This transcript was generated automatically and may contain minor errors.

If you have your Bible with you, would you open it up, please, and turn to Psalm 128, the 128th psalm. And if you'll take the time, make the effort to turn there in your Bible to Psalm 128. That is where we're gonna spend most of our time this morning. That'll provide the outline for our lesson. Psalm 128, beginning in verse 1.

If you ever had one of those moments where, in a moment of clarity, You can see the future. See the future as it could be, or maybe probably even will be. I've had those moments. I'm sure you've had them too. One that I think of I've been here now for 14 years. June is 14 years. Next Sunday actually will be kind of the anniversary Sunday for that.

And when I moved here to Lufkin, I had preached probably 20 funerals, but I'd only preached one wedding. And now the last few years, I've been preaching more weddings. I guess I've been here a while, and these kids are growing up, and they're asking me to do that. Kind of neat, kind of interesting. But, there have been a couple of times when I've been able to see the future.

One, in particular, I was standing there, and I'm not going to say who it was, because they're in the audience this morning. But I'm standing there and one of the young ladies who grew up here and her father are coming down the aisle. And in that moment, I saw the future instead of her and her dad, it was me and one of my daughters.

And here I am. I always carry a hanky in my back pocket when I do weddings for the bride in case she breaks down in the bowels or something. And I was, I was reaching for my hanky, you know, I'm like, I got to keep it together here. I'm supposed to perform this wedding ceremony and I'm getting emotional.

seeing what it could be with me. And you know what snapped me out of it? I thought to myself, well hallelujah, if that's my future, if my daughter is a faithful Christian, and she's marrying a faithful Christian, what better future could I hope for? So what, I think to myself, what am I sowing now to reap If you're there in Psalm 128, this is what is called a psalm of ascents or steps or degrees.

It is believed that these were the psalms that were sung by the Jews as they were coming up to the temple to worship for the feast days, especially the feast of Passover. And even as they were walking up some of these steps that remain that we still can see there in Jerusalem today, they would be singing these psalms together.

We know, for example, from the book of Luke that, that the parents of Jesus, Joseph and Mary, his earthly parents, they came to Jerusalem every Passover to observe these feast days. And we read there in Acts 2 that there were Jews from all over the the ancient Near East, all over the ancient world.

In fact, there are Jews mentioned from every point of the compass who have come to Jerusalem for Passover. Passover? And those Jews had stayed the 50 days till Pentecost. And that's what many of the Jews who would come for Passover would do. They would stay 50 days until the day of Pentecost. But all of those Jews who would come would stay at least for the 7 days of the Passover feast.

The Passover and then the feast of unleavened bread. And they would be worshipping together and enjoying being with one another in that kind of environment. Young people, I want you to listen really closely for a second. Does this sound familiar at all? A week of devotion and worship and reunion with those of like faith from all over who are coming together to a place where you're isolated from the world and reminded that God and the things of God are most important.

Does that sound familiar at all? Well, some of you are going to camp today. Stephanie and I will be headed to camp in Tennessee in a couple of weeks. And, and that's really a pretty good metaphor. A taste of what this time around Passover would have been like for them. You travel with a few people from back home and then you're reunited with these people you hadn't seen in a year so that you can all focus on God and the things of God for at least a week in that kind of environment.

And that's what we're trying to capture this year with our congregational focus. Here at Timberland Drive, this is a year of ascent for us, as we, as we want to be glad as we go into the house of the Lord together. And so, we've talked about these Psalms of ascent, how we are sojourners in the world, how we find refuge in the Lord, and we enter the city or the house of the Lord, which is here, among God's people.

We enter with gladness and each quarter we've kind of been focusing on specific Psalms and in quarter two We're talking about the refuge of god's direction while in the world that are found in psalms 126 through 128 and so we express joy to god for restoring us from the world's captivity We rely on God for His blessing while in this world.

And then this morning we're going to talk about Psalm 128 and how we fear God and walk in His ways. And for the month of June, our focus as we're in this year of ascent is in on fear of the Lord and obedience to His law, obedience to His commands as we are all striving to go up So read with me, if you would, from Psalm 128, as we fear God and walk in His ways.

Verse 1. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy. It's the same word as blessed there in verse 1. 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. Like olive plants all around your table behold thus shall the man be blessed who fears the lord 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. As we've gone through these Psalms of Ascent, they were a yearly reminder and encouragement for many areas of life. And so they sing these psalms much as we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs today to teach and admonish one another about all sorts of different topics.

