God's House, Your House (Ps. 127-128) (7/26/26)

Let us pray for the blessing of the preaching

of His Word. Our God and our Father, thank you

for sending the Spirit to give us life and to

empower us for the call you have given us to

carry out your words of life to the ends of the

earth. Please allow the words of my mouth and

the meditations of all our hearts to be acceptable

in your sight. O Lord, our rock and nearest kinsman

and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen.

So we'll be reading two Psalms. I know you're

very familiar with the second one, for we sing

it every time there is a baptism. Psalm 127,

it was written by Solomon, very likely, so was

Psalm 128. These are understood as the household

Psalms. Psalm 127, a song of a sense of Solomon.

Unless Yahweh builds the house, they labor in

vain who build it. Unless Yahweh guards the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain

for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to

eat the bread of sorrows, for so he gives his

beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage

from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are

the children of one's youth. Happy is the man

whose quiver is full of them. They shall not

be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies

in the gate. Psalm 128, a song of assents. Blessed

is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in His

ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you

shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the

very heart of your house. Your children like

olive plants all around your table. Behold thus

shall the man be blessed who fears Yahweh. Yahweh

bless you out of Zion and may you see the good

of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes,

may you see your children's children. Peace be

upon Israel. These are the words of Almighty

God. Receive them in your hearts. There are three

things I want you to think about and use as your

lens here this morning. These three things are,

we are builders of the house of God. We are builders

of the house of God. This next one is probably

going to be a little shocking. Marriage is easy

or you are doing it wrong. Marriage is easy or

you are doing it wrong. And finally, follow God's

blueprint for marriage. Follow God's blueprint

for marriage. Now, this is part of our continuing

series of foundations for the summer. If you've

missed the ones prior to, perhaps today, if you

go back on another time and listen to them just

to continue on in this process. But every sermon

this summer is building on the previous ones.

The whole of the mission that was given to mankind

is to build the house of God first in worship

and then to the very ends of the earth Dearly

beloved you are saints because of the work of

Jesus Christ on your behalf We are no longer

in bondage to sin and so as it says in Romans

Romans 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6 beginning of verse 12 Therefore do

not let sin reign in your mortal body That you

should obey its lusts and do not present your

members as instruments of unrighteousness To

sin but present yourselves to God as being alive

from the dead your members as instruments of

righteousness to God For sin shall not have dominion

over you for you are not under the law but under

the grace. Now we know this, you've read this,

you've heard this, you know you're no longer

in bondage to sin. And Paul tells the Roman church,

hey, you're no longer under bondage of sin, so

act like it. The difficulty for us is not just

mortifying our sin, but obeying God. You know,

a lot of times our focus becomes on, I can't

do this, I can't do that, I'm gonna beat that

all down. and we neglect what God has been telling

us to do. Now it is true that we must stop doing

sinful things, but this is best found in doing

the things that please and glorify God. We are

to take the new life granted to us in Jesus by

the power of the Spirit and become disciples.

We are to learn intellectually. how to be disciples,

but then put into practice being disciples by

living a Christian life with other Christians

and most certainly our wives, husbands, and children.

There's a general mission to build the house

of God by the specific mission in building Christian

God -fearing households. lives centered on worship

and rooted in the mission of our household to

the glory of God and the benefit of others. Now

this leads to the questions of what plans do

we use to build with? What materials do we use?

And what skills and tools do we already have?

This reminds me of a time when my children I'd

attempted to take a basic multi -level treehouse.

I know it doesn't sound basic, but we had built

a treehouse for them, my father -in -law and

I. And we had made just this lower platform below

the main one, mostly as like a ladder, a way

up, right? And my children decided that they

wanted to make it better. And so they went and

got some tools and some scrap wood from my workshop

and began to build. I came home from work and

saw the work that they had done and was very

pleased. I was very pleased in their motivations

and their efforts. But upon inspection, I found

that although they had a good foundation, the

additions were not safe or sturdy. Things didn't

quite fit right. The nails were bent. are not

really nailed in at all. You see, even though

they had improved that tree house, danger lurked

everywhere. Perhaps for the older children who

were the builders, they might have known of certain

dangers. You know how that is? Well, I don't

think I quite got that, but you know. They're

warning their little brothers and sisters. You

know how that is if you have children of multiple

ages. But somehow the little ones don't remember.

