their homes, their families, their futures. They re busy building cities, their nations, and empires. But the Psalm we read a moment ago reminds that all this building means nothing in fact it is useless and fruitless -- without the Lord s blessing. This Psalm begins the same way Solomon s other book begins (Ecclesiastes 1). There he writes how all that man has, and all that he does says is vanity; its meaningless it s empty and useless if God is not in the heart and soul of man. That same principle is in view here. All of man s endeavors in life are without purpose and meaning, they are without value and profit; they will bear no peace or pleasure or rest until and unless man acknowledges that the whole of his strength, the whole of his life, the whole of his being -- all that he has and is and does proceeds from the very hand and strength of God. That s the overriding theme and message of Psalm 127. This morning we are going to focus particularly on the second half of this Psalm (vv. 3-5) as it relates to the building of a family and the blessing of children but as you ll see the overall theme of the Psalm is still present. Here the Lord Builds and Blesses the Household of Faith. I d like to call your attention to two points as they relate to our text: we ll consider 1) Children as a Heritage from the Lord 2) Children as a Blessing to their parents 1) Children as a Heritage from the Lord As we read this Psalm, it s easy to think that it is divided into two parts, into two halves. The first half seems to be all about work and labor -- building houses, guarding cities and weary toil and labor. While the second half talks about having children and the blessings that come with that. 1

2 But that is not really an accurate division. It s not like raising children and having a family is any less labor-some or wearisome toil. I know that by experience even if I have forgotten what it was like. But staying with my daughter and son-in-law for a week, and just hearing from my daughter on a daily basis as she care for 4 children -- 3 of whom are under the age of three, (the twins turn 3 in May, and Clara Ann is about 7 months), I can see that it is overwhelming task. I recall talking to AJ about this well, as he mentioned those long sleepless nights, waking up taking care of the baby, trying to give Alika a break. The end of verse two comes to mind: he grants sleep to those he loves, and you tend to recall that verse on those long nights and it makes you want to ask the Lord, Don t you love me Lord? Why won t you grant me sleep?! Now, in vs. 3 the Psalmist declares a foundation truth. It s a Biblical truth -- a truth with which we in the church are quite familiar, but it is a universal truth that applies to all families, to all dads and moms and children all over the world whether they are believers or unbelievers. Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. The Lord is the Lord of life, and he is the one who blesses man with children. The Bible teaches us that children are a gift from God. In John Calvin s commentary on this Psalm he has this short summary written in the heading above his comments: This Psalm shows that the order of society, both political and domestic, is maintained solely by the blessing of God, and not by the policy, diligence, or wisdom of men; and that the procreating of children is his peculiar gift. Again that s not just a Biblical truth. That s a foundational truth for the human race, for all people, of all nations, for all time. Now, let s pause for a moment and consider that truth in light of what our nation and society and world says about children. What do people today say about this? You know you ve got problems when people aren t even willing to refer to an unborn child in the womb as a child. It s not a human life, it s just a lump of tissue. It s just a fetus. It s just an impersonal scientific term for the moment. 2

3 And we know why that s the case. It s to protect the so called rights of women who would choose to abort their unborn babies, to kill the child in their womb because (for them) having a child at that time in their life is an inconvenience; or it s an unwanted expense. Or, for a married couple that child may have been an accident they never intended. Or, as is often the case in a teenage pregnancy, or an adulterous affair, it s the result of promiscuous behavior, and the convenient thing to do is to have an abortion. People think: We have to cover up the mess. Get rid of the evidence. Preserve my freedom. Save me years of being burdened with the care and expense and attention of raising a child! That s the way it is for many, many people. It s as sad as it is tragic and ironic. Today s adults -- who, of course were (at one time) children themselves -- no longer see the value of children. Many couples who get married today want the benefits of marriage without the responsibility of having children. They don t want the hassle; they don t want to be tied down; they don t want to sacrifice their freedom, or their Caribbean vacation, or their ideal weight. This is why we see more couples raising pets instead of raising children. Their pets are their kids. But when you think about it, isn t that the height of foolishness? Isn t that so shortsighted and blind? Children are our future. Children are not just the future of our families, and our family line, but children are the future of our nation, our world. This shows us the absolute selfishness, arrogance, and foolishness of this current generation. And where does that get you in a generation or two of people who think just like you? It leaves you empty. It leaves you with nothing. You have no heritage. In fact, it brings the entire human race to the brink of extinction. The Psalmist has a different worldview, and he wants us to change our worldview. The Psalmist sees children as a heritage from the Lord; they just like everything else we own and possess are a result of the blessing of God. In fact of all the wealth and treasures which God bestows upon man, is there any treasure so great, more precious than children? 3