Among these psalms of ascent we find many things relating to life and worship to God, but, but psalms 127 and 128 specifically are focused on the family. And both of them are structured in a similar way, where the psalmist gives a general principle that this is true in all areas of life, and then he makes specific application to that area of life that relates to the home.

So let's, let's look at that psalm from this perspective. We find the general principle there in verse 1. Blessed. Blessed, happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His way. So this is synonymous or parallelism among this the poetry of this verse. And so this idea of blessed is everyone who fears the Lord is not and who walks in His ways.

Instead, he's just restating the same idea in a different way. The one who fears the Lord is the one who walks in His ways. And if we don't fear the Lord We're not going to walk in his ways and be obedient to him as we ought to be. The wise man Solomon wise in principle, maybe not so wise in practice all the time.

He was the author of the previous psalm, Psalm 127. And it's likely that he wrote this psalm as well. And he says in Ecclesiastes 12:13, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. What is it? Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. Loved ones, this is what life is about.

And this is the path to true blessings, physically and spiritually. And we could apply this principle in all sorts of areas of life. We could make specific application to the realm of work. In our workplace, we need to do what? Fear God and keep His commandments. Fear God and keep His commandments more than my boss, more than losing my job, more than making more money.

In the specific application of the realm of our school, young people, what do we need to do? We need to fear God and keep His commandments. More than popularity, more than what my teachers say, more than what my coaches demand, I'm going to fear God and keep His commandments. Maybe certainly in the realm of religion we should fear God and keep His commandments.

More than the traditions of men, more than what most people believe. More than what my family thinks or wants me to do. I'm going to fear God and keep His commandments. Of course, we could get even more specific with our application. Not just broad realms like work or school or religion. We could talk specifically about entertainment and how in the things that entertain us, we need to what?

Fear God and keep His commandments. More than, Going along with what everybody else is watching more than what everybody else is posting more than what everyone else is listening to Am I fearing god and keeping his commandments with the things that entertain me? Maybe we think about things like our dress fear god and keep his commandments more than the trends More than what's appealing to others more than what makes me feel a certain way my words fear god and keep his commandments more than What's funny or how to be in the know?

Or what is socially expected and accepted.

So we can make application to all sorts of realms. But the psalmist had one very specific application in mind. And that specific application is seen there in verse 4 with what he says. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed. Now this is a different word than what we read in verse 1 and verse 2. That word really means happy.

It's about how we feel as individual. I'm happy when I fear the Lord. I'm happy when I eat the labor of my hands. I'm This is a different word. This word, blessed, is really that idea of being blessed. It's focused on the favor that we receive from the Lord. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.

So between verse 1 and verse 4, we get this specific application of one way we can be blessed. If we fear God and walk in His ways. What is that specific application? Well, it's to the home. You that God would have us to have. So let's think about this specific application. Let's read verses 2 and 3 together.

plants all around your table. We learn something about the family from one who fears God and walks in His ways. A thriving family, it's work. A thriving family requires godly work. There is labor of our hands that is associated with a godly family. Literally, We see that he will eat the fruit of his labor.

And that metaphor is followed closely by the wife and children. And if you're eating the fruit of your labor, well, the wife and children are described as growing vines and olive trees, things that produce fruit. So you eat your family. That's the idea there, right? Well, it is in the sense of that you receive the things that you have sown with what you reap.

You reap what you sow. Grapes, wine, and oil all come from sowing and reaping, and they're all symbolic of great blessings. In fact, in the Old Testament, if you, if you trace this idea of God blessing His people, God blessing His people in the Promised Land, what, what is the description of the most blessed life?

I mean, this guy is right with God, and God is showering blessings upon him. It is when you sit under your own vine and have your own olive tree. And here those descriptions are used for your wife and for your children, for your spouse and for your children. But the question is, are you sowing for your wife or husband to grow and thrive in your home?

The spouses describe the wife specifically as being in the very heart of the home in this psalm. She wants to be there. This is a place of safety and belonging, not the house, but the family, the home. And she is just the opposite of the woman that Solomon describes in Proverbs 7:11, whose feet do not stay at home, who wants to be anywhere else except among the family.

Husbands, men. What is important to your wives in making the home a place where she wants to be the heart of? Those are things that should be important to you. Do everything in your power to make it that way for her. Are you working on this relationship? Is it a priority for you? Are you watering in such a way that you might reap?