And so they, as younger children, would simply

be susceptible to constant dangers. As their

father, I inspected the situation, brought out

the proper tools, the correct fasteners, and

materials to make the tree house both safe and

beautiful. The children did not have the right

plan, although their motives were right. They

didn't have the right materials or the tools

or the experience. Many people today are struggling

in their marriage or don't even want to be married

at all or have children because they don't know

who they are, what they are for, and how to do

what they are made for, what they are made for.

And even if they know what they're made for,

like my children, they don't know how to do it.

They don't know what materials to use. Like children

being brought in to build houses, to build a

city, in the end, the city may have shelters,

but they are not ready to withstand the winds,

earthquakes, fires, rains. or even the changing

of the seasons, let alone be the glorious city,

the city of God, the place where His temple resides.

We need to understand God's plans, materials,

and tools for marriage before we can develop

the skills to be a master builder. You know what?

If you grow up in the home of a master builder,

guess what happens? You learn some of those skills

by just being around. Well, and usually because

dad says, here, do this, pick up that, watch

me while I do that. One day when you get older,

your hope is saying, I want you to take that

circular saw and cut that. Did you measure it

twice? Did you mark it off? In very much the

same way, that apprenticing is what happens in

our households. Now, all of us grew up under

different kinds of circumstances, right? Some

of us. with Christian families that set a pretty

good example, yet not perfect. Others of us had

a, it was kind of bumpy. Christianity might have

been around, but it was kind of bumpy. And then

there's others who may have grown up in absolutely

a family devoid of Christian truth. People having

varying degrees of both good and bad examples.

And here's what happened. As you got older, Then

enters other examples and ideas to challenge

what you have seen and experienced. Some for

good and many for evil. You've noticed that many

of our modern buildings, I'm trying to get us

somewhere here, but many of our modern buildings,

and this is particularly noticeable when you

go to DC. If you look at all of the buildings

built from the 30s, Before, from the 1930s and

before, they are all spectacular in their architecture.

There's a lot of, one could say, gratuitous beauty

in architecture. Built well, with wonderful materials.

And yet, you find everything built from 1960

forward. It is all about utility. It's all about

no beauty. and just using it. In the very same

way, these things come true in households. We

have abandoned the art of the beautiful and the

useful design. And instead of using durable materials,

we turn to the practical and inexpensive. and

simply the utility of something. This is ungodly.

This is an ungodly and androgynous way of thinking

and living. Now, sometimes practically speaking,

sometimes you build what you can afford to build

at the moment, right? But instead of working

towards the end of the wonderful, beautiful things

that God has created, we just want to make everything

about, what is the practical use? Can it be used

for this? It is androgynous in its thinking.

And so too, in the families, we have the same

thing. It's an androgynous way. We talked about

this last week, right? Where male and female

are considered to be interchangeable in everything.

And so in our marriages and families, men become

feminine in words and behaviors, and women become

masculine in words and actions without regard

to what God has designed and made them for. So

durability and beauty doesn't exist in those

circumstances. So marriages have become hard

trials without joy, peace, or love. God has so

graciously given us the revealed word in the

Bible to teach and model what we were made for

and what we are to do. Dearly beloved, we need

to stop using the blueprints materials and methods

of the pagan, God -hating world, and embrace

His loving, gracious, and victorious blueprints,

materials, and methods. In our passage today,

God reminds us that unless Yahweh builds the

house, and remember, why do I say Yahweh when

it says, Lord, that is the proper word? And it

reminds us of the covenant God who keeps His

promises. His faithfulness to us He says this

unless Yahweh builds a house they labor in vain

who build it unless Yahweh guards the city The

watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for

you to rise up early To sit up late to eat the

bread of sorrows For so he gives his beloved

sleep All efforts to build a house not centered

on God and His design plans are doomed to fail.

Notice that the labor and guarding done by God

is the same charge that God gave the first Adam

in the garden. Man made in His image is to guard

and labor in the way that God has commanded.

Otherwise, we are working against His design

and all our efforts. are in vain. But if we trust

God and do good according to the scriptures,

even when we sleep, God is making us prosper.

That's what that line's about, that God gives

sleep, right? He's making us prosper, even when

we rest. God then tells us that children are

a heritage from the Lord. Children are a wonderful

reward, especially children from our youth. Now,

I do understand this. By God's providence, sometimes

there is barrenness. Sometimes by circumstances

outside of our control. And that is a particular

hardship. And it's one we should take up with

the Lord and is one that we should trust Him

in. But men and women are designed to build households

with children. And children from our youth are

especially a blessing. Now for many of you, you

have young children. A handful of you have adult

children. But I can tell you, by the mercies

of God, what a wonderful thing it is to consider

your children, that quiver full, wonderful arrows

shot out to extend the kingdom of heaven everywhere

that they are. You see, what is God's blueprint.

