Psalm 127

Trip songs. You know, they're like the songs

that you sing on your road trip

when you're going with the family somewhere because

they they sort of become the soundtrack to

this communal life, and that would have been

true for Israel,

as they were making their way to jerusalem

3 times a year wherever they had lived.

They were ascending because Jerusalem was higher

top geographically than most places in the country.

So they'd be ascending to Jerusalem to worship

God. And as they would do that they

would sing these psalms.

This is 1 of the ones that they

would sing. And so we're considering, how does

it shape the life of a group of

people if they're regularly reminding cells of the

truths in these psalms and even singing them

as a way of saying, we believe this.

We were rejoice in it

and so that's what we find ourselves in

now for these 3 weeks. We looked at

psalm 01:30 last week and we're thinking about.

This regular habit of repentance, being a a

group of people who are okay, they're more

than okay, I guess, I would say is,

who are eagerly,

willing to say I admit I was wrong,

I need to ask for forgiveness, and I

need to turn away from the wrong that

I did and just imagine what that produces

in the life of a group of people,

if they do that. And so we come

to psalm 01:27

today it's to fitting family Sunday,

where all... You know, we have all our

kids with us because we're gonna look at

kids, and it work. We're gonna see how

those 2 things relate to 1 another. It's

a very pragmatic psalm,

very short, very sweet into the point, and

I... Think really, really helpful. I hope to

you. Certainly helpful to me. Let's read the

song together. Psalm 01:27, you'll find it on

the screens there.

You didn't bring a bible with you today.

So begins a song of a sense of

solomon interestingly enough.

If says unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain

unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watch stays awake in vain.

It is vain,

in vain that you rise up early and

go late to rest, eating the bread of

anxious toil

where he gives his beloved sleep.

If we hold children are heritage from the

lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward

like arrows in the hand warrior

or the children of one's youth.

Blessed is the man who feels his quiver

with them. He shall not be put to

shame when he speaks with his enemies in

the gate.

So like I said it's it's a short

psalm at first reading. It probably feels almost

like 2 different psalms in fact some scholars

look at it and go how do these

2 things relate to 1 another. I hope

I can show you how they relate to

1 another. It seems like you talking about

work at the beginning. And children at the

end, did you catch that? You might even

think well, how are do these 2... You

know, like, how do these 2 things relate?

And essentially, here's what I would say. Let

me give you a road map

What the psalm is doing is he is

laying out a general principle. So we're gonna

find that in verse 1 and in verse

2, where he's giving us this general principle

I'll tell what that is in a second.

And he's giving us a motivation

to adhere to that principle, right, in in

the following verses. And then when he picks

up with children what he's doing, Is he's

giving us another reit of that same principle,

that same idea that's saying driving idea in

a specific example.

And then he's gonna give us another motivation.

So it goes

principal, motivation, principal motivation. Everybody with me? Super

simple outline of the text today. So here's

the general principle When you read it, those

first versus, they tell us what this Soul

about. And says, unless the Lord builds the

house, those who build it, what?

The labor in vain. Right? Now that word

house could be taken to relate to the

idea of family. It could be, like, unless

you're building your family unless the lord is

building your family. You're labor in vain, but

it also can just mean literally physically building

something, like doing your work. Your job, someone's

job is building.

Then he's saying, if you're labor in your

work

to build something and the Lord's not in

it,

you're labor in vain. And then he goes

on to kinda of broaden the idea because

he gives another type of work. Doesn't and

he says, unless

the Lord is in it. If the watch

is staying up all night and watching over

the city and and protecting the community.

They're watching in vain if Lord himself isn't

the 1 doing it. So here's the principal

stated in the negative, which is how the

Psalm states it. It would be this. It

would be to say, you can't produce anything

of value or meaning

unless the lord's power and pleasure are in

that thing.

You cannot produce anything of value it might

say lasting value

unless the Lord's power and pleasure are in

that thing. If you want to stay it

in the positive, it would be this way,

seek the lord's power and pleasure in every

endeavor.

Seek the Lord's power and pleasure in every

work in every endeavor in everything you do.

Whatever your work is that he gives you

to do

seek his pleasure in it. Now, here's what

our I would argue you. Think if this

is true of you.

