Psalm 128

Coffee is always important. Well, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. It's so great to have you this morning as we turn in our Bibles to Psalm 128. This year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for what a blessing it is to learn from you how we should feel and think about things in life. And we thank you for how you care for us. We pray that we would have hearts to believe. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, well yesterday we looked at what it is to have children and how God thinks about our children. Today we are looking at What does he say about grandkids? Let's go ahead and look at Psalm 128. A song of ascents.
Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be blessed, 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 the Lord. The Lord bless you from 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. We need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this passage? And C, what are we called to do in response to this? So A, what is this about?
Well, it starts off similar as Psalm 1, blessed is the man. Blessed is, this time, blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh. Right before in Psalm 1 it was blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners, but here it's blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. Right, so where is blessing?
Blessing is for those who follow after the Lord, who believe in him. and then there's blessings that flow from that, you'll eat the labor of your hands. That's what Colossians tells us, that we're to labor with all of our might, as unto the Lord. And when we labor with honest work for the Lord, for His glory, we get to eat the labor of that with happiness, with joy. with being blessed, your wife shall be like a fruitful vine.
In the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. This is again one of the beautiful things we see here in Psalm 127 and in Psalm 128 is children aren't a curse, children aren't a burden, children aren't somehow hindering the things we want to do in life, but children are the blessing of God. Children are a blessing that God gives us. And so, your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, and your children like the olive plants all around your table.
Now this doesn't mean that everybody who fears the Lord, God is going to give them a whole bunch of children. We know that's not the case. because Sarah was barren, and it took a miracle of God, even though she feared the Lord. We know that Hannah was barren, and she cried out day and night, wanting children. And again, it took a miracle from the Lord to give her children. We know, again, that even Elizabeth was old and without child, but God was gracious, and he gave them a child. It took a miracle. So it doesn't mean you're not godly if you don't have children. But it does mean that children are a blessing. And I can't tell you how many Christian women I've met who don't have children and wish they had children. How do we think about children?
Do we see this as God's blessing in the dominion mandate that he gives us to fill the earth to multiply? to raise up our children, to walk them, to teach them in the admonition of the Lord, to show them the beauties of God's creation, to say, do you see that beautiful sunset?
The Lord did that. When you go to the Rocky Mountains and you see the snow-capped mountains, to say, our God did that. He built up those mountains. When you take them to the ocean and they see the vastness of the sea, you get to say, my, our God created that and controls it. He's bigger and stronger than the sea.
Blessed are those whose children are like, or whose wife is like a fruitful vine. Children all around the table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. Doesn't say you're gonna be blessed because you get to have a big house, the fancy car, all this stuff. But a family who loves you. A family that you get to love. Children that you get to raise. The Lord 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. The Lord bless you out of Zion, right?
Again, this is the idea, it's a song of a sense. They're going up to Jerusalem, they're going to the temple, they're going to go worship God. And at the temple, that's where you have peace with God and man. That's where the thrones of justice are set. That's where the throne of God is. That's where the worship of the Holy One is. That's where we find peace. And so the blessing here is as we fear the Lord, we get to live in peace. And we know that this is found most true as we trust in Jesus Christ, as we go to him, as we love him, as he has loved us. And I love this last part, verse six.
Yes, may you see your children's children. May you see your grandkids. I can't tell you how much I love when grandparents bring their grandkids to church and I mean they're just beaming with joy and they just want to tell me, oh look here's my daughter and here are my grandkids and here are my great-grandchildren and the joy that they have that they get to see their children's children. I was just talking to a 97 year old man last week who didn't just get to see his children's children but his children's children's children's children and what a blessing that is. Peace be upon Israel.
I'll let you tell me in the comments what would you underline as the best verse for this, and I think we've gotten to see calling. Do you fear the Lord? Do you walk after Him? Do you love the children that He's placed in your life? Do you rejoice in what God has done in giving us family, giving us a family of faith, giving us a joy? that we get to taste now and that points us to our heavenly father who cares for us like a father cares for his children.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your care for us. We thank you that you tell us to come to you and to say, our father who is in heaven, you are a father willing and able to aid us. feeding us every day with our daily bread, and loving us with an everlasting love. Lord, we pray that peace would be upon your church, that your peace would dwell in our hearts, because you have paid the price of that peace in Jesus Christ, your only begotten Son, who has brought us into your family. Thank you for calling us your children, for adopting us, We pray that you would teach us to love the children in our lives and to see them always as a blessing. In Jesus' name, amen. May God bless you today. May you rest in the joy and love of your eternal Father. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.