4 When I was in seminary, my wife and I volunteered at the Seamen s Mission on 130 th Street and Torrance in Chicago. Our job was to drive their Mission bus down to the dock, to where all the cargo ships dock at Calumet Harbor and we would pick up the crew from the cargo ships and bring them back to the mission for a few hours of food and fellowship. We d offer Bibles, play games, and just sit down and talk together. On one occasion, as I was bringing the men back to their ship, and one of the crewmen asked me about my family. How many children do you have, he asked. I told him we had 5 children. He seemed surprised to hear that. And then he leaned over to me said to me You are a very rich man. Now, remember I was in seminary. I had just turned 30 years old, I was living in a two bedroom house which we did not own, receiving support from the church just to pay our monthly bills, and yet, in this man s eyes we were rich. And you know what? He was absolutely right! Our world measures value and wealth in dollars and cents, in investments, real estate and assets. But how many people today look at a child, at a newborn son or daughter, granddaughter or niece or nephew, and consider themselves rich? Children are a treasure from the Lord! They bring us great joy; filling our hearts with love, our homes with laughter. And when you think of children born into a Christian home, our children are one more light, one more voice, one more witness for God in a dark and dying world! Every child born into this world as the potential to change the world; or to at least affect change in people around him. Beloved, we know one thing for sure, our Lord knows the value of children. The Lord knows and loves His children as much or even more so that any earthly father can love his own child! They are a heritage and a reward from God to us, and we ought to value and treasure our children dearly. This goes even for those couples whom the Lord never blessed with children, and for single adults who never got married. The children born into the church of Jesus Christ are your children as well; by virtue of our union with Christ, they are sons and daughters, sisters and brothers of 4

5 the faith; we share the same Father, we claim the same Lord and Savior and elder Brother. So when a child is born into a covenant home, that is something we canal celebrate, because we are all the richer for it! 2) Children as a Blessing to their Parents Secondly let s consider children as a blessing to their Parents. In this Psalm, the value and blessing of children is communicated to us by means of a very unusual illustration (a simile). The Psalmist writes: like arrows in the hand of a warrior are sons born in ones youth. That illustration is brought to bear again in verse 5 when will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. The image being conveyed here is that of household security. When a father is young, HE can contend with his enemies; he can fend off the invading foe; but as he grows older, he grows weaker. But when a father has sons (children) in his youth then when his strength wains, he has sons who can stand in his stead. They are the family s defense. But the more general application is this: blessed is the man whose household is full of loving and willing sons and daughters; sons and daughters who are able and willing to help, to assist, to serve their parents, to assist with the chores, to work on the family farm, to see to it that as the parents grow older, they are cared for them in their old age. What s in view here is a household, a family that works together (read I Timothy 5:3-5). And the logic of the Psalmist is, the larger the quiver the greater the sense of peace and security. So in that regard, the amount of blessing stands in proportion to the number of children. One child is a blessing, and two children can be twice the blessing, etc. And I want to say a few words about this verse: blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. The question is often asked when reading this Psalm, how many children is a full quiver? The answer to that is simply this: your quiver is as full as you want it to be. Quivers could be made to hold lots of arrows as many as 30. While other quivers were smaller by design and 5