What our western minds do is they hear

that. Okay. Yes. Unless the Lord builds the

house, those who build it labor in vain.

So immediately go, okay, if I don't have

your power in this thing your pleasure in

it. It's not gonna amount to anything.

So how do I get your power and

pleasure? We wanna how to. Do you find

that in yourself?

Like, okay, So tell me how. And the

psalm is going to resist that?

Because he's not a western mind.

He's an eastern mind. And so he's saying

to you and to I, the lord is

not giving us a how to get his

power in pleasure behind the things that we

do. That's not what he's interested in. What

he's going to do in the motivation he's

gonna give us principal motivation, principal,

motivation. Is he's going to say, I want

you to open up your hands so that

you will be completely dependent on me and

what I want to do.

Not how do I get your power behind

what I'm doing?

How do I join you in what you're

doing? And open my hands to it. That's

what the Psalm is making an effort to

do today. Can I tell you that I

spent,

I spent about 2 weeks on this? And

as I was studying, anyway, I spent, like,

the first week trying to figure out where

are the how to's?

Where are the... How do I get your

powers and I was trying to... In my

head, find them and they're not in a

sense they're not there. Now there's are some

hints,

but what this text is really about. I

became convicted the long Studied it is just

tread,

open up your hands

and receive from me everything that I have

to give yield

yourself.

To me.

Unless the lord preach the sermon those who

preach it.

Preach it in vain.

That was what I was convicted of This

psalm is about you yielding to god.

It's about you surrendering every part of your

life to God. And saying, I am completely

dependent

upon you for everything,

and I like it that way.

I want it that way. Can can someone

say amen to that.

So listen, if you're not a follower of

Jesus, 1 of the things that

I need to help you see here is

that we get, we, who are followers. We

get that it's weird

to say,

depend completely on a being you can't see

who you who we believe created everything and

loves us and sin sun for us. Like

we get that it's weird to rely

on this unseen God. And I don't have

any logical reason. I mean, I can point

some out, but ultimately, my guess is you'll

just excuse those away. All I can tell

you is this is the more we learn

to depend upon God, the more satisfied we

are depending on him.

It just is that way.

And you won't experience that until you begin

to do that. So I just need to

tell you as you're exploring... I mean, I'm

kind of assuming and forgive me for assuming

this if you're here that

even if you're just being a good

son, daughter,

husband wife, a good neighbor by showing up

here because someone asked you to, Now, I'm

still presuming there's some amount of seeking of

God that's happening in your life. I hope

there is. And man you're in the right

place like keep keep coming, keep exploring, keep

seeking.

If that's true that there's some amount of

seeking of god going on well it's even

just the most fractional amount. I just

I just want you to see we get

that it's weird to say depend upon an

unseen God, but we also wanted to say

make room for considering that it's actually the

best kinda life.

And you kinda... It's like if I had

an apple up here and I was biting

into it. You couldn't tell me what the

apple tastes like because you're not actually taste

and I I'm tasting it. It's a bit

like that. It just is so sweet

to depend upon the Lord.

Not easy.

Amen.

Not easy. The suite. Alright. So let... Let's

just walk away through the text and then

see what it has to offer us again,

by way of big picture, you see it

immediately.

How he's emphasizing the

idea of complete dependence upon the lord. But

I want... I wanna help you see it

in the text that it's maybe even stronger

than you might think.

Outset because I want you to note that

he said, not unless the lord

gives you the strength to build the house,

then you labor in vain. Is that what

the tech said?

No. You can look back down if you've

got a bible.

He said, unless the Lord builds the house.

Unless the Lord

watches over the city. Not he's not suggesting

that you then have to sit down and

pray for, like, got to snap his fingers

and make a house up appear.

But what he's saying is your dependence on

the lord to produce anything through your work

is so massive

that it's not just unless the lord gives

you strength. It is literally that whatever is

producers is only gonna be produced because he

doesn't.

You are completely and utterly depend all your

all your effort,

all your long hours,

all your longing,

all your labor,

as unfair that sounds will amount to nothing

unless the Lord is the 1 doing to

work.