Well, how do you start with that? Maybe, maybe you find yourself down a road where you have grown apart. Where neither of your feet really want to be at home. You And I would suggest you start with one godly act. And that one godly act should be followed by another. Regardless of whether it is reciprocated or not.

A one godly act followed by another and another. And if the vine has been neglected, it will take more time and more work for it to be fruitful like it should. I'm so grateful for all of the talents of people that we have here in this congregation. And I called a lady here who has a really green thumb not too long ago when it came time to trim all of our trees and prune all of our bushes and those sorts of things because they just weren't producing like it felt like they ought to.

And so we call her and she comes over and she shows us exactly how to do it. And now I think about our rosebush at the front of our house specifically. You know, we'd always get two or three little piddly looking roses. And she cut that thing way back and I'm like, Man, is this plant even going to survive?

What's going to happen here? And now, we have more roses than we know what to do with. They're everywhere, all over the place. Because we've given attention to it. And so too in our home. When we give attention to our wife, or to our husband. When we're feeding and watering. When we're pruning, sometimes. In the things that we do and don't do for one another.

It takes time and work for it to be fruitful, but it can be. This relationship, if it is healthy, It can be a place of blessing and celebration like a fruitful vine. And so too, we see your children like olive plants all around your table. This image is of the early stages of family life. We talked last month about Psalm 127, which is shooting your arrows off into the world.

Maybe that's the ending stages of being a parent and your children are going off on their own. But here we find dad and mom and the younger children are sitting around the dinner table. And the consistent work that is done here in these early stages impacts everything that comes after it. What are you reaping?

Well, generally, that's what you've sown. What are you sowing? Generally, that's what you're going to reap. And whatever impact our children might make on our lives and the world as adults, and that's what we're going to talk about here in just a second in the last two verses of this psalm, all of that impact starts when they're young.

And not that good or bad work at these early ages can't be undone by the opposite later on, but a foundation is being laid here and now for what comes next. I love that our toddler class is so full right now. That's exciting, isn't it? And I think about those little souls, those little spirits that have been entrusted to their parents.

What responsibility that is, yes. But what opportunity that is for the next generation to grow up to serve

But the reality is, godly adults don't usually just happen. They come from godly young adults. And godly young adults don't usually just happen. They come from godly teens. And godly teens don't usually just happen. They usually come from homes where godliness is emphasized and expressed when they were children.

And it is the little things that add up over time. A prayer in the morning. A loving question in the car. An application of spiritual things in the afternoon. A Bible story or reading in the evening. Do any of those things mean very much by themselves? If one time, sometime back there, you decided, you know what, we're going to pray before we go to bed tonight, and one time you do that, does that make much of a difference?

I mean, it makes a little. But it makes about as much difference as one seed that is planted. One seed that is planted, maybe there's a plant, maybe there's some fruit that comes from that. But the metaphor is that we are to be sowing. That we are to be sowing in our families. That this is something that, little things, little seeds, but there are many of them, thousands of them, that add up over the course of time to where growth and fruit are the ultimate result.

If we sow thousands of seeds every year in our family, a harvest becomes more and more likely. Day after day, if we do these things, before we know it, our family will be Walking in the ways of the Lord. We sow all sorts of different things with our kids every day, we know that. Academics and extracurriculars and work and entertainment.

Please, don't miss the opportunities to sow better seeds and reap better fruit of spiritual things. Why do we do what we do as a family? Can we point to the fear of the Lord as the reason why we do the things that we do? Do our kids see that? It takes work. It requires godly work. But if we are intentional in our work, in our walk down God's path, we can and will be blessed.

So what can be the impact of this good work if we actually do it? Well, let's keep reading verses 4 and 5. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed. You yourself will be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. The Lord blesses you so that you might see this good that he describes here.

So, your, your parenting is gonna have an impact. It's gonna have an impact on your life as a parent. The you that is used here in verses 4 and 5 is singular. It's not y'all. And all of y'all are gonna be blessed in some way. It's you, specifically, as the parent, as the one who fears God and walks in His ways.

You are blessed by the Lord from Zion, when the Lord and Zion are emphasized in your family. And so those tender shoots of olive trees, they grow. And you enjoy the fruit of your labor with them. You get to enjoy your family in the latter days of children and grandchildren, instead of just trying to keep that family together.

