June 23, 2015 House Building

June 23, 2015 House Building

Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.    Psalm 127 

If you were here for Father’s Day you will remember that I used this Psalm in my sermon about Jairus and his daughter.  In studying for the sermon I was thinking about how dads, who normally like to be in control, should turn over the control of their home to the Lord.  I thought of verse 1 of this Psalm; “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.”  As I looked at the verse to apply it to us dads, I read the whole Psalm which is very short.  What a way to look at how we run our homes, parents.

According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary this pilgrim psalm is ascribed to Solomon. It records the blessing of the Lord in domestic life. The psalmist recognized that dependence on the providence of the Lord assures valuable domestic enterprises and safeguards. The writer then epitomized that bounty in the reward of children, who in those days helped defend a family.

If you are like most people who get married and set up a household and have and raise kids there is a whole lot of trial and error to figure out the best way to be successful.  If more young couples would look at Psalm 127 as a way to build your household there would be less trial and error.  This means allowing God to be front and center in your relationship before you even get married.  Starting a new marriage is hard enough; including God will give any young couple guidance.  We should let the Lord build and protect our homes and marriages.  Men, no matter how hard we work to provide for our families doing this in your own strength and knowledge is always going to be futile.  This Psalm says it right:  “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.”  We should always work hard no matter what, right?  But killing yourself to make ends meet is not necessary.  God has a plan for a successful home without toiling in vain.  Trust in Him for everything.  We should first surrender control of everything to him in our homes, families, and marriages.  Our work is to glorify Him.  How we handle our finances is to glorify Him, which means we are obedient in tithing and giving offerings as we are instructed (This is very important).   It’s hard to do this when you don’t think the numbers add up.  If you don’t tithe for this reason you should just try it for a while and see how God blesses.    Another way to look at when he says “…for he grants sleep to those he loves,” is that He provides for us while we sleep.  He provides for us if we are obedient.

Raising kids is a hard job which is aided tremendously by following Deuteronomy 6 (click here to read on-line).  Our kids are a blessing from God and he loves them and has a plan for them.  We hold the key to them knowing God and finding his plan for them, but we have to throw away our agenda and replace it with God’s.  Pray for and with your kids, read the bible with them, let them know God has a plan for them.  When we raise our kids in a godly way it doesn’t mean they will be perfect, but they will know the way God wants them to live.  Kids raised with biblical knowledge do much better in all aspects of life that those who aren’t (it’s a real thing, look it up).  The last line of this Psalm says “They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.”  If we use God’s plan to set up our home, handle our finances, make our decisions, and raise our kids, we can stand up to any attack on our families by the enemy.  What a great Psalm!!!