Unless he is working through your hands

and bringing about That's the level of

complete reliance and dependence

I'm gonna say the phrase a lot in

the sermon open your hands.

Open your hands,

to yield to god to receive everything must

go back to what I said about these

psalms of a ascent. Can you imagine

a group of people who 3 times a

year are making this journey up to to

meet with the Lord, and they're singing this

psalm,

they're saying

unless the Lord builds the... I don't know

what the tune to it would be.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who

build it, labor in vain and they're reminding

themselves of that truth and rehearsing it over

and over. Wouldn't that become a people who

were just

completely and gladly dependent upon the lord and

who were opening their hands and. We need

you. We need you show up.

And by the way, I think there's something

particularly important that they would sing this on

their way to do their religious work because

there's a particular danger in religious work to

just assume the Lord's power gonna be in

it and to assume as pleasures in it

when it very well may not be.

Because you assume, oh, this is this is

like the religious stuff. So of of, surely,

God is in it. But man, how many

times have we seen people and how many

times have we been guilty of doing work

in the name of the lord without ever

is power without ever seeking is pleasure without

ever saying, I'm open handed what do you

want? I'd depend upon you.

You can do all the religious type labor

you want and unless the Lord does the

work, those who do it, what church?

Labor in vain.

And they're reminding themselves of that as they're

making their way to the house of the

Lord.

Unless Lord does the work. Unless Lord builds

the house. So

That's that first principle. He's hound us with

it. He is being

really tough about it. And then he comes

down to verse to then, and now we

come to the motivation. He wants to give.

So he's saying, open up your hands. Be

dependent upon the lord. Don't resist

And then he's going to give us this

motivation. Here is. He says,

it is in vain that you rise up

early and go late to rest and immediately

we say, was, he just saying work? Like,

working hard is foolish. Like, working hard is

in vain that's not what he's saying. He's

saying a particular kind of work is foolish.

The kind of work that is marked by

what the next phrase says.

What does he say?

Eating the bread

of anxious toil

And then he's gonna give us the contrast

to that. So he's gonna say, all your

hard work. All you're getting up early, all

you're staying at the office late,

labor and working hard, which is a good

thing, not a bad thing the scriptures are

very clear. We were made in God's image

and made by his design to work. God

is a god who at work. And Jesus

said, to this day, I see my father

at work. Therefore I am at work. Right?

So there's this

really rich, which can't do all of today

theology work, which we understand. I was made

to work. I was made to to to

produce things,

but not whatever I choose, but whatever god

designs me and makes me to do, and

so I open my hands to him,

so they he would labor through me. And

so he says them,

it's in vain to get up early and

go to work and labor all day until

the sun goes down in long hours, and

you might think I'm gonna produce a lot,

not if it's anxious toil.

Not if the con of toilet that says

it all depends on me.

I'm the 1 that must produce it. Have

you toil anxiously before?

U. Yeah. You have.

Yeah. You have.

That deadlines come in.

That person's to depending on you.

Listen, I'm not saying there's not some, like,

stress that come with men. And I've gotta

get my work done,

but there's a difference between, like, that hard

fought, like well done labor and the kind

that is marked by anxious and here's the

contrast. Here's the contrast.

It it's in vain that you eat the

bread of anxious toil, why? What's the contrast?

For he gives his what,

beloved.

It's sleep.

There's the motivation, Not sleep.

Sleep a good gift. Right? So everything awesome.

Like I miss that 8AM class. Sleep

No. What's he saying?

There's a stream working anxiously and knowing that

you're loved

by God,

and he will be the 1 to give

the the fruit of your labor. He will

be the 1 to produce it. So I

opened my hands and I work as 1

who knows that I'm love. So that's the

motivation to get you to open your hands

and to say whatever you want

father. Whatever you want me to work. Whatever

worked you want me to do. Whatever is

gonna be produced through this work. It's all

up to you. And, yes, I will labor

hard, but not in a way that says

if depends upon me. And how do I

do that? There is a bit of a

how to here. Right?

I remember that no matter what you love

Me

I know that might sound very, like,

theoretical,

but think about how many decisions in your

life have been made that were great decisions

because you knew that you knew that you

knew that you were loved no matter what?