And that is a blessing from the Lord, from living a godly life in the fear of His ways. Doing things God's way is better. But in many ways it's often easier. Not easier in the moment, but easier in the middle and long term. Even from a selfish perspective. Sure, doing the things the way the world suggests.

You know, children run homes. No discipline. No commitment to spirituality. Affirmation of every whim of your child, whether godly or not, responsible or not. That's what the world suggests, right? And in the moment, every single one of those things is easier. But it doesn't remain easier for long. It is harder in both the medium and long terms for you, your kids, and everybody else, in the vortex that that creates.

So I'm gonna ask a question. Don't take it the wrong way. I know we got lots of visitors. Again, we're grateful that you're here. People say that before they insult you. I'm not insulting you. But I want to ask you. Do you enjoy being with your kids? That's kind of a difficult question, isn't it? I know you love them, no doubt there, but do you enjoy being with them?

Are you happy? Are you blessed to be around them? Not that there aren't times when you don't enjoy your children, when you don't enjoy being with them. I was talking with a new dad we went up to a gospel singing in Tyler this week, and I was talking to a new dad that I know there, that I'm friends with, and And he was talking about this new toddler that they have, and he's like, Man, this kid just doesn't sleep.

I'm like, Oh, I know all about that. And I said, I've been there, you know, it's gonna get better. And so he has all this hope in his face. And he said, Well, one of your kids didn't sleep? I'm like, Yeah, Madison, my oldest, she didn't sleep. And he's like, Well, when did she start sleeping? And I realized in that moment, Oh, no.

What have I done? But I couldn't lie to him, I said, Well, she started sleeping when she went to school.

And he was just fallen in that moment. He's like, You mean to tell me it's going to take that long? I was like, Well, maybe not. Maybe it'll be better for you, right? And there are times in the middle of the night when we've had one hour of sleep over the past week. Or maybe we don't like our kids very much.

We love them, but we don't like them very much. But is that the exception instead of the rule?

Are we happy in our home and in our family?

I pray that we are. And while there are no guarantees in any of this, the path that gives us the best chance is the path of God, where we fear Him and walk in His ways. There are times when we aren't happy as parents, where things are tough, where things hurt, where our children hurt us, even. But are there more times when your children bring you joy?

If not, may I humbly suggest that you walk in His ways as best you can, and labor according to His direction. With an eye toward the reward that only the Lord can give. It's always dangerous. I get more and more nervous the older I get preaching on parenting. Because I realize how bad I am at it sometimes.

I haven't seen any of these results in the long term yet, but in the medium term I believe I have. And I'm grateful for getting to enjoy my kids now because of work that their mother and I have done earlier. And I want that pattern to continue in the future. I've told young parents that every stage, for us at least, every stage has been better than the last.

And I know, you know, people talk about, you know, you got a teenager coming up and all those sorts of things. I realize. But my hope and my prayer, every single day, my prayer is that I will enjoy these days. Even these days with a teenager. Because of the work that we're putting in to put the Lord first.

And hopefully, when my daughters become adults, I can enjoy them as adults because of the work we did when they were teens. And if I am so blessed with grandkids, I pray that I'll enjoy my grandkids because of the work that I did with my children. And we see this kind of emphasis in the text itself, that our parenting, your parenting impacts generations to come.

Notice what he says at the beginning of verse 6, Yes, may you see your children's children. It's not just a matter of being alive long enough to have grandchildren. The idea there is that you enjoy them as well. What is the model? For better or worse, that most children use when they themselves become parents.

For most of us, it is what our parents did. At least that's where we start because that's what we know. So how do I want my grandchildren to be parented? However I'm parenting my kids is probably the start of that. Again, I think this picture, this image of olive shoots and olive tree is really powerful.

Olive trees, you probably know this, Under the right conditions, olive trees can live for hundreds, even thousands of years. We talked about how Titus was on the island of Crete in Bible class. There's a tree on the island of Crete that scientists believe is between 3, 000 and 4, 000 years old. And here's the thing, this olive tree still produces olives.

Some of the most expensive olives in all the world. Did you know that there are olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane that are still there today that would have been there when Jesus himself prayed his prayer? That garden, it is no mistake that of all the trees that could have been used that produce fruit of some kind, that the psalmist chose olive trees because what you're doing with that little chute of a plant can have an impact for generations and generations and generations to come.