As we studied last week, we are made male and

female. We came to understand that it is God's

design for us to be male and female. And together

in marriage, we have been given a mission, but

our callings as men and women are different,

but are essential to each other. The Bible takes

the position that there is a God -given normative

masculine behavior. Trust God and do good Right

good men fear God not other men and not their

wives Psalm 128 begins with blessed is everyone

now that everyone there is better translated

as man or husband because it's a masculine noun

and so blessed is the man who fears the Lord

meaning that man who walks in God's ways, and

he is submitting to God in his word, not just

internal thoughts or piety, but in every area

of their lives. Hear what it says in 1 Kings

1 Kings 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, beginning in verse 1, it says this,

now the days of David drew near that he should

die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

I go the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore,

and prove yourself a man." And he's going to

explain a little bit about what that is here

in a minute to Solomon, but it's really important

to understand that there's a way that a man should

act. The Bible makes that assumption because

God designed it this way and has given us categories

for this. He says this, and keep the charge of

Yahweh your God to walk in His ways, to keep

His statutes, His commandments, His judgments.

and his testimonies, as it is written in the

law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that

you do and wherever you turn." And so Solomon,

he's a house builder. Now this is a really important

distinction. We know that King David, as important

as he is to the story of God, carries a sword.

And Solomon is told to be a house builder. Remember,

David couldn't be the builder of the temple.

by God's design. He said, be a builder of God's

house. Now it's important. I think we live in

a time. I just want to make this distinction.

We'll talk about this in some coming weeks. We're

at a stage where we need to be like Nehemiah.

We're building the temple. We're building up

the walls. We're building up the church by our

household. So we need to have a sword in one

hand and a trowel in another. It's not just about

war. It is about building. The household of God

both in our church and in our homes Now masculinity

can certainly be abused But evil men are not

to become the reason to change God's design and

blueprint As one commentator puts it marriage

should be easy Husbands and wives are designed

for each other If we have the wrong or divided

mission or the wrong person is assigned for the

task, we have strife and difficulty and therefore

no unity. We were designed to come together and

I hope all you young people out there listen

too. Boys and girls listen, this is important.

You're supposed to be looking one day to find

a godly husband or godly wife. This is relevant.

to every person in here. And you might say, I'm

old and I don't have a spouse anymore. Well,

now you are to pray. You are to teach these things

that God's Word teaches. You have a mission too.

But in the mission that we have, we need to understand

that if we are not following God's blueprint,

if we are not receiving the teaching of God's

Word, what happens is, The people with the right

giftings are doing the wrong things. And we end

up divided on so many different things. Let me

ask you this question. Is your marriage easy

or hard? To be honest, I think for most of us,

we need to say it's hard sometimes. It's hard.

And you know what you have? What do you hear?

You get people together and they'll say, oh yeah,

you're getting married great. You know, this

is really hard. It's really hard. You know why

it's hard? One, we don't rejoice in the distinctives

that God has given us as men and women. And two,

we don't follow his blueprint. So even though

he's given us his word and he's given us the

foundation of the work of Jesus. and he has given

us the example of Jesus to his bride, we push

back against it. We push back. And so what happens

is the strife is in our house instead of us pulling

together against the difficulties that are sure

to come. Consider the reformer Martin Luther,

he put it this way, there is no greater comfort

outside of the gospel of Jesus Christ than marriage.

He considered marriage the sweetest of blessings

appointed by God. Do you feel like your marriage

is a sweet appointment from God? And Luther's,

and this is what we have to understand, you know,

oh, this great Luther, right? Out of all this

faith. You know what? By God's providence, Luther

had a lot of hardships. He had a lot of difficulties.

People were literally seeking to kill him. And

at every turn, things were difficult. And yes,

God blessed him with a wife. And it was a wonderful,

wonderful blessing. You see, Martin understood

that marriage was designed to bring peace and

joy to tackle the hardships and trials. our call

and we're to do it together to transform the

world to the glory of God, you know, you guys

probably Watch anybody watch any soccer in the

last month or so Right, right. Tell me about

the Norwegians. What did they do? They talked

about they would get out there and they were

I think there's 11 players on the field So they're

like the 12th man and what were they doing? They

were getting together. They put their arms out

there anybody know what they did rule Right?