I think about the the converse, how many

really bad decisions were made? Because you were

acting like or believing in your mind that

you weren't loved or that you had to

earn love.

I can in some way trace almost every

bad decision in my life back to that

reality.

Believing I was loved, and being confident in

it or failing to believe that. And therefore

trying to manipulate or earn or make my

own way. Would you agree with that?

That's a sense what he's getting at. Here's

here's your motivation to open up your hands

and say Lord what

I need you. I'm completely dependent upon you.

Here's the motivation.

You are loved. You are loved.

Are loved. Your loves. What George led us

in singing about a minute go from Romans

8, which reminds us nothing. Nothing

can separate us from the love of God

in Christ Jesus. Now if the Psalm can

write this on the front side of the

cross

and say,

God,

loves his children, and he gives them rest.

They can depend upon him. They can rest

when it's time to rest. And they can

work when it's time to work. And even

as they work, they work in a rest

way

because they trust that he's the 1 that

must and will

give the fruit of the labor. He's the

1, not me.

And the more the love child believes that.

Right? The more they work in the way

that honors the Lord and produces that fruit.

And so he's

connecting that for

and giving us that motivation just to say

again, open up your hands to the lord.

Now,

It's also helpful to remember, psalm 01:45

says,

psalm 01:45 says,

verse 16.

Says the lord opens his hand

and satisfies the desire of every living thing.

So think about that. This psalm psalm 01:27

is saying in a very real sense, even

though to use these words open up your

hands and trust the lord to provide trust

that the Lord will do the work because

he loves you. You are his beloved children.

And then psalm 01:45 comes right behind it.

Not too much not too much further into

the soul and it says the Lord himself

opens his hand

and satisfies the desire of every living thing,

he's not tight fist.

Neither should You.

The picture is not he's here with his

tight fist, and I'm here with my type

fist. It is... He has an open hand,

and I should open my hand.

And how much more can we believe that

in the Psalm when we now have the

fixed point in all of history of the

cross open Christ,

which speaks to us what Romans 8 says

you are loved by God and and it's

his death

and his resurrection that declares it and it

can never be undone. How much richer of

an understanding of his love net... Do I

now get to have than even the Psalm

got to have who didn't get to see

that day?

Alright. Now let's turn our attention. So that's

principle

motivation. Now let's see how he then applies

that into a specific situation. We're gonna turn

to kids and family.

And what more important realm could he begin

to apply this in? Alright? Now, listen, let

me just say friends,

every time we come to a text like

this about family I fully recognize that there

are some of you who who want kids

and and aren't able to have them or

not yet.

There are those, who will never have children.

There are those who have them and are...

And there's some heartbreaking stuff going on with

children. There's there's a... Maybe the way that

there's a there's a

big host of situations all sitting in this

room. Yes?

Yeah.

Absolutely. So the Lord comes to in tender

this now

to speak about this reality

and to give us these principles to motivate

us to open our hands

to whatever circumstances circumstance. And he's gonna use

kids as the example, but there's endeavors for

all of us that he has

called us into works that he's called us

into. In this case, he's gonna use children

as that work, That example of that work.

K?

And so wherever you are with that, I

wanna encourage you don't shut down. K?

Stay in the text

let it speak.

Let it speak and let god's tender through

his spirit minister to you and speak to

you because even if

as he engages around kids and children and

families, and that's an area of of hurt

for you.

He still wants to speak to you. So

yield open your hands.

Know that he speaks to you as a

tender father. Okay?

So listen now he says this,

behold children are a heritage from the lord,

the fruit of the womb,

a reward. Now, do you see our principal

there again. So he's now getting... He's up

applying that principal into the realm of children.

What he's saying is in the same way

then unless the lord builds the house, the

person who builds it labor in vain you

can't produce anything,

apart from a value, apart from my power

and my pleasure is saying the same things

here. You are completely dependent upon me as

it relates to children. In 2 ways in

particular, the Lord is the give of kid,

Now by his grace, he invites us into

a participation in that, which is a miraculous

beautiful design of god where he invites human

beings to be in a sense c creators,

but ultimately,

all every single human who has ever drawn

breath,

is created by god, not by man.