6 could only carry a few arrows. Obviously one of the purposes for Christian marriage is procreation, having children. A simple rule we often say is if you don t want to have children, don t get married. Now, one of the problems some couple face in marriage is that they may not be able to have children. I can t even begin to tell you of the heartache, the tears and mental anguish that has been endured by young couples, and especially young wives who cannot conceive; yet wellmeaning parents and grandparents, and well-meaning friends and church members come up to them after a year of marriage and start asking: when are you going to have a child? That s part of what it means to get married, you know. We have no idea of the pain our words cause, and quite frankly, those are words they should never be spoken. The truth is, the Bible never tells us how many children we should have. It doesn t say that 1 child is too few. Or that the pattern of the royal family (an heir and a spare) is better. Nowhere does is it suggest that 7 is best because it s the number of completion, or that 8 is enough. Such decisions are to be made by each married couple; it is a matter of one s Christian freedom and choice. And we should never enter into judgment on what another couple decides or to think that if someone stops at 2 then they are being unfaithful, or if someone has 12 children then they are acting irresponsibly. The fact is EVERY parent is accountable to the Lord for those decisions, and for each and every child they are given. They are responsible to consider how they must support their family, provide for their children, and train them in the ways of godliness. And that leads me to one last observation, and it is this: we cannot consider this passage (about children being a blessing from God) without reference to that to the obligation we parents have of raising our children in the fear and knowledge of the Lord. 6

7 Again remember the theme of the Psalm: unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchers stand guard in vain. And unless the Lord is the cornerstone and foundation of our household, then all our work as parents is in vain. The fact is, the greatest responsibility we have toward our children is teaching them they ways of the Lord, explaining the truths of our faith, calling them to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and setting them a Godly example to follow. We may fail at many other things; we may never be that super dad whose great at sports and knows how to catch a fish and field dress a moose, and build your own house. You may never be that super mom who can be a gourmet chef, keep a perfect house and sew outfits for the kids and operate an in house business as well. The most important duty and calling you have as parents (besides the obvious duties of providing for their physical needs) is this: you have to tell them about Jesus. You have to show them (everyday) the pathway of righteousness; the practice of forgiveness; the virtues of love, and patience and humility. In short, you have to be an example of Christ, and call them to Christ each day. That is what will bear fruit not just for this life, but for all eternity! For the truth is, there are many children who (even though they are a gift of God), do not prove to be a blessing to their parents or to the Lord. Proverbs 10:1 says A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother. Proverbs 17:25 says A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to the mother who bore him. Esau was not a blessing to his parents (even though he was Isaac s favorite). Esau rejected the birthright, and ultimately the covenant promises of God. Eli s sons (Hophni and Phineas) perverted the sacrifices of the tabernacle by eating the choice portions of the sacrifices. Their wickedness (and Eli s lack of parental restraint) became a curse for Eli and his family. And David s son Absalom grew up to rebel against his father and claim the throne for himself. 7

8 So this is all the more reason to take seriously our calling and obligation before God. And this is also all the more reason we need to pray to the Lord for help, and to thank the Lord for His Son, Jesus Christ. We can be eternally grateful that it is not our righteousness that we have to give our children; that it is not our godliness that saves. Rather it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and His perfect godliness, His perfect sacrifice on the cross that saves our children. It is all of God s love and mercy and grace. That is what we believe, and that is what we need to teach our children. And if we do that beloved, then we have no reason to doubt the promises of God. That the Lord is building us up; and the Lord stands guard over us; and the Lord will most certainly bless us and our families. Amen. 8

06/15/2014 A Song for Our Father Psalm 127 Songs Jesus Sang Randy Thompson

06/15/2014 A Song for Our Father Psalm 127 Songs Jesus Sang Randy Thompson Happy Father s Day! Good morning and welcome to Fellowship Dallas. My name is Randy and I m one of the Associate Pastors at the church. I am so glad you joined us for worship today. Over the past week,