Row. Right? You see, what happens is, if you

got one person with an oar and they're going,

and this person's going this way, right? You're

not unified. And the strife is in the boat. Now

row together. The trials of life are to be expected.

And it is a blessing as you address them together.

People of God, we are better in marriage than

alone. If our marriage becomes a trial, then

marriage becomes the roadblock to the mission

to build the house of God and every other trial

and challenge in life. So we must follow the

scriptures, the blueprint for the household,

and therefore God's house. This includes husbands,

wives, and children, and even the promise of

the joys of grandchildren one day. Now scripture

teaches us that the husband has responsibility,

and authority. Again, looking at Psalm 128, picking

up at verse 2, notice how many times you or your

shows up. So what is the subject? The man, right?

The blessed man. And it says this, it's speaking

of husbands, when you eat the labor of your hands,

so his labor, you shall be happy, and it shall

be well with you. your wife shall be like a fruitful

vine in the very heart of your house your children

like olive plants all around your table behold

thus shall the man be blessed and who is that

who fears Yahweh now here's the first order of

things ladies if you have fear about your husband's

authority Gentlemen, here it is. You are subject

to Christ Jesus. You are subject to His representatives

on the earth, and that is the elders. You are

subject to God's Word. That is your response.

That is your call. Now, you need to understand

that the order of things is God the Father, God

the Son. the husband, the wife. And obviously,

as I mentioned before, God's representatives

on earth for the Son are the elders. For many

today who are coming to their senses, recognize

that men should take responsibility for their

households. Of course, this was always known,

but there's this huge push over the last 75 years

to throw that out. But for these people that

are recognizing it, they desire for someone to

be responsible. But they reject the other half

of God's design and it is the authority granted

in that responsibility God is saying that husbands

your household is your responsibility because

It is also under your authority Plain and simple

you must fear God. So as Joshua declared in Joshua

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

chapter 24 pay attention now to this pattern

beginning in verse 14, now therefore fear Yahweh

serve him in sincerity and truth put away the

gods which your father served on the other side

of the river and in Egypt serve Yahweh and if

it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh choose for

yourselves this day whom you will serve whether

the gods which your father served that were on

the other side of the river or the gods of the

Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for

me and my house, we will serve Yahweh." So first

of all, he declares this. For me and my house,

we're serving God. So that means that you make

decisions that are about serving God, about your

wife, your children, your money, your activities,

and most importantly, where you are on Sunday

mornings. That's your decision. Make it so. Husbands,

fear God and put away all the gods, idols, and

blueprints that your father served on the other

side of the river. They're there. Take both responsibility

and authority in your household, fearing God

both in the final judgment and now here on earth.

Men, are you listening? You will lift up your

household as a tribute offering to God. I want

to pause right there. I know for me that's a

fearful thing outside the work of Jesus Christ

and the power of the Spirit. Will God receive

this offering seeing that you have transformed

it so that God's will in heaven is done here

on earth in your household? Fear God above every

person. including your wife and children. You

have authority and you are responsible whether

you act like it or not. The entirety of Numbers

Numbers 30 · chapter mention

chapter 30 shows this in great detail. We're

not going to read all that, don't worry. I put

it in your notes I sent out last night, so go

and read it yourself. But you are responsible

for your wives or daughters vows and commitments

on the day in which you hear it. If you do nothing

on the day that you hear of it, you condone and

affirm their vow. So you have it whether you

speak to it or not. Once you know it, you are

responsible for it. Too many men fear their wives

and abdicate and defer to their wives in all

things. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the great

enemies of our day is niceness. Niceness is flattery

meant to sue the woman by lies and deceit. And

frankly, everybody, to sue them by lies and deceit.

I did a little study through the scriptures.