It's why we believe in this biblical review

of the dignity of human life from conception

to natural death.

From 1 end to the other, and all

human beings made in that image are worthy

of dignity

and protection and value you.

An amen would go real well right there.

So listen... I mean... And then sometimes got

a beg for it. It's okay. You know?

The the thing that he's saying is, yeah.

I I told you, you can't build a

house. The lord's... The ones gotta build it.

Can't build a family either,

the lord the 1 that has to be

build If you think I'm the 1 building

my family. If you think I'm the 1

creating these children, you're wrong,

He's saying I'm the 1.

I'm the 1. So we got some kids

in your kids. Can you help me out?

Everybody say, I'm a gift from God.

Let's try 1 more time real. I mean,

I didn't real loud preach to us now.

I a gift from God.

That's right.

That's exactly right. And your next time, your

parents are giving you a hard time. You

just turn to them and say,

I am a gift from god,

and I don't know if a mom or

dad might throw a little honor your father

and mother at you.

But you can do a little scripture ninja

action

back and forth with each other.

Every child is gift from god every single

1. We can't make them. God makes them.

And acknowledging them as a gift

is the part of the way that we

show that we are open handed to God.

We depend upon him. Now let me give

you a little bit of statistics in but,

in 19 60, I'll try to not be

too dry with the statistics. In 19 6

8. Always forget his first name. Last name's

is Ehr. What's his last name? First name?

Paul Ehr. 30 y'all familiar with Paul Ehr

in 19 60 he wrote a book called

the population bomb. And the thesis of this

book was that basically, the world was headed

to disaster because we were gonna be over

popular. Related. Bring with too many people on

the planet. And he, this was not some

little niche thing. He was going on with

Johnny Carson

played on the tonight show,

and before a national audience basically arguing that

the government and and culture at large should

basically impose penalties on people for having too

many kids.

Like, there should be, you know, tax problems

that are created. Like, all kinds of, like,

we've got to limit the number of children

people are having. Now, listen,

that is completely contrary to a biblical review.

Right? And when we just read that... Man,

children argue a from God. Right? That's the

very opposite perspective. And I... I'm not, like,

you know,

I'm not a a bash culture guy. I

don't like to spend a lot of time

that, but it's helpful to know what kind

of waters we're swimming in.

And that those

ideas are pervasive in our waters. We do

not value children as a society.

Now

let me tell you what we're the reality

now of what we're facing is

every major

country in the world is now facing a

d population problem.

We are not producing children at what soc

called the replacement rate, which is basically the

rate we need to sustain a society.

No 1 is doing. The United States is

a little better than some others.

But if you follow, like, in countries like

China and North Korea, the prediction is they're

already

decreasing in population, the estimation for the United

States is somewhere in 20 64

ish that we will cross over a threshold

and begin to not produce enough children to

replace ourselves to sustain the life of a

nation. Now that's not just like a national

problem because we want to keep existing as

a nation. It's a perspective problem

that is rooted in our dev

of children, which is the exact opposite of

what god says about children. I mean, again,

and again, the skip scripture say they are

a gift from God. They point us even

to our children as as an indicator what

it means to believe and have eternal life.

No 1 will enter my kingdom unless they

come to me like a what,

Like a child,

Jesus taught. Our kids are precious.

They are value false, and we are completely

dependent upon God to have them. So listen,

as of

20 24,

our

fertility rates are down from 20 22 just

2 years ago, by 3 percent. It's the

it's the fastest

slide that we've experienced over 2 year period

in the history of our nation.

So there's this massive

challenge. Now,

I bring all that up to say this.

A lot of

lot of people in the in in society

in the

in the art and the social sciences.

Have basically made an argument that it's an

economic problem. Cost of living is so high,

you know, a lot of more women are

working outside the home and their less likely

to have kids that is basically an economic

situation. There's some of that involved. But,

Rachel Wise, and I forget her teammates name.

They wrote a book called,

what are children for, which again, not believers.

These are folks coming from a secular perspective,

and the more they interviewed people and and

kinda tried to get to the bottom of

this

fertility rate, this d population problem that's coming.