The work that we are doing now in our homes will have an impact far beyond we, far beyond the time that we are gone from this life. And, and I don't say that to scare, well, maybe a little bit. But I say that primarily to encourage. To encourage you to know that the work you're doing now in your home, it matters.

It makes an impact. It makes a difference. And on those days and in those moments when we're worn out and tired and we don't know, don't want to do what it is we know we need to do in regard to our children, when we want to give up, in those moments know that that work matters. And whether, whether our children notice in the moment, whether they thank us in the moment or not, or whether they ever do, God knows, and God notices,

and He will allow us to have that kind of impact. Estes says in his commentary about this psalm, The ripples of blessing continue to spread outward in the family and the nation in the final verse of the psalm. The blessed person gets a glimpse of the prospect of seeing his grandchildren, a tangible evidence of the legacy of blessing that the Lord has launched in his life.

So there's a long term impact, but finally there's also a widespread impact as well. The final thing we see in this psalm is that your parenting impacts the church, and your parenting impacts the world. What's the final phrase there in verse 6? Peace be upon Israel. Now, we, we see that phrase in a number of the psalms.

But I don't think this is just something that's kind of thrown in, you know, amen at the end of the prayer or something like that. I think really this is the end result of everything else that has taken place. Peace in the land of Israel begins in the homes of the people who make up Israel. So too, when we think about What is coming out of Zion and Jerusalem today metaphorically.

All Israel was impacted by the peace of the home. And, and the comparison today would be to God's church. To His people today. And we too have an impact by our children in the church and in the world at large. What if, what if we raise children who know their purpose early on in life? And I'm so grateful that we have people who help us in doing that.

I don't know, it's probably been six, seven, eight years ago. B, you'll have to tell me, when did you start with your salt and your light? So Tim and Debbie Beeman started that with kids when they were really young in a devotional, I think before junior high and elementary school. And it was this idea that they would say to one another, your salt, and the other would reply, your light, to one another.

Now when they're little, when they're in elementary school, that's, that's pretty abstract. That's an abstract concept. I'm sure Tim and Debbie did a great job teaching it, but that's, that's tough to grasp. But you know, those kids are now in high school, beginning college. And from this early age, whether they knew it or not in that moment, they knew what their purpose as a Christian is.

To be salt to this world, to make the world a better place, and to be light, reflecting Jesus light into the lives of those around them. And to this day, those kids who were in that devotional, if you say, you're salt, they'll reply almost by instinct, you're light. What if, what if all of our kids had that kind of foundation to know What if all of our kids knew three things?

They know who they are as children of God. They know where they're going on their way to heaven. And along the way there's all sorts of things that they've got to fill in the blanks. Right? I'm a Christian and I'm going to heaven. And in between I've got Well, what am I gonna do when I graduate? Am I gonna go to work or am I gonna go to college?

And if I go to college, which college am I gonna go to? What work am I going to do? Is there a good church there? You know, I've got romantic interests. Am I gonna get married? And if I do, who is it gonna be? And then I have kids and where do we live? And, and all of these blanks that have to be filled in, right?

And, and then, and then, and then, and then, but if they know I'm a Christian who fears God and walks in his ways, and I'm on my way to heaven. Everything else is just the details. If they can know that, and have that foundation from us, how they're going to get there? Fear God, and keep His commandments. Fear God, and walk in His ways.

And if we can do this, it will sow peace in our homes. It will sow peace in our churches. It will sow peace in our world, as much as depends on us. Thank you for your kind attention this morning. If you're not yet a Christian, all of these considerations, all of these blessings, all of this direction Begins by fearing God.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. That's what the Proverbs tells us. And so, do you have that healthy respect that you recognize that God is the creator of the universe? That He is a far superior being to any of us. That He has all power and might and dominion. If you see that and realize that, you're on your way to knowledge and wisdom.

But I've got some really great news for you. That powerful God that we should fear and respect and view as holy, He loves you! And He loves you so much, He sent His Son to come and die. As Sean so powerfully talked about, so that you might live. You are required to come in humble submission, saying, I'm gonna put off who I used to be so that I can be who God has called me to be.

And if you're willing to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, We would be so excited to baptize you into Christ for the remission of your sins, that you might rise to walk in newness of life according to the paths of God. And if you're already a Christian and you realize that you've not been walking as God would have you to, now is the time to correct that.

Or even if you just need the prayers and support of brothers and sisters in Christ who are trying to do the same thing, we ask you to come now, for together we stand. Walk with you.