I had to go to several translations in order

to do it, but the word nice only shows up four

times. And every time, it's terrible flattery

to deceive people. Not acting as a man, that

is, acting passive, abdicating, always destroys

marriages. As one commentator puts it, niceness

by a man breeds in our wives disrespect, nagging,

and a controlling and conspiring heart. This

spirals into increasing unlovability by the wife,

a bad man. and an ungodly man provides for and

nourishes an ungodly and bad wife who in turn

takes her gifts of multiplying to wickedness

and corrupted femininity. A dominant wife and

a passive husband means there is no single unified

mission and this leads to a bad marriage, a hard

marriage. Turning to Ephesians 5, which we'll

study in more detail in the weeks to come, teaches

God's design and actions of which we are to do

what? Abandon the gods of our pagan and weak

fathers and the idols of our age and embrace

God's blueprint. It says this, wives submit to

your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband

is the head of the wife. As also, Christ is the

head of the church and he is the savior of the

body. Therefore, just as the church is subject

to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands

and everything. Husbands, love your wives. Just

as Christ also loved the church and gave himself

for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her

with the washing of the water of the word, that

he might present her to himself a glorious church,

not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,

but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Drop it down to verse 33. Nevertheless, let each

one of you in particular so love his own wife

as himself and let the wife see that she respects

her husband. God's blueprint in the very way

is carried out in the very way that you have

been designed by God. Wives, submit to your husbands.

This is being subject to, meaning you must respect

and honor your husbands. disrespect, contempt,

gossip, or undermining your husband in front

of others, especially your children, is tearing

down your marriage. Proverbs 14 .1 tells us,

the wise woman builds her house, but the foolish

pulls it down with her hands. Husbands, you must

love and cherish. Love means to provide and guard.

and take responsibility and authority. Feed love

to your wife. Wives, feed respect to your husbands.

A wife is given to nurture and glorify in your

household. She's at the heart and center, this

Psalm tells us. Respect and obey. If your children,

do you ever wonder why your children don't respect

and obey you? Is it because you do not respect

and obey God? and your husband. Wives, you cannot

outsource love and fruitfulness. You cannot expect

others to do what you are called to do in your

household. And there will be more to come in

the coming weeks. God has created each one of

you as a man and as a woman. So men follow Christ

like a man. Women follow Christ as a woman. Men,

you are to provide and guard. Women, you are

to nurture and glorify. As we build the house

of God, let us remember that it all flows out

of worship. Look at the last two verses of Psalm

128. Yahweh bless you out of Zion. What is Zion?

That is the place where the temple resides. So

now the psalmist is telling that blessed man

with his wife and his children, the one that

fears God. and follows his word. God is going

to bless you out of what? The temple, out of

worship together. And you may see the good of

Jerusalem. That is the city of God. And when

will this happen? All the days of your life.

Yes, may you see your children's children. Peace

be upon Israel. So that peace is for the covenant

people of God. in our households. So we have

what? The temple. We have the city. So we have

Zion. We have the city of Jerusalem. And we have

the land of Israel. This progression starts in

worship, right? Goes to the glorious nature of

the Christian fellowship together. And then finally

goes out to the land in our households. And peace

will be with us. Fearing God is trusting God's

blueprint. It begins with worship with God's

people on the Lord's Day, even on vacation. Or,

guess what? If it doesn't start with fear of

the Lord and worship, all our efforts are to

no avail. Your foundation is Jesus. Trust God

and do good according to His Word. You are called

to take dominion by standing at your assigned

post and being fruitful. Fear God and follow

his blueprint have no fear of being able to do

this Because right now how many guys are feeling

like you're on top of the world coming through

this sermon All right, I got both hands down

too But I'm not relying on myself I am relying

on Jesus Christ and his wonderful promise of

sending the spirit to enable us to do what? To

be obedient to be joyful to carry out His design

and call for us God keeps his word to his church

for the sake of Jesus. Here's 2nd Corinthians

chapter 1 For all the promises of God in him

and that is Jesus our yes and in him Amen to

the glory of God through us Now he who establishes

us with you in Christ and has anointed us is

God who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit

in our hearts as a guarantee. Praise God for

His faithfulness to His covenant promises to

us. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You

for Your wonderful design and purposes in creation,

even as men and women. We thank You for Your

love for us. Christ Jesus to deliver us from

our sins in a new life to transform the world

to your glory Help us we pray to joyfully obey

your holy word in our marriages Submitting to

our calls as husbands and wives with all abandoned

To the gods and idols of this world We ask all

this for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord who

reigns with you and the Holy Spirit world without

end amen Let us continue our worship by the giving

of our tithes and offerings. Heavenly Father,

we bring forth our tithes and offerings to you

as a tribute offering for all of the things that

we have done in our households this week, whether

it be work or whether it be in our families.

All of the things we do, this is representative

of it. Please use these gifts for your glory

and for service in your kingdom. Blessed be God

forever and ever. Amen.