The more they saw that had nothing to

do with economics, it just had to do

with the fact that we now view children

as not

crucial to having a meaningful life.

So the Pew research study did a study,

not too many years ago, relatively recently. And

when they asked folks, what is the key

to a meaningful life, What are key things

so a meaningful. 70 percent said, a career

that I love,

and that... You know, I'm successful in. 70

percent. Less than 30 percent said,

family and children.

Now in a

preceding age.

So now what that does is it caused

people to say, when you ask them, why

are you not

why why are you not having kids?

The answer is because they get in the

way of a meaningful life?

That's the current perspective. When you asked the

generation before ours,

why are you having kids? The presumption would

have been because that's absolutely part of a

meaningful life? It's absolutely it's just a given.

It was like a background information sort of

a think that we have

undone societal. Now I point all that out

to say this.

1 thing I want you to see is

dev

children

is directly related to our sense of autonomy

from God.

When you believe that children are a gift

of God and they must be given by

god if they're going to be given, then

you are saying, I'm dependent upon you, and

I'm gladly so. But as I disconnect myself

from god and dependence upon them, do you

see that what that leads to then is

saying,

I will do whatever I find to be

meaningful

in life.

So

that's the waters we're swimming in,

and we are reminded by the song that

we are completely

dependent upon the lord. And and saying kids

are a gift from god

is a huge part of acknowledging that we

are open handed. We have to be hands

open before him as he's using this is

an example of a kind of work in

which we're dependent upon. The second way we're

completely dependent upon God is we cannot control

what our children become.

Somebody say him amen to that.

The longer I pair the more I am

getting used to the idea, and I find

do you find that it if you're parenting

and you're raising your kids and they're still

under your roof. Do you find that again

and again, you find subtle ways that you

want to control what they become?

Like, I just want you to really love

basketball.

You laugh. That's real in my home.

And I'm having to go, what if my

kids want to

like,

play a musical

instrument, and that's the they're passion. I'm like,

I don't... I'm not into that.

Do I want them to be what I

want them to be?

I just want them to be what God

made them to be. I am learning more

and more to turn to god and say,

okay, God.

Show me, show me what you made them

to be, and my only job, my only

job

is to just steward them into that best

I can. I cannot control what they become,

and there are things in scripture that are

very clear. I am to lead my kids

to love the Lord. I'm lead them to

noah his word on to lead them to

to be kind and compassionate and full of

love for neighbor. Yeah. I wanna lead... The

those things are clear, but what's not written

in scripture is whether my kid, where they're

gonna go to school

or what their occupation is gonna be 1

day.

Or if they'll marry or not marry.

None of that is revealed in scripture. Can

we all agree with that?

And

some of us are, like, treating our kids

grades

Like, we have to control them if they're

gonna have a meaningful life.

Because that's our vision of what a meaningful

life looks like. Some of us are treating

our kids hobbies.

Like, if they don't get a college scholarship

in this thing,

that's not gonna be a meaningful life.

Our only job job

I cannot control. You cannot control what your

kids become just

again and again, say God. Who did you

make them to be?

That's what I wanna see. What did you

make them to be?

What's your does design.

What pleases you about what you made them

And you know what I find that does

to me is it makes me really prayer.

Before I start controlling my kids with my

correction or my

approval or lack of approval or whatever it

is. I find myself going to God and

saying, god, what do I do?

Show me what to do. And you know

what happens when I do that, couple things

again and again happens.

Number 1, He shows me my sin first

usually.

And I'm like, oh, that sin that they're

doing that I've got correct is like, also

in me,

and it changes the way I correct it.

It makes me much less harsh, much more

patience

because I wouldn't want it... I want the

learn to be harsh with me for the...

I'm doing the same thing.

And I find myself going, oh, Alright.

The other thing that it does is it

it it takes my mind from here and

the thing that somehow I have this idle

that I want to be about this thing

or to to do this or accomplish that

or and I stop making my child an

idol where I have to get them to

do the thing that I want them to

do to so that I look good or

so that it it validates me as a

parent. And I just start looking to the

lord and I going

whatever you whatever you made them to be

is all the matters.

And all of a sudden, I I just

have this much more

Helpful. I think, hopeful way of correcting them.

It it makes me much more able

to

stick with

them through

a long,

like long,

like, why are you acting this way sort

of moment?

And instead of being just stop it.

It helps me to actually I gotta shepherd

with the heart. Gotta shepherd with the heart.

I gotta ship with the heart. And that

takes a long

stinking time.

But that's the goal. Right? So anyway, these

are some learn lessons.

Some of you guys are, like,

12 times, 50 times better parent than I

am. So I preaching to those who already

know. But... Okay. So listen, that's the principle.

We are dependent upon the Lord, open your

hands.

Now he gives us the motivation. You're ready

for the motivation. So if the motivation, the

first time about our work and kinda of

broadly was me you are loved.

Remember that you're loved. Then the second

motivation now is all the fruitful ness.

That will come if you will open your

hands. So isn't god good that he says,

let me show you how good a fruit

you're gonna get. If you open your hands

and depend upon me and and love depending

on on on me particularly when it comes

to your kids with your family. So he

says this, like Arrows verse 4, like arrows

in the hand

of a warrior are the children of one's

youth.

Blessed is the man who fills his quiver

with them. He shall not be put to

shame

when he speaks with his enemies in the

gate.

Here's the 2 pieces of fruit that he's

saying are gonna be born by this open

handed person. Who knows they depend on the

lord.

Fruitful through impact now

and fruitful through impact later or a legacy

of impact. So you noticed he said, like

arrows in the hands of a warrior. Well,

to a warrior, what's an arrow?

It's a tool for a really important work.

Anything saying if you will recognize

that you are completely dependent upon me to

lead your child to to create your child,

to to guide them through life. If you'll

recognize that and and

say unless you build it, it will not

happen if you will do that, what will

happen is you will find that they are

gonna be shaped like arrows.

They are going to be shaped. Like arrows

for my purposes. Now I love the metaphor

of arrows? Because just think about what immediately

comes to mind. How many bow hunters we

got out there,

some bow hunters. Alright. So handful. Yeah. Absolutely.

So I'm not a bow hunter.

I'm not great. I thought Archer at Camp

1 summer. They gave me 10 minutes of

instruction. Got and then told me to teach

the kids and I can promise you, no

1 left that summer as a good archer,

not a single person

unless they had some lessons already coming in.

Because here's what's implied by this metaphor of.

Number 1, it implies a battle metaphor to

our mindset in this world, which reminds us

that we are not at war against flesh

and blood, but we are at war against

spiritual powers of darkness, principal personalities and powers,

the scriptures say,

and our children are weapons against the darkness.

They are weapons. It not weapons to be

used at our own disposable but as God

gets hold of them as God gets hold

of their heart, the kingdom of darkness shrinks

and the kingdom of light grows.

Their arrows. They are purposeful.

They have massive purpose in this world. Then

the second thing the metaphor of the arrow

tells us is it takes a lot of

intentional training to use an arrow well.

Yes, My bow hunters?

You didn't probably walk out and do a

great job bow hunting. The first time you

walked out. Right? The first... They don't put

people on the front lines.

I guess in the days when they fought

with bows and arrows,

the first day out, it probably trained. Yes.

And so to thank him, my kids are

like. There's gonna have to be a lot

of intentional training,

a lot of thoughtful,

a lot of intentional in the way I

approach this work of raising my kids. I

can't just kinda fumble through it. I've gotta

be very thoughtful and prayer and intentional and

train

myself and then the third thing is,

and I was, when is an arrow effective.

It effective now?

It's effective now.

An arrow is effective until it is

released.

Until it is released.

Some of you

are holding and tight to those kids. Now

listen if your kids are 3 months old,

it's not time yet.

If they're 33,

This time,

you have to release your kid.

Part of depending on the lord, part of

holding my hands open as saying Lord.

You hold them in your hands.

Have a purpose for them. I release them.

I release them. I love that. The arrow

metaphor is very helpful. Me mean, we actually

put have put arrows on the kids on

some of the kids walls,

just to remind us, that's their arrows, their

arrows, shape an arrow, shape an arrow.

On then the last thing is this idea

of a legacy. And do you see what

he's getting at When he says,

the the man who feels his quiver with

children, and

will not be ashamed in the gates. The

gates and the ancient near east were the

place where trials were held. And so what

the Psalm is essentially saying is when there's

an accusation made that that you dad, lack

integrity or that, you know, you're not operating

as you should,

your children will be the ones who will

come to your defense.

They will be the ones who will rise

up in the gate and say my father

is a man of integrity or in the

words of Proverbs 31,

blessed is the godly woman because her children

will rise up and call her,

bless, a the scripture say.

So listen, again, we don't control our relations

to their kids or what's produced them, but

as we hold our hands open with him

and released and to the Lord. There's a

much higher likelihood than what we will find

is that they will return and call their

parents a blessing

and speak on their parents behalf and say,

They've left a legacy

of fruitful. They've left a legacy of love

of the Lord and of faithful work in

him. And don't we all want that?

I don't know a parent who doesn't want

their child to return home in their adult

ears and say, I bless your name.

You raised me well.

You loved me. You guided me. You released

me.

You launched. Me for the sake of the

Lord. All of us long for that. Every

single 1, those you who are not. Parents,

yeah, Those are you who are kids right

now, you will long for that Should the

Lord bring you children.

Nobody says I hope my kids never come

back and never bless my name.

Everybody wants their kids bless the name. And

by the way, kids take note of that.

Maybe bless the name of your parents today.

Maybe take the opportunity to say,

you you have steward my life well. Thank

you.

Every parent knows we will stand before the

Lord 1 day. We will give account.

We will give account.

Did we shape and fashion era

with open hands before the Lord. It's a

big deal.

So here's the here's the kinda

bring this full circle now

as this Psalm is teaching us it's saying

man,

open your hands, rely on the lord in

every endeavor because if he doesn't build the

house he doesn't create the family, it will

not be built. It will not be founded

that cannot happen. And so what this reminds

us of now is it tells us that

all our endeavors, all our work the work

of children and families, the work of whatever

your industry is, all of it.

When we work,

we are taught the gospel, Our work, teaches

us the gospel,

and the gospel teaches us how to work.

Isn't this beautiful.

When I go to labor,

I am reminded

lord unless you produce the fruit. It will

not come, which is the this is the

ultimate truth that is... The gospel was found

that on. I cannot save myself.

If the lord does not save me, I

will not be saved.

If the lord doesn't open my eyes and

and do the work through his son jesus

Christ on the cross. I cannot earn merit

it with God. So when I go to

work, and I say, it all depends upon

you. Guess what I'm learning. I'm learning the

gospel through my work.

Right? And then I apply the gospel to

my work, and I say, as I do

it, I do it...

Complete dependence upon you.

So work teaches the gospel and the gospel

teaches us how to work. Amen?

Amen.

Alright. Let's come to the Lord's table now

where we're reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus

a servers if you'll come.

We do this regularly as a as a

church body,

And as we do it, we always remind

if you're, 1 of our friends who's with

us, who's not a follower of Jesus. We'll

just invite you and that these elements pass.

And the reason we always say that

is

because we are proclaiming with our actions here

is as we partake of the the symbols,

these elements that that represent the body and

the blood of Jesus. We are saying

that we believe that he and he alone

can save us from our sins,

and give us eternal life

and that we have placed our faith in

that reality. And so as you're journey along

and exploring those claims that jesus has made,

until you come to that place, see I

believe, we'll just invite you to use this

time to consider those claims to to ponder

them to ponder the the word of god

that you've heard today. For those of you

who are followers of Jesus,

this is your church home, if it's not,

this table is open to you for all

who have come to God and reconcile him

through faith and Jesus, is tables open.

Now as you come to it, the scriptures

also instruct us, and they instruct us not

to take of it lightly.

But to come in a her sober way

and to hold our hands open before the

lord and say what what do you want

to deal with me about? Is there anything

that you want to change that I need

to be made aware of, and I'm listening,

and I commit myself then to to yield

to you and walk in that change. As

you

leave me in it. So we'll take time

to consider that,

that open handed this before the lord as

we come to his table. So service you

can come and we'll partake altogether here in

just a few moments.

If you